In 'I Married Wyatt Earp,' The Women Jaw a Spell

Earp widows, Maude (Cara Massey), Pauline (Tina Stafford) and Cara (Karla Mosley) in "I Married Wyatt Earp. Photos by Gerry Goodstein.

BY TAMARA BECK

BY 1944, Wyatt Earp has become a legend. In “I Married Wyatt Earp,” the Western saga is told from the feminine point of view.

At 59E59 Theater through 12 June as part of Americas Off Broadway, “I Married Wyatt Earp,” is the story of Josie Earp and the pioneering Earp women. When the play opens, Wyatt’s widow, Josie (Carolyn Mignini), is consulting on a film based on the events at the O.K. Corral.

“Have you read that wretched script of theirs,” Josie asks Virgil’s widow, Allie Earp (Heather MacRae). “They want to call me Clementine.”

Josie is haunted by Tombstone, Arizona and the life circumstances forced her to make for herself in the dusty frontier town. Scenes from her youth, staged to share the setting with her Los Angeles home, play out as “I Married Wyatt Earp” flashes back to the late 1870s, illuminating Allie and Josie’s reminiscences.

Mishaela Faucher as Young Josie and Karla Mosley as Cara in “I Married Wyatt Earp.”

Eighteen-year-old Josie (Mishaela Faucher), headstrong and independent, runs away from her comfortable San Francisco home. She craves adventure and joins Pauline Rackham’s (Tina Stafford) traveling show. At Tombstone, Young Josie reunites with the town’s sheriff with whom she had flirted at a party back home.

The widows Earp each have young counterparts in the memory scenes who, pleasingly, physically resemble their older selves. Like Young Josie, Young Allie (Stephanie Palumbo) is so well matched to the widow Allie Earp that it’s easy to see them together as younger and older versions of the same woman. Young Allie, Virgil’s ambitious, capable, plump wife, manages the Earp saloon and leads the Earp wives in enterprises she trusts will make them all rich.

The cast of eleven women in “I Married Wyatt Earp” does this smart, entertaining musical drama proud. It is based in part on Glenn G. Boyer’s book of the same name, which was written by Thomas Edward West and Sheilah Rae, who also wrote the lyrics.

The music by Michele Brourman riffs on country ballads and folk tunes. “Games Are Everywhere,” performed by Kate Haroney (Ariela Morgenstern), the Hungarian gambling gal who is Doc Holliday’s lover, is written as a kind of Gypsy czardas.

Carol Linnea Johnson as Bess Earp, Stephanie Palumbo as Young Allie Earp and Anastasia Barzee as Mattie Earp in “I Married Wyatt Earp.”

Songs like the pretty “Unpacking Dreams” and the catchy “Didya Hear?” and “Pins and Needles” all work to move the story along.

“I Married Wyatt Earp” is thoroughly enchanting. It has a simple beauty. Adding to the purity of the sound – in this small space – no one is miked. Bring on the cast album!

Visit http://www.59e59.org/ to learn more about "I Married Wyatt Earp."

In 'Love Song,' Imagination Takes Flight

Andrew Pastides as Beane and Zoë Winters as Molly in "Love Song." Photo by Jeff Larkin.

BY TAMARA BECK

JOHN Kolvenbach’s “Love Song,” is a fantasy which raises a glass to toast [the] “death to literalism.”

JK suggests eschewing pedantry and thinking outside the box but “Love Song,” playing through 7 May as part of the celebration of American Theater called “Americas Off Broadway” at 59E59 Theaters, has an unfortunately blurry premise. Its tantalizing hypothesis squanders this comedy’s genuine charm and whimsy.

An imaginary love, Molly (Zoë Winters), enlivens the drab and withdrawn Beane (Andrew Pastides) and brightens the lives of his sister, Joan (Laura Latreille) and brother-in-law, Harry (Ian Barford).

Beane falls in love with Molly when she appears in his dull under-furnished room as a “fearsome force” who robs him of his second pair of pants. Molly is everything Beane is not – aggressive, unpredictable. She is also, as Beane fully understands, a figment of his imagination. Her energy awakens all his senses, but the hitch in this plot is that Beane has conjured her up as the object of all his affections.

Laura Latreille, Andrew Pastides and Ian Barford in "Love Song." Photo by Jeff Larkin.

Even when she inspires the taciturn Beane to become curious, sensual and talkative, Molly is more like his alter ego than his lover. Joan accepts her brother’s folly rather than have him revert to the sad sack he was. Will having known Molly give Beane the impetus to go ahead and embrace life?

Despite the failings of “Love Song” it is still an agreeable entertainment. And the actors are delightful, ably and credibly conveying the over-arching message of the play – that imagination can make us better.

Visit http://http://www.59e59.org/ for more information about “Love Song.”

If the Brits Can Have One, So Can the Yanks
LATE last year, 59E59 Theaters presented “Brits Off Broadway,” a celebration of award-winning productions from the United Kingdom.(See review: http://www.vevlynspen.com/2010/12/going-fast-if-thats-all-there-is.html).

Andrew Pastides and Ian Barford in "Love Song." Photo by Jeff Larkin.

Now U.S. American theater is the focus with “Americas Off Broadway.” Running through 3 July, it features seven plays, a musical and a revue showcasing the music of Cy Coleman with some very nice Broadway names attached.

“Love Song” kicked off the festivities.
(See video of the 59E59 Theaters at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MnvjA_DPvo&feature=player_embedded#at=12)

The revue, “The Best is Yet To Come: The Music of Cy Coleman,” premiered at the Rubicon Theatre in California in 2009. It will run in 59E59 Theater A from 18 May through 3 July.

“The Best is Yet To Come" will be making its New York premiere and features a cast of six award-winning and award-nominated Broadway stars (accompanied by an eight-piece band). The cast is Lillias White, Billy Stritch (also the musical director and conductor for this production), David Burnham, Sally Mayes, Howard McGillin and Rachel York.

Tony Award winner David Zippel devised and directed this revue, which will include favorites from Broadway (“Sweet Charity,” “City of Angels,” “Little Me,” “The Will Rogers Follies”), pop hits made famous by the likes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand, as well as new songs written toward the end of Coleman’s life.

Justin Preston and Marley McLean in “Julia.” Photo by Alex Moy.

Also included on the festival menu is “I Married Wyatt Earp” presented by Prospect Theater Company and New York Theatre Barn. It is based in part on Glenn G. Boyer‘s book of the same name. “I Married Wyatt Earp” runs from 20 May through 12 June. The cast includes Carolyn Mignini as Josephine Marcus Earp and Anastasia Barzee as Mattie Earp.

The Pacific Resident Theatre is bringing “Julia” by Vince Melocchi through 15 May. In this story about love lost 50 years ago at the start of the Korean War, Lou Perino (Richard Fancy) returns to his hometown to try to right the wrong he did when he went off to fight and then to Detroit.

Jack Finnegan (playwright/actor) presents a portrait of our country, constructed from the character of 24 American cities and the land and waters between them in “City Love Song.” This 21st century travelog runs from 3 May to 15 May before embarking on a tour of 13 international cities.

Visit http://http://www.blogger.com/www.59e59.org to learn more about “Americas Off Broadway,” including a schedule of programs.