Stage Reviews
The Count of Monte Cristo Director Luther Hanson’s outdoor production for the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival is user-friendly and pleasantly cohesive. The linear, fast-moving story features heroes and villains who are easy to spot. There are fateful meetings, dastardly deceit, a prison escape and swashbuckling vengeance. The play’s straightforward language poses less of a challenge for the cast of community actors than the festival’s companion production (The Taming of the Shrew), but there’s the rub. Though it’s easier to speak, Monte Cristo never rises to the level of Shakespeare, and the plot line features too many melodramatic turns. But we can still recommend this show as good, clean fun for a warm summer evening. You’ll enjoy handsome J.J. Charlesworth as the dashing count, and sputtering James Roberts as a tippler with a heart of gold.
William A. Carroll Amphitheatre; 8:30 p.m. on July 15, 17, 22, 25 and 30, and August 1; $10-$12. The box office opens at 6 p.m., and the gates open at 6:30 p.m. No reserved seats or children under 6. William Land Park, (916) 558-2228. J.H.
Fully Committed Think of this one-man “comedy of interruptions” as a high-speed endurance run. Your heart goes out to Sam, the stressed-out reservations specialist manning the constantly ringing phones in the basement of a popular, upscale restaurant. The frantic customers are desperate to get a table, while the staff upstairs keeps barking contradictory commands. It’s also a test for versatile actor Gary Alan Wright, who constantly shifts between portraying the long-suffering Sam (running between three phones and an intercom) and the three dozen other characters who pound him with demands. Wright rises to the occasion.
Foothill Theatre Company; 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday; $19-$23. 401 Broad Street in Nevada City, (530) 265-8587. Through August 15. J.H.
Sugar As a male musician who witnesses a gangster murder and then hides in disguise as a female bass player, Daniel Slauson simply steals the show. The whole cast in this sweet, silly musical version of the classic movie Some Like It Hot is a fun, kooky crew. Much effort went into this production, from the great 1920s costumes and clever sets to fun sound effects and creative dance numbers, all under the skillful direction of Bob Irvin. The Fair Oaks Theatre Festival is housed in the small, outdoor Veterans Memorial Amphitheatre—a comfortable theater under the stars, complete with backed benches and a cool river breeze.
Veterans Memorial Amphitheatre; 8:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with Thursday shows on July 15, 22 and 29; $10-$12. Plaza Park, at California Street and Fair Oaks Boulevard in Fair Oaks; (916) 966-3683. Through August 1. P.R.
The Taming of the Shrew Director Kim McCann actually stages William Shakespeare’s induction to the play. These two seldom-produced scenes transform the story of Petruchio and Kate into a play within a play that is staged for everyone’s merriment, rather than as a pointed message to the ladies in the audience that they’d better obey the men. Petruchio (big, stylish Ed Gyles Jr.) and his intended Kate (spunky Katharine Pappa) don’t go in for heavy-duty fisticuffs, though they do raise their voices. The show, produced by Sacramento City College for the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, features community actors having a go at this 400-year-old classic. Some supporting actors are unpolished, but in the main, this show is good, clean fun. Bring a picnic and a blanket or very low lawn chairs.
William A. Carroll Amphitheatre; 8:30 p.m. on July 16, 18, 23, 29 and 31; $10-$12. Box office opens at 6 p.m., gates open at 6:30 p.m. No reserved seats or children under 6. William Land Park, (916) 558-2228. J.H.
The Underpants There’s a lot of Steve Martin in this broad comedy filled with sexual innuendoes, crazy characters and slapstick humor. Martin adapted a classic 1910 German farce about a young wife who loses her knickers just as the king rides by, creating a social scandal and marital upheaval. Underwear humor becomes a running gag and sets an over-the-top tone. Adding to the madcap mayhem are a nosey neighbor, a couple of randy roommates and the king himself. There isn’t an ounce of subtlety or a smidgen of sophistication to be found, but amusing absurdities abound.
B Street Theatre; 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday; $25. 2711 B Street, (916) 443-5300. July 22 through August 15. P.R.
