Reckless

Christmas isn't the happiest time of year in Reckless, a dark comedy produced by Alley Repertory Theater at the Visual Arts Center (the last performance is tonight). Well, it is for Rachel, who can barely contain her excitement over her favorite holiday. Buffie Main plays Rachel with bubbly verve as a woman who, despite everything that happens to her over the course of the play, never becomes jaded about life. In the first scene, her face is alight with excitement; she positively glows with anticipation and holiday spirit. Rachel is completely unaware that her world is about to come crashing down around her because her husband Tom has taken out a contract on her life.

But Tom, played by Steve Martin, is fully aware that Christmas won't be happy this year, and he's already filled with regret. He no longer wants to go through with it, but he's powerless to call it off. And so, while Rachel eagerly goes about the last-minute tree decorating and babbles to him about Christmas memories, he sits glumly on the bed, absolutely dismal. At the last minute, he tells her what he's done and shoves her out of the house in slippers and a bathrobe to try to get her to safety.

Rachel meets Lloyd (Alex Robertson), a big-hearted man who works for a nonprofit with his girlfriend Pooty (Christen Atwood), a paraplegic who speaks to Lloyd using sign language. Lloyd and Pooty take Rachel in and allow her to stay in their home for a full year, until another Christmas tragedy strikes.

Robertson does an excellent job as Lloyd, reacting perfectly to Rachel's occasionally crazy behavior and changing abruptly from a warm, compassionate man in the first act to a man sunken into depression in the second act. Atwood plays her part with smiles and tenderness, but displays great passion when she explains to Rachel what it's like to live without a voice.

Katie Preston does a hilarious job playing six different psychiatrists, each with a wildly different personality. Kenna Marks plays a variety of parts -- notably a TV reporter and a woman who kills her husband and writes a book about it -- with great gusto. Rob Tromp is tremendously funny as the tacky host of a game show, "Your Mother or Your Wife," and his other roles. And Toni Dragotoiu and Andrea Haskett do a fine job rounding out the show in a number of characters, notably as Roy, the director of the nonprofit Lloyd and Pooty work at, and Trish, its business manager.

Larry Dennis did an excellent job directing the show, creating a delightful cast with well-developed characters and emotional moments, setting the perfect timing for laughs and keeping the show moving briskly along. If you get a chance tonight, go see it.

Roundup

November

• Nov. 21-22: The Boise State Theatre Arts Department opens A Dream Play by August Stringberg, about the daughter of the god Indra who comes to Earth and experiences human suffering. The show runs at 7:30 at the Danny Peterson Theater in the Morrison Center.
• Nov. 21-22: CAN-ACT presents We Found Love and an Exquisite Set of Porcelain Figures Aboard the SS Farndale Avenue, a comedy about an inept theater troupe trying to perform a romantic epic. The show runs at 8:00 and at 214 7th Ave., Caldwell.
• Nov. 21: Alley Repertory Theater opens Reckless, a dark comedy about a woman who finds out on Christmas Eve that her husband has taken out a contract on her life. She escapes and goes on a journey of self-discovery. The show runs Nov. 21-23, 26, and 28-29 at 8:00 at the Visual Arts Collective behind the Woman of Steel Gallery on Chinden.
• Nov. 23: The Treasure Valley Youth Symphony performs their fall concert at 7:00 at Timberline High School.
• Nov. 28: Boise Little Theater presents The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge, in which, one year after finding the true meaning of Christmas, Scrooge is back to his old ways and has decided to sue Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 4-7 and 10-13 at 2:00 Sunday, 7:30 Wednesday and 8:00 Thursday through Saturday at the theater on Fort Street.
• Nov. 28: Stage Coach Theatre presents Moving, a comic slice-of-life tale of a family dealing with one of the most stressful days any family undergoes: moving day. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 4-7 and 11-13 at 7:30 Thursday, 8:15 Friday through Saturday, and 2:00 Sunday.
• Nov. 28: Starlight Mountain Theatre opens The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a comedy about a married couple who are trying to put on the annual church Christmas pageant even though the cast includes a family of mean and nasty kids. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20 at 7:30 at The Star theater at 1851 Century Way in Boise.
• Nov. 28: Encore Theatre Company opens A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas, a drama inspired by the Little House on the Prairie books. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6 at 7:00 at NNU's Science Lecture Hall in Nampa and Dec. 12 at 7:00 at the Caldwell Center for the Arts at 603 Everett St., Caldwell.
• Nov. 28: Prairie Dog Productions opens It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol, a mashup of the tales of George Bailey and Ebenezer Scrooge. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6, 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27 at 7:15 and Nov. 30, Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 at 2:00 at 3820 Cassia in Boise.
• Nov. 29: The Boise Art Musuem opens an exhibit of ceramic sculptures, drawings and paintings by Japanese artist Jun Kaneko. Some of Kaneko's ceramic pieces are up to 13 feet high and 5,000 pounds.
• Nov. 29: The Boise Art Museum opens Small Wars and 29 Palms, two documentary photo series by Vietnamese photographer An-My Lê that explore the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Now through Dec. 12: Works by artists Anna Marie Boles, Jan Boles, Garth Claassen, Stephen Fisher, Steve Grant, Dori Johnson and Lynn Webster are on display at Rosenthal Gallery at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.
• Now through Dec. 13: Boise Contemporary Theater presents No ... You Shutup, a one-woman show by comedian Lauren Weedman about a woman who is searching for a way to feel at home with a family of her own and exploring marriage, adoption, reproduction and careers. The show runs at 8:00 Nov. 19-22, 26 and 28-29 and Dec. 3-6 and 10-13 and 2:00 Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 at 854 Fulton St. in Boise.
• Now through May 2009: The Boise Art Museum hosts a site-specific architectural structure called After, by Lead Pencil Studio architects and artists Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo.

December

• Dec. 4: Idaho Actors Collective opens The Last Supper, a play about a group of idealistic but frustrated liberals who decide to murder right-wing pundits. The show runs Dec. 4-6 and 11-13 at 8:00 at 2722 W. Sunset Ave., Boise.
• Dec. 5: Knock 'Em Dead Dinner Theatre presents An Old-Fashioned Christmas, a combination of skits, readings and holiday songs. Show dates are Dec. 5-6, 11-13 and 18-20. Show times are 7:00 Thursdays and 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays; dinner is served at 7:00 Fridays and Saturdays. The theater is on Ninth Street between Front and Myrtle in Boise.
• Dec. 5: CAN-ACT presents The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a comedy about a married couple who are trying to put on the annual church Christmas pageant even though the cast includes a family of mean and nasty kids. The show runs Dec. 5 and 12 at 7:00 and Dec. 13 at 3:00 at 214 7th Ave., Caldwell.
• Dec. 6: Opera Idaho and the Opera Idaho Children's Chorus present Opera Idaho Sings Christmas, which includes selections of The Messiah, other holiday tunes, and a sing-along, at 7:00 at the Egyptian Theater at Capitol and Main in Boise.
• Dec. 6-7: The Eugene Ballet presents The Nutcracker, the classic holiday story of a girl who is rescued from the evil Mouse King by her brave toy nutcracker, at 3:00 at Jewett Auditorium at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.
• Dec. 6: Music Theater of Idaho opens a musical adaptation of the classic Dickens story of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. The show runs Dec. 6 and 10-13 at 7:30 and Dec. 6 and 13 at 1:30 at the Nampa Civic Center.
• Dec. 6: Boise Art Museum opens an exhibit of photos of Idaho Special Olympics athletes called Let Me Be Brave: Portraits in Courage by Idaho photographer Susan Valiquette.
• Dec. 7: The Boise Philharmonic presents Encore!, a brass chamber concert, at 2:00 at Trinity Presbyterian Church at 4601 Surprise Way in Boise.
• Dec. 12-14: Ballet Idaho presents The Nutcracker, the classic holiday story of a girl who is rescued from the evil Mouse King by her brave toy nutcracker. The show runs at 8:00 Dec. 12-13 and 2:00 Dec. 13-14 at the Morrison Center.
• Dec. 17: Company of Fools presents It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, in which several radio actors recreate all the characters, as well as sound effects and songs, in the Frank Capra movie about George Bailey and the new lease on life he gets when he sees how life would be like in his hometown without him. The show runs at 7:00 on Dec. 17-18, 23 and 30-31, 8:00 on Dec. 19-20, 26-27 and Jan. 2-3, and 3:00 Dec. 21, 24, 28 and Jan. 4 at the Liberty Theatre on Main Street in Hailey.
  

Lucia di Lammermoor

I'm about half a month late in posting anything on Opera Idaho's production of Lucia di Lammermoor -- I guess since it was a one-night performance and I knew no one would have the opportunity to read a review and then go see the show, I wasn't motivated to write a review right away. But I wanted to review Lucia so hopefully any of my readers who ordinarily might shy away from opera might actually consider going to one of Opera Idaho's next productions.

I won tickets to Lucia from Boise State Radio during their fund drive -- yay, Boise State Radio! -- and took my mom to see it with me. This was my mom's first opera, and she is now officially a fan. I've seen several operas before -- a couple traveling opera companies at Caldwell Fine Arts, one in London, and several student productions at College of Idaho -- and this easily ranked among the best of them.

Okay, starting to sound a teeny bit like an opera snob. Time to deploy the YouTube clip of the Muppets singing the Habanera from Carmen.

Seriously, though, opera is not something you have to be afraid of. Bugs Bunny taught me that. But taking the plunge and seeing a non-Muppet, non-Looney Tunes opera production is easier than you might think. Opera production companies generally try to make opera as accessible as possible. My mom didn't know until we saw Lucia that Opera Idaho uses supertitles so you can read translations of what the actors are singing as they sing it. This is actually a pretty common practice, and a valuable one. Without the supertitles, you might be able to get the sense of what's happening by reading the synopsis in the program and by watching the actors' expressive faces and gestures, but you'd be missing out on a lot of meaning. Some of the lyrics are downright beautiful.

Rochelle Bard played Lucia, who is in love with her brother's rival, Edgardo, played by Christopher Bengochea. Lucia's brother, Enrico (Dennis Jesse), wants Lucia to marry Arturo (Joe Dewey), a potential political ally who could keep the family in power over Edgardo. Enrico tricks Lucia into believing that Edgardo has become engaged to someone else and gets her to marry Arturo. Edgardo returns too late to stop the wedding and is enraged at her supposed faithlessness. When Edgardo tears off his ring and rushes out, Lucia goes mad.

Bard has a stunning voice -- I had to catch my breath a few times during some of her solos. Bengochea's final solo had me in tears. Everyone in the production sang well, but these two had a wonderful expressiveness. Bard does an excellent job of conveying Lucia's madness not just in song, but in mannerisms -- she sits on the altar and dangles her feet girlishly, then viciously throws flowers from the altar at the man she imagines to be Arturo; she absentmindedly drops her veil on the floor, then snatches it out of the hands of her companion, who has picked it up.

I was impressed by the care that had been put into almost every aspect of the production. The sets were spectacular; the towers looked like real stone. During the "mad scene," the lights were ingeniously rigged below and in front of the bench Lucia sits on so as to cast giant shadows of her outstretched hands and crooked fingers across the back wall. It was nice to see the director and cast pay attention to the little things, like making sure the actors continued to gesture and pretend to talk between numbers as the audience applauded.

There were a few things that bothered me about the production -- there were several occasions when some of the actors were blocked with their backs to the audience, and I thought Enrico could have been more forceful and filled with rage at a few moments when he smashes things onto the table during the scene when he shows Lucia a forged letter. Minor items in a production this wonderful.

If Lucia is representative of the type of work Opera Idaho does, I'd definitely recommend checking out Cosi Fan Tutte in March.

Roundup

November

• November: The Boise Art Museum opens a new exhibit, a site-specific architectural structure called After, by Lead Pencil Studio architects and artists Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo.
• Nov. 9: Final day of Boise Art Museum's exhibits by photographer and sculptor Catherine Chalmers, American Cockroach, and by photographer Charles Lindsay, Upstream Fly Fishing in the American West.
• Nov. 12: Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Botany of Desire and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, reads selected works at 7:30 at the Egyptian Theatre at Main and Capitol in Boise.
• Nov. 12-16: The College of Idaho Theater Department opens Lapis Blue, Blood Red, the story of Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi and her struggles after she is raped and one of her paintings is stolen. The show runs Nov. 12-15 at 7:30 and Nov. 16 at 2:00 at the Langroise Studio Theater at C of I in Caldwell.
• Nov. 13: The Boise State Theatre Arts Department opens A Dream Play by August Stringberg, about the daughter of the god Indra who comes to Earth and experiences human suffering. The show runs Nov. 13-15 and 19-22 at 7:30 and Nov. 16 and 23 at 2:00 at the Danny Peterson Theater in the Morrison Center.
• Nov. 14-15: Starlight Mountain Theatre presents Wonderful Town, a comedy about two sisters -- an actor and a playwright -- who move to New York City to make it big. The show runs at 7:30 at The Star theater at 1851 Century Way in Boise.
• Nov. 14-15: The Boise Philharmonic performs Vessels of Courage and Hope by contemporary Israeli composer Shulamit Ran and Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Major by Gustav Mahler at 8:00 Nov. 14 at NNU's Swayne Auditorium in Nampa and 8:15 Nov. 15 at BSU's Morrison Center in Boise.
• Nov. 14: CAN-ACT opens We Found Love and an Exquisite Set of Porcelain Figures Aboard the SS Farndale Avenue, a comedy about an inept theater troupe trying to perform a romantic epic. The show runs at Nov. 14-15 and 20-22 and 8:00 and Nov. 15 at 2:00 at 214 7th Ave., Caldwell.
• Nov. 17: Caldwell Fine Arts presents Idaho Showcase, a concert with Sandpoint flautist Rhonda Bradetich, Coeur d'Alene harpist Leslie Stratton Norris and the College of Idaho Sinfonia, at 7:30 at Jewett Auditorium on the C of I campus.
• Nov. 19: Boise Contemporary Theater presents No ... You Shutup, a one-woman show by comedian Lauren Weedman about a woman who is searching for a way to feel at home with a family of her own and exploring marriage, adoption, reproduction and careers. The show runs at 8:00 Nov. 19-22, 26 and 28-29 and Dec. 3-6 and 10-13 and 2:00 Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 at 854 Fulton St. in Boise..
• Nov. 21: Alley Repertory Theater opens Reckless, a dark comedy about a woman who finds out on Christmas Eve that her husband has taken out a contract on her life. She escapes and goes on a journey of self-discovery. The show runs Nov. 21-23, 26, and 28-29 at 8:00 at the Visual Arts Collective behind the Woman of Steel Gallery on Chinden.
• Nov. 23: The Treasure Valley Youth Symphony performs their fall concert at 7:00 at Timberline High School.
• Nov. 28: Boise Little Theater presents The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge, in which, one year after finding the true meaning of Christmas, Scrooge is back to his old ways and has decided to sue Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 4-7 and 10-13 at 2:00 Sunday, 7:30 Wednesday and 8:00 Thursday through Saturday at the theater on Fort Street.
• Nov. 28: Stage Coach Theatre presents Moving, a comic slice-of-life tale of a family dealing with one of the most stressful days any family undergoes: moving day. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 4-7 and 11-13 at 7:30 Thursday, 8:15 Friday through Saturday, and 2:00 Sunday.
• Nov. 28: Starlight Mountain Theatre opens The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a comedy about a married couple who are trying to put on the annual church Christmas pageant even though the cast includes a family of mean and nasty kids. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20 at 7:30 at The Star theater at 1851 Century Way in Boise.
• Nov. 28: Encore Theatre Company opens A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas, a drama inspired by the Little House on the Prairie books. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6 at 7:00 at NNU's Science Lecture Hall in Nampa and Dec. 12 at 7:00 at the Caldwell Center for the Arts at 603 Everett St., Caldwell.
• Nov. 28: Prairie Dog Productions opens It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol, a mashup of the tales of George Bailey and Ebenezer Scrooge. The show runs Nov. 28-29 and Dec. 5-6, 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27 at 7:15 and Nov. 30, Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 at 2:00 at 3820 Cassia in Boise.
• Nov. 29: The Boise Art Musuem opens an exhibit of ceramic sculptures, drawings and paintings by Japanese artist Jun Kaneko. Some of Kaneko's ceramic pieces are up to 13 feet high and 5,000 pounds.
• Nov. 29: The Boise Art Museum opens Small Wars and 29 Palms, two documentary photo series by Vietnamese photographer An-My Lê that explore the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

December

• Dec. 4: Idaho Actors Collective opens The Last Supper, a play about a group of idealistic but frustrated liberals who decide to murder right-wing pundits. The show runs Dec. 4-6 and 11-13 at 8:00 at 2722 W. Sunset Ave., Boise.
• Dec. 5: Knock 'Em Dead Dinner Theatre presents An Old-Fashioned Christmas, a combination of skits, readings and holiday songs. Show dates are Dec. 5-6, 11-13 and 18-20. Show times are 7:00 Thursdays and 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays; dinner is served at 7:00 Fridays and Saturdays. The theater is on Ninth Street between Front and Myrtle in Boise.
• Dec. 5: CAN-ACT presents The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a comedy about a married couple who are trying to put on the annual church Christmas pageant even though the cast includes a family of mean and nasty kids. The show runs Dec. 5 and 12 at 7:00 and Dec. 13 at 3:00 at 214 7th Ave., Caldwell.
• Dec. 6: Opera Idaho and the Opera Idaho Children's Chorus present Opera Idaho Sings Christmas, which includes selections of The Messiah, other holiday tunes, and a sing-along, at 7:00 at the Egyptian Theater at Capitol and Main in Boise.
• Dec. 6-7: The Eugene Ballet presents The Nutcracker, the classic holiday story of a girl who is rescued from the evil Mouse King by her brave toy nutcracker, at 3:00 at Jewett Auditorium at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.
• Dec. 6: Music Theater of Idaho opens a musical adaptation of the classic Dickens story of Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. The show runs Dec. 6 and 10-13 at 7:30 and Dec. 6 and 13 at 1:30 at the Nampa Civic Center.
• Dec. 6: Boise Art Museum opens an exhibit of photos of Idaho Special Olympics athletes called Let Me Be Brave: Portraits in Courage by Idaho photographer Susan Valiquette.
• Dec. 7: The Boise Philharmonic presents Encore!, a brass chamber concert, at 2:00 at Trinity Presbyterian Church at 4601 Surprise Way in Boise.
• Dec. 12-14: Ballet Idaho presents The Nutcracker, the classic holiday story of a girl who is rescued from the evil Mouse King by her brave toy nutcracker. The show runs at 8:00 Dec. 12-13 and 2:00 Dec. 13-14 at the Morrison Center.
• Dec. 17: Company of Fools presents It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, in which several radio actors recreate all the characters, as well as sound effects and songs, in the Frank Capra movie about George Bailey and the new lease on life he gets when he sees how life would be like in his hometown without him. The show runs at 7:00 on Dec. 17-18, 23 and 30-31, 8:00 on Dec. 19-20, 26-27 and Jan. 2-3, and 3:00 Dec. 21, 24, 28 and Jan. 4 at the Liberty Theatre on Main Street in Hailey.