'STEEL' MORE THAN PROVES ITS METTLE.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic IF YOU KNOW the legend - or any incarnation of the folk ballad - you can probably guess how ``Steel: John Henry & the Shaker'' ends. As the wheels of progress grind forward, a steel-driving man squares off against a machine, winning the battle and losing the war - and his life - to the Industrial Revolution. ``I can fix the drill,'' sniffs the company boss as he stands over the victorious John Henry's corpse. Indeed he can. ``Steel,'' the Oasis Theatre Company's new musical at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre's indoor space, is more than a fable brought to life. Under Wendy McClellan's direction, the vibrantly staged ``Steel'' is a sweaty, pounding chamber piece. Meticulously researched by producer/dramaturg Alison Merkel, this collaboration between author Leon Martell, composer Penka Kouneva and choreographer Ameenah Kaplan is a rich and exciting two hours. You won't see a more myth-worthy entrance than the one afforded to John Henry, the mountainous steel driver working on West Virginia's Big Bend Big Bend A region of southwest Texas on the Mexican border in a triangle formed by a bend in the Rio Grande. The area includes deep river canyons, desert wilderness, mountains rising to 2,386. Tunnel. We first see a shadow towering over the workers. When barrel-chested Michael A. Shepperd strides on stage, his first sound is an animal-like howl. An accident has cost Henry his ``shaker,'' Zack (Frank Lawson Jr.), and Henry feels it when his fellow workers bleed. Zack's death opens a door for young Willy (Randy Guiaya). The 16-year- old railroad greenhorn greenhorn a raw, inexperienced person; especially a new cowboy. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexperience is starving and penniless pen·ni·less adj. 1. Entirely without money. 2. Very poor. See Synonyms at poor. pen  ni·less·ly adv. , desperately in need of work, even if it means spending a 12-hour shift on the business end of a steel rod being repeatedly clobbered by Henry. If he can prove his worth, the captain informs him, Willy can eat. If he lasts the day, he'll earn a pair of boots. And wages. In expanding the ballad, Martell has fleshed out several characters, developed a relationship between Henry and his shaker and kept Zack's ghost around as a kind of benevolent mountain spirit. Willy is actually the person we come most to care about, and Guiaya brings off the boy-to-man development with flair. Shepperd's Henry isn't quite the stoic human steel plow that the legend suggests. He's the workers' leader, in speech as well as action. McClellan's company moves this tale forward through song and movement as much as through dialogue. Through Kouneva's music, performed with a distinctly gospel and percussive per·cus·sive adj. Of, relating to, or characterized by percussion. per·cus sive·ly adv. bent by music director David O's band, we learn about Willy's ambitions (``My Money Is Grass''), John Henry's legendary instrument (``This Hammer'') and death (``Mend the Last Sock''). Kaplan's choreography is heavy on clanking clank n. A metallic sound, sharp and hard but not resonant: the clank of chains. intr.v. clanked, clank·ing, clanks To make a sharp, hard, metallic sound. , boot stomping and a near balletic depiction of steel driving. The story sags ever so slightly with the arrival of Doerr's company boss, who spells out the implications of progress, but not enough to undo the excellent work done throughout. We're in the second season of the Ford's new drama series co-sponsored by the L.A. County Arts Commission and the A.S.K. Theater Projects. The series is called ``Hot Properties
adj. Beyond question or doubt. See Synonyms at authentic. un·ques  tion·a·bil belongs under that rubric RUBRIC, civil law. The title or inscription of any law or statute, because the copyists formerly drew and painted the title of laws and statutes rubro colore, in red letters. Ayl. Pand. B. 1, t. 8; Diet. do Juris. h.t. . ``STEEL: JOHN HENRY & THE SHAKER'' Three and one half stars Where: John Anson Ford Amphitheatre List of Ford Amphitheatres
When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday; through Feb. 24. Tickets: $15 to $20. Call (323) 461-3673. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Randy Guiaya, left, and Michael A. Shepperd in a scene from ``Steel: John Henry & the Shaker,'' now on stage at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. |
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