| Angel Street | | Print | |
| Written by Ronnie Pirate | |
| Friday, 01 June 2007 | |
 When I was in college learning the craft of theater, my professors kept
emphasizing that good theater is clear storytelling. Audiences love a good
story, and are willing to attend stories that they know over and over again if
they are well told, clear, and engaging. The Little Theater of Virginia
Beach’s latest production, Angel
Street, achieves two of the three. The story is
clear, the acting is engaging, however; the story therein is lacking the proper
telling. Whenever the director is in the show itself, I usually take it as a sign that something has gone wrong. Either someone became ill, had an unforeseen conflict, or was fired. It is incredibly challenging to direct one’s self, especially in a starring role, and that is what Ricky D’Alonzo had to do. Angel Street, known to one generation as the film Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer in a story about a man who is dealing with a wife who is losing her mind. Or, as is advertised by LTVB ,a man who is driving his wife mad on purpose for nefarious reasons. If this is supposed to be a suspense thriller, where is the suspense? Why publish blurbs about a twist at the end if the audience knows it is coming?
The suspense in the story is supposed to become more intense with the arrival of a Scotland Yard detective named Rough, played by Christopher Kypros. The audience is supposed to piece things together with him and Bella as they process the clues and backstory. Instead of worrying about *if* any of his accusations are true, we again are only interested in the narrative reasons since we *know* he is guilty. If D’Alonzo’s interpretation wasn’t enough, anytime something devious occurs, further attention is drawn to the deed by the playing of “suspenseful music” that comes and goes frequently throughout the entire show. I found this music not only distracting, but a bit over the top. Earlier I mentioned clear storytelling, well, this is too clear, and works counter to the concern they are trying to create for the characters. Then there’s the program cover that shows a clearly nasty man tormenting a woman with a rift/split between them. That aside, D’Alonzo’s performance is consistent and solid. Scarlett Black manages to play another distraught woman without going on autopilot. Her Bella is unique character that bears few resemblances to her previous work in The Living, The Little Foxes, Noises Off, and Reckless. Christopher Kypros is enjoyable as Rough, though at times his pacing slows things down a bit. His gentleman is respectable, nice, and sincerely concerned about the mystery at hand. Kathy Hinson is solid as Elizabeth the maid; and Amoreena Wade portrays Nancy, another servant, as a teen who thinks she’s in her twenties. Nicholas Thornburg’s set design is clear and effective. Elliot Rosenblum’s lighting does not serve the set, nor storytelling. While the show is often “dark” from the time of day and period fixtures, the lighting was spotty in places, and during the final scenes an over-lit chair pulled focus from the scene as all performers getting near it were cleaved in half by the edge of the beam, half in and half out of full light. Astin Jones’ costumes suit the characters well and are well tailored to the actors. The show moves quickly and was pleasant to watch, just don’t be surprised if you’re... not. |
The problem with this production is that end of the story is played
from the very beginning. 
|
It is pity that the play could not be extended just so these comments can be continued. This independent investigative reporter would like to note for record... > Scarlett Black was at the first night of auditions. Dear John: Hello. Long-time lurker, first-time poster, here. If Scarlett Black ran over Mr. D'Alonso's family, put the car in reverse and backed over his family again, Mr. D'Alonso would still have no better choice than to cast Scarlett as Mrs. Manningham. Scarlett Black IS that good. Period. I've worked with Scarlett in three shows and seen her in two others, and her talent far exceeds many local young actresses I see on stage, let alone auditions, which is no knock against a large pool of fine actresses in Hampton Roads. The anonymous comment smacks of sour grapes when gossip and falsehoods are used to substantiate a performance. Less credible is Joseph S's criticism of Ricky D'Alonso's direction. Again, nothing was substantiated: were there sightline problems? Split focus? Cattle clumps, motivation issues? Pacing problems? Here is an example of the performance I saw: an unfortunate hearing-aid screeched from the audience for close to twenty minutes. Despite that distraction, voices pleaded aloud for Christopher Kypros' character (Detective Rough)to remember his hat when he hides. The audience was engaged, they were following the story, they laughed with relief when Rough finally did retrieve his hat. THAT is brilliant direction. Period. Au contraire, Geoff Payne. Please don't tell people not to respond. That's exactly what's great about this site - expressing views and having people respond to them. Naturally, if comments get out of hand and offensive that's a bad thing. In general though, if someone is laboring under misapprehensions then this is a good a place as any to correct them. The people who responded to Annomous were very diplomatic, I thought. I also think that it was a good idea they responded because the 'drivel' could easily be read and believed by people not involved. Isn't there enough drama in theatre already? Better to dispel rumors and accusations immediately. Hello all! I know that when you are in a production it is sometimes hard to see what the audience sees. So I am trying to give the previous comments the respect they deserve for their personal tastes and opinions. However, I would like to simply ask 'Annomous' ,did you actually SEE this production, or are you simply airing out your own frustrations on not being cast? I have never worked with any of the actors in this play before so I had no opinion of their acting skills or work ethic before this show started. So I can truely say that ANYONE who came to see this show had NO doubt whatsoever that Scarlett was perfect for this part, no matter WHO the director was. Throughout the rehersal process she showed nothing but professionalism and a true love for the theater as well as respect for her fellow actors. I think that anyone who has had the pleasure of working with Scarlett Black would honestly say that she is a multi-faceted actor who brings depth and life to every character she portrays. My advise to Annomous is, instead of contriving a reason for not being cast in this production perhaps you should look at your own acting protfolio and see if you can say the same of yourself. I would like to respond to the previous comment and clear up any confusion. First off, the accusation that I was not at the auditions is utterly false. I most certainly was at the initial auditions and then again at the callbacks. I would never accept a part unless I was sure I had earned it at the audition. Your attack on Mr. D'Alonzo's and my integrity is unfounded and uncalled for. Secondly the lead actor of the play decided for personal reasons to bow out of the production half way through the rehearsal process. After a week of looking for an actor to replace him Mr. D'Alonzo made the difficult but necessary decision to play the part himself. He has no desire to be on stage and long ago decided that he much preferred directing. Anyone who has ever directed a play knows the difficulty of having to direct yourself and therefore never hopes to be in that position. Furthermore, a week before the show began our costume designer informed us that she would be able to provide only one costume for the show. Luckily with the generous help of The Little Theatre of Norfolk and the sewing skills of Kathy Hinson who was in the production we managed to put together some good costume pieces in a matter of days before the show opened. Our stage manager was recently taken ill and had to leave the show. I write all of this to explain that even through the difficult experiences we have had during this production process the cast and crew have acted as a true ensemble and we have worked together to create something that we are proud of and that has been well received by the audience. I understand that everyone is entitled to their opinion but I believe that you should check your facts before putting such drivel in writing. I would also like to think that you would have had the guts to put your name to your writing but I suppose that you do not yourself have the integrity that you seem to think lacks in our production. I have to say that LTVB is one of the better theaters around. Consequently, they have a little farther to fall when a stinker comes around. Such as Angel Street. I did not find anyone's performance particularly good. Direction was--well, it wasn't! I have to differ with 'anonymous'- I thought the lighting was good, but maybe the actors weren't hitting the marks.Costumes looked more fitted for the characters than 'thrift store bargains'--Kudoes for that! Anyway, enough said. If every show was perfect, what would be the point? It's just that I expect more out of this theater. For some reason, Ricky decided to be the 'every thing guy'- actor and director. He also cast his girl friend as the female lead and gave the smaller parts to everybody else. This was a bad move on his part. It was unfair and unprofessional. Frankly, I don't think he had ever intended to cast anyone else for the leads. I know that there was a lot of great talent at the auditions and I don't recall seeing Ms. Black trying out. I can't figure out why LTVB would allow him to run with the show the way he did. It is a job in itself being the director, so why take on a majority of the responsibility? Was he just wanting to hog all the glory? His decision to 'do all' just drained the energy from the show. He is talented, but I think he had too much on his plate. Seems everyone agrees that his decision was a poor choice and it showed in the reviews. |