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trodding the boards

by Brian Sands E-mail: bsnola2@hotmail.com

Miss Saigonat Rivertown Rep

Not a few eyebrows were raisedwhen Rivertown Rep an-nounced they were going to

be doing Miss Saigon, Alain Boubil &Claude-Michel Schoenberg’s retelling ofPuccini’s Madama Butterfly (which wasitself adapted from David Belasco’s Ma-dame Butterfly) set in the era of the Viet-nam War. If “The helicopter, how’re theygonna do the helicopter?” was a validquestion, an even more pressing onewas how were they gonna cast this chal-lenging show with its multi-racial cast.

Well, never underestimate the imagi-nation and talents of New Orleans’ theaterfolk. Despite a few quibbles, this Misswas a worthy production that captured theaudience’s attention and didn’t let go fortwo and a half hours.

Coming after Les Miserables andPhantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon wasthe third of the British blockbusters toreach Broadway. Superior to Phantom’spap, it lacks Les Miz’s narrative sweepand range of detailed characters. Butenough good songs (Sun and Moon, LastNight of the World, and its 11 o’clock num-ber, The American Dream) poke out fromthe otherwise vanilla score so that, com-bined with Belasco’s still-absorbing taleand the passions that that ill-advised warcontinues to elicit, Miss Saigon makes foran eminently entertaining and thought-provoking evening of theater.

Roland “Butch” Caire’s excellent di-rection gave this production a cinematicflow. The two big production numbers(The Heat is On in Saigon and Bangkok)were visually wonderful, the stage filledwith a swarm of action but never feelingcluttered. Caire’s musical direction wasalso fine, giving the show the propulsivequality of fate.

As Kim, the Butterfly of Miss Saigon,Alexis Bruza’s glorious voice and trusting,passionate portrayal ennobled Kim andmade her a true tragic heroine. DanieldeShazo made a suitably white breadChris, Kim’s Pinkerton, which is not a badthing as it’s his naivete and innocence inthinking everything can turn out all rightthat sparks the tragedy. And Vatican Lokeyimbued The Engineer, Kim’s pimp whohopes to use her to obtain an Americanvisa, with a superbly assured, demonicpresence, making him a survivor at allcosts.

Quibbles? The large chorus per-formed admirably, but tended to makemush of Richard Maltby, Jr.’s lyrics, whichmight not be such a bad thing as theoriginal French ones seemed to have lostsomething in translation. Bruza too oftenreminded one of a silent screen actress;she needs to learn to trust her instinctsand not “act” so much. DeShazo, thoughpossessing a fine voice, had a tendencyto go flat on his big notes. Lokey couldhave brought just a touch more pathos toThe Engineer, a Eurasian caught in a noman’s land between two cultures (bettermake-up might’ve helped as it was not

entirely clear just from looking at him of hischaracter’s mixed ethnic background). Ialso wish he had been able to build TheAmerican Dream a bit more; he startedthe number on such a high energy levelthat he had nowhere to go with it. For this,Caire must share the blame as well.

Lastly, I would’ve preferred if therehad been more Asians in the cast to con-vey the different-ness that confronts theAmerican characters in Viet Nam, but that’sa significant challenge in this city wheresome talented Vietnamese opted not toparticipate given the nature of the show’scharacters. Fortunately, those cast mem-bers of Asian heritage gave the productiona vital authenticity.

Overall, Rivertown’s Miss Saigonmesmerizing whole was greater than thesum of its not inconsiderable parts (whichincluded Christopher Ward’s set, AlexCaire’s costumes, Terrance Holloway’slighting, Jaune Buisson’s choreographyand the entire rest of the cast that spaceconstraints prevent me from naming) andaugurs very well for future productionsthere.

And, yes, they pulled off the helicopterquite well.

As for the accompanying buffet, if AndyMessina’s did not provide an Asian-themed repast, the lemon chicken, pecancatfish, penne pasta with ground beef,andouille & chicken gumbo, and greenbean almondine were all yummy.

Die! Mommy! Die!at Le Chat Noir

It’s been said that Die! Mommy!Die! is Charles Busch’s homageto divas of the silver screen and

those vehicles that kept them stars aftertheir expiration date had passed. Per-

haps. But might it not also be his reinter-pretation of Hamlet? After all, there’s apaterfamilias dead under mysterious cir-cumstances; a troubled child, okay two,trying to discover the true doer of the dirtydeed; a wife/mother implicated in the sor-did crime; and a hoary maid who knows athing or two.

A maid? In Hamlet? Okay, so maybeD!M!D! isn’t Busch’s tribute to the Bard.Doesn’t matter if he’s sending upShakespeare or Bette Davis, D!M!D! is alot of fun.

Set in 1967 Los Angeles, D!M!D! tellsthe tale of Angela Arden (Brian Peterson),a glamourpuss and erstwhile songbird,and the former film king of her husband,Sol P. Sussman (Bob Edes, Jr.). They havetwo kids, Edith, a kiss-him-on-the-lipsdaddy’s girl (Dorian Rush), and Lance, amama’s boy-cum-fagelah (DwayneSepcich). Angela has aspirations of acomeback plus a tennis pro (LeonContavesprie) on the side. Sol is runningfrom the Mob. Complications ensue. And

[continued on Main-16]

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