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Arts & Culture
Vivienne Sievers records the role of Angelica in “The Changeling.” Playwright converts fantasy thriller to an audio-based format
One of the joys of being a storyteller is exploring different mediums by which the same story can be told.
Jennifer Rowland, a playwright and member of the Antaeus LAB where writers develop new works, is getting a chance to present her play, “The Lost Child” in a different medium. Originally performed at Skylight Theatre, Rowland always felt the work would be compelling as an audio play. When the pandemic hit and audio plays started to become more popular, she rewrote the play to create “The Changeling.”
A follow-up to Antaeus Theatre Company’s “The Zip Code Plays: Los Angeles” podcast series, “The Changeling” will be offered to audiences free of charge starting Oct. 12 at antaeus.org.
A fan of Irish folklore and mythology, Rowland set this 65-minute story in an enchanted forest where an estranged couple, Ann and Daniel, are returning to the deserted cabin on the anniversary of their daughter’s mysterious disappearance, the event that destroyed their marriage. They’ve returned to pack it up so they can sell it when a storm moves in, the electricity goes out and a mysterious child appears.
The child looks exactly like Angelica at the age of 11, but their Angelica would now be 18.
There were many elements in the play that already worked for the audio medium. Rowland said she didn’t so much as change the play as she reconceived it. As a fantasy thriller, it already had a lot of mysterious, supernatural elements that could be presented in a powerful manner by taking away the visual element.
Since the pandemic, she’s observed that podcasts and audio storytelling have become more popular and sound designers have discovered new ways to create them. Whereas before people would gather in a studio together, now they rehearsed and recorded over an online platform similar to Zoom.
He sent each actor a recording kit and everyone was in their own space while performing.
It’s a story that Rowland said captivated audiences. People who saw the stage play said that the story stayed with them for days. One person described being in such deep thought after seeing the play that she left the theater and walked several blocks before remembering that she had gone to see a friend and turned around to meet up with her.
“It seems to be something that grabs people and really, really stays with them,” Rowland said.
She followed that by saying the cast for the audio play is wonderful and this time around they were able to hire a young teenager to play the part of Angelica rather than an adult. The cast includes Jocelyn Towne as Ann, Jeffrey Nordling as Daniel and Vivienne Sievers as Angelica. It is directed by Cameron Watson. Gardner is the audio producer, sound designer and Foley artist.
Rowland said she had been hoping for the opportunity to work with Watson and is grateful that the pandemic offered the chance where he wasn’t off directing something else.
“Cameron is a dream to work with,” Rowland said. “He and I had done another smaller project, very small things, but fun. He really liked this play, and he is so great with actors. They just feel so comfortable with him and so taken care of. He can pinpoint what is important and is able to bring that out in both the material and the actors. It’s a real gift beyond just being super talented and a nice person.
Rowland has now previewed the finished production and hopes that it will be an October treat that reminds people what it was like to gather together and listen to an old radio play.
“If you have an hour and you want to get immersed into another world, you’ll enjoy this,” Rowland said.
“The Changeling” by Jennifer Rowland, an audio play with Antaeus Theatre Company WHEN: Starting Oct. 12 INFO: antaeus.org
Gianluca Ginoble, Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto honor Ennio Morricone on their latest tour, which comes to the Dolby Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 15. Il Volo takes flight with Morricone tour
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Pasadena Weekly Executive Editor
Sitting around a phone on FaceTime in Atlantic City, Il Volo’s three singers — baritone Gianluca Ginoble and tenors Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto — are enthusiastic about returning to Los Angeles.
After all, the goal for each “popera” tour is to “surprise” the audience.
“We try to always bring something new, something different when we come back on tour,” Ginoble said with this thick Italian accent.
“We added new songs that you will hear, too.”
This tour — which comes to the Dolby Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 15 — supports the 2021 release “Il Volo Sings Morricone.”
Ennio Morricone, who died in July 2020, was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor and trumpeter who wrote more than 400 scores for cinema and television, and over 100 classical works.
His filmography includes “Exorcist II,” “The Untouchables,” “Bugsy,” “In the Line of Fire” and “The Hateful Eight.” His score to the 1966 movie “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is recognized as one of the most influential soundtracks.
“As you probably know, our latest album is a tribute to Morricone, right?” the bespectacled Barone said.
“It’s beautiful to sing these melodies he wrote. He’s one of the most (famous) Italian composers of all time. It’s beautiful to share these songs with audiences. They’re all recognizable melodies. These melodies belong to each one of us. We have to say thanks to what he wrote, and this tour is wonderful.”
Ginoble said the concerts are a tribute to Morricone but Il Volo’s fans as well. That said, Il Volo is always thinking about the next show.
“We try to be unique in our style,” Ginoble said. “There are many influences who have inspired us. We are the only guys of our age singing this kind of music.
“We (Il Volo) have different tastes, but we love the same songs. For the show, it’s important to say it’s a good show for our fans and for the people who are not lovers of (this music). It’s a show that gets to the heart of the people.
Barone, Boschetto and Ginoble met in 2009 when they were competing in the Italian televised singing competition “Ti lascio una canzone” at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo.
The show’s creator, Roberto Cenci, put the three together, emulating the Three Tenors of Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti. During the fourth episode, they won as a group singing the Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio.”
The trio was “discovered” in America by producer and Italian singer-songwriter Tony Renis. Eventually, Il Volo signed a deal with Geffen Records, making them the first Italian artists to directly sign with an American recording label.
Then known as The Tryo, the teens participated in the charity single “We are the World 25 for Haiti” in 2010. Later that year, they changed their name to Il Volo, which means “the flight.”
Since 2010, Il Volo has released eight albums and the men are working on a “surprise” project for Christmas.
Il Volo WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 WHERE: Dolby Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood COST: Tickets start at $59.50 INFO: dolbytheatre.com
August Wilson play offers political hope with challenging choices
Today’s politics are filled with rancor and division, leaving a public who is skeptical that politicians are ever truthful or committed to doing what is right. It’s why a play like August Wilson’s “Radio Golf” can restore hope and refocus a weary audience.
In it, a Black mayoral candidate must choose between political expediency and his integrity.
A Noise Within will produce this final play in Wilson’s 10play Pittsburgh Cycle, the third one they have staged in recent years. Opening Sunday, Oct. 16, and running through Sunday, Nov. 13, the show is directed by Gregg T. Daniel, who has directed and performed all around Los Angeles, including the two prior Wilson plays at A Noise Within.
Daniel says these three shows are just the start of what A Noise Within hopes will be a production of all ten of Wilson’s sweeping plays, the works that placed him among the greats in the American literary canon. “Radio Golf” was the last play he wrote in 2005 before dying that year of liver cancer.
The plays span 90 years starting with “Gem of the Ocean” in 1904 and ending with “Radio Golf,” which is set in 1997. Each play stands alone and while there are some characters that make appearances in multiple stories and nine of them are set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, they aren’t a serial story. They weren’t written in order, and it isn’t necessary to see them in order.
At the center of this play is developer Harmond Wilks, played by Christian Telesmar. He and his golfing buddy Roosevelt Hicks (DeJuan Christopher) have a plan to tear down the buildings in the dilapidated neighborhood where they grew up and gentrify it. Harmond and his wife, Mame (Sydney A. Mason), consider it key to getting him elected as the first Black mayor of Pittsburgh.
Then Elder Joseph Barlow (Alex Morris) and handyman Sterling Johnson (Gilbert Glenn Brown) show up determined to save one of the ramshackle old homes from being demolished.
Daniel said this play leaves us with hope.
“These are not destitute people out of slavery trying to find freedom or trying to find a job,” Daniel said. “The two leads, Harmond and his wife, are upper middle class. Think of them as the Obamas. They’re upper middle-class people who are climbing the social ladder. (Wilson) was very concerned at one point that the middle-class and upper-class Blacks were leaving behind the underclass, that somehow they weren’t as worried or as committed to helping and bringing up the underclass. He was really bothered by that and thinking about that.”
While Roosevelt and Harmond both went to the Ivy League Cornell University, Joe and Sterling bring the August Wilson flavor to the play. Daniel says that while they appear disheveled, a lot of wisdom comes out of their mouths.
“It ends with a kind of hope,” Daniel said, “because by the end of it, Harmond realizes you have to acknowledge and work
