Love, Lies, and the IRS-Fall 2008

By HALEY FLAGG / Trinity Christian Academy (published by guidelive.com)

Cheating on taxes is easy when you pretend to be married to your neutrally named roommate, right? No one will find out, right? It won't turn into a mushroom cloud of confusion, disownment, breakups, comic misunderstandings, messy situations, botched mung chowder gumbo and smashed Scotch bottles, right?

Wrong, if we are to believe the hilarity of the lesson in J.J. Pearce High School's recent production of "Love, Lies and the IRS."

Written by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore,, "Love, Lies and the IRS" gives a side-splitting account of the harrowing consequences to cheating the IRS. Jon Tractman decides to save money by doing both his and his roommate's taxes and claiming to be married. Leslie Arthur, the aforementioned roommate, an almost innocent bystander who just happens to be carrying on a relationship with Jon's fiancée, is caught up in the madness when a man from the IRS comes to settle Jon's accounts.

However, it doesn't turn out to be a simple, short charade. Leslie finds himself wearing a dress as chaos ensues. Visiting mothers, suspicious landlords and scorned girlfriends invade the apartment, and it's all Jon and Leslie can do to keep their secret. Can they get away with their tax fraud, and if so, will there be a single relationship left intact by the end of this complicated comedy?

The performance was very entertaining: a show that surely caused some viewers to go away with sore sides. The "stage" was the entire room, and the spectators felt part of the action. The actors showed complete concentration as they carried on their scenes despite their close proximity to the audience. While there was some slightly awkward blocking, some difficulty in delivering several lines, and an occasional lack of chemistry, the energy of the cast certainly kept the viewer in the world of the scene. One had to really pay attention to keep up with the crazy and fun filled plot.

Leslie Arthur (Brett Thiele) provided most of the laughs in the play, often entertaining the audience with his sinuses and successfully portraying a first-time female impersonator. He stayed in character throughout every scene and had excellent comic timing. Jon's fiancée (Marisa Huber) conveyed her emotions with facial expressions that appeared very natural.

The man from the IRS, Floyd Spinner (Steven Miller), instantly became a favorite character the moment he delivered his first line in a comical nasal tone. His comic timing was perfect and he was very easy to understand. The apartment manager, Mr. Jansen (Jay Moran) had a certain stage presence that instantly drew your attention to him, but only when appropriate. Leslie's cast-off girlfriend, Connie (Anna Dirkx) stole every scene she was in with her hilarious facial expressions and line delivery.

There was only one set change in the production, and while this was done efficiently and quietly, the stage crew was almost glaringly visible, and several times during the production, distracting noises could be heard backstage. Several of the actors, when standing on the edge of the set, were in the dark and slightly obscured. The set was extremely well constructed and creative, even if the door had a slight malfunction. There were no costume slip-ups, and the changes were done on time.

J.J. Pearce managed to present "Love, Lies and the IRS" with energy that kept the viewers engaged. With so much of the comedy depending on dialogue and timing, the actors succeeded in delivering their humorous lines in a naturally entertaining fashion that didn't seem forced. The world of Jon and Leslie immediately came vibrantly to life for the audience, allowing them to experience the consequences of tax fraud ... without really doing it.

Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World-April 2008

Review by RACHEL KITTRELL / Woodrow Wilson High School
This review was published on guidelive.com.

Memories are a funny thing. They show us the best and worst moments of our lives without discrimination, and are simultaneously cherished and reviled for their emotional potency. Even when someone has faded out of our lives forever, their memory still remains, so it's almost as if they're there with us for the rest of our lives, laughing and smiling within our hearts.

It's this universal idea of memory that makes the play Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World so unforgettable. With the emotional depth the actors at J.J. Pearce High School have, it's no wonder they chose such a deeply moving play to showcase their exceptional talents.

To emphasize the personal nature of the play, the drama department at Pearce performed it in their black box theater, using a simple set that consisted of a bed and a small platform to the side. This minimalist air really emphasized the personal nature of the play, bringing the audience even closer to the cast, literally as well as figuratively.

This draws a lot of attention to the cast's acting abilities, and requires a number of strong performers in order to pull it off. Luckily, the entire cast of "Scooter Thomas Makes it to the Top of the World" was able to carry their weight very well, resulting in an exceptionally moving production.

They expertly portrayed a wide variety of characters, fluidly transitioning from one to the other. Every character seemed believable and every relationship felt strikingly genuine, especially the bond between childhood friends Dennis Wright and Scooter Thomas, played by John Redlinger and Brett Thiele. Their interactions were heart-warming, heart-breaking, and everything in-between.

A note should also be made concerning the cast's professionalism: Though a few lines were stumbled upon here or there, a rather significant scene in the play was still carried out flawlessly in spite of the incessant ringing of an audience member's cell phone; the actor delivering his lines – who happened to be shouting at the time – didn't even pause in his tirade, but continued on as if he really were in another world separate from our own.

In addition to the excellent acting, Pearce's production also featured some very beautifully done lighting, which really helped to set and maintain the mood throughout the play. Though it seemed slightly unnecessary in parts, a soundtrack was also present throughout moments in the play, ranging from wordless background music to a few Beach Boys songs Dennis Wright was listening to on his radio.

Overall, Pearce's production was a beautiful, professional, and moving show, the kind that is as liable to induce laughter as it is tears, and that, if nothing else, will leave audience members pensive as they exit the theater, re-examining their own lives and the people in it.

Miss Saigon

Feb. 2008

Review By ALEX LARRAVE / St. Mark's-Hockaday as stated in Guidelive.com

The lights come up and the audience is suddenly thrown into a 1970s brothel in South Vietnam. All around, beautiful women in glitzy costumes and world-wise men in uniform sing and dance, creating an ambiance of levity. However, the desperation of the time and place is soon made evident to the participants in J.J. Pearce High School's performance of Miss Saigon.

The musical, an adaptation of Madame Butterfly written by Claude Michel Schonberg in the early 1980s, is not the typical happy-go-lucky American musical. Inspired by a photograph taken during the Vietnam War, in which a Vietnamese mother is seen giving her child over to a better life in the United States, the musical deals with many tense and loaded themes. It does not take long to uncover the deep-seated political and economic tensions of Vietnam during this time. However, the Pearce cast handles the performance with maturity and professionalism not normally seen in high school theater.



Because the musical deals with such serious themes, any high school brave enough to take the chance should be commended. The sets thoroughly convey the contrasts of the time, offering the audience views of dilapidated Vietnamese tenements as well as visions of showy night clubs that contrasted nicely. The lighting of the show is simple but effective, switching mostly between pure white and blood red depending on the mood of the scene.



Elizabeth Judd, in the lead role of Kim, gives an astounding performance. Her prodigious acting skill combined with her beautiful voice create a truly believable character. Playing a mother faced with the loss of all she holds dear, Judd makes the audience forget that they are at a high school performance and thoroughly entrances them with the entire story of the musical.

 
As Chris, the male lead, John Redlinger holds his own. He shows a carefully studied blend of the innocence of youth and the disillusionment of war. He truly shines in intimate segments like "Sun & Moon." Tyler Miller, playing the Engineer, the ‘businessman' who gives Kim her start, delivers one of the few comic roles in the musical. However, his role also calls for a portrayal of a man desperate for liberation from a crumbling country. Although his interpretation sometimes seems forced, Miller's character is essential in showing the desperation of the period.



Numerous other cast members stand out in this difficult piece. Chandler Reeves, playing Ellen, Chris' American wife, is a splendid addition to the cast. Her character could have been a little more developed, but her voice blends beautifully in her numerous duets. David Escamilla also holds his own as friend to both Kim and Chris. Other talented cast members of the cast include Jaid Nelson and Tim Sekiguchi.

 Miss Saigon, a work with extreme social implications, is a very daring work for a high school production. However, the cast at J.J. Pearce excels in their interpretation of the heart-wrenching story. The level of maturity of the piece is astounding and performance is an overall success

  


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 Laughing Stock-Fall 2006

Submitted by Alexandra Larrave  Junior at Hockday

In an ancient barn with mosquitoes “the size of sparrows,” a company of actors puts on rotating performances of the tragedy "Hamlet", the farce "Charley’s Aunt", and an original adaptation of Dracula called "Dracul: Prince of the Undead." As can be expected, chaos ensues in "Laughing Stock" at J.J. Pearce High School.

A relatively new play, written and published by Charles Morey in 2001, "Laughing Stock" is about a small New England summer-stock theatre that to perform three plays in repertory. The theater director, Gordon Page (Jon Parsons) spends the summer with a strange mix of actors and crew members, and the play deals with the drama and mishaps that come from producing three shows at the same time.

 With a cast this big, it is easy to become lost, but Pearce did a spectacular job of keeping it light. The simple stagecraft created room for the actors to maneuver around while maintaining a believable location and the theatrical lighting only added to the overall ambiance.

 Jon Parsons led the cast as Gordon Page, and created a character that set the standard for the rest of the cast. Parsons added a sort of thoughtful strength to the character that created a cornerstone for the other actors, shown most notably in his one-on-one dialogues with other cast members.

 A riotous work, "Laughing Stock" is a fabulous demonstration of the mishaps that happen behind the scenes in many theatre productions. This side of the artistic process is one that not many audience members even know exists. The comedy and near-professional acting in this play make a definite must see on all counts!

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