By Ron Levitt

Florida Media News

ENV magazine

MIAMI LAKES, FL – it is always revealing to watch a small, local theatre company produce a well-known play without benefit of big-money-sets and extravagant lighting and sound.  One never knows exactly what to expect.  Despite such budget shortfalls in the technical department, lighting expertise by Skye Whitcomb and recorded music – along with four magnetic  actors – allow The Alliance Theatre Lab  to take over  the Main Street Playhouse’s tiny venue in Miami Lakes  with topnotch quality in a David Mamet revival of the 1970s hit – Sexual Perversity in Chicago. It was this language-peppered play which put Mamet on the artistic map.

This play hits its mark thanks to some astute direction  by  Albert Acevedo  but also  by a cast of  twenty-something actors who explore  relationships  ferociously among the working class in the Windy City circa 1970 and do it with such realism that one may forget he or she is watching outrage on tiny stage set up to reach 50 seats in the audience.   If ever actors deserve applause, it is this foursome “making mad” in  Miami Lakes.

David Sirois,  Travis Reiff, Bertha Leal and Jehane Serralles     are the quartet who find their relationships falling apart because of the caustic nature of their vocabulary – enough profane words to set records for insulting and  arguing in any year.  Sirois and   Reiff  in particular, shine for two different reasons:  Sirois for underplaying his low-key character and Reiff for his volatile performance of the womanizing best-friend. Mamet has always been strong in his male character depiction and dialogue and these two actors – thanks to Director Acevedo – fill Mamet’s character progression.

One might think a 1970s play would not be relevant to the new Century.  But, despite its reflection on a time past, it could be any moment, anywhere as relationships sour.  This production is not played as a period piece, It is not dated, even with outdated references to the Equal Rights Amendment and other cultural highlights.

Mamet’s play originally was all about language and how it can be used.  Is this truly “gutter talk” or is  just “stylized filth” – the way this generation talked!  Like others before, you can decide!’

The plot is primarily about the relationship of Danny (Sirois)  and Deborah (Leal),  who go from sexually attracted individuals to uncomfortable people living together.   Their pals  ( Reiff) and (Serralles)   add to the confusion as they talk about what they consider usual man-woman subjects.  In a nutshell, their friends  help to poison the relationship    This play is perfect for ensemble-size theatre groups with paltry budgets.  It is also a class-A  production to showcase individual actors.

As for the Mamet of 1972, he forces his audience to examine  society’s attitudes toward love and romance, those rebellious years when the idea of a stable, committed relationship had become a modern-day perversity. His ability with dialogue is well-tested in film and on stage.   His works range from Glengarry Glenn Ross, Wag the Dog to his recent mainstream  success, Speed-the-Plow.  Returning to see his earliest success gives theatre-lovers a chance to compare Mamet’s story-telling evolution.

The show runs through Nov.  22.  Call  305.259.0418

By Ron Levitt

Florida Media News

ENV Magazine

The singing – as my grandkids would say – is awesome.  The dancing is near-perfection.  So, what more could anyone want out of a performance of Bubbling Brown Sugar – another of Broward Stage Door’s  truly enjoyable musical productions.

There is no question of just how much the audience appreciated  the rhythmic talent at this Coral Springs musical emporium which — in recent months — has produced knock-em -dead productions of La Cage Au Faux and its rendition of the  Broadway-bound revival, A Little Night’s Music,  Once again, Dee Bunn / David Torres and their  staff at  Broward Stage Door have done themselves proud with a fun musical, even though the storyline is minimal.

It’s the music – some 30-plus hits from the 1920s to 1940s – which make this an event worth seeing.  The cast is good – some, exceptionally good – but it is Director Dan Kelley, Musical Director Mark Goodman and Choreographer Chrissi Ardito who deserve the biggest bows.  Yes, their work is “awesome.”   Their handiwork makes this cast light up the stage.’

Bubbling Brown Sugar is a look at the music which came mostly out of Harlem during a 20 year span.  No matter what your age, you’ll find those rhythm and blues standards  irresistible  and – if you grew up in those days – you’ll come out humming and singing songs you may not have thought about in some time,

No, let’s not take anything away from this cast. All 16 of them sparkle in this seldom-seen treat.   Allison Semmes performs a Duke Ellington torch song so convincingly that the audience rousingly cheered her efforts; Nadeen Holloway, a Carbonell nominee, is a show-stopper with her “The’ll Be Some Changes Made”; and Roslyn Seale’s “God Bless the Child” showed a range of notes oblivious to the recorded music’s normal zone.   Chris Patterson, Rendell DeBose,  Jerrial Young are pure dynamos vocalizing and tapping; John Ramsey and Liz McFarlane are a joy to watch and hear;  and Broward Stage Door regular Marcus Allen continues to show off his amazing talent in song and dance.

Add to our list of budding entertainers  Teisha Duncan, David Menendez, Walter Kemp and a terrific ensemble – Amanda Bailey, Alicia Lawson, Jarvis Manning  Jr, and Shain Stroff  – and it’s the making of a terrific production.

Can  there be any doubt that this production elicits enthusiasm?

This show runs through Nov, 22. Don’t miss it! .  Call 954-344-7765.