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<\/a>The painting which contains the meaning of the story, on the curtain at the Pasadena Playhouse. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
And now, the show is finally here! The Pasadena Playhouse is the perfect venue for it, where the astute staging is just the start of the wonderful things about this theatre piece.<\/p>\n
First a disclaimer: \u00a0I’ve known composer David Shire’s wife for most of my life, even though, living on two different coasts, we rarely see each other. (But that doesn’t diminish the warm feelings between us.) \u00a0So I was worried about reviewing this production, in case I was disappointed by it. \u00a0But I needn’t have worked myself into a frenzy because…Waterfall<\/em> is excellent! \u00a0Yay! As a matter of fact, as I was watching the last few scenes, I realized that I wanted to start at the beginning, and see it all again!<\/p>\n Emily Padgett and Bie Sukrit. Photo by Jim Cox, as is the main one of the waterfall, above.<\/p><\/div>\n The musical is widely known as being a \u201ccross-cultural love story,\u201d and that it is. It’s based on a famous Thai romance novel, Behind The Painting<\/em>, and tells the story of a young Thai guy who falls in love with an ambassador’s American wife in the 1930s. You know I hate when other critics tell you the whole story. Congrats to them for proving that they’re good at \u201creading comprehension,\u201d but I prefer to let you discover the tale for yourself. And I’m recommending that you go to the Pasadena Playhouse and do just that!<\/p>\n All you need to know that it’s a worthwhile show, (with the second act being a tad more interesting and emotional than the first,) and an important one, on so many levels. (More on the cultural significance in a minute.) And the ending really got to me.<\/p>\n I must first laud all<\/em> aspects of the presentation. There’s really not a weakness. The performances are earnest, the music lovely, the lyrics first-class, the story, though somewhat predictable, does have lots of interesting elements to it, and the costumes are superb, especially the traditional Thai dance ones. I particularly liked the singing voice of Thom Sesma, who plays the cuckolded ambassador. And even though the trio of half-naked guys playing taiko drums were in only one very brief scene, they definitely brought some life and excitement to the piece.\u00a0\u00a0The second they came on, I said, (a bit too loudly, I’m sure,) “Now you’re talkin’!”<\/p>\n Photo by Jim Cox.<\/p><\/div>\n But, with no disrespect at all to the actors, composers, choreographer, or directing, the aspect I was most looking forward to with this production was the sets. And they outshone my expectations, which, trust me, is very hard to do. My imagination is usually much better than the actual outcome. Of anything. But these sets were absolutely breathtaking!<\/p>\n Several of the people I spoke with afterwards were most taken with the physical waterfall itself, which appears in the final scene of Act I. (It received its own ovation on opening night, as I’m sure it does at every performance.) One person declared it \u201cone of best set designs ever,\u201d while another deemed it \u201cspectacular!\u201d It is really dazzling, and having water for the two leads to dance in is special. (I was sitting too close to see the stage floor<\/em>, but the visual of just the splashing was equally effective.) I’m not kidding, even if the rest of the show wasn’t as satisfying as it is, seeing this Sasavat Busayabandh-designed set would be worth the visit to the Playhouse! (But of course<\/em> it’s good; I noticed in the program that he studied Stage Design at Brooklyn College, where I did, too! I even got an \u201cA\u201d in that class. But I wound-up dating the professor the next semester, so his interest in me while I was his student may have something to do with my undeservedly high mark. Ya think???)<\/p>\n I guess I should have dated my history professor, as well. Oh wait\u2014I did! So, I must have been absent the day he taught us about Asian conflicts in the ’30s. I had sparse knowledge of the political background of this story, so, though I still don’t understand the exact deets of it, it was interesting to learn a bit about it from the show.<\/p>\n Photo by Jim Cox.<\/p><\/div>\n Now let me tell you about the male lead, Bie Sukrit, who’s a humongous star in Thailand. He’s cute, and can sing and act. But, I was most impressed that this guy whose main language is not English, could make every single lyric he sang understandable! Many American<\/em> songsters don’t do that!!! Bie made the words not only understandable in pronunciation<\/em>, but in the emotion behind them, as well. Not an easy feat for a non-native-English-speaker! Major<\/em> kudos to him for that!<\/p>\n As for his acting, Bie made me believe he was that starry-eyed young buck, and<\/em> the now-mature married man, with no make-up or big wardrobe changes. I admire him for that, as well.<\/p>\n I do wish that the age difference between the lovers had been a little smaller. They never mention the guy’s age, I don’t think, but he just got out of school, which I’m assuming is college, so he has to be around twenty-two. And the woman mentioned that she’s thirty-five, so that just seems a little too much to be entirely believable. But I’m glad he asked her age in the show because I really couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be, (I think the wig threw me off,) and I know I would have spent the entire two and half hours trying to figure it out. Once she stated it, I felt myself relax and get into the story. Smart move on the part of the creative team. I mean it! Before then, I was afraid it might be a Tea and Sympathy<\/em> type of story. And that would be an odd one to set to music!<\/p>\n Emily Padgett and J. Elaine Marcos. Photo by Jim Cox.<\/p><\/div>\n Speaking of ages, here’s one last note on the topic: J. Elaine Marcos is excellent as the house-servant; she accounts for a lot of the laughs, even though her role is relatively small. The only thing is\u2014she mentions that she’s worked for the family for thirty years, but…she looks like she’s eighteen!!! The actress seriously can’t be out of her twenties, so that casting is a tad weird. To keep her, they need to change that line, for the compulsively-aware among us.<\/p>\n Perhaps the facet of the production that I’m happiest about is that so many talented Asian actors are being employed! The Diversity Program of the Pasadena Playhouse is to be applauded. It’s great to see yet another section of our multi-cultural population being reached out to by them. The program must be working because the opening night audience was at least half Thai!<\/p>\n Even though the entire cast, save for Emily Padgett as the American love interest, is Asian, I know that not all of them are Thai. So I was wondering if that makes a difference to that community. I am far from a scholar on world cultures, so I asked someone in the know, and she assured me that the entire community is rallying around this show, which is great to see happen. It’s uplifting to see everybody working together like this, and all Asian ethnicities being represented up there on the L.A stage, many of the thanks for which go to Sheldon Epps, the Playhouse’s esteemed Artistic Director.<\/p>\n Of course, as with any new musical, there are<\/em> some issues. I didn’t see a real relationship between the lovers until near the end. But then, I truly did have to choke back the tears because the opening night party was upon us, and I didn’t want to mess-up my eye make-up. What was I thinking to go to a tragic love story without a tube of mascara handy?<\/p>\n And I don’t know if people will leave the theatre humming the tunes, but the music is all beautiful, and the lyrics clever. And I felt that it all fit with, and advanced, the story.<\/p>\n And, really, in this case, the whole<\/em> presentation is the big deal about Waterfall<\/em>, not just the music. It’s all the components put together. Everything is copacetic.<\/p>\n Karen Salkin, painting away. Photo by Flo Selfman.<\/p><\/div>\n And now to the off-stage details of the evening. You know that I love discovering the exhibits that are featured in the theatre’s on-site little one-room “museum,” and I loved what I found in there this time. Because the story begins and ends with a watercolor painting, which is what triggers the flashback, (which is basically the whole story; hence, the original title, Beyond The<\/em> Painting<\/em>,) there were two easels set-up, complete with paints and brushes. Guests were invited to paint their own<\/em> pictures. I<\/em> never need encouragement for that activity, so I sat right down and painted my signature \u201chappy house with girl in the window.\u201d I never banged one out so fast, but the performance bell was ringing, so I rushed it along. I had never done one in water colors before, so it’s not my best work, but I love the delicate look it has.<\/p>\n Karen Salkin’s signature painting. Photo by–guess who?–Karen Salkin!<\/p><\/div>\n The after-party was a gigantic indoor-outdoor affair. The adjacent restaurant, redwhite+bluezz, made a special buffet of Thai food for the occasion, and guests could eat either inside the eatery or out in the front courtyard of the theatre. Everyone looked happy and upbeat the whole time, and David’s wife and I finally got to catch-up a bit, with lots of smiles and giggles.<\/p>\n If I hadn’t wanted to rush home to see the Tonys live, and then game two of the NBA Finals that I had recorded, (don’t ask\u2014I stayed up past 3AM to get it all in!,) I might still<\/em> be at the Playhouse, celebrating with this deserving group of artists.<\/p>\n Waterfall<\/em> is in town for just a few more weeks, so I heavily suggest that you go see it. And, ladies, wear your waterproof mascara!<\/p>\n Waterfall<\/em> running through June 28, 2015<\/strong> WATERFALL In December, I brought you a preview of the new, Broadway-bound musical, Waterfall. (If you’d like to read all the technical aspects of it again, because I’m not covering most of them in this review, click here: itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/theatreeventsupcoming-waterfall-preview.) And now, the show is finally here! The Pasadena Playhouse is the perfect venue for it,<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Pasadena Playhouse 39 South El Molino Ave. Pasadena 626-356-7529 www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"