Starting here, starting soon! 
By Christine Foster, Dec 8, 2006

Starting Here, Starting Now December 12–21, 7:30pm, December 17, matinee only, 5:30pm 150 pesos

The sparkling musical revue Starting Here, Starting Now, by Richard Maltby, Jr., and David Shire, is set to open December 12—the first time El Ring will host a musical in 25 years. Musical director Liz Stone and the performers were swinging their way through an intricately choreographed number as I arrived at rehearsal.

“So what’s the difference between a book musical and a revue anyway?” I asked Michael Whaley, producer and director of the show, as the cast took a break.

Michael Whaley: Well, I guess basically a musical has a story and a revue doesn’t. Or actually, each song is a story in itself. This revue is 25 amazing, brilliant short stories all linked together based on disastrous or delightful or comic relationships. They are all great, hummable show tunes, and the lyrics are very clever, very funny. But in a way, it’s like directing 25 shows with 25 casts of characters.

Playing all those characters as they suffer and celebrate the highs and lows of love are Judy Marzulli, Peggy Powell and Michael Sudheer. Each one came to this production with talent, enthusiasm and a very different background.

Judy Marzulli: My father was a jazz pianist. I’d sung with a rock band but had never really done theater. But I adore music, musicals, all the old standards, and when I came to San Miguel I began to produce musical benefits for charities like Feed the Hungry and IREE. I also appeared in Nunsense as the gospel-singing Sister Mary Herbert at the Instituto, and I directed and produced Cabaret at the Angela Peralta, twice. That’s how I met Michael Sudheer.

Michael Sudheer: Judy cast me as the emcee in Cabaret, the Joel Grey part. It’s funny, because I’d always wanted to perform. I’d studied at Ann Arbor and at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, but somehow I wasn’t prepared for that life at the time. Instead, I pursued careers ranging from directing award-winning TV commercials to art photography to being a tour director in the Far East. After coming to San Miguel and meeting Judy, suddenly here I was acting and singing again—right back where I started out.

Peggy Powell: My training was in serious dance. Ballet. I danced with the Chicago Opera Ballet, Utah Ballet West, The Pacific Ballet, and I even worked with The Dance Theatre of Harlem. I’ve choreographed and soloed on tours, at clubs, and was featured on specials for PBS. So, my training was not, at first, to take musical theater all that seriously. There was a bit of snobbery there. But once I was in a musical, I started to understand what all the excitement was about. Jazz dancing. Show dancing. Before long I was playing leads in Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, The King and I. I even played Gypsy Rose Lee recently in Gypsy in San Francisco.

Christine Foster: And what’s different, for the three of you, working in this show compared to other performing you’ve done?

Marzulli: Michael’s teaching me to dance! I’ve never had to do so much choreography. Everything all going on at the same time, lyrics, music, dance steps….

Sudheer: Same for me. I’ve never had to push myself so hard. And there is no lead in this revue. It’s an ensemble piece all the way.

And vocally—all those harmonies. It’s very exciting but very demanding.

Powell: Of course I’m delighted with the dancing, but honestly the concentration to do each song is phenomenal. In a traditional musical you might do one or two “star turns”—you know, featured numbers—in the whole show, but here we have to be fully there, belting it out. For me that’s—hold on (she counts through her songs on the rehearsal schedule)—21 times! 

Foster: So tell me something about working with Michael Whaley, your director, choreographer and producer.

Marzulli: Michael is so patient….

Sudheer: So patient….

Powell: So positive….

Marzulli: He makes everything fun. He keeps things light, while being completely professional. Of course, he’s got the New York experience. 

Sudheer: He really knows the business, the process—and he pushes me to be better than I’ve ever been.

Powell: Whatever we’re doing, however many times we do it, he’s never demeaning, always supportive. I’ve worked with a lot of famous directors and let me tell you, they are not always pleasant. Michael is a complete delight, and I would do anything for him.

Foster: Okay, so let’s get Michael over here to say a bit about all the experience everyone is talking about.

Whaley: Well, my first job fresh out of college was in the chorus of the national tour of My Fair Lady. And I’ve done Carnival and Hello Dolly on Broadway. And tours, my heavens, I’ve done almost every musical you can think of with almost every star from the ’50’s and ’60s you can think of—from Las Vegas to Beirut, from Paris to Mexico City.

Foster: And you’ve had two musicals produced yourself, as a writer.

Whaley: I co-wrote a musical called Boobs and wrote the book for Nymph Errant, a comedy set in the ’30s, using the fabulous music of Cole Porter. It’s under option in New York and was produced in Chichester, England.

Foster: To very favorable reviews. I looked it up on the web. Perhaps you should do that one here, too.

Whaley: Funny you should say that. I’m thinking about it.

Foster: So what does everyone like best about doing Starting Here, Starting Now, apart from working with Mr. Whaley?

Marzulli: You know, I didn’t know any of these songs, really, before. They deserve to be standards. I love them and I know the audience will love them, too.

Sudheer: All the numbers are so clever. They’re all real acting songs. I actually saw this show in the 1970s when it was first done and said to myself, “I want to be in that one day!”

Powell: The density, the speed of the lyrics, the wit, the humor, it’s very sophisticated. Very New York or San Francisco. 

Marzulli: It’s a wonderful show with a wonderful pace.

Whaley: In a wonderful space. The Ring is very adaptable and great fun. The management here has been delightful and cooperative every step of the way. We hope this is the start of many great productions to come.

The cast went back on stage, Liz Stone went back to the keyboard, and they began rehearsing another fabulous number, leaving me to say, “Whatever you do, don’t miss Starting Here, Starting Now, a show for anyone who has ever been in love, or wishes they had—or even wishes they hadn’t.” 

Performances are Tuesday, December 12 through Thursday, December 21. Show times are at 7:30pm except Sunday, December 17, when there is a matinee only, at 5:30pm. 

Doors will open at 6:30pm for those wishing to order their favorite cocktail before the show. Because of the early curtain, patrons will be out before 9pm—perfect timing for dinner before or after the show. Tickets at 150 pesos per person are available at the box office at El Ring Disco Club, Hidalgo 27, from 10am until 4pm every day.

Cirque du Molé: Physical comedy at its best

Comedy theater, Cirque du Molé Saturday, December 16, 8pm, Sunday, December 17, 5pm Teatro Santa Ana, 100 pesos

Onstage, a lone ukulele waits in the spotlight. The crazy-haired maestro strides onstage with his long-suffering yet loyal road manager. As the music starts, their meticulously choreographed spectacle quickly turns into a runaway train of full-scale comic mayhem. See a brave man wrestle a gravity-defying piece of furniture! Hear the world’s most powerful and disobedient microphone! Feel the danger as a lone performer risks his life in a crazy stunt! Will he die a fiery death? Or just suffer heartburn? Men will faint and women will scream as the audience erupts in spontaneous applause.

Welcome to the outrageous world of Cirque du Molé—a world of flying hats, dancing feet and Tin Pan Alley songs. A place where Scotch tape and chewing gum can be friend or foe, where plates fly, inanimate objects come to life and audience members witness breathtaking duels, fiery stunts and personal grooming mishaps.

Cirque du Molé is a perfect combination of old-style vaudeville, music hall, variety and the outrageous hilarity of silent film comedy. Bill Robison and D. J. Hamilton are now unleashing themselves on San Miguel with their own unique blend of variety, theater, circus, juggling, kooky music and riotous physical humor for all audiences.

Bill Robison wears many hats as an actor, comedian, clown, mask performer, concert opener and part-time accordionist. In the last three years, he has toured several countries including Germany, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Austria, Iceland, Spain and the US with The Shneedles, a variety vaudeville comedy duo.

As a solo artist, he has toured extensively to fairs and festivals across the US and Canada, where he has been the opening act for Bill Cosby, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and many others. He toured for three years with IMAGO, the Theatre Mask Ensemble from Portland, Oregon. He has performed at The Magic Castle, the Comedy Magic Club and the Improv in Hollywood, California. 

Additionally, he’s a pretty good cook, likes long walks on the beach, margaritas at sunset and is a Sagittarius.

D. J. Hamilton has worked as an actor, director, playwright, storyteller and theater teacher. He toured extensively with the two-man comedy-juggling team The Bosco Boys. He has performed and directed in Europe, New York, Mexico, Canada and all over the US. 

In the Pacific Northwest, he worked with ACT, Annex, The Empty Space, KCTS-TV, Seattle Children’s Theater, New City Late Night, Seattle Public Theater, Floating World Circus, Centrum Foundation and the Seattle Repertory Theater. His productions have won awards and critical acclaim, including the New York Fringe Festival Best-in-Fest Award. In Seattle, he founded Theatre Babylon and served as artistic director of that company for 10 years. 

In Guadalajara, he founded the Comedy Improv troupe called WOZZEENO. Currently Hamilton lives in Guadalajara, where he is a sometime performer and a full-time teacher of English and theater at Colegio Alemán.

Playreaders offer season’s “Greetings”

Playreaders present Greetings

Tuesday–Thursday, December 12–14, 7:30pm

St. Paul’s Church, Cardo 6, 10 pesos

The delightful holiday comedy Greetings, by Tom Dudzick, will be the final Playreaders production for 2006. The Off-Broadway production of Greetings received many rave reviews and was called “hilarious,” “stunning and touching” and “a loving holiday wonder” in a few of them.

Andy Gorski has a sweet Catholic mother, a sour Catholic father and a severely retarded older brother named Mickey. When Andy brings his Jewish atheist fiancée to meet the folks on Christmas Eve, his worst fears about family blow-ups are realized. But when Mickey, whose entire vocabulary is “Oh Boy” and “Wow,” suddenly utters the word “greetings,” this holiday homecoming turns into a totally unexpected tale of the mysteries and joys of the human condition.

Readers include Nancy Kandal, John Wharton, Megan Pearson, Bob Graham and Nick Beles. Technical supervisión by Larry Gassler. Rudy Hornish directs.

Performances at St. Paul’s start at 7:30pm, or earlier if the house is full. Be sure to get there early to ensure a seat. Doors open at 7pm.