The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Liberty Theatre

In 1996, French film director Olivier Assayas crafted an unusual film called Irma Vep.  The title character is of course an anagram of vampire.  It is a "film within a film" about a strange remake of the silent era film Les Vampires, a serial 2-reeler crime drama that had nothing to do with the mythological creatures of the title.

But that is all beside the point!

What I really want to talk about is the live performance of The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam as presented by Apex Theatre20 at the Liberty Theatre in Tyler, Texas.  Although listed officially as a satire, it becomes a slapstick farce of epic proportions.  Imagine Daffy Duck in Wuthering Heights and you get the idea.

Its several characters, both male and female, are portrayed by two male actors.  A huge part of the fun is the quick changes- not only of costume, but also character, voice, accent, posture, and boobs.  (Sorry about that, but it had to be said.)  The play satirizes several genres from Victorian melodrama and horror, to Hitchcock and the Marx Brothers.  Throw in some 1930's horror films and you have the tone, or tones, of The Mystery of Irma Vep.  Josh Carpenter and Nate McKeller are the heroes who were chosen to undertake the schizoid roles.  These two had to carry the entire show as they were everyone.  In the program they should have been listed as "I am Legion, for we are many."

Now the review

The show was out loud funny in many many places.  Oftentimes that humor is based on the absurdity of the changes.  Sometimes it's just the silliness of the action and words.  Ultimately the delivery of the characters drives the show.  The two actors do well.  Carpenter seems to have a good grasp of the off-kilter nature of his characters.  He also ad libs well, which both actors had to do to fill change times.  The only real flaw in his performance was less differentiation between characters.  He is, in himself, a strong character and it is hard to disguise.  McKeller had the most changes, which challenged him greatly.  Usually up to the challenge, some of his characters were reduced to mugging to the audience.  That may have been direction or decision, either way it did not work for me.

The costume changes were a problem, as they were bound to be.  There were times where the costumes were obviously beneath (and peeking out) of others.  Sometimes that led to more humor, sometimes it killed the joke.  I'm not sure if there is a really good way to solve that problem.  It is a problem, though.

Overall the show gave the feeling of an amateur show.  No one thing is to blame, nor one person.  I have worked with both actors before, and they are quite talented.  I have seen the director, Felicity Enas, do marvelous things with a cast.  We enjoyed the show.  We laughed.  We giggled.  We groaned.  It was a good night.  I expected more.

RENT this space

This past Saturday night, Kathy and I braved the chilly East Texas version of winter to travel to Tyler, Texas to see a performance of RENT at the Liberty Hall theater.  (This despite the fact that I had just rolled in from a four-day conference in Houston minutes before.)  Neither of us had seen anything in the Liberty, so we were looking forward eagerly to this new space.  We found a good parking spot, took the de rigueuer selfie from the opposite side of the street, and found our way inside.

We were greeted with convivial smiles (and wine) and a couple of familiar faces.  Good start.  We already had our tickets in hand and so walked on in.  Goodness continues.  Sat next to some lovely people.  Things look good.  Lights dim... magic begins.

[In review like this, it is customary to be universally positive in order to remain on good terms with people you might be working with sometime soon.  There is much good to talk about.  There are also problems about which I will write in order that we may grow as performers, and so that you can believe what I write is true and not whitewash.  Enough disclaimer-- on with the review.]

Let's start with the positives...  The acting was really good.  At times it was great.  Of special note were JC Schimdt (Angel), Kristen Bedevian (Joanne), and Joshua Carpenter (Tom).  Their acting was spot on with emotional highs and lows that carried the audience with them.  There was a lot of honesty in their work.  Even though the character of Angel is an "over-the-top" personality, the portrayal was very honest.  I've known people like Angel and that's how they are (or were).  Joanne's frustration with an inconstant and mercurial partner were apparent, yet completely believable.  She showed power and vulnerability with poise and pain.  The best part of Joshua's performance as Tom was at the beginning and the end.  It was the painful contrast of the high of rapturous joy in love found and the crushing pain of a loved one lost.  The love itself is never lost.

The music was both a strength and a weakness.  The band sounded great!  But they frequently overpowered the vocals. [suggestion: let the electric instruments have a volume control on the sound board as well as with the musician.  On stage the balance is hard to hear.]  Also in that same vein, there were microphone problems galore.  It is hard for an actor to deliver a balanced performance with they must shift from talking to shouting with no notice.  Sometimes it can't be helped...sometimes it can.  Another strength and weakness in the music came from the vocals.  Wonderful strong voices, full of passion and joy and angst.  But tuning became an issue.  I'm picky- understand that- more than almost anyone in the audience has a right to be.  But there were wonderful emotional moments ruined for me by flat notes from the primary vocal.  It may have been the inability to hear themselves over the stage band, I don't know.  For most around me, there was no problem.  Maybe it was just me.  I'll stop there about that.

For me, one of the highlights of this show was the "second intermission".  Right after the second act began, just as "Seasons of Love" is coming to a conclusion... the smoke alarms went off due to an overzealous smoke machine.  We cleared the theater into the cold.  On the sidewalks the cast and audience together began a rousing chorus of "La Vie Boheme" to the defiance of the demon enemies of Thespis.  Once cleared, we went back inside and rebooted Act II.  That last burst of comraderie only cemented the wonderful feelings and bonds of caring for what was happening on stage.

With all my carping and bitching and moaning, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.  The emotion was real.  The passion showed through.  The pure delight in performance pervaded the night.  I can't wait to see what's next.