The Mischief Theatre production of The Play That Goes Wrong, written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields, could be subtitled Laurel & Hardy meet the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges with a sprinkling of the comic antics of Max Sennett and Charlie Chaplin, who before “talkies,” entertained film-going audiences with his hilarious slapstick routines.

Incorporating various elements of physical and visual comedy, the madcap antics  begin as the audience is taking its seats.   Stagehands are checking props and set pieces in anticipation of the opening night of, The Murder at Haversham Manor, presented by The Cornley University Drama Society.  The plot centers on a murder that has taken place on the eve of the engagement of Florence Colleymoore (Jamie Ann Romero) to Charles Haversham (Yaegel T. Welch).   The lighting and sound operator, wonderfully played by Brandon J. Ellis, is trying to close a door which, despite many attempts, simply won’t stay closed.  A great example of building on a comedic action, it stays closed for a second or two and then reopens.  Another visual gag centers around a piece of wood one of the actors is trying to attach as a mantle but it keeps falling off.  The same actor is attempting to find a way to keep the door closed while at the same time holding up the mantle piece.  He accomplishes this through the use of various limbs.  The stage manager, Annie (Angela Grovey), comes to the rescue of the malfunctioning props wielding a giant role of masking tape, which she uses to secure the mantle.

More slapstick antics ensue and remember all this is taking place before the actual play begins.  Later on, when the grieving fiancée has a fainting spell, Annie steps in and reads her lines from the script.  Subsequently, because she’s enjoying “acting,” she gets into a physical confrontation with the actress playing Colleymore, who is dragged off stage through a pane-less window by the other actors.

With set pieces seemingly under control, and before the action actually begins, a speech is given to the audience by the director – not the brilliant original Broadway director Mark Bell or the National Tour Director Matt DiCarlo, but the play within the play director, characterized by talented Evan Alexander Smith, who also plays Inspector Carter.  Confused?  That’s ok.  It is confusing, but laughter abounds every step of the way. He addresses the audience thanking them for their patience and apologizes for the mix-up to those people thinking apologizes they bought tickets to a performance of Hamilton.  He gives some background on the 1920 mystery thriller and the action finally begins with the dead body of murdered Charles stretched out on the sofa.  However, it’s hard for him to stay dead and every once in a while he moves a different part of his body.

Inspector Carter arrives and tries to hang up his coat, but there is no hook and his coat falls to the floor, which he ignores.  This is just one of the myriad sight gags that will keep you laughing.  Another comedic element is the split “bad timing” on some of the dialogue where the reaction comes before the actual line.  For example, but not necessarily in the play, someone says, “God bless you” before the sneeze.  An actual example is when bad-tasting whiskey is poured and the actors spit it out with the line “That’s the best whiskey I’ve ever had.” These miss-timed or contradictory lines permeate the entire play resulting in the audience trying to catch its collective breath as these moments appear at an accelerated rate.  At one point, the inspector is late on his entrance so the rest of the cast freezes in place until he finally appears and delivers his line.  The audience even got into the act.  One of the characters is looking for something and someone yells, “Look under the chair!”

In the genre of farce or slapstick, the brilliantly designed “non-functional” set by Nigel Hook is absolutely spot on as just when you thought nothing else could malfunction, something does.  Another comical moment is when the inspector, along with Cecil Haversham, (Ned Noyes) brother of the deceased Charles, attempt to remove the body from the parlor sofa.   As the not really dead body is laid on top of a stretcher, it collapses leaving a gaping hole where the canvas should be but, ignoring that mishap, they carry out an empty stretcher.  The actor playing Charles (Yaegel T. Welch) knows he shouldn’t still be on stage and slowly, ever so slowly, crawls off and despite being “dead,” turns up unexpectedly from time to time throughout the play where he is reminded by another cast member that he’s supposed to be dead.  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Perkins the butler, who constantly screws up his lines and misses cues.  This delightful character is wonderfully played by Scott Cote.   With his almost operatic, beautiful bass booming voice, the most imposing Peyton Crim plays Florence’s brother Thomas Colleymoore.  He is a master of visual comedy and perched high above the stage, uses just about every part of his body from head to toe to keep the set pieces from falling to the floor below.  Despite one technical snafu after another, all of which are ignored by the actors, Inspector Carter finally solves the crime.  This is not a spoiler, but think Charles’ brother Cecil and the heart broken fiancée, Florence.  I hope this is not TMI.

Contributing to the awesome technical elements of this production are Ric Mountjoy’s excellent lighting design, Roberto Surace’s costumes, Andrew Johnson’s sound design and Rob Falconer’s pre-set original “goofy” or “silly” music, which set the tone on what silliness lay ahead.

“The Play That Went Wrong”

Ahmanson Theatre
135 N. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Run: Tuesday – Friday:  8:00 pm
Saturday:    2:00 pm & 8:00 pm
Sunday:       1:00 pm & 6:30 pm

Tickets: $30 – $135
(ticket prices are subject to change)

Closing: Sunday, August 11, 2019 – 1:00 pm

Reservations:  (213) 972-4400 or www.CenterTheatreGroup.org
Groups: (213) 972-7231.
Deaf community: CenterTheatreGroup.org/ACCESS

The post The Hilarious “The Play That Goes Wrong” Entertains at the Ahmanson Theatre appeared first on Traveling Archive.

With book by Dominique Morisseau based on “The Temptations” by Otis Williams with Patricia Romanowski and music and lyrics from The Legendary Motown Catalog, under the magical, dazzling direction of Des McAnuff, with astounding, razor sharp choreography by Sergio Trujillo, what unfolded on the Ahmanson Theatre stage was nothing short of a theatrical miracle depiction into the life and times of The Temptations. Told through the prism of Otis Williams, founding member of this iconic group, Derrick Baskin as Williams, gives a brilliant performance as both the narrator of the group’s odyssey, as well as his participation in the explosive song and dance routines. What is particularly outstanding is that this is truly an incredibly talented ensemble with each and every performer on that stage delivering knockout song and dance numbers.

The story begins in Detroit where Otis is living in a city housing project. As was common back then, he and his talented friends, Paul Williams (James Harkness,) Melvin Franklin (Jawan M. Jackson,) Eddie Kendricks (Jeremy Pope,) and David Ruffin (Ephraim Sykes) use to hang out either in front of the their building or on the street and harmonize which would become their signature sound later in their careers. I’m sure in their wildest imaginations they couldn’t conceive of what lay ahead for them; that with their unique sound and almost militaristic dance moves, they would become the greatest R&B group of all time. Their career would span 55 years, creating 42 Top Ten Hits, 14 #1 songs, three Grammys, induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and over the years, 24 different group members.

One of the first groups to inspire Otis was The Cadillacs who he saw on stage at Detroit’s Fox Theatre. The different locations in which the story takes place are illuminated both by Robert Brill’s amazing rotating scenic design and Peter Nigrini’s creative projection design, which is used throughout the play depicting the different settings.

After a brief incarceration, Otis vows never go to jail again and pursues his music in earnest. He suggests the name of the group be The Otis Williams Band but the other singers didn’t respond positively and they came up with the name of The Elgins. After bouncing around for a while, they meet Berry Gordy, played by Jahi Kearse, who captures the iron fist in a velvet glove demeanor. Gordy has just formed a new label called Motown, and signs The Elgins, assigning Smokey Robinson (Christian Thompson) for “quality control” and to write songs for this new group renamed “The Temptations.” In one of the many amusing scenes, Otis is on a street running after Melvin to talk to him. He needs a deep bass, but Melvin keeps eluding him until he finally gets tired and stops. Otis asks him, “Why were you running away from me?” Melvin replies, “I thought you were going to rob me.”

The Temptations begin to get second billing under such groups as “The Contours” and “The Velvettes.” Their rise to fame was not meteoric, as their first 24 singles did not hit the charts until “My Girl,” which went to #1. Otis asks Gordy if he could write some songs, but he says no as he just wants him to concentrate on singing and dancing. Time passes and The Temptations still have second billing, this time after The Supremes. A little romance sweetens the story as Melvin develops a crush on Mary Wilson and Otis falls in love with Josephine, wonderfully acted and sung by Rashidra Scott. Eventually they marry and have a son named Lamont, played by Shawn Bowers. Cracks begin to develop in the marriage because her husband is away for weeks and sometimes months and she wants him off the road. Gordy decides the group needs a manager and he introduces the guys to Shelly Berger, well played by Joshua Morgan.

A particularly funny moment is when the guys do a double take, as Berger is Caucasian. With his guidance, the group is now appearing on such programs as American Bandstand singing some of their hits including, “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me,)” “I Can’t Get Next to You,” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and the song which is the show’s title, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” During this time period, the backdrop is civil unrest in the country, including riots in Detroit, and despite their fame, their bus is fired upon with nasty racial epitaphs shouted at them by white nationalists. There are also drug problems within the group. David Ruffin falls victim to drug use causing him to become vocally challenged and bitter. The group also looses Eddie to lung cancer. On a lighter note, during a recording session, one of the Temps doesn’t want to sing “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” He thinks the song is stupid and doesn’t like the opening line, which refers to the Third of September, his daddy’s birthday. So during the session, he deliberately spits out the first two lines, which is quite funny.

Under McAnuff’s crisp, dazzling direction, the show is perfectly paced and we are treated to hearing some of The Temptations iconic hits such as, “For Once in My Life,” “I Can’t Get Next to You,” “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” “I Wish It Would Rain,” “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” “In the Still of the Night,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me,” “My Girl,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” and “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” At the end of each number, the audience response was deafening. As for me? I smiled throughout the evening.

Along with the rest of the production team, which consists of Howell Binkley’s Lighting Design, Paul Tazewell’s authentic period Costume Design, and Steve Canyon Kennedy’s Sound Design, other members of this talented musical cast include, Esther Antoine, Shawn Bowers, E. Clayton Cornelious, Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Taylor Symone Jackson, Jahi Kearse, Jarvis B. Manning Jr., Joshua Morgan, Saint Aubyn, Nasia Thomas, Christian Thompson, Curtis Wiley and Candice Marie Woods.

“Ain’t Too Proud—The Life and Times of The Temptations”
Ahmanson Theatre 135 N. Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012
Run: Tuesday – Friday: 8:00 pm Saturday: 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm Sunday: 1:00 pm & 6:30 pm Tickets: $30 – $160
Closing: Sunday, September 30, 2018
Running Time: 2 hours & 30 minutes
Reservations: (213) 972-4400 or here.
Groups: (213) 972-7231.
Deaf community

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