Valentine's Day approaches like tax time and if you consider the term romantic comedy redundant, BATS has been taking on the stage and screen, going from it’s sell-out Spontaneous Broadway directed by Joshua Raoul Brody in January to Feruary’s 1930’s Romantic Comedy which opens tonight, February 4. It's in a quintessential San Francisco romantic spot, Fort Mason with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the sailboats and Alcatraz, a short walk from Ghirardelli Square and the beach. You don't have to be on a date and the shows attract all ages of adults, most performances rated PG for a casual, relaxed and upbeat experience.
Romantic Comedy directed by Rafe Chase, plays Saturday nights and Rafe directs a special on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14, 2012 called Epic Romance with over half the main stage cast. The warm hearted and mischievous cast generally changes from show to show, with for example Ben Johnson scheduled for Saturday, February 11. Diane Rachel joins the cast on the 18th, among others. Closing night February 25 includes Lisa Rowland.
BATS improvisationists in Spontaneous Broadway took from the audience names of songs from musicals that had never been sung so one did not have to be up on the real theater to play along. Audience members submitted westerns, blues, sea chanties and love songs but probably no opera. Who’s to say. BATS actors turned the song titles into big dance numbers, solos, duets, trios and ensembles, often playing more than one role and sometimes in the same scene. The audience voted on the songs presented in the first half, to see which would be turned into a full-length production for the second half of the evening.
Lonely Moon child grows up, yearns to be down to Earth
Lisa Rowland’s twenty year old moon child who wanted to go to Earth to party, meet men and ride a bike won. Tim Orr played her love interest on the moon who agrees to surreptitiously fly her with him to Earth, where he lands in the backyard garden of suburban Mom Diane Rachel and her teenage daughter Zoe Galvez who offer cans of coke and the Doritos the moon child sought. Diane and Zoe posed with the spacecraft and then the runaway lovers, as the Tim and Lisa’s moon dwellers became oblivious to the world they had just escaped to. Zoe, on the moon, had played the spinsterly and conscientious assistant to the moon child’s father John Remak, a scientist.
Tim and Lisa shared an embrace for the happy ending in the garden on Earth, with Tim keeping Lisa alive with moon kisses at three minute intervals. John Remak played the moon child’s moon scientist father suffering from guilt for creating a child only adapted to breathing the atmosphere of the moon. Barbara played his moon wife who played up the drama with show tune or operatic volume, which he quietly manages by turning down his space suit headphones.
Ken Robertson who had adopted the dashing stage name Rod Steel, played a nerdy Earth neighbor who obligingly fetches twinkies to go with the coke and Doritos at the garden party. He sang, in contrast, a big show stopper solo in the first half about falling in love in a foot massage parlor where he seemed to be more in love with himself.
Barbara Scott and Tim in contrast played monotone robotic automatons on the moon, trying to convey appropriate emotions to go with their recital of Happy Birthday to Lisa the moon child. Like the government agents say on television when pursuing seriel killers, this was her stressor. It’s what sets her off. Their inability to convey real joy just made the day more painful for lovesick and lonely Lisa the moon child.
Barbara Scott had an out-of-body moment in the first half with her rendition of The Waves on My Front Porch from the mythical Katrina: The Musical, where she sings of being on her roof and meeting new people as her neighbors float by.
Tickets generally cost $17 on line or $20 at the door.
Epic Romance tickets cost $20 or $25 at the door.
Often the evenings sell out but have a will-call list because of no-shows. Shows start at 8:00 p.m. with a running time of 105 minutes and one intermission.
BATS New Year’s Special with romance, tragedy and full length The Outcast
BATS makes holidays quirky with Merry Murder Mystery
BATS 25th anniversary celebration with theatresports
Improv trio Three for All have two members in BATS, Tim Orr and Rafe Chase. Here's a review of 3ForAll from April Fools' Day 2011.
Here's an interview about their long-time collaboration: Three for All interview.
Here are the details and more pictures and a video: 3 For All
For more articles by this writer, check out CBS San Francisco’s arts & culture website, and Examiner.com San Francisco opera. CBS San Francisco: Best Places for Impressionist Art.
SF Opera guild presents anti-bullying opera Feb. 7 and raises funds for education at Saks
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