The Arthropologist

The wonder of getting held over: The Houston plays that just won't quit, nearPhantom style

Holland Vavra Peters as Peggy the Pin-Up Girl and Ross Chitwood as PatrickAndrews in Roger Bean’s musical, "The Andrews Brothers" at Stages RepertoryTheatre (2009)
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Rachael Logue, from left, Chelsea McCurdy, Christina Stroup and Holland VavraPeters in "The Marvelous Wonderettes," now playing at Stages Repertory Theatre
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Mikah Horn as Pickles, from left, Susan O. Koozin as Betty, Carolyn Johnson asLin and Joseph Corri as Duke in "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" atStages Repertory Theatre (2006-2007)
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Susan O. Koozin as Louise Seger and Julia Kay Laskowski as Patsy Cline in StagesRepertory Theatre’s first long-running show, "Always…Patsy Cline" (2003-2004)
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Amanda Hebert as Sister in "Late Nite Catechism" at Stages Repertory Theatre(2007)
Photo by Bruce Bennett
A scene from Main Street Theater's production of "The Trust" with Mark Pickell,from left, Andrew Ruthven and Charlie Trotter
Steve Garfinkel and Jack Young in Main Street Theater's production of "Awake andSing"

Held Over. Extended. Three more weeks!

Oh the joys and tedium of the long-running show. And I am not talking about Broadway. Phantom of the Opera will be playing after the sun runs out.

Every now and then, Houston gets held over. Right now, it's happening at Stages Repertory Theatre with The Marvelous Wonderettes, a show whose wonder just won't quit.

It's fun, fluffy vocal candy with an indeed marvelous cast, which collectively possess some stunning pipes. Who doesn't want to "lollipop lollipop" to forget the most recent tragedy; musical Prozac is the safer option. Even former President H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush showed up.

The cheery musical is about to go into the record books as the largest grossing show ever at Stages. Coming in second is The Great American Trailer Park Musical, followed by Always...Patsy Cline and I Love You, You are Perfect, Now Change.

"What's up? I asked the always grinning Stages chief Kenn McLaughlin. "It's a numbers game," he says. If they keep coming, he will keep extending.

Held over shows tend to fall into a certain category. "They have to be populist, accessible, offer a fun time in the theater and involve the audience in the event," McLaughlin says. "I have no illusions that this is high-brow theater. But I like this stuff too. The audience really feels ownership and they provide great entertainment."

Then there are the people who go over and over to the held overs. "One person saw Trailer Park 20 times. So far, 14 is the record for Wonderettes," reports McLaughlin. Stages has even started sing-a-long Fridays if you want to join the Wonderettes.

Stages has the luxury of two theaters, which allows edgier fare to run simultaneously. Chances are, Will Eno's Oh, The Humanity and other exclamations, opening on Jan. 26, will not be held over, despite the fact that The New York Times claims, "Eno confirmed the singular nature — and singular beauty — of his voice with Middletown," his most recent play. (Prove me wrong people. Eno is one of the most original voices since Edward Albee.)

Most theaters already have published dates for the next show, limiting the possibility of a hold over until the end of the season. After a rave in The Wall Street Journal, Main Street Theater (MST) extended Awake and Sing, and rightly so, it was a ravishing production. WSJ critic Terry Teachout even liked their Brooklyn accents. MST also had a hit with The Trust, the story of the murder of the founder of Rice University, which has been held over numerous times during its numerous productions over the years.

“It’s a great, local and an important Houston story," says Rebecca Green Udden, MST's artistic director. "It’s based in fact (though with some speculation). And the fact is, Rice University might not had happened if these guys had gotten away with it. As a Rice alum, I think that’s very important."

MST plans to bring Trust back next season and they anticipate it will be, you guessed it, held over.

Long-running shows have a different meaning for actors. Lindsay Gee has played many a "Connie" in A Chorus Line and also performs with Suchu Dance when her schedule allows. Next, she's singing and dancing in casa mañana's production of Evita.

"It's good for artists because these shows pay the bills," Gee says. "Also, I can afford to take more dance classes, voice lessons or acting workshops with the money I save. A long-running contract allows me to discover new things about the character I'm playing which enables me to develop a richer, layer-filled performance. So often, on short contracts, rehearsals are super fast and product driven and just when I'm starting to get into the groove of the show, it's over."

Susan Koozin has lit up many a held over show, including The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Always...Patsy Cline.

"It's a huge commitment, but I am always grateful to have the work, especially in Houston," she says. Koozin paces herself for a long run, keeping herself healthy and focused. As for the tedium, she has her own method

"It's good when you have material you can keep deciphering and keep nuancing. If It's a crowd pleaser and funny, that helps," says Koozin, who starts up yet another round of Trailer Park on June 1. "Once I get there and put on my makeup, I can feel the energy. The crowd feeds me."

And this just in, Late Nite Catechism, another energizer bunny of the stage, returns this spring at Stages. If there are enough recovering Catholics, it will be, yeah, held over.

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Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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