Bloglander

Going through the slog of rehearsals (and all the rest of life) lately, Bobo has been reminded of the time, energy and commitment that it takes to put on a show.

(While I'm playing the Duke in The Comedy of Errors at SFCC, directed by Bill Marlowe and running March 4-14, local theater types will have plenty of chance to sneer at Mr. Critical Critic Head.)

Those of us who have theater hobbies do it because we love it. But it's salutory for Bobo to be reminded, periodically, of what it all entails. How will I do at auditions? Will I get the part I want? Are these other actors any good? Are they better than me? Will they like me? And how bad will the dressing rooms smell?

What kind of director will he be? Is he going to subject us to some outlandish interpretaion? Will I be able to memorize my lines? What am I gonna look like in my costume? Do the tech people know what they're doing? Will anybody show up to watch? Will I get along with the other actors? Are they really that young? Am I really that old? Is there an alternative to pounding my lines by reading, typing, annotating and reciting them in the car on the way to work? (No, there is not. And as for mouthing the words while riding the bus -- well, people tend to give you concerned looks.) And does it all feel, in the days just before opening, as if it's all going to crash and burn? (Of course. It always does.) And is there anything like that can't-wait-to-open, ready-for-an-audience, got-a-wonderful-story-to-tell feeling? (No, there isn't.)

We MAY crash and burn -- I'm taking a stereotyped chance with my character that some are going to hate -- but Bill has proven to be a master at directing physical comedy, and the cast is great. (They're just kids. Old enough to be their father, I don't fit in, not really. And yet, as usual, there's that don't-really-know-him, I-only-know-her-first-name nodding acquaintance, and yet when running lines or experimenting with a new bit of comic business -- and Marlowe LOVES his bits of comic business -- there's also that wonderful sense that we're all in this together, walking the tightrope, might belly-flop but also might not, we're just adults playing and creating and trusting one another, exposed to public glare and to hell with the nay-sayers.

None of which is unique or special -- there are millions of people bitten by the bug. But as a kind of corrective to the next time I might feel like savaging a show, it's useful about once a year, when scheduling permits (and even when not), just to do what the people I criticize do. And be reminded that it ain't so easy.

And yes, I savaged Honky Tonk Angels. But then apparently the director of that show, Reed McColm (who I am honored to call a friend) is going to review our Comedy of Errors right on this very blog.

(And I adapted the script, too, so if you're a Shakespearean purist who's offended by the replacement of archaic insults with words like "wanker" and "douchebag," then you're also going to get all riled up about that.)

[photo: Royal Shakespeare Company actors rehearsing Henry V; from rsc.org.uk]

At last, evidence that Spokane is not the worst when it comes to prudish, holier-than-thou objections to not-all-that-racy aspects of pop culture.

There are those in Colorado Springs who object to obsessive [um, excessive — now there's a Freudian slip for you] cleavage.

On a foam-rubber puppet.

Now, depictions of homosexuals -- as long as they look like nice, clean-cut Republican boys -- well, that's just hunky-dory.

Sunday, March 14, at 2 pm, and on Monday, March 15, at 6 pm Callbacks, if needed, on Tuesday, March 16, at 6 pm at St. Aloysius School, 611 E Mission Ave.

Based on the popular children's series of books by Gertrude Chandler Warner, this dramatic play follows the adventures of four orphans determined to remain together in Depression-era America.

Director Dawn Taylor-Reinhart seeks four children (ages 8-16) and four adult actors: 2M, 2W. This show is NOT a musical. Cold readings.Performances: May 22-June 6 Visit spokanechildrenstheatre.org or call 328-4886.

Feb. 26-March 21 on the main stage at Spokane Civic Theatre directed by George Green

See the Jan. 24 post on this blog.

by Robert Harling (off-Broadway, 1987; the movie premiered in 1989) directed by George Green

Kelsey Strom as Annelle Dupuy Desoto (played by Daryl Hannah in the movie)

Bethany Hart as Shelby Eatenton Latcherie (Julia Roberts)

Melody Deatherage as M'Lynn Eatenton (Sally Field) Molly Parish as Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton)

Wendy Carroll as Clairee Belcher (Olympia Dukakis)

Kathie Doyle-Lipe as Louisa "Ouiser" Boudreaux (Shirley MacLaine)

Truvy's beauty parlor is the gathering spot for six women. M'Lynn's daughter Shelby is getting married, Annelle is the newcomer to town, Clairee and Ouiser do a fair amount of bickering, and the action extends over three years.

In a small town in Louisiana, six women frequently gather at Truvy's beauty parlor to share stories and friendship. M'Lynn's daughter Shelby is getting married, Annelle is the newcomer to town, Clairee and Ouiser do a fair amount of bickering, and the action extends over three years.

For four performances on the next two Saturdays, the Civic's co-playwright in residence, Sandra Hosking, is bringing Scottish playwright David Harrower's harrowing sexual-abuse-but-there's-more-to-it two-hander drama, Blackbird, to Spokane.

Bobo conducted an e-mail interview with Hosking. (The production is an Inlander Pick in the Feb. 25 issue.)

Bobo: Harrower's dialogue looks like free verse on the page. How has that affected rehearsals? Hosking: The story drew me to the play, and the poetic dialogue made me decide to produce the show. The lines have repetition and a certain pattern that have created a challenge for the actors. Our goal is to bring out the rhythms of the poetry, so the story is compelling to watch and beautiful to listen to.

What specifically have Harrower and you, as director, done a) to make Ray seem like less of a creep and b) to make Una seem like less of a victim? Good question. Blackbird would be an uninteresting play if the characters were so simple. The audience will hear both sides of their stories and each character will have his and her moments of grace and ugliness. I give a lot of credit to my actors: Jamie Flanery has found Ray’s vulnerabilities, making him more human and less of a monster, while Emily Hiller has tapped into Una’s strength.

Fifteen years ago, he had the power over her; now she has the power over him (she could ruin his life). What specific details of your production indicate this power reversal? Harrower has written that power struggle in his dialogue and storyline. Once the characters enter the room, they are moving along a narrow metaphoric ledge. At various moments in the play, they come dangerously close to the edge and take turns nearly falling off. At any moment, Una can decide to walk out the door and tell Ray’s co-workers about his past. He knows this, and this creates a wonderful tension. Even a seemingly insignificant action, such as one character asking the other for a drink of water, becomes a struggle between them.

Would you prefer, or not, that I write around the premise, maybe not reveal their ages? ( see 10/1/08 post on this blog ) I don’t think it’s a problem to mention their ages, but please don’t give away the twist at the end. You could say there’s a twist though. I’m telling people it’s for mature audiences only.

Just some reminders, listed by closing date ...

Charlotte's Web, Spokane Children's Theater at SCC, thru 2/28
High School Musical, Lake City Playhouse, thru 3/4
Blackbird, West Central Community Center, Feb. 27 and March 6
Is He Dead? (by Mark Twain), Whitworth, 3/5-13
Love, Sex and the IRS, Ignite readers theater, 3/12 at G.U. and 3/14 at Blue Door
Beauty and the Beast, Theater Arts for Children, Spokane Valley, 2/26-3/14
The Comedy of Errors, SFCC, 3/4-14
Romeo and Juliet, EWU, 3/3-15
The Wizard of Oz, Christian Youth Theater, 2/26-3/17
Steel Magnolias, Spokane Civic Theater main stage, 2/26-3/21
Dearly Beloved, Sixth St. Melodrama, Wallace, 3/5-24
Art, Interplayers, 3/11-27
The Nightingale, SCT at SFCC, 3/20-28
Lysistrata, Gonzaga, 3/25-29
Amadeus, Lake City Playhouse, 3/25-4/4
The Spitfire Grill, Civic's Studio Theater, 3/19-4/11
Little House on the Prairie, INB Center, April 8-11

[ photo: playwright Yasmina Reza (Art), from le-media.fr ]

It’s not often that a single obsolete phrase, buried deep within the city’s Website, sparks outrage and scandal.

But so it is with the three letters, “CPA,” that, until recently, were appended to Chief Financial Officer Gavin Cooley’s name on one city treasurer’s Web page. The problem: Since 2006, Cooley had allowed his certified public accountant credentials to expire.

“You’re not performing as a public accountant at all,” Cooley says about his city duties. And since renewing the certification takes 120 hours over three years, it wasn’t worth the time to keep it up, he says. Cooley removed the term “CPA” from his business cards and his letterheads, but says he had no clue about the treasurer’s Website.

But Ron Wright — a former Riverside, Calif., police officer and longtime River Park Square scandal observer — thinks there’s more to it. He says that Cooley simultaneously let his CPA credentials lapse in order to escape the oversight such a designation brings and let the CPA title linger on one Web page in order to fool, say, bond raters into thinking he was more trustworthy.

A citizen task force asked to review the city’s process for getting initiatives on the ballot remained deeply split over City Council suggestions to change the process.

Presently, groups seeking to place an initiative up for vote can write their own title and ballot summary. Changes to have city attorneys write these up were suggested in the wake of last year’s Proposition 4, which called for a citizen’s bill of rights and was seen as disingenuous in its summary and cost analysis. Councilman Jon Snyder says the new ordinance was proposed by former city councilman Al French, Envision Spokane’s Thomas Linzey, assistant city attorney Mike Piccolo and councilman Richard Rush.

Did the task force reach consensus between the old and new?

“No,” says Ann Murphy of the League of Women Voters, tasked with running the task force. “Basically, the group wanted less control by the council.” But by working under a consensus arrangement and not taking votes, the task force basically presented the City Council with a split decision on who writes the title, when are appeals allowed and whether initiatives must have financial analysis.