Voice Lessons
Justin Tanner has given us another totally zany, off the wall comedy called Voice Lessons now playing at the Zephyr Theatre. His plays have provides a staple of hilarity over the years and include Pot Mom, Zombie Attack, and Coyote Woman. His plays are nearly legendary in Los Angeles and have attracted a stable of nutty actors to bring his plays to live. In Voice Lesson we have Laurie Metcalf, French Stewart, and Maile Flanagan, all Tanner Alums.
The story concerns an unlikely romance between a deluded (maybe insane or ADD driven0 community theatre actress (Metcalfe) and the overeducated vocal coach (Stewart) who she hires to transform her into a star. She has no range, cant sing softly, sings off pitch but the famed teacher takes her as a student when she offers triple scale and when she refuses to leave or take “no” as an answer. The lessons are a riot and you can feel nothing but sorrow for the put upon teacher until it is revealed that he too has a dark, loopy, secret nature. Maile Flanagan plays his secret lover who is flipped out in her own right and proves no match for the loud aggressive Virginia (Metcalf). The talent is top notch and I can’t imagine how the actors keep a straight face. The secret to Tanner’s plays is that they are played with the dramatic seriousness of a tragedy. Tragedy is always a distinct possibility in Tanner’s play but somehow, through the quirks of the characters and plot they survive gleefully.
Voice lessons is ably directed by Bart Lorenzo one of our finest local directors, with some assistance from Tanner himself. The set and lighting design is by Gary Guidinger with sound by Kristian Hoffman, both having previously worked with Tanner. The hilarity lasts for a brief 90 minutes at the Zephyr Theatre in West Hollywood until May 17th. See it!____________________________________
Theater: Zephyr Theatre
Dates: through May 17, 2009