WHERE IS THY STING?Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic JOHN GUARE John Guare (pronounced gwâr, born 5 February 1938) is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation. wrote a marvelous play called ``Six Degrees of Separation''; Douglas Carter Beane Douglas Carter Beane is an American playwright and screenwriter. Originally from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Beane now lives in New York. His works include the screenplay of To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and several plays including essentially pirated it. In the former, however, we came to be fascinated by both the con man and the person being conned. Especially the person being conned. Beane's ``As Bees in Honey Drown'' isn't simply a poor knockoff knock·off n. Informal An unauthorized copy or imitation, as of designer clothing: "the place to go for quality knockoffs" Women's Wear Daily. Noun 1. of Guare's ``Six Degrees,'' it's a real clunker clunk·er n. Informal 1. A decrepit machine, especially an old car; a rattletrap. 2. A failure; a flop. all by itself. And at the Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic theatre located in Pasadena, California. History The Playhouse's history began in 1917 when actor/director Gilmor Brown began producing a season of plays at an old burlesque house, which he renamed the Savoy. , where a badly miscast mis·cast tr.v. mis·cast, mis·cast·ing, mis·casts 1. To cast in an unsuitable role. 2. To cast (a role, play, or film) inappropriately. Peri Gilpin Peri Gilpin (born Periwinkle Kay O'Brien on May 27 1961, in Waco, Texas) is an American actress best known for the role of Roz Doyle on the successful U.S. television series Frasier, for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. is headlining, ``Bees'' is a noisy, ham-fisted, difficult sit. How and why ``Bees'' doesn't buzz is something of a mystery. I'm assured by people who saw the acclaimed and financially successful off-Broadway production (which starred J. Smith-Cameron) that the play actually does contain laughs. To which the only response, after slogging through Sheldon Epps' production, can be: ``And those laughs are ... where exactly?'' Hot young novelist Evan Wyler (played by Chad Willett) is recruited by glamorous, name-dropping music producer Alexa Vere de Vere (Gilpin) to write a screenplay of her life. Wyler guzzles the jet-setting image makeover that comes with trailing Vere de Vere's firmament. Evan, who is gay, even falls in love with Alexa (who is not). Then follows the first-act climax that Alexa Vere de Vere is - brace yourself, folks! - not who she seems. Fans of the play will maintain that Beane has not written himself into a creative corner by intermission. Nonsense. The second act consists of explanation, filled-in details and a kind of revenge plot whereby Evan looks to get even with Alexa, only to understand the psychological implications of why he was such a pigeon; why all seekers of fame are potential dupes. Oh, and we also see the creation of Alexa Vere de Vere, and meet the first ``Evan'' in her life. If we're being asked to care, we don't, and that's largely the production's fault. Gilpin and Willett are not performers who draw you into their characters' world, nor do they offer people you can enjoy despising. Willett's Evan comes off as whiny and supremely stupid rather than just blindly besotted be·sot tr.v. be·sot·ted, be·sot·ting, be·sots To muddle or stupefy, as with alcoholic liquor or infatuation. [be- + sot, to stupefy (from sot, fool . A better play than what Beane has written makes it clear that Evan and Alexa deserve each other, might even live to successfully con another day. The playwright wimps out with the ending, and Willett is as spineless in triumph as he is in patsyhood. Gilpin (who plays Frasier Crane's producer Roz on television's ``Frasier'') is largely playing Alexa's broadness, and that's good for minimal humor. Saddled with a ridiculous collection of wigs and a couple of improbable tone shifts, Gilpin can't get far beyond making Alexa a sketch. Which is, unfortunately for any actress who takes on the role, what the character is. Several members of the six-person ensemble - including the two leads - were fumbling lines on opening night. Topping off the evening is a blitzing rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. score (sound design by Steven Cahill) that punctuates scenes and scene breaks. It's as fitting a theme for the psychologically bulldozing Alexa Vere de Vere as anything. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN As Bees In Honey Drown is a Theatrical piece by Douglas Carter Beane, an American playwright and screenwriter. - One and one half stars Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through Sept. 21. Tickets: $29.50 to $44.50. Call (626) 356-7529. In a nutshell: Mostly unfunny satire of those who would seek the artistic brass ring. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Chad Willett plays a writer drawn to the trappings surrounding Peri Gilpin's socialite in ``As Bees in Honey Drown'' at the Pasadena Playhouse. |
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