http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1LAOQKwD54

When we got invited to a pre-show event for Porgy and Bess, opening at SHN’s Golden Gate Theater, we weren’t sure what to expect. We were, however, told there would be free drinks, so of course we went. This special event for SHN subscribers and Press, featured a talk from the Director and one of the show’s producers, as well as a sneak peek behind the scenes of a tech rehearsal. For press it also featured a speed-dating-like round robin of interviews with the Cast and Creatives. Crammed into our little post-it assigned space in the back of the theater against the wall between “Fashionista Lab” and “The Bold Italic”, we had 5 minutes with each interviewee to get the important questions answered. We were pretty nervous, since this is not the kind of thing we usually do, but we are always down for potentially humiliating and awkward yet interesting situations. So we prepped like any speed dater would, and rehearsed our 3 burning questions to get the conversation started: Why are they excited to be in our great city? What’s it like to work on Gershwin’s iconic American folk opera? And why should people come see it?

After some drama talk and drinks here are the highlights from our dates.

Interview date #1: ESosa (Costume Designer who was featured on Project Runway Season 7)

On SF: What I like about SF, coming from New York, is that it’s a walkable city and I love to walk. And the food here is amazing!

On The Show: As a designer I like to work on new things so Porgy and Bess is the first revival I’ve ever worked on. For me theatre design and fashion design are two sides of the same coin and I approach it the same way. I want to make my characters look good, feel good, and be able to tell their story.

Interview date #2: Roosevelt Andre Credit (Fisherman)

On SF: I was born and raised in Oakland and went to Skyline High School. I now live in New York, so I’m excited to be back in the Bay.

On the show: What Diane Paulus (the Director) did was take the opera, which is four and a half hours, and made it short enough to go on Broadway, because you have to have a show in three hours or less. We really wanted to focus in on the story and this story definitely translates to today.

Interview date #3: Kent Overshown (Mingo, the Undertaker, u/s Porgy)

On SF: I grew up in Oakland but I moved to New York 3 years ago but I wish I was still here honestly. I’m not a fan, but it’s where the business is most lucrative, but there is nothing like the Bay Area.

On the show: Unlike most theatre this isn’t about the spectacle, it’s not about this grandiose thing. It’s not above life, it is life. It’s about community. How we communicate with each other, how we struggle together and the challenges we face together. How we celebrate together as well. I think it’s an important story because people feel alienated by the theater especially young people but this is our story and they need to see it.

Interview date #4: Nathaniel Stampley (Porgy)

On SF: This is my first time here. I’m loving San Fran already [Ed. Note: Oops.], I was so excited to hear we were opening the show here. There is so much history and culture here, it’s such a great city.

On the Show: I think the biggest thing about this production is we are introducing this show to a younger audience and I think it’s in a way that they’re going to absolutely love. It’s two and a half hours. I think any night you are listening to Gershwin is a good night. If you have ears and you are alive you are going to love this show.

The Verdict: Our speed-dating-like round robin of interviews was fun but (let’s be honest) stressful. If we had to chose our favorite date Brittany would chose Kent, because who can say no to that deep seeded Bay Area love and Katie was all about ESosa because he’s into the amazing San Francisco food just as much as she is.

The Drama Talk: Based on the very little we saw of the tech-rehearsal, and our conversations with the actors, it sounds like this is a very fresh and real take on this beautiful show. We’re excited to see it and report back to you soon.

The Drinks: SHN knows how to treat their subscribers right. Open bar before a sneak peek tech-rehearsal? Yes please!

We braved the wild coastal lands of Fort Mason to see opening night of The Happy Ones at Magic Theatre, directed by Jonathan Moscone. We made it back to the Mission and went to Royal Cuckoo to debrief. This is a transcript of our drama talk.

B: What should we get to drink? I feel like we should drink something that they drank during the show…They drink so many bloody mary’s and martinis and gin…

K: And sangria.
(orders gin and tonic)

B: What do you think the name of this review should be?
(orders a martini)

K: Oh sweet Jesus…How about “Slow start but ends with a bang”? At first I was like “Whaaat is this?” But their acting actually got better as it went on. Those first few scenes they were trying so hard to be happy 70’s Americans.

B: RIGHT! So, I would have called it “The Incredibly WAY too Happy Ones”. When they actually let themselves get serious the play had some really lovely moments.

K: Once the pain and suffering set in, I was way into the main actor, Walter (played by Liam Craig), and then the Vietnamese character, Boa (played by Jomar Tagatac).

B: I really liked Boa too, I thought you could feel him, and see him as a real person, even from the beginning.

K: I thought Boa really nailed that. Walter, the main character, at first took me out of it, but once he was overcome with grief, I was in it, I cared.

B: Maybe we just both like pain and suffering too much. Because when they were suffering we were into it.

K: I really enjoyed the Walter and Boa relationship. I thought it was bizarre, it was complicated, but there are a lot of relationships that are that way. I thought it was a really interesting and theatrical choice, and those two characters really went on a journey.

B: Whereas the other two supporting actors, I had a hard time seeing them as anything but actors, I didn’t feel like they grew that much. Although when the woman, Mary-Ellen (played by Marcia Pizzo), let her guard down she seemed real.

K: Yeah and she was gorgeous!

B: Right, beautiful! Fun, energetic, and didn’t look at ALL old. Which is why I didn’t understand why she was insecure, but I guess people are.

K: Her hair was AMAZING!

B: Right!

K: AMAZING!

B: I was looking at it and wondering how long it took her to put all those curls in the back, because they were perfect, absolutely perfect.

Sooo the one other thing that bothered me, was the set changes.

K: Hmm mmm – Thank you!

B: Especially because in the first one the stagehands danced off, and then they never did that again. Then sometimes it was stagehands, and sometimes it was the actors, and sometimes it was in character and sometimes not. And sometimes it was really messy, which, whatever, that happens, it was opening.

K: I thought the sound design was really good, so well orchestrated.

B: Yeah, and whoever was calling the show was so on point.

K: The only other thing that got to me at first, and I guess this was just the writing, even if you’re married to someone beautiful, and have two beautiful kids, your life is NEVER perfect. Nothing is ever PERFECT.

B: Yeah it was very stark, very black and white. Which is what made it so easy for them to over-act in the beginning. They were just SO HAPPY, they were living the suburban dream. What was interesting, if you read the interview with the playwright in the program, she says you can’t have the perfect suburban dream-life, and there are some monologues about that. But what was weird, was in the play they had attained the perfect suburban life, except for the terrible accident. Which, you’re right, is so unrealistic because you don’t ever achieve that, and it doesn’t take a tragic event to shatter that, it just takes life.

K: Yeah, and “My kids are perfect, my wife is perfect”, “Yep everything is perfect” and then BOOM they’re dead.

B: It was a little heavy handed on the playwright’s part.

K: This drink is soo good!

B: This is one of the best dirty martinis I’ve ever had!

K: This is the BEST gin and tonic I’ve ever had.

B: Our life is perfect Katie.

K: Oh my God, isn’t our life perfect! Umm, I love the cucumber and the lime, it reminds me how perfect and fresh my life is.

B: I love the saltiness of the olives, it reminds me of the salty tears of everyone else, because their lives aren’t as perfect as ours.

K: So yeah, that kind of threw me off at the beginning. But I got INTO it, I really liked the end. To see those two characters, how they develop, and the end of that show, it’s worth working through the rocky beginning. The lack of depth and relativeness . . . wow, I love how I make up words now, what’s the word for that?

B: Ummmmm, relatability.

K: Yes, relatability.

B: Relatability . . . is that even a word? I may have made that up too.

K: Either way, the second act is worth it all, for sure.

The Verdict
Go see it! It’s worth the trek all the way to Magic in Fort Mason.

The Drama Talk
Don’t be dismayed by the That 70s Show beginning, this show has soul.

The Place to Drink
Royal Cuckoo has that 70s fern bar feel to keep the vibe going.

The Drink
So much imbibing happens during the play, it’s a little hard to pick just one cocktail. We went with a classic dirty martini and Royal Cuckoo’s updated version of the classic gin and tonic, the Cuckoo G&T.

The Happy Ones runs through April 21st at The Magic Theatre In Fort Mason.

Opening tonight, Waiting for Godot plays a two week run at our wacky arts space The Secret Alley. The Off Center and Collective Theater Productions produce this latest interpretation of the ahead-of-its-time Beckett classic by director Wolfgang Wachalovsky. Come see it for laughs, arguments, confusion and more.

The show is Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this weekend and next, all shows at 8pm. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets. The Secret Alley is at 180 Capp St. near 17th.

Sweet!