The Life
Congratulations to the Cast of "The Life" for a successful run at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood.
Double-hatted head, director/musical director Joe Greene, succeeded in entertaining the audience, a feat to be commended. Like a pimp himself, in an effort to make money for this fairly new theatre company, Greene throws the gifted ensemble into the center of Times Square circa 1980s with their talent and charm. Paul Romero Jr.'s impressive choreography successfully upstages the music itself with his Fosse-inspired dance numbers.
"The Life" is the story of Queen and Fleetwood, a prostitute and a pimp who have fallen in love and wish to put the past where it belongs, moving on into the future together. Very much like a story out of Shakespeare's writings, perplexity occurs and sticky situations are presented, enabling the two to live their dream.
Robert Gee (Fleetwood) and Dionne Gipson (Queen) illuminate the stage with their voices, while the remainder of the cast supports them with wildly entertaining results. Cheryl Murphy-Johnson (Sonja) is a flawless performer. Her talent naturally and skillfully throws to us a bouquet of facial expressions. From comical to dramatic, sarcastic to endearing, Murphy-Johnson is an example of the talent needed to bring houses down in Los Angeles. In the first show-stopper, "Oldest Profession," we would have allowed Ms. Murphy-Johnson to go on for another five minutes with her excellently-executed, consistently-comedic bounce of hilarity. The fascinating David St. Louis (Memphis) is spine-chilling. Quiet through most of the first act, St. Louis intimidates us as we uncomfortably applaud his performance of "My Way or the Highway," a dynamic number of abusive control. (Do we applaud the actor, or not applaud the character's abuse?)
Cindy Sciacca, William Belli, Taryn Reneau, Mara Hall, Robin Ray Eller, and Stephanie Girard play the street tramps quite nicely, avoiding overkill and sticking to truth as each performer makes their character shine, sharing the stage for an evening of constant comedic moments. Ethan Le Phong, DT Matias, Chris Cobb Olsen, and Red Savage were among the remainder of this entertaining ensemble. Even understudy Efren Ramirez Reynoso integrated well into the production on this evening, mirroring the other dancers perfectly without a hint of distraction, which alone proves a well-organized, successful production.
The astounding orchestra was a major highlight, electrifying the stage with excitement. Although some songs were more clever than others, they were all entertaining enough so that one never needed to peruse the program, awaiting the finale.
On a side note: My only problem with the production was the drug use that Fleetwood was being manipulated into by Memphis via Jojo. This fantastic plot twist was set in motion, yet we never heard anything else about it. I'm not sure if that is the fault of the writing, direction, or actor choices, but I'll fault the writing just to ensure the production holds its value.
I also want to thank this company for using microphones, as some 99-seat theatres with live bands don't think it is necessary.