by George Patterson
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater Still Tops

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founded in 1958 by the black dancer/choreographer Alvin Ailey (from Rogers, TX)who died in 1989, now under the tight artistic control of Mr. Ailey's protege, Judith Jamison, recently came to New Orleans for two sold out performances at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts, presented by the New Orleans Ballet Association. From its opening night program, this reviewer can confidently report that this company is still tops in its field; of course, this is based on the total enjoyment of two Ailey choreographed (and therefore decades proved) works (The River, set to an original score by Duke Ellington, circa 1970 and Revelations, Mr. Ailey's signature 1960 ballet set to traditional, i.e. Gospel) and only one new, non-Ailey work (Alonzo King's 2000 "Following the Subtle Current Upstream") which was sandwiched between the two seniors.

The 30 member company was remarkable for the strength of its male contingent which was exploited most artistically by Mr. King's strange choreography set to an eclectic score that began as recorded percussive effects that evoked storms but soon bled into somewhat more familiar African flavored music with the addition of the haunting voice of Miriam Makeba.

The opening trio of male dancers, Jeffrey Gerodias, Kevin E. Boseman and Benoit-Swan Pouffer was spectacular as this gorgeous group display a coolness and camaraderie until they are joined by a fourth man who is ultimately destroyed and then the women enter, in bizarre moderne outfits that evoke tutus and the macho aerobic nature of the dance becomes more predictably balletic. The addition of a strange lighting device that comes down slowly and ominously from the flies doesn't signal anything that is clearly discernable so much as the the dance's end.

The River and Revelations, both Ailey creations, are more traditionally African American in flavor; especially the latter, which has ended just about all of the Ailey concerts since its inception in 1960. Performed in New Orleans to an audience almost half white and half black, this ballet, with its second line white umbrella and cool summer dresses, brings the audience to its collective feet, cheering, and it did the same thing this time around. The audience applauded themselves bloody and were given a cleverly choreographed encore which kept them applauding more. They were still screaming their appreciation as we left the auditorium.

True West a Cabaret Treat

Barbara Motley's Le Chat Noir cabaret on St. Charles Ave., not yet two years old, has gone from musical offerings to straight drama with the presentation of the Big Shoulders Theatre Co. production of Sam Shepard's comic drama called True West, ending its run this weekend.

Directed with aplomb by Jennifer Tuttle and starring local actors Jerry Lee Leighton and Eddie Collins (with Gavin Mahlie and Jan Chimento playing two minor roles), the terse play about sibling rivalry taken to absurd lengths (to the point of complete role reversal) works in the intimate cabaret setting most efficaciously.

Missing only its California suburban kitchen setting, Su Gonczy's and Micha Fortson's lighting and the Johnny Cash music set the mood - desert heat and American angst.

Shepard himself is quoted as having said about True West, "I wanted to write a play about double nature, one that wouldn't be symbolic or metaphorical or any of that stuff. I just wanted to give a taste of what it feels like to be two-sided. It's the real thing, double nature. I think we're split in a much more devastating way than psychology can reveal. It's not some little thing we can get over. It's something we've got to live with...."

Lee is the boozing, drifting, rootless, angry, thieving brother (a red-bearded, beer-gutted Jerry Lee Leighton), who drops in unexpectedly on his married, educated, nerdy screenplay-typing brother Austin who is house-sitting their mother's home (and watering the plants) while she's on vacation in Alaska. Austin's attempt to forge a screenplay for a seedy movie producer named Saul (Gavin Mahlie), is thwarted by his menacing brother who slowly takes over as he swills hot beer.

Taking place in only two days and nine short scenes, in true Sam Shepard fashion, the orderly kitchen is reduced to junk and filth as a drunken Austin trys to make toast from the many toasters he's stolen from the neighborhood in an attempt to oneup his slovenly brother. At the height of the chaos, the hapless mother (Jan Chimento) returns. Her indifference to the utter chaos around her and the sudden similarity between the two brothers creates the perfect coda to this play about ambivalence: the two characters were all along two sides to only one character: the playwright himself!

Charles Ludlam's Camille at ARK:
Hot in More Ways Than One

ARK is the name of a raw space located on the first floor of a former Godchaux Department Store warehouse on the corner of Decatur and Marigny St. in which plastic lawn chairs have been placed facing a "stage" made up of sheets of plywood on 2" X 4" legs framed with black curtains. Strings of Christmas lights serve effectively as houselights. Theatrical lighting is at a bare minimum - controlled by a faulty dimmer system. There is no air-conditioning; indeed, there is no mechanical means of moving the air with the exception of some very flimsy fans given out with the programs.

On an exceptionally warm spring evening the Running With Scissors theatre company presented an impressive production of the late Charles Ludlam's Camille, the most popular and accessible of Ludlam's many Ridiculous Theatrical Company plays which rocked New York's avant garde theatre community in the 70s and 80s.

Mr. Ludlam was the first openly Gay actor/writer/director/producer to utilize gender swapping in his plays to great comic effect. Charles Busch is a direct descendant of Ludlam.

Except for the enervating heat and the humble venue, Running With Scissors has invested their production with love, theatrical savvy and attention to detail that is impressive. From Amanda Madden's humorous antebellum getups finished off with Mr. Flynn's corkscrew wigs and countless sight-gag props to the filigreed shtick from co-directors Richard Read and Flynn De Marco, Dumas' tale of the French courtesan's love affair with the innocent Armand and her consumptive death made more agonizing by her giving up her love for Armand to oblige his father is deliciously hilarious. Everyone in the ensemble cast turns in admirable performances led by Flynn De Marco's impressive Marguerite Gautier, the Camille of the title, and her crossdressing maid Nanine, played to perfection by Bob Edes whose facial expressions alone almost stop the show on more than one occasion.

Most impressive also are Jim Jeske in two roles, that of the rich, masochistic Baron de Varville and Armand's kindly old father, Duval, Sr. and Pete Callahan's earnest Armand Duval who gives new meaning to the term "straight man." Veronica Oliver, Allyson Garro and Dorian Rush are Camille's female friends who pick her clean when she's in debt while Jason Toups as Gaston Roue and Kim Collins as Saint Gaudens are just too too recherche - and right on the money as two dandy fops.

Although the stage space is limited, Jim Jeske's set design and Kim Collins' clever furniture design afford not only color but more clever ridiculousness in keeping with the play's infectuous dizziness.

Scheduled to run through this weekend, be sure to dress down if you go and take a hanky, you'll need it not only for the sweat but also the tears your laughter is sure to provoke.