SGN Page 37

Friday
October 13 2006
SGN.org

Volume 34
Issue 41

search only SGN online

Saturday, Sep 06, 2008

SGN ADVERTISING INFORMATION

site map

Bits & Bytes

Arnaldo bewitches with Witching Hour, Taproot stages Shaw's Arms & The Man, Joan Collins, Linda Evans tour Legends!
by Milton W. Hamlin SGN A&E Writer As usual, there are dozens and dozens of choices for entertainment fans as Seattle settles into an autumn state of mind. Even Bits&Bytes can't catch them all, but he tries. Read on: ARNALDO! ENCORES WITCHING HOUR AT THUMPER'S CABARET Seattle's favorite "drag chanteuse"-the one and only Arnaldo!-reprises and repackages his Witching Hour Halloween show for a 2006 encore at Thumper's Cabaret On The Hill series. As usual, the cabaret stylists (who sings in his own voice) bewitches his audience. Flawlessly costumed and singing terrific songs, Arnaldo! makes The Witching Hour Returns a delightful cabaret show from start to finish. The show opens with a jazzy version of "That Old Black Magic," establishing the Halloween theme and the format-mainly songs from the Great American Songbook. In a black halter-top dress topped with a double strand of pearls, Arnaldo! is the epitome of cabaret elegance. The set-"songs of witches, moonlight and midnight"-continues with "What A Little Moonlight Can Do" and then "It's Magic." Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight" delights before the talented "gender illusionist" goes into a wistful mood with a flawless "Autumn In New York." It's finger-snapping time with "Witchcraft" before a wry "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered" delights the intimate crowd. As Arnaldo! coyly croons one of the tune's best lyrics ("Horizontally speaking, he's at his very best&."), the room goes wild. Act One ends with a spirited "Ding, Dong The Witch Is Dead" from (of course) The Wizard Of Oz. Act Two finds Arnaldo! in red satin with a black feather boa. As usual, Arnaldo's costume change involves a total make-over-new jewels, new shoes, new make-up. When Arnaldo! defines glamour, she defines glamour. Paying tribute to Eartha Kitt, the singer's lifelong idol, Arnaldo! purrs through "I Wanna Be Evil" before saluting Broadway's Wicked which just finished a Seattle stop on its national tour. "I'm Not That Girl," the heartbreakingly poignant song by the young Wicked Witch Of The West, resonates with the crowd-it could easily be the anthem of many GLBT audience members. Switching roles-and showing incredible versatility-Arnaldo! launches into Glinda The Good's upbeat philosophy with a riotous "Popular." "That Old Devil Moon" and "Moonglow" extend the night's theme. Then it's back to Eartha for a classic cabaret novelty number, "I'd Rather Be Burned As Witch Than Never Be Burned At All." The evening comes to a magical end with Arnaldo's trademarked encore, "If You Believe" from Broadway's The Wiz (soon to be a major December Hollywood release). Arnaldo! has been staging cabarets at Thumper's since 1999. As "progress" continues, the popular Gay owned and Gay staffed restaurant will close at the end of October to make way for a housing development. While this Bewitching Hour will not be Arnaldo's last cabaret in the Emerald City, this appearance will be his last show at Thumper's. Bewitching Hour continues tonight and Saturday and Oct. 27 and 28 (the show is dark Oct. 20 and 21). Reservations-a must for his final shows-at 328-3800. TELL ME ON SUNDAY EXTENDS AT THUMPER'S Tell Me On A Sunday, a "new Gay interpretation" of Andrew Lloyd Webber's award-wining London and New York smash, Song & Dance, has (as expected and as predicted here in Bits&Bytes) extended its run at Thumper's. The staging by Seattle's Gaydar productions, with Rick Anderson as producer, now continues through Oct. 19. A strong, impressive performance from Jacob Mahoney anchors the evening in this "Gay version" of the show that won a Tony Award for Bernadette Peters in its New York debut. Reservations at 328-3800. CABARET EVENING RAISES FUNDS FOR DIVERSE HARMONY One Night Only, a "gala evening" of dinner and cabaret, will benefit Seattle's Diverse Harmony, the first Gay/straight alliance youth chorus in the nation. The Friday, Oct. 20 gala, hosted by Thumper's, will begin with a four-course dinner followed by a special cabaret show featuring many of the Seattle's top cabaret entertainers. Arnaldo!, the "Boys From Gaydar," Jeannette D'Armand, Cheryl Serio and many others will perform. Diverse Harmony begins its fifth season this fall. Reservations for One Night Only at 328-3800. The show was nearly sold out at deadline time. Seattle Gay News is one of the proud sponsors for the event. COLLINS & EVANS OPEN LEGENDS! IN TORONTO, TOUR OF U.S. TO FOLLOW Right after his Pulitzer Prize for writing Broadway's A Chorus Line, playwright James Kirkwood came up with the idea of creating a "vehicle" for two aging divas-and Legends! was born. While the play was smash financial success on tour with Mary Martin and Carol Channing taking the leading roles, the show never reached Broadway. Channing and Martin were far to knowledgeable to take the flimsy show to New York and face national critics. (The show played Seattle in an early July stay at the 5th Avenue Theatre.) Now, for no apparent reason, Legends! is back on a national tour that opened in Toronto while Bits&Bytes was there for Canadian Opera Company's new Wagner Ring-check out back issues of SGN for full details. Joan Collins and Linda Evans-two living legends from television's Dynasty era-headline the tour. The show is simply awful-in a wonderfully entertaining manner. Evans, who acknowledges no stage training whatsoever, stumbles through the show in a slightly hypnotic manner. Collins, stage trained in classical theater (a fact few know), is superb every minute. As with the original tour, the actors playing supporting roles-the borrowed maid, the male stripper ("Gypsy Rose LeRoy," Collins calls him in one of the show's truly funny, throwaway lines), even the cop-have the best parts because they get on, say their often funny lines, and get off stage. Evans and Collins are forced to carry endless unfunny scenes-like finding a plate of drug-filled brownies and getting stoned. But-and it is a big but-the near capacity audience at a Toronto Wednesday matinee clearly loved the show. They may be "the matinee ladies" but they are buying tickets by the armload. The awful scene in which the two divas get into a cat fight-and pull each other's wigs off-had the women next to me in spasms of laughter. You hadda been there. Legends! continues at the beautifully restored Royal Alexandra Theatre in downtown Toronto through Oct. 22 and then launches a year-long tour of the U.S.A. The show is not scheduled for the Emerald City but is a possibility if another show drops out of the touring schedule for the Paramount or the 5th Avenue Theatre. Watch this space for details. TAPROOT STAGES ARMS AND THE MAN TO END 30TH SEASON There's a general feeling of well-deserved satisfaction at Taproot Theatre as the North Seattle company ends its 30th anniversary season with a well-received staging of George Bernard Shaw's Arms And The Man, his 1884 anti-war comedy. The gentle satire will remembered by theater trivia buffs as the source of the once-popular operetta, The Chocolate Soldier. This soldier carries chocolates-not bullets-in his gun belt. Director Karen Lund stages this anniversary encore with a broad, broad stoke-far too broad for this reviewer and most theater purists.. Nevertheless, the loyal Taproot audience obviously loved the production. In a charming note, the 1981 Taproot staging featured Pam Nolte and Nolan Palmer as the young lovers. For the 2006 production, Nolte and Palmer return but are now cast as the parents. Time, it turns out, marches on. Taproot's Arms And The Man continues through Oct. 21. Reservations and details at 781-9707. Taproot has just announced its 2007 season-give the theater a call and ask for a free season brochure. Go ahead, tell 'em Bits&Bytes sent ya.