RAM PRODUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL
  • Home
  • How We Can Work Together
  • About Michael Russnow
  • Actor/Personality
    • Sample Reel
    • 2014 Sample Reel
    • Michael Russnow Does Stand-Up
    • Water Into Wine
    • The Time Tree - Older Alex
    • Actor's Slate - One Minute Version
    • Actor's Slate - Four Minute Version
    • Interview on Stanley Dyrector Show - Part One
    • Interview on Stanley Dyrector Show - Part Two
    • Interview on Stanley Dyrector Show - Part Three
    • Interview on Stanley Dyrector Show - Part Four
    • Michael Russnow Speaks Out Episode 1
    • Michael Russnow Speaks Out! - Episode 2
    • Commentators Shouldn't Say Trump Has Pulse of America
  • Huffington Post Articles
    • Business >
      • Abolish Tipping
      • AIG Reverse Stock Split
      • AIG Plummets: Stock Split
      • Asus Computers
      • AT&T Doesn't Communicate
      • Bernard Madoff Swindled Everyone
      • Citigroup Reverse Split
      • Citigroup to Reverse Split
      • Horrible Banking Experiences
      • Is Shelly Sterling Channeling Lurleen Wallace?
      • Los Angeles Parking Meter Signs
      • My GE Dishwasher Tragedy
      • State Controller Has Your Money Available
      • Windows 7 Not As Great As Advertised
      • You Can't Feed Parking Meters
    • Media >
      • Abolish the Electoral College
      • BP Chairman Choice of Words
      • British Nurse Suicide Overblown By Media
      • Ed McMahon's Money Problems
      • Is Media Keeping Trump Alive
      • Los Angeles Times Backtracks on TV Grid
      • Lou Dobbs and His Ilk are Wrong
      • Media Downplays Hillary 3 Million Victory
      • Media Headline Biases
      • Media Inflames Comey Letter Re Hillary
      • Media Mischaracterizes GOP Win
      • Media Props Trump Up, Even When Hillary Wins Debate
      • Media Says Hillary's Not Transparent
      • Media Scare Tactics
      • Media Sensationalizes Obamacare Premium Rise
      • Memo to the Media: Maybe It's Time For a "Spartacus" Moment
      • Obama Asks Pundits Not to Skew Words
      • Obama Gym Workout No Big Deal
      • Obama Promised Change - From Bush and Cheney
      • Obama Would Be Citizen, Even if Born in Kenya
      • Palin Accuses Letterman of Seeking PR
      • What's Happened to the LA Times?
      • White House Gate Crashers
      • Why Does Trump Get More Face Time Than Hillary?
      • Why Media Normalizes Trump
    • Politics >
      • 2012 Iowa Caucuses: Shakespeare Was Right About the Masses
      • 2012 Vice Presidential Debate: Biden Blew Ryan Away
      • 25th Amendment Might Rid Us of Trump
      • Calling for Al Gore
      • Debate 2: Hillary Held Firm, While Trump Lied
      • Donald Trump Comportment: When is Enough Enough?
      • Donald Trump Supporters Are Deplorable
      • Donald Trump Supporters Must Be Stupid
      • Electoral College Support Because Founders Created it
      • Europeans are for Obama
      • French Choose President By CItizenry
      • GOP Senators Continue to Support Trump
      • Has Hillary Given Up in South Dakota?
      • Hillary Beat Trump in Popular Vote
      • James Comey, Legal Moralist or Fool?
      • John McCain No Longer a Hero
      • McCain's Nervous Breakdown
      • McCain/Palin Debate Spin
      • McCain Pulls Out the Heartstrings
      • Obama Accepts Super PAC Money
      • Obama & Clinton Forces, Can't We Get Along?
      • Obama Becoming First Wimp
      • Obama's Decision to Go to Copenhagen
      • Obama First 2012 Debate: Gotta Do Better
      • Obama Has Every Right to Replace Scalia
      • Obama: It's Time to Play Hardball
      • Obama Must Stop Postponing Health Care Law
      • Obama Needs Marc Antony to Get it Right
      • Obama Nobel Peace Prize
      • Obama Second 2012 Debate: Romney Overmatched
      • Obama Third 2012 Debate: He Gives Romney Presidential Seminar
      • Obama Won, But GOP Doesn't Seem to Recognize it
      • Patriotism Not a Republican Virtue
      • Pence Won Debate, Not By Much
      • Political Leaders and Journalists MUST Discuss Popular Presidential Vote
      • Politician/Media Rarely Discuss Americans Preferred Hillary
      • Popular Vote Must Choose Presidency
      • Primary Ballots For Party Members Only
      • Proposition 8 Backlash
      • Redo in Michigan and Florida
      • Religion in Politics
      • Romney Acceptance Speech
      • Rudy Giuliani's Screaming Convention Tirade
      • Ruth Bader Ginsurb's Contempt for Donald Trump
      • Sarah Palin's Appeal is That She's Annie Oakley
      • Sarah Palin's a Right-Wing Gidget
      • Sarah Palin, A Stepford Wife
      • Sarah Palin Is No Dan Quayle
      • Scalia Should Recuse on Gay Issues
      • Senate Refusal to Vote on Scalia Replacement a Sham
      • Should Anthony Weiner Resign?
      • Super Delegates Caved to Obama
      • Trump Is No Populist
      • Trump Name Calling: Why Hasn't it Backfired?
      • Trump Paris Pull-Out, Time To Elect Popular Vote President
      • Trump Performance as President Might Be Best Solution to Change Presidential Election System
      • Trump's Problems Aren't Going Away
      • We've Finally Got Health Care
      • When Does Political Correctness Go Too Far?
      • Will Hillary Have Last Laugh?
    • Show Business >
      • Movies >
        • A Most Violent Year
        • Black Swan a Must See
        • Boyhood: An Engaging Film
        • Che The Movie
        • Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino
        • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
        • Deborah Kerr, Rhymes With Star
        • Defiance
        • The Fighter
        • Good
        • The Hateful Eight Bloated But Intriguing
        • Honorary Academy Awards Ceremony a Travesty
        • Inception
        • Jackie Chan Should Not Get an Oscar
        • Leonardo DiCaprio Deserves the Oscar for "Wolf of Wall Street"
        • Michael Moore"s Where to Invade Next: Documentary or Propaganda?
        • Minority Report and the Oscar Controversy
        • Mitch Reinholt of American Teen
        • Movie Theatre Etiquette
        • Nicholas Hoult of A Single Man
        • Jackie Chan Gets an Oscar?
        • Quentin Tarantino Afraid Aging Will Make Him Out of Touch
        • The Reader
        • Revolutionary Road
        • Seven Pounds
        • Texting in Theatres Is A Blight
      • Television >
        • The Amazing Race
        • Big Brother: Danielle's Stupid Decision
        • Big Brother: Frank Eudy's Ouster
        • Celebrity Apprentice 2011
        • Charlie Sheen's Rant
        • Conan O'Brien's Pissed
        • David Letterman's Apology to Palin
        • David Letterman Gag Didn't Work
        • Do We Need Intrusive Network Logos
        • Glee Message of Tolerance Misguided
        • Golden Globes 2010
        • Golden Globes 2011
        • Golden Globes 2012
        • Golden Globes 2016
        • Hell's Kitchen's Gordon Ramsay
        • I Can Die Now, I've Met Betty White
        • Lost Finale
        • NBC's Decision to Bring Back Leno
        • Political Correctness on TV
        • Racial Advancement on TV
        • Survivor Caramoan: Why Was Erik Reichenbach Ignored by Jeff Probst?
        • Survivor Nicaragua 2010
        • Survivor Redemption Island 2011
        • Survivor: Samoa 2009
        • Susan Boyle I
        • Susan Boyle II
        • Susan Boyle III - The Finals
        • The Amazing Race: Amazing that Brooke and Scott Made the Top 3
        • The Emmy Awards 2014
        • The Oscars 2010
        • The Oscars 2011
        • The Oscars 2012
        • The Oscars 2013
        • The Oscars 2013 Afterthought: Why MacFarlane's Lincoln Joke Didn't Work
        • The Oscars 2014
        • The Oscars 2015
        • The Oscars 2016
        • The Oscars 2017
        • TV Cops Get Away With Murder
        • TV Shows and Films Shouldn't Screw Talent
        • Young Actors in TV Roles
      • Book of Oded Review
      • Chekhov Alive in Hollywood
      • Cutting Meat in Movies and TV Shows
      • Hal Kanter Memories
      • I Never Cried For My Father
      • Perceptionism is the worst "ism"
      • Robert Anderson Has Died
      • SAG Actors Must Remain Strong
      • SAG Negotiations Marred by Clooney and Hanks
      • Ted Lange's Lady Patriot Onstage
      • Trump Bails Out Ed McMahon
      • WGA Strike For Dummies I
      • WGA Strike For Dummies II
      • WGA Strike For Dummies III
      • WGA Strike For Dummies IV
    • Travel >
      • Airline Fees Are Chintzy
      • Airline Service Is a Sham
      • Bitching Can Be Effective
      • Morocco Can Be Intriguing
      • Volcano in Iceland
    • It's Not Easy to Become a Juror
  • My Novel
  • LA Fitness Has Terrible Customer Service
  • Political Correctness Should Be Challenged
    • Contact
  • Sarah Palin Says She's Not Responsible
  • Remedies When You've Been Cheated
  • The Iguassu Falls
  • Getting to Rio
  • Rio de Janeiro
  • São Paulo
  • London Film Award Certificate


CHEKHOV ALIVE AND WELL IN HOLLYWOOD


Two One-Acts at the Tres Stage Theatre

 

Picture
                                                                                                           The Huffington Post, June 1, 2011


I had to admit some trepidation mounting the steps to the second level of the mini-mall which houses the Tres Stage Theatre
in Hollywood.  Not to maintain my balance, as the staircase is well-appointed with banisters and the like. But doing Chekhov
is a risky thing in a modern age, especially when performed by actors, who for the most part are not classically trained.

So it was a total delight to watch the troupe presenting Love and Dysfunction, featuring Anton Chekhov's The Bear and
The Proposal and to see how quickly one became accustomed to the mannered dialogue from a translation of the original
text, making it quite easy to enjoy the wacky conflicts that unfolded.

First, The Proposal in which a thirtyish suitor, Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov, easily gains the permission of Stepan Stepanovitch Chubukov for the hand of his daughter Natalya Stepanovna.  The somewhat complicated names, repeated throughout for emphasis, create an atmosphere that helps to transform our mindset into another era and draw us into an almost
Marx Bros. zaniness, a current reference point though the plays
preceded the film legends by fifty years.

Chubukov, played matter of fact and honestly by Russ Andrade, is all too eager to pass his daughter's welfare to the earnest Lomov.  This pleases the younger man, portrayed winningly by Justin Baltz, who employs an odd combination of steadfast neurotic nutcase.  When Natalya makes her entrance, she greets Ivan Lumov as an old friend, having been told nothing by
her father of the wedding intentions, and in the course of what should have been a simple proposal, the conversation turns
and turns into a ludicrous sidetrack that unravels the happy moment.

The banter between them is very funny and the action quite real and spirited, especially by the pretty and pert Jennifer Vincent, who more than holds her own with Baltz.  Meanwhile, he watches his dreams go up in smoke as he stubbornly clings to his
side of the argument, while comically displaying major episodes of hypochondria.

In The Bear, John Baltz plays bill collector Grigory Stepanovitch Smirnov, who has a difficult time getting a young widow,
Elena Ivanouvna Popova, to pay what her late husband owes him.  From the outset it is maddening that Grigory won't accept Elena's declaration that he will get his money in two days.  He wants it now and won't accept a delay.  Amidst this lunacy is
the intercession of longtime servant Luka, convincingly played by Amazon Beard.  She is loyal to the extreme but wants her
lady, attractive and sexy Katherine King, to get back in action and out of the black widow weeds she has worn for seven months.

The performances here are also excellent, with John Baltz providing a stoic righteousness mixed with a growing attraction to
the seemingly unaware and disinterested Katherine King.  Indeed, she willfully matches his forcefulness with a strength for
which women of that time were not noted.  The beleaguered Amazon Beard caters to them both and has a particularly hilarious health crisis which goes unnoticed during one of Baltz and King's major altercations.

Classical theatre may not be your thing, but this is an evening, produced by Justin and John Baltz and cleverly directed by Stephen Juhl, that most would find accessible and to their liking.  And as an added bonus it's cheap, with tickets just ten dollars at the Tres Stage Theatre, 1523 N. La Brea Avenue (just above Sunset) in Hollywood.  For reservations (323) 850-7827.
But you don't have long, as it plays only on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m., running through June 28.

                                                     Follow Michael Russnow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrloy

                                                                                                                                                                Contact Us

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.