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Valhalla Reaches Heights Close to Heaven by Joseph Melnicoff Broadwayworld.com 9/30/2006 ©2006 The Uptown Players' Production of Valhalla provides some of the most uproarious side-splitting laughs ever scene on a stage. Every member of the company turned in a superlative performance, and the direction was outstanding as well. As King Ludwig, BJ Cleveland is sheer heaven. All Mr. Cleveland has to do is arch his hand slightly to acknowledge the royal troops or take a mincing step and the effect was comic delight. His facial expressions were so apt and descriptive that the dialogue that followed was almost anticlimactic. Mr. Cleveland's antics alone were well worth the price of admission. John de los Santos delivered the goods in his portrayal of James Avery as well. His delivered the comic lines with perfect timing and wringed the last laugh out of every farcical moment in Rudnick’s piece. He was also up to the task when the play reached its darker moments in the Second Act. Lisa Hassler undertook many roles but her primary part was Queen Marie, Ludwig's Mother. Her rich voice and way with a comic aside made her the perfect foil for Mr. Cleveland. Her contributions transformed moments that could have been only slightly funny into downright hysterical. Actor Coy Covington easily took home this evening's versatility honors. He played five roles (one of them female!) and never ceased to amaze. Whether playing the bratty Prince Otto or the unique Princess Ursula or an Amy Sergeant quite tolerant of alternative sexual lifestyles, Mr. Covington threw himself into every role. Kevin Moore as Henry Lee was the epitome of Middle America self-consciousness and Kelly Grandjean scored with her portrayed of a Prom Queen who learns that there is more to life than what can be found between the pages of a High School Yearbook. Helming these proceedings is director Andi Allen. It was due to her tight direction that Valhalla produced all the general merriment discussed earlier. Directing a comedy so that it reaches maximum heights of levity is no easy task—and Miss Allen was clearly up to the challenge. The work called for literal split-second timing, including entrances and exits and costume changes. In lesser hands, the play could have suffered, but Miss Allen kept a firm hand on this and allowed the work to reach the comic heights it was written to achieve. The aging of the characters was also handled quite effectively--it was done solely through the use of costume and mannerisms--no makeup was necessary. Will this production of Vahalla get you to Heaven? Maybe not right smack up to the pearly gates, but you're in for a most enjoyable ride. Comic Genius - Uptown Players entertains with all the intricacies of 'Valhalla' by Lawson Taitte, Dallas Morning News 9/30/2006 ©2006 Valhalla is about as complex as uproarious comedy gets. The six actors keep two plots going simultaneously and wring every laugh out of both of them. Mr. Cleveland begins the show portraying a small boy who will grow up to be the 19th-century Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria. He has a vision of a swan, already he's obsessed with the story of the mysterious knight Lohengrin, and eventually he's fixated on Wagner's opera that retells it. A bratty Texas kid, James (John de los Santos), from nearly a century later sees the same swan in the form of a glass figurine he's about to steal from a small-town store. For both people, the swan symbolizes the power of beauty to draw them into situations that the rest of the world disapproves of. Lisa Hassler plays both heroes' mothers. Kelly Grandjean plays the women in their lives. The largest of Mr. Covington's roles is Ludwig's adviser. As Henry Lee, Kevin Moore is caught between James and the girl who loves James, Sally. During Valhalla's opening half hour, it looks as though Andi Allen's direction has stranded her actors in a silly, superficial style that makes the characters cartoons. It's Ms. Grandjean who begins showing us there is more. As Sally, she's sublimely vain and self-absorbed. But then as the fourth of the princesses that Ludwig's mother tries to marry him off to, the humpbacked Sophie of Austria, she achieves genuine emotion, even as we are roaring with laughter. And that''s right after an impressive comic scene between Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Covington – in drag, yet. Mr. Cleveland gets his own back as he wields some fabulously imaginative costumes (including one that enables him to joust on horseback). When Mr. de los Santos and Mr. Moore go off to battle, they dominate the spotlight. A realistic battlefield scene follows one aboard ship where the two men do a campy gay song-and-dance number. The soldiers finally reach Bavaria, where they encounter each of Ludwig's grandiose architectural projects just as he is building them in the other plot. Valhalla is a lot more ambitious and intricately crafted than it lets on. Fortunately, Uptown's production does both its comedy and its poignancy justice. Valhalla by John Garcia, The Column and Talkinbroadway.com Oct. 2, 2006 ©2006 The first question right off the bat concerning Uptown Players' production of Paul Rudnick's VALHALLA is where on earth did they find this gleaming treasure of a script?! The story tells the tale of two conflicted men whose lives are played on stage simultaneously. Rudnick's script is a little jumbled during the first twenty or so minutes of the first Act, but once it finally gets its bearings, it pierces into your heart and funny bone like lightening bolts. The script is an explosion of firecracker comedy with an endearing, loving ending. We have love, war, politics, marriage, humpbacks, nudity, comedy, drama, even a musical number and one of the funniest damn things that I have ever seen in my entire life on stage-an actual jousting scene! Andi Allen has become one of the top female directors when it comes to comedy. It is a great injustice that she does not get the recognition she rightly deserves for her superb direction of comedy. Her staging and blocking works like a well oiled machine with Rudnick's playwriting. She has carefully crafted staging that helps the viewer grasp both stories on stage. Allen keeps the pace zooming along, while giving the dramatic scenes a good sense of organic reality. The piece would have become a little much had the entire evening become this huge, over the top piece-but instead she has wisely allowed only scenes and moments do this, keeping the rest of the characterizations grounded in firm reality-while still achieving ear shattering laughter. Ms. Allen directed one of the funniest comedies I have ever seen around the metroplex, SORDID LIVES; she has surpassed herself this time with VALHALLA. Design-wise, the production glimmers with impeccable sets, lighting, and costumes. Wade Giampa's scenic design is composed of decaying columns and white drapery. His painting design of the stage floor is simply marvelous. Jason Hill's lighting is a soft array of plush pinks and royal blues, with stark individual lighting for dramatic moments. As for Tommy Bourgeous's costumes, what can I say except that they are works of costume art. These costumes are some of the most beautiful costumes I have ever seen grace a metroplex stage. Even the shoes are dipped in glittery finery! As the two central figures of the piece, BJ Cleveland and John de los Santos both deliver prodigious performances. Cleveland channels Martin Short as the King , using his face to wring out the best possible laughs-and succeeds marvelously. A perfect example of this is his coronation scene; he works his costume as though he was at the Marie Antoinette fashion show. At the opening night performance, Cleveland had a mishap with the scepter's tassel, but using some razor sharp adlibbing he recovered, having the audience roaring in laughter. As James Avery, John de los Santos swaggers around the stage ala James Dean, right down to the white t-shirt and tight jeans. The actor is a nice balance to Cleveland's campiness, giving his characterization a dark layer of sexual wild abandonment and rebellion. He uses his comedic talents of delivery, timing, and phrasing with a sharp sense of organic naturalism. It's not forced or pushed to the extremes, but instead he allows the comic zingers to come out of nowhere, leaving the audience guffawing endlessly. De los Santos also has a devastating second act arc that crests with truthfulness and does not become histrionic. De los Santos' chemistry is both erotic and very sensual with his two love interests (Kelly Grandjean and Kevin Moore). Cleveland and de los Santos are supported on stage by a quartet of tour de force thespians who deliver scene-stealing performances. Coy Covington plays an array of various characters that has the audience in the palms of his hands. The major role Covington portrays is "Pfeiffer", the secretary/assistant to the King. Covington achieves loud laughs as this man who tries to understand his monarch and his bizarre lifestyle. Kevin Moore has a hysterical sense of comedic timing & delivery in his plethora of characterizations. However his central character is Henry Lee Stafford, the man who steals James' heart. Moore gives Henry this element of All American Country boy who is lost emotionally. Moore's facial expressions and comedic delivery are terrific and are solid perfection, resulting in an endless waves of jovial laughter. Lisa Hassler is marvelous as the mother to the King (Cleveland) and as James' mom (De Los Santos. Hassler has some dirty laughs in another role as a Princess who resembles Ludwig's momma-except this lady has a slight S&M fetish. Another laugh getting character under Hassler's belt is the Jewish tour guide in the second act. Her off the cuff comments as that character were too, too funny! Rounding out this glowing company of actors is Kelly Grandjean. Ms. Grandjean had only two major characters to portray, but both were solid, indefectible, and sensational in detail, arc and organic truth. There was Sally, a good Southern girl who is totally in love with the bisexual James. The other is Princess Patricia, the role that had the audience laughing so hard that I was expecting those oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling like they do on airplanes! This beautiful actress covers "Sally" in down home Southern charm and beliefs, but has an underlying tone of a sexually repressed woman who needs it bad. For the Princess, it is a girl who transforms from any ugly duckling to a gorgeous swan. Grandjean's comedic chops rival her male co-stars and she holds her own big time with the others on stage. What a refreshing breath of fresh air it was to sit through something new, unique, and so hysterically funny. VALHALLA is a gleaming bauble, a splendid production with comedic brilliance-thanks to an excellent company of actors; a gorgeous palette of design elements; and a director at the top of her game. Suffice to say, VALHALLA is one of the best comedies to be presented to a metroplex audience this season. I enjoyed it so much that I have to go back to see what I missed the first time 'cause I was laughing so much. A Moving Look at Obsession and Splendor by Mark Lowry, Star-Telegram October 3, 2006 ©2006 In Paul Rudnick's comedy Valhalla, one character asserts that "inner beauty is tricky because you can't prove it." That's fitting for this play, which takes an inventive tack to explore the stereotype that gay men (and other people) worship at the altar of physical perfection and the other aesthetic pleasures in life. Rudnick accomplishes this with parallel storylines that just barely connect in the piñata-explosion of a time-jumping ending. One story is about Bavaria's real-life gay "mad king," Ludwig II (Theatre Arlington's B.J. Cleveland). The other follows the fictional journey of bisexual James (John de los Santos) and his best friend and sometimes lover Henry Lee (Kevin Moore) from childhood in Depression-era small-town Texas to their tour of duty behind enemy lines in Germany. Rudnick is famous for endless parades of bons mots and double. Sometimes his plots serve as mere footbridges -- rather than foundational support -- between his one-liners. In the end, though, Valhalla has wonderfully poignant things to say about obsession, visual splendor and madness. Moore proves himself with an affecting performance. As for Cleveland, the type of actor for whom the term ham was coined, well, there might not be a more perfect role for him. He carries Ludwig's Polygraph of an arc from spoiled childhood to more-spoiled and bed-hopping insanity with surprising delicacy. It's his best performance in years. Director Andi Allen's biggest coup is managing a superlative comic trio of Lisa Hassler, Kelly Grandjean and Coy Covington through extreme costume changes in 16 roles. The final scene is anachronistic anarchy, bringing in Marie Antoinette and a Jewish tour guide leading a group through a palace inspired by the famously anti-Semitic Wagner. "Architecture as aphrodisiac," one character calls it. The same could be said of Rudnick's smartly crafted play, except you'll be laughing too much to even think about doing it. Teutons of Fun: Uptown Players romp through uber-gay Valhalla By Elaine Liner Dallas Observer October 4, 2006 ©2006 New Times With Paul Rudnick's Valhalla, the Uptown Players plunge right into the sticky-sweet center of a gooey comic confection. In Valhalla, directed for Uptown by Andi Allen, Rudnick goes all gay, all the time, setting up dueling biographies of conflicted male characters. Galloping first to center stage in this madcap meander through two centuries is Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria, played by B.J. Cleveland as if his ability to draw breath depended on every laugh. Meanwhile, 100 years hence in a small Texas town, a flirty little tough named James Avery (John de los Santos) seduces both his pal Henry Lee Stafford (Kevin Moore) and high school princess Sally Mortimer (Kelly Grandjean). With six actors playing dozens of oddball entities jumping in and out of the parallel plot lines, Valhalla unfolds like a Wagnerian sitcom. There are princes and villains, gods and monsters, hicks and naked dicks (this is Uptown, after all), trussed up (or not) in costume designer Tommy Bourgeous' lush operatic velvets and brocades. When the Mad King rides onstage on a white jousting pony, it's a visual howler as clever as Rudnick's best jokes. The Uptown Players are in top form, going full out with Valhalla. B.J. Cleveland, as Ludwig, finally latches onto a role that requires strenuous overacting, something he's an expert at. As James, John de los Santos doesn't quite have the butch James Dean quality, but his comic timing and physical grace make up for that. Kelly Grandjean, playing five roles makes a lithe comic foil for her leading men. And in a dizzying array of character parts, Lisa Hassler, Kevin Moore and Coy Covington keep the laughs and the intricate plot lines zipping along. Hard to say what deep meaning, if any, is worth gleaning from Rudnick's naughty-but-nice play. Rudnick seems confused about what this play should do and in his confusion tries to make it do too much. One minute it's a farce, the next it's an attempt to renovate poor Ludwig's image in history (he wasn't really mad--his government had him declared insane to get him off the throne). Throw in a twist of Greater Tuna, and it's a big comic casserole with a side of strudel. Bavarian Cream Puff: Valhalla goes proudly, profoundly over the top By Arnold Wayne Jones, The Dallas Voice October 6, 2006 ©2006 Most comedies can ultimately be categorized as either romantic, squishy stuff or brassy laughfests. Occasionally, something like Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful" bridges the gap between playful and poignant. Valhalla manages the same bit of sleight-of-hand. Silly camp shares the stage with homespun sweetness and touching emotional resonance. It is the most unexpectedly moving production in years. The actors, all veterans of comedic shtick, show themselves adept at drama. B.J. Cleveland's over-the-top Ludwig is ideally suited for his brand of Jerry Lewis-style humor. But he also conveys depth in a wonderful mad scene. This is John de los Santos' best performance to date — brazen but mature and unaffected. Lisa Hassler and Kelly Grandjean, playing all the women (except one that goes to Coy Covington, natch), and Kevin Moore are also hilarious. There's a lot under the surface of "Valhalla," like how madness occupies the space a hair's breadth from a sense of aesthetics, and how it is considered queer to look at the world and revel in useless beauty. Too bad, Rudnick laments, that everyone isn't that queer. Fortunately, "Valhalla" is that queer — a dazzling diamond refracting a rainbow of beauty. |