One of the great things about being a theatre person (the life of which, while rich, is not known for its financial comforts) is that you can almost always see theatre for free. Especially if you have friends in high places. My friend, Matt, is such a feller.
Matt, while young and not fully launched into his career yet, holds extreme power. He is the Box Office Manager at a respected regional theatre. Why is this a powerful position? Well besides being able to hook you up for the latest work at his joint, he can also usually get free tickets at most of the other theatres in town. Such was the situation on Saturday. In fact, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing not one, but TWO shows for free yesterday. An embarrassment of riches. Too bad one of the shows was rich while the other one was, quite frankly, just an embarrassment. More on that later.
My free weekend actually started with Matt the night before. We met up at one of my favorite little local eateries, the Velvet Cantina, where the drinks are stiff, the bartenders pretty and a good and cheap time is usually to be had by all. Matt and I worked our way through 2 margaritas hoping to be moderate in all things. Alas, as 9pm rolled around Matt looked at me and said, "Wanna go to a party?"
Another great thing about theatre people is their ability to throw really fabulous parties. Against my better judgment (as a reformed good time charlie) I trundled off to Brava Theatre with Matt. Matt is the roommate of the artistic director there, a beautiful and vivacious local arts mover and shaker. A party was being thrown for one of their favorite supporters.
Here's the thing about a theatre party - especially as thrown by a leader of an edgy alternative company like Brava - yes, there will be booze, there will be food, there will be music, there will be people boozing and fooding and musicking. However, what you can count on is that it will all be done with the kind of low down, funky style that makes you feel instantly at ease and ready to go all night without a care in the world. As we walked into the party venue, Brava's amazing main space cum old vaudeville stage, the air was filled with laughter and live accordion music. That's right - LIVE ACCORDION MUSIC. I don't know about you but there is nothing that screams "this is going to be a fantastic freaking night" than a super cute hipster chick playing a live accordion.
The rest of the evening, as I remember, was just as fun and funky as that first moment. Impromptu songs by jazz stylists, corner conversations about bike repair and education reform, hugging and kissing galore and a slow wind down to 3:30am with a final stop at El Faralito for the post-party gut buster before falling into bed, soothed, stuffed and ready for dreamland.
As 10:45am rolled painfully around on Saturday (so much for moderation) I got a delightful good morning text from Matt - "So, we gonna do this?". "Well, yes, we are," I thought. Chin up, cup o' joe, quick shower and I was off to Bezerkeley.
Our first stop was Berkeley Rep for a production of You, Nero. In the title of this post I talk about two buds and a dud. Well unfortunately, this is the latter. The attempt, here, was to create a campy little ditty about the life of that infamous boy-emperor Nero. Unfortunately, the jokes are tedious and obvious, the direction clunky and obvious and the performances surprisingly tepid given that this is supposed to be a bawdy sex farce. I will say, however, that Danny Sheie, who plays Nero, does his damned best to infuse this play with life and camp. Camp clearly is his thing and he sure has fun - but it isn't enough to sustain the whole production. If there had been a doctor in the house who heard how many times we groaned at the jokes in this thing ("Nero says he is the new Emperor-sario of the land!" - Groan. Really?) he woulda thought we were about to pass a kidney stone. When I got home and went online to look at the reviews I saw that the Chronicle gave it Wild Applause. Well, there you go.
Before I move on, I do want to point out one particularly offensive moment in this dog. Poppea, Nero's mistress and ultimate frenemy, at one point is enraged that Nero has decided to replace her with a castrated singer who looks uncannily like her. Stalking the stage she screams. " I am gonna kill that fucking faggot!" The audience howls with laughter.
Really?
Wow, here I am in arguably one of the most liberal enclaves in the northern hemisphere and people think it's just a scream to hear someone called a faggot. Astonishing. Simply astonishing. I tried to imagine said eunuch being a black man and having Poppea scream out, "I am gonna kill that fucking nig*%r!". Wouldn't happen. Not a chance. In some ways I don't blame the lemmings in the audience. We still live in an age where the homosexual is the source of derision, the butt of the joke (Proposition 8 anyone?). But director Sharon Ott and writer Amy Freed should know better. Shame on you both.
Thankfully, my evening ended on a much better note. I had the great delight of seeing the West Coast Premiere of Bob Glaudini's Jack Goes Boating at the Aurora Theatre - right next door to Berkely Rep. Two pot smoking limo drivers (thus "two buds") search for love and meaning in the most seemingly mundane of lives. Truth be told, this is probably more of a movie than a play (and it will be in your cineplexes soon directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman) but Aurora's production delights - terrific performances (especially by the fantastic Danny Wolohan as the eponymous rasta Jack), precise yet fluid direction by Joy Carlin, accessible yet penetrating writing and gorgeously realized sets and lights make this a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theatre.
So ended my 24 hours of fun, mostly free, immersed in the theatre. I laughed, I cried and there were definitely two things better than Cats. Sorry, Nero. Maybe next time.
(click here for discount info)
2081 Addison Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
510-843-4822
(click here for discounts)
2025 Addison Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
510-647-2949
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