The Lyons: ☼ ☼ ☼

Bear in mind, Nicky Silver's "The Lyons" is a comedy. But Mom, Dad, Junior and Sis, your quintessential nuclear family, it ain't. Dad's dying of cancer and barely tolerates his two children, who despise their parents and aren't too fond of each other either. Everyone is lost and one will soon be dead.

Ben Lyons (Will Marchetti), the patriarch, is a foul-mouthed wreck of a man, who is said to be wasting away but it seems more likely his wife Rita (Ellen Ratner)'s prattling will put him away first. Ratner's Rita is perfect. At first she appears to be socially inept, but we come to realize she is just plain nasty, ecstatic to soon be rid of Ben so she can remodel the living room. There is no visible hope for their helpless alcoholic daughter Lisa (Jessica Bates) nor her gay and pathetic brother Curtis (Nicholas Pelczar).

Still, Act One is quite funny: we have hope. In Act Two those hopes are quashed, although we do see each family member make a limping stride or two towards what optimists might call recovery. (Of course none of their choices, such as Lisa's falling in love with a terminally ill lymphoma patient, has a shred of possibility of success.) Nurse Jeanette (Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe) tries to inject a little humanity into the situation and eventually does reach Curtis; Joe Estlack plays Brian, who takes over the beginning of Act Two with a particularly desperate story of his own.

Disfunction does lead to humor. "The Lyons" is funny while you're seeing it but you really don't want to spend much time thinking about it afterwards.

RATINGS ☼ ☼ ☼
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "The Lyons" Three Stars,  two for the brilliant performance of Ellen Ratner and the third for director Barbara Dameshek, because she drips a little sardonic humor into every show she touches. This is Nicky Silver's first show that made it all the way to Broadway. It's funny and disturbing, probably in that order.

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"The Lyons"

The Aurora Theatre

2081 Addison Street, Berkeley

EXTENDED Through March 8

$35-$80

Hey, Hey LBJ: UNRATED

Normally, we would not post a review of a show in developmental stage, but David Kleinberg's "Hey, Hey LBJ" is already a gripping piece of theater. It is both Kleinberg's memoir of being a military journalist during the Vietnam War and an honest depiction of the lunacy of that war. He plays several characters, including his fellow journalists and the officers to whom they reported, in a time frame that bounces back and forth between 1967 in the combat zone to a reunion of survivors in the late 1990s.

The video flashbacks of President Johnson attempting to explain the burgeoning disaster of this war to the American people are horrifying to watch, especially if you are old enough to remember how surreal it all seemed at the time. In an era when our country seems to be eternally engaged in foreign adventures, it would be good to remember Vietnam and the lessons we all should have learned.
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RATINGS: The San Francisco Theater Blog never rates a show in development. But "Hey, Hey, LBJ" is already as strong as quite a few shows we've seen on larger stages. We'll keep our eye out for it and we hope you do too.

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David Kleinberg: "Hey, Hey, LBJ"

No shows planned at present

"Tree" ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

Growing up white in a small Louisiana town, author Julie Hébert did not suffer from the explicit racism that tormented some of her friends. Though race is the backdrop to Hébert's "Tree," the story is about far more than that. This is a testament to the power of love and family, a love so strong that it defies the stereotyped expectations of those who have come after.

Cathleen Riddley plays Mrs. Jessalyn Price, the aging mother who most of the time spews senile craziness, while Carl Lumbly is her son and caretaker Leo, a chef with aspirations to open his own restaurant. Mrs. Price and Leo live in a house in Chicago, strewn with packing boxes, where Leo's daughter JJ (Tristan Cunningham) takes care of Mrs. Price while Leo is at work.

 The Price's world is turned sideways by the appearance of Didi Marcantel (Susi Damilano), whose father has died recently, leading her to the suspicion that Leo is her half-brother from her father's long-ago liaison with Mrs. Price, an unspoken story which carries conflicting connotations for Didi and the Prices.

Or so it seems. Since Didi is white and the Prices are black, many assumptions have already been made. But are they accurate?  The truth can be determined only by discovering which of the elderly Mrs. Price's loony ramblings may turn out not be crazy at all.

The show drags a bit in the middle. We're not sure why they keep letting Didi into the house. The nude scene is...weird.

But these are quibbles. We have to let go when we see "Tree," because the story is about discovery, and taking chances, and being willing to investigate our fears, to open our old boxes, in order to move forward and find new meaning in life. It's a journey we all need to take.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division is happy to award Julie Hébert's "Tree" Three Stars with a BANGLE OF PRAISE, one star each for acting, directing and story, and a BANGLE for Nina Ball's explosive set. All those boxes on the stage are the real metaphor for this story and we relish our slow discovery as the show surges towards the finale.
 

"Tree"

San Francisco Playhouse

450 Post Street, San Francisco

Through March 7, 2015

$20-$120

"2 Pianos 4 Hands" ☼ ☼ BANG

It's a great idea for a show, which is why Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra's "2 Pianos 4 Hands" has won every possible honor in the authors' native Canada and has been performed all over the world for close to twenty years. It is the story of the triumphs and struggles of two piano prodigies from the same Montreal neighborhood, stretching from their early childhood well into adulthood.

Richard (Christopher Tocco) and Ted (Darren Dunstan) are both terrific pianists but classical music has absorbed them. Neither has friends, nor outside interests. They live in a world of constant competition and impossible expectations, from their parents, their teachers and from themselves.

We wish we cared more. This could be such a deep story; instead Tocco and Dunstan play strictly for laughs. The opening, especially, feels like Victor Borge on the Ed Sullivan Show. But the gags have little heart behind them; worse than that we are showed the two pianists' struggles but none of their pleasure. Perhaps this is the story the authors wish to tell -- the misery of the endless grind.

While Greenblatt and Dykstra may have been piano masters as well as excellent actors, neither Tocco nor Dunstan excite us when they play. The show, which is basically about two classical musicians who who are never quite good enough to be stars in their world, would pack a lot more emotion with two fabulous pianists than two good comedians.

The finale is exactly what we expect: Piano Man.

Each actor plays multiple roles and we enjoyed these bit parts quite a bit, such as Dunstan's rendering of the poor man at the Kiwanis Club who had to listen to four hundred pairs of children playing the same 4-hand recital piece. Likewise, Tocco's music school professor who rejects Ted's audition made our skin crawl.  The authors took every opportunity to exorcise a lot of their early demons.

But in the end, though this is an interesting story it breaks little new ground. We wish the characters showed more depth and that the music itself could help us see more than two actors who can also play piano.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "2 Pianos 4 Hands" TWO STARS WITH A BANGLE OF PRAISE. Though this leaves the show below the Julie Andrews Line (see right side bar for explanation of ratings), it does deserve a BANGLE OF PRAISE for Richard's excellent summary of the classical musician's dilemma: "I feel guilty when I don't practice, and inadequate when I do."

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"2 Pianos 4 Hands"

Mountain View Center for the Arts

500 Castro Street, Mountain View

Through February 15

$19-$34

Josh Kornbluth: Haiku Tunnel: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

There aren't a lot of performers who can walk out onto stage and without explanation launch immediately into a 25-year-old piece. Josh Kornbluth's "Haiku Tunnel," first performed at the Marsh in 1990, is a period piece replete with references to outmoded computer programs and dictation machines, yet we follow along gratefully as Kornbluth explains to us exactly why his dream job is turning into a nightmare. No matter how crazy it all is, we can't help but cheer for Josh and hope he manages to score a few more points with the beautiful lawyer with her tax problem.

The Marsh is re-running several of its hit shows from the nineties as part of its 25th Anniversary Celebration. "Haiku Tunnel," which followed "Red Diaper Baby" and led onward to several Kornbluth classics including "Ben Franklin Unplugged" and co-writing "Mr. Smith Goes to Obscuristan" for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, keeps the jokes coming by giving us characters as alive today as twenty five years ago. We particularly loved his co-worker Clifford's bar story ("Jack, you owe me an apology"), his canine-rich description of the young lawyers yapping around the office searching for billable hours, and of course Bob Shelby's mantra at the end.

How many times has Josh Kornbluth performed this show? They even made a movie out of it. But it still feels as fresh as a (Mike) Daisy. What a delight.

RATINGS ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Haiku Tunnel" Three Stars with a BANGLE OF PRAISE. There isn't a lot to the story, and we don't really grow or learn anything about the character, but the journey is a rich one. The BANGLE is for his priceless reminder of what it was like to format columns on Word Perfect. We love this show.

(Incidentally, the last show that earned a SFTB ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG rating was another wonderful comedy, "Recipe," written by Michael Gene Sullivan, a collaborator of Kornbluth's, and Josh Kornbluth was sitting right across the aisle at that one. Obviously, the man knows fine humor.)

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Josh Kornbluth: "Haiku Tunnel"

The Marsh

1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco 

Thu-Sat through February 7 

$20-$35 sliding scale

Peter and the Starcatcher: ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

If you are familiar with Peter Pan, which probably includes the entire theater-going population of America, you can't help but love Rick Elice's "Peter and the Starcatcher." Based on the successful twenty-first century novels by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, we now have all the "how exactlys" that have concerned us since we were children, like how exactly did Captain Hook lose his hand, and how exactly did the Lost Boys get lost on that island, and how is it, exactly, that Peter managed to never grow up? 

The ensemble cast is all excellent. Patrick Kelly Jones plays Black Stache, the evil both-handed pirate (for awhile), who wants the lighting correct for all his scenes; Tim Homsley, in his first Theatreworks role, is the nameless orphan who becomes Peter; Adrienne Walters is Molly, without whom there could have been no Wendy; and Suzanne Grodner is the delightfully malaproping Smee, the captain's right-hand man, oh, oops.

We cannot forget to mention Michael Gene Sullivan in a quartet of roles, especially Captain Fighting Prawn, as well as Ron Campbell's alliteration-enhanced Betty Bumbrake.

The puns, double entendres and belly laughs fly fast and furious. And we promise one of the funniest scenes of the year when you discover exactly what DID happen to Black Stache's right hand.

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Peter and the Starcatcher" Four Stars with a BANGLE of PRAISE.  The thing we love best about this show is it doesn't take itself all that seriously, but reaches full-out for each joke without shame. The dialogue might refer to pirate ships or cell phone ads, and who knew about Norse Code? But it all works, and Robert Kelley keeps both feet on the throttle at all times.

The BANGLE of PRAISE is for the death scene of that right hand. Since we already know Black Stache is destined to become Captain Hook, Patrick Kelly Jones's agonizing trip around the treasure chest, never showing us his hand, is absolutely priceless. Take your kids; take your grandparents.

"Peter and the Starcatcher"

Lucie Stern Theatre

1350 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

Through January 3, 2015

$19-$74

Promises, Promises: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG

We get two excellent lead performances (Jeffrey Brian Adams as Chuck Baxter and Monique Hafen as Fran Kubelik), plus two equally first-rate supporting roles (Corinne Proctor as Marge and Ray Reinhardt as Dr. Dreyfuss). We also get a hall of fame book writer (Neil Simon) and two multi-Grammy winning songwriters (Burt Bacharach and Hal David). What can go wrong?

It's the passage of time. Bacharach's music that was cutting-edge in 1968 has become the province of elevators and supermarkets. With the exception of two or three songs (one of which, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," sung by Hafen and Adams, is a true showstopper), the sound track is peppy, but forgettable. Simon's story, taken from the Billy Wilder film "The Apartment," has some great one-liners, but we all know where it's going. And since the score is wildly jazzy, the six office workers, three men and three women, would have to have been selected to sing first and dance second. Their singing is fine.

Johnny Moreno is good as the big boss. We can understand why the innocent Fran would choose to have an affair with him, but he is a shark in a shallow pool. They all are. The men are forever pulling up their pants and putting on their coats, while the women wait for the divorce that will never come.

In the end, love conquers all. That's nice. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. But that song isn't in "Promises, Promises."

RATINGS: ☼ ☼ ☼ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division awards "Promises, Promises" Three Stars with a BANGLE of PRAISE. Having seen the show on the last night of Previews, it is possible the cast will sing and dance itself into the smooth ensemble feel this score demands. The music and lyrics may echo a different time, but "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "You'll Think of Someone" and "Whoever You Are I Love You" are timeless songs. The BANGLE is for Adams and Hafen, both of whom are becoming stars before our eyes.

"Promises, Promises"

San Francisco Playhouse

450 Post Street, San Francisco

(Second Floor of Kensington Park Hotel)

Through January 10, 2015

$20-$120