Connie Chats on Opening Night: A Christmas Westside Story ... · Connie Chats on Opening Night: A Christmas Westside Story ... Connie Chats on Opening Night: ... Rick Batalla and

Connie Chats on Opening Night:A Christmas Westside Story

by Connie Danese | December 12, 2011

Connie Danese

“Could it be? Yes it could. Something’s coming, something good…”

The Troubadour Theater Company’s A Christmas Westside Story opened Friday at the Falcon Theatre,and it is simply spectacular. It combines the plot and setting of the classic 1983 film A Christmas Storywith music and dance inspired by one of Broadway’s favorite musicals, West Side Story. Supporters,subscribers, critics, friends and family filled the tiny 130-seat jewel of a theater, and you sensed thewarmth generated by their happy anticipation of yet another “Troubie” event.

Falcon founder and board president Garry Marshall, who is a hands-on member of the “Falcon family”,could not attend because he was in New York for the opening of his latest film, New Year’s Eve, aromantic comedy with mega-stars but also featuring a few Troubie company members. His daughter andco-producer, Kathleen Marshall LaGambina, was in the lobby after the show beaming with pride – “My

Connie Chats on Opening Night: A Christmas Westside Story | ... http://www.lastagetimes.com/2011/12/connie-chats-on-opening-...

1 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

father is always here but has been doing press in New York for two days. He actually came to see itTuesday night and will be home Sunday. I saw the final dress rehearsal and now the opening. It’sdifferent every single time and always incredible.”

Joseph Keane and Kathleen MarshallLaGambina

Opening night parties at the Falcon feel as if you’ve walked into someone’s private home for a deliciousbuffet supper. Along with shrimp, cheese, crackers and mini-dessert selections, the parties are famousfor their meatballs — no, not Italian-style meatballs. These are hot, slightly sweet, hickory-smokedFalcon meatballs. It’s as if your relative with a secret recipe for her famous sauce and meatballs cookedup a batch for everyone to enjoy and nosh after the show. Of course, like any good host, the Falconserves a choice of champagne, pinot noir or merlot to wash it all down.

Marshall LaGambina smiled. “It’s family. We’ve always been a family business and try to bring inpeople who want to be a part of our family. The Troubies have been here about 11 years and they arecertainly family members. In fact, we have a front row named the Troubadour row. If you sit up there,you know you will probably be participating in the show. Basically we try really hard to make it awonderful fun night with a lot of laughs and parking.” Ah, the “P” word does resonate with anyone whohas paid for tickets, then paid again for the privilege to leave the car somewhere within shoutingdistance of the theater. Falcon patrons park for free — subscribers in the front lot and everyone elsearound the corner in a smaller lot or on streets very close-by.

“With a click, with a shock, phone’ll jingle, door’ll knock…”


2 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Matt Walker, Rick Batalla and Robert Petrarca

Troubie newbie Robert Petrarca happily reported on the recent experience of jumping into his first showwith a well-established troupe that was the toast of the recent Ovation Awards. “It isn’t difficult whenpeople are as brilliant and welcoming as these guys. The environment is amazing, and they are sosupportive of new actors. I was a bit nervous, because a lot of them have nine or ten shows under theirbelt – the musical director has done 28 shows. But they made me feel relaxed and a part of it all.”

Petrarca worked with director Matt Walker six years ago on Happy Days the Musical (book by GarryMarshall), so he wasn’t asked to audition. “We hadn’t talked much since that time. Matt happened to seethe last show I did here (Laurel and Hardy — Petrarca was the pianist) and said they were looking foranother dancer for their holiday Troubie production, and did I want to do it.” Petrarca’s eyes widened inrecollection. “Uh, I said of course. I had seen many Troubie performances, and I knew if I was given theopportunity to be a part of this group I needed to jump on it.”

The most exciting part about the evening for Petrarca? “I guess it’s the opening night vibe. There are alot of supportive people in this audience. The energy that a Troubie audience brings is unlike any other.People want to be here. I know, because I’ve been one of them. You always remember your lastexperience, and you’re so excited to see something new that will make you feel the way you did at thelast one.”

“The Puerto Ricans grumble: Fair fight. But if they start a rumble …”


3 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Ameenah Kaplan and Lisa Valenzuela

Ameenah Kaplan, fight choreographer for this production and two-time Ovation nominee in this year’sawards, has worked with the Troubies many times. Referring to the dance in A Christmas WestsideStory, Kaplan called it “wonderful. Molly Alvarez (2011 Ovation nominee for the Troubies’ The FirstJo-el) is a great choreographer and did a fantastic job on tonight’s show. My training is in martial arts,kung fu and a spattering of other things, so whether I’m choreographing dance or fight staging I like tobring that element in plus rhythm. We’ve done so much before that honestly it all came together in aboutthree hours. The Troubies are not from a hard-core dance background, and I think that’s part of thecharm of the company. Choreographers are pulling out pretty complicated dance moves fromnon-dancers, and they all do really well.”

“We’re gonna rock it tonight. We’re gonna jazz it up and have us a ball…”

Morgan Rusler, Corey Womack and SharonMcGunigle

Sharon McGunigle, a three-time Ovation nominee for Troubie costumes, didn’t design this show’soutfits, but she disclosed her favorite costume piece in it. “I saw the preview, and she (costume designer


4 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Naomi Yoshida) has added many things since then. One was the striped shirt she put on the Toadiecharacter (Christine Lakin). It was a perfect West Side Story beatnik thing. I thought the costumes werespot-on great. It made me so happy to see what Naomi had done as far as the nod to both the movie andthe musical. She evoked that world the story takes place in (fictional Hohman, Indiana), yet always witha nod to the West Side (New York) “story”. Each time I saw another little reference that would crack meup.”

“Well they began it. Well, they began it…”

“I met Matt (Walker) when we were 15 and 16 at Santa Monica High School.” Troubie veteran LisaValenzuela (teacher Ms. Shields), said Walker is older but, “I’m not going to tell you our age.” For therecord, I didn’t ask. No fool, I. “There was an open call for Grease, and I was the nerd in the choir.Matty was Danny Zuko and breaking hearts in our high school. He’s always been a major talent. I’vealways been a singer. This whole acting thing came about when I was doing slide whistle and soundeffects for him and singing back-up for the musicals. One day he said, why don’t you jump on stage?And I screamed, what do you mean?” She grins. “But I did it.”

Cast and Crew of "A Christmas Westside Story"

Valenzuela revealed how the show changes every night. “We have a script, but it’s just a frame. We’re allabout current events, so whatever happens that day we just put it in the show.” The morning the showopened, a shooting at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood caused traffic detours into the evening hours anddelays in arrivals for the performance. After the show began, two exceptionally late audience membersdelighted the cast. “When we don’t have one, we’re disappointed. Oh, we’re sad. We hope someone’slate, because then we ‘get them’. But it’s never a set-up.” Suffice it to say the entire cast ended the ‘get’


5 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

with a hilarious song. I won’t mention the title and spoil it, but I do hope you get a chance to experiencetheir fourth wall break and “latecomer number”.

Originally an improvisational reaction, Valenzuela explained, “Matt came up with that one night, and itwent over so well, we all said okay, now that’s our latecomer song. We have something for everything. Ifyou could spend a week with us at rehearsal, you’d see it’s like going to clown college and funny onevery level.

“Since the Ovation Awards, Matty is in great demand. People all over are like, ‘Hello, can we play’?”When asked to explain their enormous fan base, Valenzuela paused for a moment. “All of us are reallydown to earth. We know there’s a chance there will be a mistake here and there, but we thrive on ourmistakes. I think the audience relates to that — to making a mistake. They relate to the humanity of theactors and the warmth on stage between everyone in the company.”

Matt Walker and KatherineMalak in "A Christmas WestsideStory"

While on the subject of improvised material, I should mention that at one point (during a first act scene),an audience member seated in the third row quietly opened his program. Walker — who plays theChristmas Story boy Ralphie — didn’t miss a beat, made a joke about it, and then added, “Oops. Justnoticed he has a pencil and a big white press kit.” Big laugh, as Walker apologized and told the critic it


6 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Share this: Print This Article Email Twitter Facebook

was okay to read…and write.

I grabbed Walker and congratulated him on yet another superb production. What inspires this incrediblycreative man? “Well, in this instance it was the blending of the two source materials. When we came upwith the title, I thought I just can’t wait to do that. I think we bit off a bit more than we realized becausethe score is so complicated and the movement is complicated.” Speaking of the score, kudos to the giftedfour-piece band led by Eric Heinly, who makes it sound like an entire orchestra.

Walker explained the reason the Troubie material is unpublished. “A lot of it has to do with licensing themusic. Because we feel copyright-protected through the Fair Use Act, we’re able to appropriate thematerial as long as it’s a parody or satire. That may not translate if different groups do it. If you take theshow at face value without the undercurrent of satire, you can get into a gray area. But, I thinkeventually we’ll cross those bridges and find artists willing to license their material so we can produceshows like Mamma Mia! and the Billy Joel musical (Movin’ Out), because that seems to be thelandscape now and we’ve been doing it for 15 years.”

Walker added, “the Falcon has been so generous. Garry and Kathleen make us feel really welcome andat home. The staff is always top-notch and really cares about the product. We won the best season[Ovation] award two out of the last three years and I tell everyone — for instance Joe, who runs the fronthouse and box office, ‘Congratulations,’ and they ask for what? And, I say for the best season award.They say, ‘Oh, I don’t really do anything’. But that’s not true. I tell them it takes a village. And, that’swhat’s great about being with the Falcon.”

CHAT CITE: “There’s a place for us, somewhere a place for us. Peace and quiet and open air wait for ussomewhere.” –Stephen Sondheim/West Side Story

***All photos by Chelsea Sutton

Posted in NewsYou can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


7 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Home

Connie Chats onOpening Night:A Christmas WestsideStory

Donate Your TheaterPrograms to the LAPublic Library

An Atomic HolidayCircus at the Actors’Gang

The Wonderettes Winterin Long Beach

LA STAGE INSIDER

Mistresses and Mastersof the House

Troubie Talk — Walkerand Kennedy onChristmas Eve

Beulah Baptiste’s BriefBaptism on theBoards…Bombs

Shinsai Event to BenefitJapanese TheaterCommunity

The Understudy and theDeep Blue Sea

Journalists At RiskExamined by GlobalTheatre Project

Twelfth Night — If21st-Century Updates Bethe Food of Liberation,

Page 2

LA STAGE INSIDER

Mason Peels the HiddenHistories of Onion Creek

An Ex-Catholic IraqiImmigrant RecallsComing Out inBlood Fruit

Have Yourself aTheatrical LittleChristmas

Short Eyes. And TwoComedies About BeingJewish in America.

Bates WearsRose-Colored Glasses

LA STAGE INSIDER

Surf’s Up for SantalandDiaries

CTG’s LA Grade Rises toC+ with A+ NightWatcher, PasadenaPlayhouse Bounces Backwith Blues

A Playground at theSchool of Hard Knocks

Elektra Meets the Boss

Artists at Play PushButtons With ChingChong

Page 3

StopNextFallKiss

LA STAGE INSIDER

Producing andVideographing theOvations Ceremony

Rarely Produced ShortEyes Invites Dangerand Innovation

Aunt and GodmotherTales in Woodard’sNight Watcher

Sibling Stories inPrison is Where ILearned to Fly

2011 Ovations: WeLaughed, We Cried,We Complained

Pat KinevaneRemembers the IrishForgotten

A Troubie Triumph atthe Ovation Awards

Connie Chats onOpening Night: Bringit On: The Musical

Mother Nature Won’tBe Fooled in SherryGlaser’sSecond Coming

Mancuso Is InterimProducing Director atGeffen

Page 4

The Elephant GoesRetro with TennesseeWilliams’Baby Doll

A Triangle WithinThe Animal Within

LA STAGE INSIDER

Mining Gay PulpNovels for PosingStrap Pirates

David Dean Bottrell— The Power Of“Yes”

For Robin Givens,The Sky’s The Limit

Going Undergroundin the Middle East’sHoly Ground

Bring It On: TheMusical Crosses theLine

From Belfast toKampala to LA WithDaddy O’Callaghan

Anna Gunn PlaysAlan Alda’s MarieCurie at the Geffen

Esther’s MoustacheWriter/DirectorDebates Herself

The Cates Years atthe Geffen — A Hard


8 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Play On Act to Follow


9 of 9 12/13/11 11:04 AM

Documents

Connie Chats on Opening Night: A Christmas Westside Story ... · Connie Chats on Opening Night: A Christmas Westside Story ... Connie Chats on Opening Night: ... Rick Batalla and