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“A Guide for the Homesick” at Theatre Rhinoceros
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“A Guide for the Homesick” at Theatre Rhinoceros

plays, Theatre Rhino

“A Guide for the Homesick” at Theatre Rhinoceros

written by Ken Urban
directed by Alan Quismorio

I have stared at the computer screen for too long, trying to come up with a description of A Guide for the Homesick which is as positive-sounding as I feel about the production. I give up.

So, I will join The Rhino itself and other reviewers that make the storyline sound too gay, too implausible, and too simple: it’s a story about two men who pick each other up in a hotel bar. Sprinkle in social concerns about American missionaries invading Africa, unclear gender attraction, and mental illness. Stir and you have the play!

Except that when you’re at the theater you feel no patina of the show being either trite or being good for you. Instead you’re drawn into the personalities, the logical surprises, and surprisingly wonderful production values.

(Pictured l. to r.) Ian Brady plays “Jeremy” and Jordan Covington plays “Teddy” in the Theatre Rhinoceros production of A Guide for the Homesick by Ken Urban, directed by Alan S. Quismorio. Photo by Vince Thomas.

(Pictured l. to r.) Ian Brady plays Jeremy/Ed and Jordan Covington plays Teddy/Nicholas.
Photo by Vince Thomas.

First, Jordan Covington (Teddy/Nicholas) and Ian Brady (Jeremy/Ed) are spectacular young actors. They shift between their two roles flawlessly, and Jordan in particular has a feeling of contained power that he displays at decisive moments. I swear he had tears in his eyes in a scene as Nicholas when 10 seconds previously he was chattering on blithely as Teddy.

Each character plays two characters and action occurs in Africa and Amsterdam. The swapping of identities and locations occurs instantaneously and clearly. Kudos to Director Alan Quismorio and the technical staff that make the changes in lighting and sound at just the right moment with just the right intensity.

The stories of the characters reveal themselves at slowly and with emotional pain which is point of the 90-minute performance. Ken Urban makes us want to know more and more, even when we fear what may happen.

So, another shout-out to Theatre Rhino for its play selection. It’s a gay-themed story that doesn’t have tired campiness or appeal to only the over 65 crowd. This show is serious and set in current times with modern youthful characters.

The final triumph to mention is The Rhino’s overcoming its current small space and making excellent choices in design. The audience sits in two rows of folding chairs about three feet from “the stage”. The stage is just the floor of a room that is a small commercial space. But, I saw the hotel room and the African clinic. The actors and technical staff made it easy for me to believe.

Jordan Covington and Ian Brady. Photo by Vince Thomas

Of course, I would do some things differently. The most notable change I’d make is to the [spoiler alert] sex scene. The Rhino delivers it with on stage nudity — the actors are under the bedding, but their nakedness is pointed. We watch the actors dress the next morning and Jordan has a beautiful bare butt while Ian keeps the covers in front of him while he grabs underwear and puts it on. Instead of stripping under the covers and dressing again, I would have done a simple bedtime black out. I understand the gay demographic of The Rhino’s core audience likes naked men. Still, I felt the in-your-face nudity added nothing and would make me hesitate to recommend the play to some of my friends.

However, the bottom line is that the overall quality of the play, the performances, and the production earns A Guide to the Homesick 5 stars. Go see it, now through March 19th.

Ozdachs rating:

By Galen Workman|2023-03-03T09:02:59-08:00March 2, 2023|plays, Theatre Rhino|3 Comments

“Sister Act” at Theatre Rhinoceros

San Francisco, CA
at Theatre Rhinoceros

Theater Rhinoceros’ gender-bending production of Sister Act brings an updated excitement to this early 1990’s staged musical that really benefits from the quality, energy, and queer freshness that director AeJay Mitchell’s vision delivers in the intimate Gateway Theatre.

The Cast of SISTER ACT — The Cast of *Sister Act*
Photo by David Wilson

The show is simply a lot of fun. A supremely good 2 1/2 hours of entertainment.

The plot is simple and simplistic, and it comes from the hit 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie of the same name. A gangster’s (Curtis played by Crystal Liu) moll (Deloris played by Branden Noel Thomas) runs afoul of the mob and has to hide in an unlikely place, a nunnery. The moll is helped by a good cop (Eddie played by Jarrett Holley). She makes friends with most of the sisters, especially a novice (Sister Mary Robert played by Abigail Campbell). The Mother Superior (played by Kim Larsen) is a sourpuss most of the play, but in the end Deloris, Mother Superior, and all of the nuns affirm their sisterhood. It’s a light, antic, feel-good structure designed to showcase the singing and dancing of the actors.

The musical focuses mainly on enjoyable scenes sugared with blatant moments of touching emotion that are so set up that I hate to admit I felt like tearing up during a couple of them. Of course I didn’t tear up for the schlocky heartstrings-tugging moments, but it’d be okay if you did.

This Sister Act owes its success to a massive amount of talent on stage and in the crafts. Theatre Rhino properly uses the fluffy story as backdrop for boisterous performances, and the actors and costumes deliver!

Branden Noel Thomas’ Deloris unleashes a force of nature. His/her voice could carry the show on its own, but it’s paired with a body filled with C2 that explodes in a barely controlled way in scene after scene. Thomas alternates and combines belting out songs with strong aerobic choreography (also designed by AeJay Mitchell). But, Thomas also slows down and exploits the tender moments of the show. He’s extremely impressive.

Branden Noel Thomas* as Deloris in SISTER ACT. — Branden Noel Thomas as Deloris in SISTER ACT.
Photo by David Wilson.

Other actors deserve special applause.

Abigail Campbell’s Sister Mary Robert as the nunnery’s novice is a perfect counter to Deloris’ barely-under-wraps, worldly lounge singer. Thomas as Deloris is a hefty mountain of in-your-face flesh, and is armed with a supremely secure voice. Campbell counters with a small frame and a much lighter tone. While Campbell overcomes her insecure attitude and allows her timid voice to roar by the end of the show, the balance between the styles and characters is both appropriate and satisfying.

Kim Larsen as Mother Superior provides a different, but also complementary, show-enriching contrast to Deloris. Larsen sings with meaning and feeling (and class and quality), often slowing down the ambient madness. He avoids being a hammy prude caricature, and instead fulfills the necessary foil role. Well, he is hammy at times, but not an annoying spotlight-hogging ham. It’s a difficult balance, and Larsen carries it off.

Joyce Domanico-Huh as Joey, John Charles Quimpo as T. J., Crystal Liu as Curtis, and Abraham Baldonado as Pablo. Photo by David Wilson. — Joyce Domanico-Huh as Joey, John Charles Quimpo as T. J., Crystal Liu as Curtis, and Abraham Baldonado as Pablo.
Photo by David Wilson.

A third acting standout of the show is Jarrett Holley as the police officer. The richness and sweetness of his voice make his songs unreasonably pleasurable. I loved his fantasy role-switching scene, and whenever he was onstage he added to the depth of the characters and story.

Crystal Liu’s stereotypical villainous mobster Curtis also worked completely. Liu was sexist, crass, self-centered, and fun. She brought a strong, if not menacing, sound to Curtis’ songs. I even enjoyed her faked pencil mustache drawn to masculine-up, if not butch-up, the character.

By the way, the gender swapping of Deloris, Curtis, and Mother Superior, the male nuns, the female mobster boys, and the other gender non-conforming casting is never acknowledged. There’s not even a knowing wink or nod. Nor should it have been. Maybe the gender switching made the show more qualified for the Theatre Rhinoceros season — the 41st season of the world’s longest-running queer theater. But, this Sister Act never jumped the shark and pretended to be a over-the-top drag queen romp. The production aims for — and achieves — quality, not kitsch.

My final special appreciation is for David Draper’s costumes. I loved how Deloris went from wearing slutty tight lounge singer outfits with gaudy accessories to nun habits. And, the moments of patterns and color on all the actors were especially striking after several scenes of the black and white nuns. Very fun.

Theatre Rhinoceros also coped well with the stress of putting on a large-cast musical as a community theater company. Only Thomas/Deloris is an experienced Equity actor, yet the cast delivered a professional show. I heard a show craft member worry about the production glitches he noticed in the performance I saw… but I was not distracted as an audience member by what grabbed his attention.

In fact, we all left the theater feeling spectacularly entertained. We’d heard excellent singing. We’d experienced fun dance moves. We’d enjoyed a well acted, happy story.

Theatre Rhinoceros’ Sister Act is very, very good live entertainment — go see it!

Disclaimer: I do Internet work for Theatre Rhinoceros. My opinions here are really what I think. But, I admit, that if I hated the production, I would have simply not mentioned it!

By Galen|2019-05-21T17:17:40-07:00May 19, 2019|plays, Theatre Rhino|0 Comments

“The Underpants Godot”

The Underpants Godot

By Duncan Pflaster
Directed by Alan Quismorio

Jordan Ong (as Mark, an actor playing Estragon) and Francisco Rodriguez (as Tim, and actor playing Vladamir) Photo by Joseph Tally.

San Francisco, CA
at Theatre Rhinoceros

What fun! Especially for a theater fan who still cringes when he remembers going to a production of Waiting for Godot when he was precocious senior in high school.

I was too young, too tired, or too something for the non-action on stage. I don’t remember the details of the play, but I remember the agonizing pacing, and I remember wondering if the plaudits for Beckett’s writing weren’t a giant hoax aimed at too trusting and too serious students who were trying to understand Culture.

Getting the references and riffs in Theatre Rhinoceros’ pop-up production of The Underpants Godot made that long night of theater 40-some years ago worthwhile.

Duncan Pflaster’s script is a masterpiece that often mirrors the cadence and character relationships of Beckett’s Godot. But Pflaster makes intelligent and understandable points about theater, people, and life. There are a lot of comments about theater, and they are both insightful and very, very funny.

The plot tells the story of a Waiting for Godot production where the characters are gay men wearing, at most, underpants. We watch as a rehearsal is stopped by the visit of a representative of the estate of Samuel Beckett. She has to determine if this underpants version violates the terms of the license which demand faithfulness to the text and to Beckett’s intent.

As the characters explore the legitimacy of the underpants concept, a lot of theater is discussed in a humorous, yet meaningful way.

The estate representative, for example, lists in rapid-fire the different concepts she’s seen used in producing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “One set in Greenwich Village where the Fairies were actually the Mafia? One set in a drive-in where the Fairies were B-movie Monsters from Beyond the Silver Screen? One set at Christmas with Oberon as Santa Claus and Puck as an elf? One set outdoors in a park, where the Fairies were the Homeless?”

Funny, yes. But, also on point in the discussion of how far can/should directors go in using a play for their own purposes.

If nothing else, Theatre Rhino gets applause for its play selection.

Fortunately, their pop-up production is excellently done. Truly.

First, the space they are using is a corner of the Sparks Art Gallery. The back exhibition room has 34 folding chairs set up to face the other wall. The stage is the floor from the far wall 20 feet toward the center of the room. This is a perfect set for Waiting for Godot where the only scenery is a rock and a scrawny tree. It works completely.

Director Alan Quismorio assembled a cast that ranges from very credible to absolutely wonderful. Four actors were standouts.

Andrew Calabrese (Kevin/Lucky) earned show-stopping applause for Kevin’s unexpected detailed oration that started with the exploration of the homoerotic nature Waiting for Godot. The lines are brilliant and an homage to a similar unexpected outburst by Lucky in Beckett’s work. Calabreses nailed the speech and his character.

Francisco Rodriguez (Tim/Vladamir) and Jordan Ong (Mark/Estragon) switch back and forth between their roles as actors and the characters in Beckett’s play with easy clarity. Director Quismorio has them swish and sashay as their characters in Waiting for Godot, and then be grumpier and butcher as gay actors. I loved that decision and the way the actors pulled it off. These men carry the play and they don’t falter.

The representative of the Becket estate is not consistent in her actions. Sometimes she bends and sometimes she is unyielding, and there doesn’t seem to be a coherent motivation for either behavior. Yet, Elizabeth Finkler (Tara) is so big and certain in her portrayal of the representative that while the play was going on I didn’t question any of her rulings. Later, talking about the play with friends, I thought, “Wait! Why was x okay but y would be a showstopper? It should have been explained.”

Of course, to honor Beckett, nothing should be explained. And, Finkler’s Tara let us keep our questions unthought of past the wildly enthusiastic curtain call.

In a performance where everything works, it’s got to be the director’s fault. So, special applause to Quismorio who made a theater pop up in a small art gallery’s back room. He used, not just put up with, the location and give us an intimate performance of a tight play. The characters worked together and the action felt consistent and logical.

The Underpants Godot pop-up production is a terrifically enjoyable surprise. Theatre Rhino gives the audience a very witty and wise play delivered with style and spot-on acting. See it if you can!

The Underpants Godot has two more performances, Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23. Online tickets are sold out but a limited number of tickets are sold at the door for $10-30. Contact [email protected] for more information about attending.

By Galen|2019-03-21T08:08:28-07:00March 19, 2019|plays, Theatre Rhino|0 Comments