Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Scrutinize That Honky

The Honky Tonk set is amazing. And thank God for that.

Michael Bowen
Note the rolled-up straw cowboy hat above the bar. [Photo: Young Kwak]
Note the rolled-up straw cowboy hat above the bar. [Photo: Young Kwak]
Note the rolled-up straw cowboy hat above the bar. [Photo: Young Kwak]

The scenic design for the Interplayers production of Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular repays careful attention.

Stage left is given over to a large bar backed by a mirror. Two wooden tap handles protrude above the bar, and two bar stools stand nearby. A Christmas stocking dangles from a nail in the bar’s wooden-plank facing — which consists of a row of horizontal beige boards, then a row of grayish boards arranged vertically, and finally a bottom row of two more horizontal beige boards.

Just below the mirror, 33 liquor bottles are displayed — some dark, some light, some tall, some squat.

The mirror is topped by a lacquered trophy fish sporting a Santa cap. Just above, the location is identified in large block letters — rather redundantly, I thought — as “HONKY TONK.”

On the mirror, numerous fingerprint smudges were visible. Also affixed to the glass were wads of play money. (There were 98 “dollar bills.” I counted.)

A standup comedy routine (the “curtain speech”) was delivered before the show. It went on and on, could have stopped in a dozen places, and delayed the start of the play by 18 minutes. I paid it no mind, as I found myself enraptured by every detail of this production’s setting.

Imagine my surprise and delight, for example, upon discovering that the onstage table nearest me used four wrought iron S-shapes to support its spindle leg with five, six — no, seven — turns, each having been crafted in a pleasing and symmetrical fashion.

Over the central doorway looms a deer head with 10-point antlers. Long strands of silver tinsel hang in the doorway.

The wall on the stage-right side of the central doorway features battered Washington license plates, including the numbers CEC 916, GKG 932 and even TE 8185.

A raised area, stage right, provided an alcove from which various sounds emanated. This area was enclosed in chicken wire, taut across a wooden frame with six upright pieces and garlanded with 27 orange Christmas lights. (One was burned out.) A large sign above the alcove proclaimed, confusingly, “Don’t feed the band.”

The knee wall supporting the chicken-wire area was wallpapered with flattened cardboard liquor boxes: Visible were the insignias of Seagram’s VO, Tanqueray, Black Velvet and Popov.

For those of you scoring at home, I am informed that 36 songs were performed in 84 minutes of inaction, with the second act eventually called to a halt by the mercy rule.

Just as I was studying the disco ball (11 seconds for each twinkling revolution), a woman — I didn’t catch her name, or what she was singing about, or why she wanted me to dance with her — interrupted my reverie and coerced me into an onstage jig. Soon she was issuing a musical request, imploring Santa to, as she put it, “come down my chimney,” and urging him, in addition, “to bring my baby back ho-hoho-home.”

Oh, look, on the far side of the set — I hadn’t noticed this before — there are eight more license plates. Unusually, JU 5152 is a Montana plate.

The overhead lighting grid, as I discovered upon investigation, deploys 53 lights, of which — as I determined during one musical number or another, I forget which — some 16 were illuminated (four of them blue, one partially blocked by a heating vent). There are many wires and cords, marvelous to behold, draped and coiled over the various metal bars of the lighting trellis above, and much may be learned by diligent study of them. Meanwhile, for some reason, the other audience members were distracted by whatever it was they were looking at during the allotted performance time.

The Holiday Spectacular set was designed by a Mr. Scott Nicks, and I wish to extend my personal thanks to him for the diverting entertainment afforded to me by his bar stools, chicken wire and license plates during the 102 minutes in which I was compelled to look at them.

Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular • Wed-Sat 7:30 pm, Sat 2 pm, through Dec. 11 • $16-$22; $13-$18, seniors and military; $12, teachers and actors; $10, students • Interplayers • 174 S. Howard St. • http://www.interplayers.com • 455-PLAY and 325-SEAT

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What an insulting, condescending and mean-spirited review. I think the minimum one should expect of a theatre critic is that he or she pays attention to what the show is attempting and then fairly explicates what did or didn´t work theatrically. This kind of snarky, immature grandstanding says, above all, that the reviewer has no respect for the talent and effort put forward by everyone involved. There is nothing shameful in failure if genuine effort was put forward. I don´t think you avoid that shame, Mr. Bowen. Dec 02, 2010 | Reply to this comment

 

I´ve never read a worse review. So you didn´t enjoy the show? Why? Tell us! Dec 02, 2010 | Reply to this comment

 

You, my good sir, are a two bit hack…and quite hypocritical, I might add. I happened to be at the same show you attended, and I personally witnessed you laughing (a lot), singing and clapping along with the songs, and dancing (quite willingly) with the actresses on stage. You were having a great time and thoroughly enjoying the show. So which is the real Michael Bowen? The one who attended the performance and obviously enjoyed it? Or the one who quite clearly has to make himself feel superior by writing such a “creative” review? What’s wrong…are you a frustrated actor or director who doesn’t have the chops to cut it in the industry, so instead you write theater “reviews” (yes, that word deserves to be in quotes) for a freebie throw-away paper? What is even more maddening is that you don’t even have the chops to cut it as a journalist. A real journalist would have been able to separate his distaste of the genre from his enjoyment of the performance. A real journalist would be able to effectively communicate with his readers and differentiate his distain for the script from the amazing performances (those girls can sing!). The show was light-hearted fun with some really great talent – it delivered exactly what it promised. So, what’s the real story here, Mr. Bowen - because we’ve already established you’re not a good enough actor to pull off such a convincing performance if it wasn’t true? Dec 02, 2010 | Reply to this comment

 

After you counted all the Christmas lights, Mr. Bowen, and memorized the license plates, observed the band encased in chicken wire and was thoroughly bored with the oral presentation of the upcoming Musical entertainment by the Director, YA´ MUST HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING! If you would have stayed you would have heard the most lively, innovative and creative fun use of Christmas tunes such as "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" and ´Elvis´ singing "Blue Christmas"......to nostalgic songs like "From a Distance" and "Unclouded Day". This whole program was probably the most fun I have ever had at a Christmas Production!!. The whole audience was laughing, clapping and thoroughly enjoying the entire Holiday Spectacular. The Angels were fun, amusing, beautiful and downright delightful!! And the standing ovation at the end capped off their season, but really just started mine! Thank you, Marina, Emily, Jennifer and Patrice for an amazing Christmas performance. I can´t wait for next year´s production. Dec 12, 2010 | Reply to this comment

 

Honky Tonk Music is part of our American heritage; beginning with the music of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rogers in the 1920’s, the cowboy music in the films of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry the 30’s and ‘40’s, which influenced the hard core honky tonk singers of the 50’s like George Jones and Lefty Frizzell.

In 1952 Kitty Wells recorded "It Wasn´t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", an answer song to Hank Thompson´s "The Wild Side of Life", and responding from the women’s perspective that "It´s a shame that all the blame is on us women." Wells went on to become one of the first “Girl Singers” in country music, breaking into the previous male-dominated world.

I understand and love Honky Tonk music, and have played it in clubs and bars for over 40 years and taught classes on Honky Tonk Guitar.

Some say Honky Tonk music is comprised of the 3 ”B’s” - Butt shakin´, Belt buckle grindin´, and a Big shot of religion. You go to a bar to listen to honky tonk music; get drunk and dance wildly trying to pick up someone, and the next day you need a big shot of religion at church to wash away your sins.

Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular is the 2nd “Honky Tonk” play put on by Interplayers this year; the sequel to Honky Tonk Angels; the hilarious portrayal of 3 good ole girls who met on a bus to Nashville; who now re-unite in a Nashville Honky Tonk for a Christmas concert.

The original Angel cast of Angela, Sue Ellen, and Darlene returns, and a new Angel- Charilee -appears. Each Angel sings solo and in wonderful harmony in the truest Honky Tonk tradition, an each one can belt out a tune or melt your heart.

The Holiday Spectacular merges dozens of country classic songs with Christmas songs combined with some absolutely hilarious skits, and some straight forward song renditions that are so good they elicit tears. At the play’s conclusion we jumped to our feet in standing ovation.

They say If you don’t like country music you have a hole in your soul. The Inlander’s reviewer - Michael Bowen – previously stated he is not a country fan – and proved it last February with his first ignorant review “Honky Tonk Tanks”.

His recent soulless misogynistic vituperation “Scrutinize That Honky” - in which his review only describes the set design and rudely ignores these ladies’ great performances - shows that it’s time to send this troll back under the bridge into his male-dominated world permanently.

Frank Delaney
Dec 12, 2010 | Reply to this comment

 

 
 
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