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Perry Ojeda and Steve Marvel. Photo by Shashin Desai.
I've been trying to recall a movie I saw a long time ago where an artist was thought to be dead and that made his artwork more valuable. Before modern movies, Mark Twain wrote a play on that very plot line. Twain's plays were generally considered bad, but in a twist, a scholar revived interest in one of them and eventually it went to Broadway. The International City Theatre company decided to give Twain a try and the result of a delightfully, light-hearted fare.
Twain was not a historian. One of the problems when he originally wrote the play was it was about a real artist, Jean-François Millet (1814-1875).
Millet isn't pronounced like the grain and you'll know that by the end of this play. This French painter was known for his peasant scenes and was part of the realism and naturalism movements of that time. His best known works were "The Gleaners" and "The Angelus."
The play was written in 1898 while Twain was in Vienna, according to scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin, a professor at Stanford. Twain was coming out of debt and this was a chance for him to poke fun at debt collectors, theater, the art scene and the French. Fishkin was able to convince playwright David Ives to tinker with it a bit.
What we have is a bit formulaic, but still fun.
Perry Ojeda plays Millet who is sweet on Marie Leroux (Suzanne Petrela). He is in debt to usurer Bastien (Steve Marvel dressed in black with a waxed mustache as one would expect from an old-time villain) as is Marie' s father, Papa Leroux (Jeffrey Hoffman). Cecile (Jules Hartley), Marie's sister, is in love with Agamemnon Buckner (Brian Stanton) who goes by the nickname Chicago.
Chicago hatches the plot to disguise Millet as his twin sister who is a widow. Millet will pretend to be very ill, fleeing to some far off country and die there. The news of his death would drive up the value of his works. As Millet's only living relative, Millet as his own sister would inherit the estate. His friends would get rich, all owning some of his works.
Complications arise. Papa Leroux and Bastien fall in love with this sister while Cecile suspects that Chicago and the widow are lovers.
Of course, there is a happy ending and mix ups and a lot of slammed doors. Under the direction of Shashin Desai, even the intermission is fun. Ojeda is not required to be a convincing woman, but from Act I to Act II, he does go from stumbling in high heels to a more graceful gal. He has a winning smile and we want him to get out of debt and get the girl.
This isn't the best of Twain, but it is a fun evening and at least you'll leave knowing the proper pronunciation of an artist's name and the names of his most famous works.
"Is He Dead?" International City Theatre at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Sundays, 2 p.m. $32-$37. Ends May 24.
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