A CHARMING, HOT-BLOODED 'DON JUAN'.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic Rules to live by: Settle your debts. If you're going to play the field, try not to juggle too many women at the same time. When enough people suggest repentance, pay them some heed. And, above all, do not, under any circumstances, invite the statue of the man you've slain to dinner. Yes, the one and only Don Juan is at it again in the 1665 Moliere play that carries his name. Considered hugely scandalous during its time, "Don Juan" is given a rollicking rol·lick·ing adj. Carefree and high-spirited; boisterous: a rollicking celebration. rol and sporadically dark treatment in Michael Michetti's production for A Noise Within. Like the delectable Don, this production effortlessly seduces. Director Michetti has assembled a winning on- and off-stage lineup, from leading man Elijah Alexander -- a Don Juan who inflames and enrages with equal skill -- all the way through his conquests, male and female. The presence of J.D. Cullum is always a happy omen, and Cullum -- in his ANW ANW Airborne Networking Waveform ANW Advanced NetWare (Cisco) ANW Appraised Net Worth ANW Program Director for Weather and Flight Service Stations (FAA) debut -- doubles the evening's entertainment quotient as Don Juan's valet Sganarelle. The benefits don't stop there. From easily duped peasants to befuddled creditors to lisping courtiers, Michetti's splendidly cast company is having a high old time while staying true to the play's agenda. Truth be told, given the amount of bad behavior on display, nobody is having too much fun. Even Don Juan is starting to labor. He's just left one wife, Dona Elvira (played by Libby West), and is looking to lure a peasant wench away from her fiance, doubling up his efforts when a pair of girls (Abby Craden and Sarah Green) catch his fancy. Between seductions, flight and evasions, Don Juan talks philosophical turkey with Sganarelle. Utterly convinced his master is going straight to the lower depths, Sganarelle urges change and repentance -- at least for as long as his insolence in·so·lence n. 1. The quality or condition of being insolent. 2. An instance of insolent behavior, treatment, or speech. Noun 1. won't earn him a beating or threaten his wages. In Cullum's hands, it's clear the servant has a bit of the trickster trickster, a mythic figure common among Native North Americans, South Americans, and Africans. Usually male but occasionally female or disguised in female form, he is notorious for exaggerated biological drives and well-endowed physique; partly divine, partly human, in him as well. Sganarelle's impersonation Impersonation Patroclus wore the armor of Achilles against the Trojans to encourage the disheartened Greeks. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad] Prisoner of Zenda, The of a doctor "tending" to a wounded courtier is but one of several bits of comic brilliance. Throughout, Cullum is a mass of eloquent and quite funny angst. Sganarelle is quite right in interpreting those omens. Between those distant rumblings (sound by Rachel Myles), some flickering lights (James P. Taylor) and, of course, that freaky freak·y adj. freak·i·er, freak·i·est 1. Strange or unusual; freakish. 2. Slang Frightening. freak statue, Don Juan's future is no paradise. Alexander's Juan -- as ardent in his narcissism as he is in defying God -- ignores every sign that changing his ways might be a good idea. Indeed, this Juan seems poised to set records for speedy seductions. Lacing his hedonistic he·don·ism n. 1. Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses. 2. Philosophy The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good. tendencies with what feels like a serious case of attention deficit disorder attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADD or ADHD) formerly hyperactivity Behavioral syndrome in children, whose major symptoms are inattention and distractibility, restlessness, inability to sit still, and difficulty concentrating on one thing for any , Alexander buzzes through all distractions, whether they be a pesky creditor (Apollo Dukakis) or Elvira's vengeance-minded brother (a quite funny Stephen Rockwell). The character's simultaneous manipulation of the two peasants girls is a dizzying trick. Yes, this Don's got some balls ... in the air. A smoldering smol·der also smoul·der intr.v. smol·dered, smol·der·ing, smol·ders 1. To burn with little smoke and no flame. 2. West anchors the play's moral conscience as the wronged Elvira, and Mitchell Edmonds is appropriately stern and reproachful re·proach·ful adj. Expressing reproach or blame. re·proach  ful·ly adv.re·proach as Juan's father. You feel a bit for any actors who have to play it so consistently straight in a sea of high jinks. Still, darkness has its place in Juan's world, something Michetti and his cast know well. With both avenues covered, we can take equal delight in watching Don Juan's fall and in the lusty lust·y adj. lust·i·er, lust·i·est 1. Full of vigor or vitality; robust. 2. Powerful; strong: a lusty cry. 3. Lustful. 4. Merry; joyous. steps he takes to get there. Evan Henerson (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com DON JUAN - Three and one half stars >Where: A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. >When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through May 24. Plays in rotating repertory. Please call for specific show days and times. >Tickets: $36 to $40. (818) 240-0910, Ext. 1, www.anoisewithin.org. >In a nutshell: On the road with Don Juan. Elijah Alexander and J.D. Cullum lead the way. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) The notoriously passionate Don Juan (Elijah Alexander) leaves wife Dona Elvira (Libby West) to seduce a peasant girl in A Noise Within's production of Moliere's "Don Juan." |
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