The Glass Menagerie The Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena Through
June 18 Tickets: $15-$42.50
When her footsteps come near, you dread the minutes until your
peace is driven away by her ceaseless shrill. She is your mother,
and every detail of your being is under her scrutiny. Nothing
satisfies her. Everything irks her. She nags, nags and nags some
more, and either you take it ““ or you explode. This struggle
to maintain sanity and filial duty is played out with utmost
conviction and tragedy in the Pasadena Playhouse’s production
of Tennessee Williams’ renowned “The Glass
Menagerie.” Twenty-two-year-old warehouse worker Tom
Wingfield (Raphael Sbarge) does not want to make the same choice
his father made 16 years ago when he deserted the family ““
but Tom finds that harder every day. He and his sister Laura
(Rachel Robinson) are beaten down by their mother’s good
intentions. All she wants may be a nice boy for 24-year-old Laura
and a man-of-the-house attitude from Tom ““ but Mrs. Wingfield
(Susan Sullivan) doesn’t know when to stop pushing. She
doesn’t see that inviting Laura’s high school crush
would paralyze her daughter, who was so painfully shy, she dropped
out of high school. She can’t see that Tom is unhappily
sacrificing his dream as a writer to support his family and
drowning his sorrows in booze and movies. If this unending
tug-of-war between the well-meaning, pushy parent against the
dutiful, but unhappy children sounds all too familiar, “The
Glass Menagerie” may evoke some cringing, painful memories.
Simply put, the acting is good. The yelling and crying may seem
over the top, but it’s believable for the situation when no
middle ground exists for the problem. The struggles of the
Wingfield family become more powerful throughout the show because
the family’s history is woven expertly into the storyline.
Every gesture, motivation and exchange is backed by the
characters’ personality, history and thoughts. Without a hair
out of place, the play becomes a complete work of art with fully
realized characters who constantly push the scenes that drive the
story forward. At the heart of its emotional core is Sullivan,
whose stunning performance as the headstrong, high-strung matriarch
makes every moment a climax. Sandy Yang Rating: 9 Â
Follies David Henry Hwang Theater, Little Tokyo Tickets: $30-$35
($5 off for students and seniors ) Through June 25
By itself, the story about unrequited love would have been
enough. The East West Players version of Stephen Sondheim’s
musical “Follies,” however, takes a leaping jump
forward and offers a singing and dancing diary to the
character’s innermost feelings. In the 1920s, showgirls who
were part of “Follies” were the most beautiful singers
and dancers in the world. Thirty years later, they reunite before
their old theater gets demolished. At the heart of this reunion is
the story of married couples, Buddy (Robert Almodovar) and Sally
(Linda Dangcil) and Ben (Sab Shimono) and Phyllis (Freda Foh Shen).
Ben and Sally used to be sweethearts, and even after 30 years,
Sally never got over Ben. She hopes to rekindle the relationship
after setting eyes on him again. The revelation is not too
shocking; Buddy always knew Sally was not happy with him no matter
how hard he tried, and Phyllis regrets giving up her dreams in
order to be Ben’s wife. With all these feelings stirring
between the four of them, the question becomes, “What will
happen by the end of the night?” “Follies” adds
another dimension by giving the characters a past. By including the
younger versions of themselves throughout the play, the story is
more compelling, giving the audience a better picture of what went
wrong in the past that still haunts the characters 30 years later.
With 26 performers in 22 singing and dancing numbers, the story
flows effortlessly from song to dialogue to dance, relentlessly
moving. Sometimes, you get a short break from the other showgirls,
who do their dance number. Most notable is Amy Hill as Hattie
Walker, who sings a rousing number called “Broadway
Baby,” about a time when a girl could eat her dreams and
enjoy the glamour of starring in a Broadway show, yet live in a
ratty dump. All the performers are accomplished singers, dancers
and actors. When everyone in the cast does all of the scenes well,
it doesn’t just attest to the casting director’s
skills, but proves further the prowess of Asian American
entertainers. Like the Broadway babies in the fictional show, the
performers here have got it and they’re flaunting it. Sandy
Yang Rating: 9