Ten Red Hen Productions presents
{the 99-cent}
Miss Saigon
|
 |
Miss Saigon A Musical by |
Directions: Willard Middle School is at the corner of Stuart St. and Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. Take BART to Ashby; head east on Ashby, take a left on Telegraph and walk to Stuart. Take a right on Stuart, and your FIRST LEFT onto Regent (unmarked). Walk one block. The entrance to the Metalshop Theater is located on your left, by the Willard Park Tennis Courts. |
|
 |
______________________
Ten Red Hen's 99-cent production of Miss Saigon is an attempt to do the unimaginable: present this epitome of late 20th century musical excess as a piece of poor theater. All the problems of the show - the huge orchestrations, sets, costumes, and yes, the helicopter - have been re-imagined and solved purely through performance. Using abstraction, movement and irrational earnestness, we have extracted the pure exuberance of musical theater from its traditionally heavy melodrama and production values. A non-theatrical setting and stripped-down orchestra of actors further distinguish this production's deconstructionist innovation.
Miss Saigon has been a touchstone of controversy since it first opened in London's West End in 1989. The story of a doomed romance between a local prostitute and an American GI during the last days of the Vietnam War, Miss Saigon has fascinated countless protestors, critics and audiences with its uneasy balance of awkward politics and its undeniable appeal.
The artistic team behind the production, director Maya Gurantz, actress Jane Chen (The Chinese Clown Cabaret) and musical director Dave Malloy (Banana, Bag & Bodice), share a life-long obsession with musicals and Miss Saigon, sometimes in spite of themselves. Collaborating with an outstanding cast, they have combined their post-ironic visions of the piece to create a unique, shamelessly theatrical experience.
"If you've ever wondered how this melodramatic spectacle would hold up without the huge production and the helicopter taking off, the answer is really, really well. This totally stripped-down, no-budget staging is delightful throughout, and the music actually sounds better at times without the swelling orchestra, just a piano and an acoustic guitar with some violin and clarinet here and there. The workaround depictions of explosions, the baby, and the helicopter are pretty funny, but this isn't just some campy romp, and it's heartrending when it needs to be."
-Sam Hurwitt, East Bay Express"An unabashedly shoestring treatment so plucky and spirited it goes some way toward redeeming the melodrama's otherwise embarrassingly self-satisfied Western perspective...What does a $0.99 Miss Saigon actually look like? Think sparklers, toy helicopters, fishing wire, and actors with instruments in a converted "metal shop" theater; but think full-throated, full-throttle performances too. Not a bad combo, admirably balanced here by director Maya Gurantz."
-Robert Avila, SF Bay Guardian
"A splendid on-the-cheap production...it has the feel, the real value of a rich, glitz-free show. The biggest ovation by rights goes to lead Jane Chen; a very talented comedienne, Chen extends the deft touch she showed in comic vaudeville to an exceptional dramatic portrayal. Great, heady fun, a showcase of talent and exuberance."
-Ken Bullock, Berkeley Daily Planet
___________________
Cast and Crew
Brittany Bexton (Ellen), Erick Casanova (Thuy), George Chan (John), Jane Chen (Kim), Jenny Cho (Ensemble), Kazumi Kusano (Ensemble), Dave Malloy (Chris), Teresa Moore (Ensemble), Dale Murphy (Ensemble), Andre Nigoghossian (Guitar), Issabella Shields (Ensemble), Raphi Soifer (Ensemble), Alexis P. Wong (Gigi)
and European-American actor Mark Romyn as The Engineer
Director: Maya Gurantz
Musical Director: Dave Malloy
Design Consultant: Jon Wai-keung Lowe
Choreographic Assistance: Tracy Dorrance
Vocal Assistance: Alexis P. Wong
Crew Biographies
Maya Gurantz (Director) is a director and writer. Over the past 8 years, she has been creating new works in downtown New York, New Haven, Los Angeles, rural Mississippi, San Diego and now the Bay Area. Favorite credits include: The Chinese Clown Cabaret, CLUB*, How the Deal Rocked Up, and The Living Newspaper Project. She's long been active in community-based theater projects, helping to develop new works with King Middle School, Planned Parenthood, and the San Diego Repertory Theater. Maya graduated from Yale University in 1998 and was a 2001 Altvater Fellow with Cornerstone Theater Company. She writes about theater and its discontents on her blog, www.tenredhen.net.
Jane Chen (Co-Creator, Kim) is a Taiwanese-American physical theater artist and singer. A graduate of Yale University and the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theater, Jane is the creator of the award-winning Chinese Clown Cabaret, a musical clown show starring Jane and her real-life mother, Tair. Other credits include Clowns Without Borders (Chiapas, Mexico expedition), Being Something directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang, UC Berkeley's Tarnival project, and the Bay Area Montessori Schools Opera program. Commercially, Jane has worked for Microsoft, Brookstone, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, Bearing Point Consulting, and Brighton Shoes.
Dave Malloy (Musical Director, Chris) is the musical director for Banana, Bag and Bodice, a collaborative theater ensemble whose pieces (including Sandwich and The Young War, recently performed together at Manhattan's Ontological-Hysteric Theater) have received numerous awards (including five consecutive Best of SF Fringe Awards) and accolades in San Francisco, New York City, Dublin and Montreal. He has served as composer/musical director for nearly 30 shows in the Bay Area, in collaboration with ACT, Calshakes, ODC, The Shotgun Players, The Exit Theater, Sara Kraft, Sean Owens and numerous others.
Jon Wai-keung Lowe has designed for San Francisco Mime Troupe, Theatre Rhino, Intersection for the Arts, Pocket Opera, and solo artist David Mills (SF/NY). As artistic director of The Visible Theater, he directed his own adaptation of Green Bamboo Hermitage, winning "Best Adaptation" and a Best of the Fringe encore at the 2005 SF Fringe Festival.
Contact
Maya Gurantz
(510) 547-8932
Email: maya at tenredhen.net
Press Release
Hires pic 1 (Jane Chen as Kim)
Hires pic 2 (Jane Chen as Kim, Dave Malloy as Chris)
Miss Saigon is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized
performance materials are also supplied by MTI, 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019
Tel.: (212) 541-4684 Fax: (212) 397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
