"Becky Shaw" by Gina Gionfriddo

 "Becky Shaw"
by Gina Gionfriddo
Multicast performance starring;Emily Bergl, Matt Letscher, Marsha Mason, Mandy Siegfried, and  Josh Stamberg
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
1hour 49 minutes

One thing about relocating to a small town in the middle of nowhere is that there is a very limited choice of theatrical and cultural experiences.  Okay maybe just theatrical, there's plenty of cultural experiences that come to small towns like harvest festivals, wine tasting festivals and various other, but with only a community college nearby the theatrical experiences are severely limited compared to when I lived in the city.  I guess really that's the one thing I miss, sitting in the darkened theater with live performers, that sometimes are friends and sometimes major celebrities that come to town on a touring performance.  Getting lost in the story and the full four dimensional experience that is the theatre.

Luckily I've stumbled across the audio releases from L.A. Theatre works.  These recorded performances put you right in the middle of the audience and while the visual aspect of the theatre is missing, the quality of production of the audio keeps you in the performance without missing the visual.  The sound effects and audience response are perfectly mixed in to not distract but instead enhance the performance.

This time around I listened to a contemporary play, "Becky Shaw" written by Gina Gionfriddo.  The play is a bit of a comedy of errors type play but may even seem as a bit of a love story with some suspense thrown in, so I guess you could say, a suspenseful comedy of romantic errors.  The main characters are Max and Suzana who are raised together after Max's mother dies and Suzana's parents take him in. Suzana's mother suffers from MS and has recently taken a young lover, a mere 4 months after the death of Suzana's father.  During the introductory scene we learn that Max and Suzana may have an attraction to each other.  The action starts when we jump a few months later after Suzana has run off to Vegas to get married and Suzanna sets up Max, on a blind date with her husband's co-worker, the mysterious Becky Shaw. During the date Max and Becky are mugged and what follows is a series of cataclysmic events that forever changes all their lives.

Mixing sharp wit and humor with the suspense of a psychological thriller, this critically acclaimed play will keep you guessing as to what will happen next.  I will warn you the play would be R-rated as the main characters seem to love throwing around the F-bomb.  But the performance is spot on, as have been all the plays I've heard from LATW.  Also the play is a lot of fun with the humor, twists and turns, and quick view of human nature.

Not until the very end do all things get sorted out, and even then I was still left wondering, who is this Becky Shaw?

"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

"Death of a Salesman"
by Arthur Miller
a full cast audio performance
starring Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
approx 2 hours

Once again I'm going back to my theatre roots and listening to an audio performance of a classic play, "Death of a Salesman."  While in college I acted out a scene from this play and from that moment I fell in love with it.  Not sure why, I mean, it's not really a happy play, but something about this play grabbed me.  I think mainly because it was the first play I'd read and performed and that it seemed to tell it straight.  Life does not always turn out like you want. 

When I ran across this audio performance from L.A. Theatre Works (LATW), I knew I had to give it a listen mainly because of Stacy Keach.  He's a subtle actor yet can give you a larger than life performance.  In this performance he knocked it out of the ball park.  I had seen a version of the play on television with Dustin Hoffman as Willie Loman and thought at that time I had just seen the only person who I could ever picture as Arthur Miller's salesman.  But now I have to shift that to Keach.  Mr. Keach performed the role to perfection.  As you can see, I was highly impressed.

Everyone in this performance was great, Jane Kaczmarek (you know, the mom in TV's "Malcolm in the Middle") did a wonderful job as Willie's wife, Linda, but let's face it the play is about Willie Loman, and the star shined brightly.  Actually while were talking about being impressed, this makes the 4th or 5th performance from LATW that I've heard and each time they impress me, not only with excellent casting, but the productions are superb.   Each release places the listener directly into the audience of the performance, with excellent sound effects, music and just a dash of the audience response to remind you you are listening to a performance. 

"Death of a Salesman" is the story of an aged salesmen who was always wanting the best for his family.  He wanted his boys to grow up and be well liked, not just liked, but WELL liked.  The problem is that the reality of Willie Loman's life never really matched up to his dreams.  He is full of regrets, such as missed opportunities, never knowing his father and his son, Biff who was a High School football star that could have gone on to play in college.  The problem is that Biff flunked out of Math and refused to go to summer school and never went to college. 

The play takes place in Willie & Linda's home when Biff is back from "out west."  Hap, the other son, who is trying to follow in his father's footsteps still lives near to home, is also visiting.  Willie cuts short his trip from Boston because he nearly runs off the road while driving.  Wille has lately become a victim to his mind wandering and he starts revisiting his memories out loud.  

The play is told with a constant barrage of flashbacks from Willie's point of view as he begins to see the reality of his dream.  Linda tells her sons of Willie's troubles and that she believes he is trying to kill himself.  It all builds up to a scene, where to make their father happy, Biff and Hap attempt to go into business together, but reality comes crashing down on everyone leaving a tragic ending. 

This performance from L.A. Theatre Works is superb in every manner and this classic play is one that should not be missed.

"A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry

"A Raisin in the Sun"
by Lorraine Hansberry
Live Cast recording
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
Approx. 2.5 hours

Wanting to revisit my theatre days, I set myself to listen to a few plays turned into audio books. I read several plays while earning a degree in theatre from Southern Illinois University and I know that plays are meant to be performed but now residing in an area where live theatre just doesn't happen on a regular basis, I decided to go back and listen to some audio performances as part of my constant audio book stream. I first tried some Shakespeare, I actually love Shakespeare, but the audio performance wasn't clicking with me at the time. So, after a while I find this treasure L.A. Theatre Works' Production of "A Raisin in the Sun." I remember reading this play in my Theatre History class and seeing a couple performances with some great actors and knowing I have enjoyed the play in the past, I gave this one a shot.

I was in for a couple of treats when putting this cd into my player. First that one of the performers, Rutina Wesley is one of my favorite actors from the TV series "True Blood" (she plays Sookie's friend Tara). And second that the recording is superb. Every subtlety of the voices is captured and it seems as though the actors have been doing audio only acting for a while because events that may be seen in the performance and not necessarily heard were clearly communicated. The recording was superb and the acting was excellent in this audio version. Even the sound effects were captured perfectly, things such as shutting of doors, flushing of toilets and clinking of glasses were heard when needed. This makes for the perfect audio book experience that I have come to expect. I know I will be searching for more productions from L.A. Theatre Works.

The story covers a struggling African-American family in Chicago, the Youngers. The Youngers represent the 4th, 5th and 6th generation of their family brought to America via slavery. The family is struggling to make a go at living out the American dream. Mama Lena Younger's husband has passed and the family is expecting a $10 thousand check from the insurance company. Mama Lena has plans to move into a better home, however, her children have other plans. Son, Walter Lee wants to buy a liquor store and daughter, Beneatha wants to go to medical school.

On the day the check arrives, Lena goes out and comes back that evening having used the money as a down-payment on a house in a white neighborhood. Eventually she entrusts Walter with the remaining amount. She tells Walter to put $3 thousand into the bank for Beneatha's school and use the rest as he sees fit.

This story is full of ups and downs as the family is told they are not wanted in the white neighborhood, Beneatha gets a marriage proposal, and Walter invests all the remaining money (including Beneatha's share) and loses it. How the family handles the good and the bad creates a play that is a true testament to hope, not only to African-Americans, but to anyone. Virtues and vices are explored and true hope is found.

A classic play produced with excellent quality create this great audio masterpiece.