What do New Coke, ham and pineapple pizza, stirrup pants, Lady Ga-ga, writing your own wedding vows, reality TV, heat-resistant sauce pans, and Clamato all have in common? They’re all really bad ideas. Now you can add “a musical about the Charles Manson murders” to the list.
“Manson: The Musical?” asked one of the other entertainment lawyers in our offices. “Charles or Marilyn?” “While either one would be cringe-worthy, in this case, it’s Charles,” I told him, which led to the next logical question: Why?
[Author’s Note: Before we get started with the review of the End Times Productions perfomance of this “Annoyance Theatre” authored musical, let’s be clear: I am reviewing two separate things here: first, the Annoyance Theatre script and musical score and, second, the End Times Production of the piece. As you can see, they get markedly different scores.]THE ANNOYANCE THEATRE SCRIPT AND SCORE
End Times director Russell Dobular wrote in his Director’s notes that the reason he chose to have End Times produce Manson: The Musical was because he saw the 1975 TV adaptation of “Helter Skelter” as a kid and wanted to, “expose Charles Manson and the people who followed him to the bright light of satire. Rather than add to the Manson myth…we’d like to debunk it, and examine the absurdity of the case in a way that will make the reality of it more clear and comprehensible than a dozen sober and dutifully serious documentaries ever could.”
The only problem is that Annoyance Theatre’s script and score utterly fail in that regard. Annoyance Theatre’s script is vapid, absolutely vacuous. It’s just not funny, except in a few isolated spots – for example, when the Beatles, The Monkees, and The Beach Boys crack jokes about their various experiences with the Mansons. The character of Charles is never fully or properly examined in any respect until near the end of the piece, and the women in the family are all written as one-dimensional dingbats. There is not only a dearth of likeablity for many of the characters, but it’s difficult to assess the acting skills of the actors when they have nothing to work with, even a talented crew like the End Times gang.
Worse still, part of the script is amorphous, left open for improvisational ad-libbing, which – depending on the skill of the actors – can soar or crash miserably. Here, the improvisational aspect breaks up the flow of the piece needlessly. It’s hard enough to do a musical, but adding in the free-wheeling improv sections can ruin the flow of the production, especially if one or more players start flubbing lines or aren’t sharp enough in their dialogue.
Next, in order for a musical to succeed, there must be songs that stay with the audience long after the perfomance ends. Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sound of Music, Cats, The Music Man, Rent, Geraniums and Apples, Oklahoma, Little Shop of Horrors: every great musical has songs that transcend the perfomance itself and lend themselves to become part of the mainstream of culture, adding something to the craft of writing such a piece. Most of the songs in Manson: The Musical are as equally forgettable as the script. For example, the second number, “Put my dick in your hand,” is just another mindless, misguided piece of in-your-face vulgarity that confuses “crass” for “funny.”
In short, Manson: The Musical doesn’t “examine” anything about the Mansons; it just makes cheap and easy jokes, mediocre ones at that, and all jokes we’ve seen or heard before. All of the modest past successes of Annoyance Theatre alums aside, entertainment is a “what have you done for me lately business,” and this is what happens when you get second tier, second city improv actors and writers too concerned with being “edgy” and too self-absorbed to apply the necessary self-awareness and introspection to realize some of their jokes just aren’t as funny as their equally desperate for fame fellow second-tier, second city improv friends tell them. It proves the old adage “that those who go for shock value are really just trying to cover up shortcomings in true writing talent.” Also, never underestimate your audience: if you elevate your work, they will follow.
Annoyance Theatre’s script and score: 1 Star (all ratings out of seven). True artists and players draw from poets the literature of the age. As they said in Gladiator, “This is not it…THIS IS NOT IT!!!”
END TIMES PRODUCTIONS
End Times Productions is one of New York City’s best bourgeoning acting/production troops. In three short years, they have formed a core of strong, rising-star actors. They have put on many successful performances of pieces by upcoming writers and comedians, and have carved out a competitive niche as a good place to see off-Broadway work at a reasonable price. In particular, their perfomance of George Larkin’s Dead Lawyers was an example of how a rising star writer and a hot new acting troupe can have a breakout success. Rumor has it their next piece, “Naked Holidays,” will be a laugh-a-minute-romp that everyone can enjoy.
Now I understand what director Russell Dobular was trying to do: take End Times to the next level by branching out into musicals, by adding the extra complexity of music and choreography. End Times is to be commended for trying to raise the bar. Nevertheless, here are the things End Times needs to remember: they can’t outrun their talent, their resources, or their audience. The choreography and musicianship, while fair, were just complicated enough that a few of the lesser talented dancers and musicians weren’t as technically sound as the rest of the cast, and there were a few clams/mis-steps in the performance.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Clam – (“klam”) Noun, Slang – musical term for a missed note. See also “clam roll” – (several missed notes in a row), and “clam fest” (a show or song filled with mistakes.)]Now I admit, it’s tough to get technical perfection in choreography out of a part-time cast that meets for four rehearsals a week, and then twice a week when the performance opens. A musical is exponentially harder than a play, especially in a such a small place like the Kraine Theatre, which not only is a small stage, but which is acoustically tough for musical perfomances due to its irregular shape. While many of the cast were outstanding singers and dancers, a few stragglers need to be reminded about precision in their jumps, landings, and motions, and need to hit each consonant at the end of words when singing and project their voices, so they can be heard over the band, which was a little too loud, drowning them out on occasion. If they really want to make it as professional actors, they must elevate their perfomance from merely “pretty good” to “truly great.” Hollywood and Madison Avenue demand no less, and the competition for parts is fierce…if you don’t go out and seize a role, someone else will grab it from you, so nothing less than your best on every note is what it takes to become a star.
Nevertheless, what shortcomings the production had are mostly laid more at Annoyance’s Door than End Times’s. The highlights of the performance were as follows:
Alanna Blair (Squeaky Fromme) – easily by far and away the best singer, dancer, and actor of the women of the Manson family. She was technically precise in all her dance moves, she sang beautifully, (especially in that difficult room), and she nailed her entire speaking role from start to finish. More please, soon and often.
Leal Vona (Mr. LaBianca, Bugliosi) – a command perfomance on every level. His LaBianca (along with Cheri Fogelman’s Mrs. LaBianca) was uproariously funny. The chemistry between these two was electric, they must do more scenes together; they’re a scream. Moreover, his dancing was fantastic. Here is a big, burly guy, yet he’s doing complicated jumps and spins and nailing every landing with perfect positioning while never missing a beat. He even sang solidly. I can’t understand why they didn’t cast him as Charles Manson, but since Charles’s character was written in such an empty manner, I’m grateful. It would have been a waste of his prodigious talent. Moreover, he makes every other actor performing with him better. In every production I’ve seen him in, the best scenes of the other actors are frequently the ones they do with him. That’s one important trait of a true professional.
Kerstin Porter (Sharon Tate) – another solid perfomance from this leggy firecracker. Interestingly, during rehearsals, her voice kept cracking while trying to sing over the full band. They found a creative solution: turn her song into a softly sung, quiet number with only a xylophone for accompaniment. Voila! Not only can we hear her, but she hit every note. In fact, perhaps the entire score could improve with some minor changes to the dynamics of the musical numbers. As an actress, it’s a shame she gets killed off so early, because she’s gotten better with every piece she performs.
The Beatles, The Monkees, The Beach Boys (Anthony Meade, Chris Cornwell, Alessandro Colla, Marek Sapieyevski) – these guys are hysterical. They steal the show with their improv hi-jinks. One possible improvement: instead of having one of them hide his legs behind a towel to make the joke about how short Davy Jones was, shoot that scene on video and screen it instead. You’ll get better production value that way. As musicians, they were good, but need to be a bit tighter. There were two or three clams. Still, they had great energy.
Serena Miller – Already a gifted actress, Serena showcases her sublime cello playing and musical composition skills. She had to re-compose parts of the entire score for the band, as well as play some cover songs. I hope she’ll tell us all when we can see an entire cello performance, as I could sit through hours of her work as either a classical musician or in a jazz combo.
The rest:
The women of the Manson Family had some hits and misses. As a dance group, some numbers soared – most notably the trial scene – but others were lackluster. In particular, the opening scene was flat, with some members singing faintly and without energy, and with some dancers being less precise with their movements. I feel bad for them because, again, their parts were written so poorly, you couldn’t get a good look at who was deeply talented. Any chump, lunkhead, or dingbat can play a chump lunkhead or dingbat well just by being themselves. Where’s the acting in that? The same holds true for Alex Dunbar who played Charles Manson. He had great energy, and sang and danced well, but his part is written so poorly, I never got to see him use his skills in any substantial way.
There are two parts that need to be completely re-examined. Kevin Smith (Charles “Tex” Watson), seemed like he was a hayseed straight out of Li’l Abner, not the Manson Family. Worse still, occasionally he fell into a British accent not a southern accent. It’s “Tex” not “South Croyden.” Also, Melissa Ciessla’s smarmy, overacted narration was forced and over the top. Sometimes you get the short straw and get a minor role. When that happens, don’t draw attention to yourself for the wrong reasons by overplaying your part. She’d do better to deadpan her lines. That would be funnier and provide good counterpoint to the madcap zaniness of the rest of the piece. Moreover, she fell out of character during the improved interviews with the various bands. The key to great improv is never letting the audience know it’s improv.
Singing: Manson and his family, 3-1/2 stars, everyone else 4-1/2 stars. Please turn the band down so we can hear them more often.
Choreography: 5 stars fror the choreographer, 3-1/2 stars for the Manson Family’s execution of the routines. Blair, Vona, and Porter: 5 stars. Great job by Tiffany Herrioett, the choreographer. Just get everyone a little more technically precise, with all arm and leg movements and positions more consistent. But the rump-shakin’, hip quakin’ stuff was well done.
Acting: Manson Family – no grade. The written parts were just so bad, it’s not fair to them to assign scores. I’ll see them again in other productions. The rest: 5 stars.
Directing: 4 stars.
A small house like End Times does best with minimalist productions, and with productions that show off the strong talent of their actors rather than drawing attention away from it. If they have to choose a musical, choose one with small casts and with songs people will enjoy and leave the theatre singing, rather than some new age, revisionist, self-indulgant piece that isn’t as funny as the writers thought. That goodwill with the audience will go a long way to continuing to build on the excellent reputation the troupe has for training rising stars.
A small outfit like End Times, shouldn’t outrun their audience by performing something too avante garde or banal. Why chase away potential audiences by putting on something many of them would not go to see simply on general principle, or that would only be enjoyable to a certain slender demographic? Mister Roberts would be a great choice, Mother Courage and her Children would be a great choice, and Postcards from Romeo and Juliet would be a great choice, just to name a few. I understand that occasionally grand rights to some of the more mainstream artistic successes are expensive to purchase, but they are also a great way to show off your actors. I understand the need to expose the world to brilliant new pieces, and usually laud them for their efforts in that regard, but Manson: the Musical is not one of them.
Still, at only $15 and an 80 minute run time, it’s a good way to pass a Sunday night. Additionally, you’ll be able to say you saw some of these actors when they were green and grateful, because they will blossom into stars, the only question is when. Go see it partly as a social expiriment and partly to make sure you don’t miss any performance by the many future stars End Times works with on a regular basis.
