THE GAME IS AFOOT AT FAC WITH KEN LUDWIG'S BASKERVILLE

There is a master class in hilarity, invention, and pure joy going on at the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College  right now, and it is called Ken Ludwig's Baskerville. The show is a tour-de-force of farce, satire, homage, performed with an intense amount of ability and talent by both cast and crew, with a team of designers and direction as brilliant as Sherlock Holmes himself.

The play is a comedy in the vein of The 39 Steps, with five actors portraying around 40 roles and giving a comedic version of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound of the Baskervilles. The action of the play takes us all over both London, Devonshire and the Moors, with what feels like more scenes than some films. The tone is definitely madcap- a joyous insouciance that makes you happy to be alive, and like you are part of something unique as you watch it. The plot stays true to the original source, and I am fairly certain that Holmes's purists will enjoy it. I know my wife, who has read all of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories several times over, loved the show just as much as I did.

The cast, to a one, is superb. As Sherlock Holmes, Christopher Joel Onken is outstanding. Onken captures the character perfectly, showcasing both the ridiculousness and charisma that makes Holmes Holmes. As the trusted sidekick Doctor Watson, Colin Alexander is outstanding. Together, they are the straight men to a cavalcade of characters, played with inspiration and gleeful madness by Andrew Wilkes, Jordan Mathews, and Rebecca Myers. These three actors play about ten characters a pieced, sometimes changing character in a matter of seconds. They are each formidable talents, who I suspect must secretly be magicians of some sort to be able to pull off all the tricks they do.

The production is directed by the great Nathan Halvorson, who knows how to do comedy, farce, and pretty much any style of theatre there is, about as good as anyone I know of. The action is blindingly fast, always creative, and a marvel to behold. The set, by Erick D. Diaz, is brilliant- evocative of so many familiar places- Holme's study, the Moors, the typical English Manor, etc. And yet, within all these locations, there are surprise elements, clever use of minimal pieces, and again a sense of joy and wonder, you see each setting with new eyes. Same can be said for the lush lighting by Jennifer Reiser, which is scary when it needs to be scary, warm when it needs to be warm, and always supporting the mood and action of the moment. The many props, which at times literally fly across the stage, are by Emma Dean, and are wonderful. The costumes, designed by Noelle Raffy, are gorgeous and perfect. Hair and make-up by Jonathan Eberhardt, which must be insane to do when you have three actors playing over 35 roles, is brilliant. Quick changes abound in this show, and to a one, each was done perfectly, thanks to the outstanding costumes and hair and make-up designs.

As you may have noticed, I think this show was fantastic. Performances continue through October 29. Don't be a fool- get your tickets and go. You won't be sorry!

For more information of the show, click HERE.

WE MUST REJOICE OR WE WILL ALL GO MAD

There's this scene in the film Jesus' Son, where Billy Cruddup's character, a heroin addict with the charming name "Shit head", witnesses a car crash. Shit head is completely lost, and seeing something terrible happen. Yet even so, he takes a step back, and looks around at the road and the surrounding trees and the shine on the rain covered asphalt- and says something about how beautiful it all is.  It all, as I interpreted it, meaning the world.

I get that.

I think the world is beautiful. I think people often suck, that death is a drag, and that too often we
human beings make unbelievably stupid choices that result in destruction. And I find the world magnificent. At almost every moment.

Maybe I'm crazy.

I've been working on several different shows the past few months. I just helped a group of teen agers at a high school for troubled youth produce a play they created out of nothing in just six weeks. Some of these teens have already been arrested, or abused, or bullied- but somehow we managed to find a way to create something that we all cared about and were proud of- a play title "A World Gone Mad". Watching a group of people who have every right imaginable to be cynical find hope and glory and the insane giddiness of putting on costumes and speaking in front of others is, borrow a line from Ray Bradbury, a medicine for melancholy.

I have another medicine I want you all to take. It's called Lend Me A Tenor. 'Tis a farce by Ken Ludwig I am directing for Inspire/Creative that opens next weekend at the Old Schoolhouse Theatre in Parker. It's silly and stupid and improbable and revels in the lunatic aspect of existence. I have assembled a cast of magicians of the soul, and all they do is make me laugh at ever rehearsal. I love them and I love the show and I love being alive, so get your ass out to Parker and smile.

If you are short on scratch, we have a free preview Thursday November 12 at 7:30. Yeah, free. So what's your excuse now?

The world beats us up enough, don't help it in the task.

RECKLESS AND INSANE

We open MOON OVER BUFFALO at the Wolf Theatre Academy at the Denver JCC this Wednesday. It's going well. No, it's going fantastically. What is really amazing is watching these young lions of the theatre figure the show out- to see their eyes grow wide when a comic moment occurs to them, they try it, and it works. I swear, sometimes I think I can see them literally grow taller on stage.  I learn so much from my students. I think the world would be a better place if everyone, for just a month, had to teach young people. Anyhow, we are having a blast, the show is hilarious, and the piece has a gigantic heart. The glee is palpable. The show itself is a love letter to theatre, to being brave and scared and inspired and crazy. Happily, everyone involved in the show loves the theatre as much, if not more, than I do. Every rehearsal, we find something new. Every rehearsal, someone takes a risk, finds a greater truth, and adds to the show. I think the essence of the show is said best in a monologue the character George has in Act Two. It goes like this:

"Think, woman! Think for a minute! Use your brain! Think of all the fun we have together. Rambling from town to town like minor royalty. Signing autographs and doing interviews. My God, you'll be laughing about my entrance as Cyrano for months! And think of the joy you give to thousands of people every week. As Amanda and Roxane. Lady Bracknell and Eliza Doolittle. Youre and actress, Charlotte. It's in your veins. If you were caught in the spotlight of a runaway train, you'd break in to a time step. It's a gift to be so reckless and insane. There are people out there in the darkness who are living through you. Dreaming of what they can be through your voice."

So if you are around Denver this week, come to the show and share the love, the joy, the reckless insanity. For details, click HERE.