Modern film comedies stand on the worthy shoulders of silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, who, without technicolor or sound, made audiences laugh out loud. Now, though June 29 only, the Pasadena Playhouse presents "Stoneface," based on the career highs and lows of film legend, Buster Keaton.
According to Jaime Robledo, director of "Stoneface, "Buster Keaton, born Joseph Frank Keaton, began his career literally being tossed around the stage as a child for the amusement of audiences.
Modern film comedies stand on the worthy shoulders of silent film stars like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, who, without technicolor or sound, made audiences laugh out loud. Now, though June 29 only, the Pasadena Playhouse presents "Stoneface," based on the career highs and lows of film legend, Buster Keaton.
According to Jaime Robledo, director of "Stoneface, "Buster Keaton, born Joseph Frank Keaton, began his career literally being tossed around the stage as a child for the amusement of audiences.
His ability to endure the knocks, take the pain and come back for more would be his calling card throughout his life.
With the guidance of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, he helped invent the language of comedic cinema and became an icon on par with his rivals Chaplin and Lloyd."
"Stoneface," by playwright Vanessa Claire Stewart, is a theatrical love letter written for her husband French Stewart who plays Keaton on stage. In the program she thanks her husband for "being the perfect muse."
Before penning "Stoneface," originally for Sacred Fools Theater Company, Vanessa co-wrote and starred as Keely Smith at the Geffen Playhouse in "Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara." She brings the same verve and style to her play "Stoneface" which hopefully will move from Pasadena to Broadway.
The time frame of the play is between 1921 and 1952 and takes place in various locations around Hollywood. The scenic design by Joel Daavid is enhanced by projection designers Ben Rock and Anthony Backman. The original music was composed by Ryan Johnson who is the pianist in the play.
"Stoneface," which details great highs and cavernous lows in Keaton's career and marriages, is often brought to life with comedic scenes reminiscent of a Keaton silent movie. A fine example is the opening where the actors are introduced. In the process they step from stage onto a screen. Instantly they become black and white projections.
Then the celluloid images run across the screen and emerge back on stage, going from reel life back to real life. This opening is not only inventive it's lots of visual fun.
French Stewart, who stars as Keaton, has appeared in numerous Los Angeles theatre productions, movies and TV Shows and may be most recognizable for his role in the popular TV series "3rd Rock from the Sun."
In "Stoneface," French not only makes us laugh, he also performs difficult physical stunts and pratfalls with ease. The plot is often moved forward with clever scenes reminiscent of a silent film as Keaton and the ensemble run in and out of doorways or in and out of screen projections giving his life experiences the feel of a silent film comedy that often verges on tragedy.
Scott Leggett plays "Fatty" Arbuckle and he and French have a very clever scene that reenacts a silent comedy bit from one of their movies.
Others in the cast include: Guy Picot (Charlie Chaplin), Daisy Eagan (Mae Scriven), Joe Fria (young Buster Keaton), Rena Strober (Norma Talmadge/Elanor Keaton), Tegan Ashton Cohan (Natalie Talmadge), Jake Broder (Joseph Schenck), Pat Towne (Louis B. Mayer) and Conor Duffy (Edward Sedgwick/George Jessel).
The Pasadena Playhouse is located at 39 South El Molino Ave., Pasadena. For tickets phone: 626-356-7529 or online at www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org.
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France's leading contemporary ballet company, Ballet Preljocaj, will present their U.S. debut of "Les Nuits" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for three performances only on Friday and Saturday June 20-21 at 7:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Sunday June 22.
Angelin Preljocaj, choreographer and artistic director of the company, was born near Paris in 1957 and studied both classical and contemporary ballet techniques. A student of Merce Cunningham in 1980, Preljocaj has created 48 works which have been performed in major cities throughout the world from Amsterdam to Versailles.
In "Les Nuits" eighteen dancers bring the sensuous Arabian fairy tales of Persian and Indian origin to life. The stories from "One Thousand and One Nights" are told by the alluring, mysterious and clever Scheherazade who seduces a sultan with her sultry, imaginative stories for 1001 nights.
According to choreographer Preljocaj, "These tales contain some very sensual aspects that I wished to represent through dance."
Be advised, "Les Nuits" is recommended for mature audiences since it contains scenes of a sexual nature and some scenes featuring partial nudity. For tickets go to: www.musiccenter.org.
