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Photo by Don Kellogg
Showing posts with label Glen Williamson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glen Williamson. Show all posts

Sunday, March 29, 2015

All Gone West

Jonathan Fluck does dual duty in this off-off Broadway work - both director and producer extraordinaire.   John Attanas' play is not quite a musical but is infused with great jazz vibes of the 4 piece band just off stage.  This is the story of dreams and dreamers, loves and lovers, and giving it all you got not matter what the outcome.

Sam (Joseph Robinson) a handsome young bachelor dreams of a nightclub of his own and a pretty dame on his arm.  Mary Elizabeth (Kristen French) a pretty young, and independent minded woman wants a husband to love in the soft suburban life out in California.  Once they find each other, they give it all a shot.  Not everything works out but in life, just as in love, compromises are always made.  And if you give it your all, the sky's really the limit.

There are a few side stories going on here aside from the two lovers.  Sam's best friend, Sonny Green (Jesse Maens), from the army is a great black jazz musician - and jazz (and apparently drugs) is his passion.  Sam's "business partner" Willie (Anthony Bosco) is a true gangster.  And Mary Elizabeth's "boyfriend" is a college professor quite her senior.  All these story lines merge when Sam and Mary meet, get married, and open a jazz joint.  Fireworks ensue and the tunes flow from the band.

The show is brilliantly lit especially for an off-off Broadway show (kudos Christina Wantanabe) and of course the band was delightful.

It's clear that a lot of love, care, and TLC went into cultivating this production.