FESTIVAL WATCHING - - SHORT NOTES, Part 2

Spotlight-On Halloween Festival - Fall 2002 - by Louis Lopardi

After Poe, by Elias Stimac and Ricardo Cordero, was a unique and perfect theatre event. The first half featured Mr. Cordero reciting Poe's The Tell Tale Heart in a dramatic (to put it mildly) reading done in the guise of a classic mafioso mobster. Oddly enough it worked, thanks to Mr. Cordero's masterly command of both idioms. In part two we then meet the 'star' of this odd diversion back in his dressing room, beleaguered by a variety of fame-chasing denizens, and attended by his spineless understudy - Elias Stimac in a masterly display of posturing and simpering, with both moves and language delivered with split-second timing. Sean Ferguson provided a side-splitting cameo appearance by a twin named "Wendell" Cronkite.

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The Mistake presented a hysterical evening of sketch comedy in the Halloween vein called Booooo! The witty and talented team presented such diverse gems as "The Actors' Studio interviews Godzilla" in which the BIG star admitted his role models were King Kong and William Shatner, and who later gave a demonstration of his acting talent by coming downstage and stomping an inverted paper cup to Tokyo-scaring flatness. Other amazing routines included a backroom turf-summit amongst mafioso vampires, a "Blair Witch - The Musical" backer's audition (marred only by an overly loud piano), a hair-product endorsement by a Werewolf losing his fur... You get the idea. One of the best was a moderated political debate between three major parties represented by a Dumb White Guy, a Whiny Do-Gooder, and a hilariously truthful Beelzebub. You had to be there.

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Yet Another Fairy Tale, by HC Lugo, mixed the already convoluted elements of Midsummer Night's Dream into a convoluted take on the modeling and fashion world. It featured wonderful readings of Titania by Ann Chandler, Michael Rivera as a demonic Puck, Lynda Green as Helena, and Larray Grimes as Maxwell Cute. Many in the cast were prone to wandering aimlessly across the wide, shallow stage (Lawrence Merrit was one of the few who took command of his space). But when bits were confined to a defined area they worked well; a prime example being a deliriously funny vogue routine developed to perfection by Michael Shattner and Mark Cirnigliaro as a fey fashion photographer and his disinterested beau. Another standout bit took place in the Cyclops' Garden. Directed by Steven Thornburg.