Curtain Calls

Photo courtesy of Theatre West "Sleeping Beauty," a children’s
musical starring Kelly Stables and Adam
Conger is now playing at Theatre West.

“Sleeping Beauty” Actors
Equity Association, at Theater West 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. (818)
761-2203 Through Feb. 23 2 paws

Move over PlayStation, X Box and Game Cube, a new kind of
interactive entertainment has arrived, for the “child”
in us all. The Storybook Theater’s musical “Sleeping
Beauty” doesn’t quite do justice to the Grimm
brothers’ original masterpiece, yet the modern rendition does
entertain audiences “¦ mostly pre-school and elementary school
children. Clearly not geared toward a college audience, the
self-proclaimed “goofy” play is set against the
backdrop of a large “Lego-like” castle full of colorful
blocks, paper flags and “magical vines” that grow. The
play opens with the actors talking to the audience and trying to
get them involved early in the play. Throughout the show, the
characters engage the audience by choosing children to assist in
everything from changing the princess’s diaper to waking
Sleeping Beauty: it’s a child’s acting dream come true.
It definitely has more flare than the original animated version
shown to most UCLA students along with a bowl of
Spaghetti-O’s. For most college students, however, the whole
thing will seem a little annoying ““ with about 30
pre-schoolers yelping to be the “chosen ones” and
running out of their seats, while their parents cheer them on, one
would start to think seriously about birth control and celibacy.
But, the neuroticisms of the characters seem to make the squeals of
anxiety of the children a little more bearable. The sassy princess
who is “as cute as a button” (or so she says) and
“perfect at most everything” uses mockery mixed with a
little too much gaiety to entertain the audience with her acting
and singing ability. The prince, a classic hopeless romantic, sings
about his “perfect wife” and all the qualities she must
have ““ it’s one of those songs that makes you feel
embarrassed for him but at the same time, completely entertains.
The king and queen are blabbering royalty who are most impressive
in their Ray Charles jazz version of a wake-up song for Sleeping
Beauty complete with sunglasses and biotins. The play encompasses
all aspects of life ““ everything from fantasy to reality. It
even has little tidbits of advice for the little kids. The
“Thank You Song” reminds kids to say “thank
you” after receiving a gift; if they don’t an evil
witch may cast a spell making a child sleep for 100 years. The
Prince even throws his two cents in by making it clear that
“you should only kiss people who want to be kissed.”
Ah, the lovely advice that really never sticks with anyone.
Overall, the play is a mélange of goofy, whimsical characters
and blaring singing along ““ a friendly atmosphere that
collectively make the production a success for the younger
audiences. For a college students however, unless one is
babysitting a younger sibling or relative, or is really into
Disney-type movies and happy endings, spend your money on the
corners of Sunset and Vine ““ surely, that endeavor will be
much more rewarding.

Siddarth Puri Photo courtesy of The Lex
Jackie Maruschakperforms in a collection of
monologues.

“Solos in Harmony V: Fact or
Fiction”
Blue Sphere Alliance at The Lex 6760 Lexington Ave. (818)
906-0675 Through Jan. 17 1/2 paw

One-man shows where an actor performs an extended monologue for
an hour or two hardly ever succeed. The problem lies in the growing
irritation that comes from hearing one person speak for such a long
time. Even the stars of this genre, like Eric Bogosian, succumb to
the overexposure inherent in monologists. Even when the actors
portray several characters, it comes off as the same person doing
all of the speaking. In the Blue Sphere Alliance production of
“Solos in Harmony V: Fact or Fiction,” the audience is
asked to endure six extended monologues at roughly 15 minutes
apiece. It turns out to be a lot to ask of the viewers, who were
visibly worn down by the time the two-hour production approached
its final stages. All of the monologues could have, and should have
been considerably trimmed. Of the six monologues, only “Last
Stop: Neverland,” a dark take on the legendary Disney pixie,
Tinkerbell, succeeds. Written and performed by Jackie Maruschak,
the monologue portrays Tinkerbell as a homeless woman in Hollywood,
bitter after being kicked out of Neverland by Walt Disney after
waking one day with the body of a woman and the ability to speak
(along with a thick New Yawk accent). It is funny at moments,
touching at others, but could have been more endurable if it was a
few minutes shorter. Other monologues included a piece based on a
really annoying pot addict who has to pass a drug test. This
character is so irritating, he will provoke audience members to
jump out of their seats and give him a joint, just to shut him up.
There is a piece about a fat girl, who calls herself
“Fluffy,” and the journey of a punch-drunk boxer, which
has the actor playing so many characters with similar voices, that
it’s hard to differentiate one character from the others. The
sets are limited to movable cubes and ramps, which force the actors
to rely on their own personal capabilities in order to tell their
tales. The only sound design used in the show is for scene changes;
roughly 20 seconds of taped music, while the crew moves the set in
pitch black for the next performer. While all of the monologues had
their moments, they lacked a truly cohesive theme, due mainly to
the large amount of authors ““ each piece written by someone
else. And of course the main problem lies in the fact that six
15-minute monologues are six 15-minute long monologues too
many.

Scott Schultz