The Arthropologist

Two fresh faces with pitch-perfect voices: Life Could be a Dream for Next toNormal theater duo

Mark Ivy as Henry and Rebekah Stevens as Natalie in Stages Repertory Theatre'sproduction of Next To Normal
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Adam Gibbs as Denny, from left, Rebekah Stevens as Lois, Mark Ivy as Eugene andDylan Godwin as Wally in Life Could be a Dream at Stages Repertory Theatre
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Shelley Calene Black and Mark Ivy in Stages Repertory Theatre's production ofRabbit Hole
Photo by Bruce Bennett
Mark Ivy in Little Shop of Horrors offered by Theatre Under the Stars
Photo by Christian Brown
Rebekah Stevens is as Scheherazade in Elizabeth Egloff's Ether Dome at AlleyTheatre
Photo by Jann Whaley
From left, Cameron Bautsch as Skip, Dylan Godwin as Wally, Adam Gibbs as Denny,Mark Ivy as Eugene and Rebekah Stevens as Lois in Life Could be a Dream atStages Repertory Theatre
Photo by Bruce Bennett

Wandering through the halls where Houston Arts Alliance meets Stages Repertory Theatre, I heard the voices of angels. OK, so maybe they were actors. Angels, actors — does it really matter when they sound that good?

The cast of Life Could be a Dream was rehearsing their pitch-perfect crooning from the musical review factory of Roger Bean, who gave us the long running The Marvelous Wonderettes. When I found out that Mark Ivy and Rebekah Stevens were in the show, the very couple who blew me away in Stages' recent production of Next to Normal, I thought it might be time to sit down with these up and coming actors, who have been wowing me and Houston audiences for over a year now.

Oh to be young, good looking, talented and able to belt out "Rama Lama Ding Dong" with oodles of finesse.

Young actors staying in Houston is always a favorite subject; two uber strong performers, even more reason to get excited. Many leave, and for good reasons. New York does look fun, until you get there.

After graduating with her musical theater degree from the University of Northern Colorado, Stevens did head to New York, where she discovered waitressing and not enough auditions. Since being in Houston, she's been on stage nonstop.

"It's the best move I've ever made," Stevens says. "You can really build your resume in a city like Houston, which has a terrific regional theater scene."

And build she did, making a name for herself in such standout plays as The Little Dog Laughed and Reasons To be Pretty at Theatre Lab Houston, followed by Ether Dome and The Seagull at the Alley Theatre. Then came her knockout performance as Natalie in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal, where she made her Stages debut, and I discovered that she also has a lovely singing voice.

Ivy grew up in Houston, studied at the TUTS' Humphreys School of Musical Theatre and was as a regular audience member at Stages.

"I take pride in the fact that I'm cultivating my career here and building a nice resume in the fourth largest city in America," he says. "I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to have worked with a few reputable theaters before going off to the big city if that's what I choose to do."

Ivy made a stunning professional debut at Stages in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole as Jason, the teen who accidentally kills a tiny boy running out from behind a car. The TUTS alum performed in Stages' Panto holiday productions and other shows before he graduated from Sam Houston State University.

"I take pride in the fact that I'm cultivating my career here and building a nice resume in the fourth largest city in America," Ivy says.

"I was already in working at TUTS in Little Shop of Horrors," says Ivy, about his seamless transition from school to the professional stage.

Ivy and Stevens have survived a whirlwind couple of months, which included rehearsing their current show, while still performing the gut-wrenching emotional roller coaster of a musical Next to Normal. Their lives were day and night sing-a-thons. The two bonded early on in the rehearsal process.

"I'm here for you, you are here for me, let's do it," says Stevens, about her working relationship with Ivy. "We had to give it everything we had every single night."

The transition from super serious Normal to Bean's lighthearted review wasn't as easy as it looked. Life Could be a Dream may have a scant plot, but it's a non-stop song extravaganza, featuring a collection of best loved songs from the 1960s.

"It's vocal Olympics for me," says Ivy, who is a tenor by training. "It's really challenging in terms of the range of vocal styles."

Stevens, an oldies fan, sounds just like Anita Humes of The Essex when she spills her heart out in "Easier Said than Done." Ivy, who is also a dancer, gets to play the klutsy comic role of Eugene, where he really had to work on not being his coordinated self. "It's been fun to leave the audience laughing instead of sobbing," Ivy quips.

The rest of the Dream cast, Cameron Bautsch, Adam Gibbs and Dylan Godwin also deserve a shout out of their terrific performances.

Life Could be a Dream keeps a dreamin' until Sep. 2. After that, Stevens can be seen at the Alley Theatre in Death of a Salesman, and Ivy will be taking his first break in a year in a half. As with all artists, futures are uncertain. Ivy and Stevens may leave for other theater pastures. For now, you still have plenty of time to catch two of Houston's freshest faces doo wopping their hearts out and sounding great in the process. "Sh-Boom" rarely sounds this good. Don't miss out.

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Movie review

Adam Scott explores creepy Irish hotel in moody horror movie Hokum

Photo courtesy of Neon

Adam Scott in Hokum.

There are relatively few actors who can switch back and forth between comedy and drama easily, but Adam Scott is the rare exception. He’s equally as well known for starring in comedy projects like Parks & Recreation, Party Down, and Step Brothers as he is for dramas like Big Little Lies and Severance. He’s going the latter route again in the new horror film, Hokum.

Scott plays author Ohm Bauman, who’s trying to finish his latest book. In an effort to avoid distractions and also pay tribute to his parents, he retreats to an Irish hotel where his mom and dad spent their honeymoon. Bauman, who is about as stand-offish as you can get, and the staff of the hotel are at odds almost right away, although Bauman finds a kind of kinship with Jerry (David Wilmot), a seemingly-homeless man he meets in a nearby forest.

Bauman becomes intrigued with the story of the hotel’s closed-off honeymoon suite, which is said to be haunted. His curiosity, though, seems to trigger a variety of strange things, one of which ends with him in an extended stay at the hospital. He returns to the hotel determined more than ever to discover what’s really happening in the honeymoon suite, with things both normal and supernatural blocking his way at every turn.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, the film’s approach to horror is both subtle and overt. On the good side is Bauman’s story, which gradually gets deeper as more is revealed about his past, especially the premature death of his mother. Bauman’s trauma over her loss influences his thinking and actions, and a possible connection between his current situation and his personal history broadens the scope of the plot.

There is plenty of creepiness to be found in the film, starting with the dark and decrepit nature of the hotel itself. Any building where a particular room is off-limits naturally inspires intrigue, and McCarthy does a solid job of building tension. That’s why it’s strange and disappointing that he gives in to the lamest of horror tropes - a sudden appearance by an odd-looking person accompanied by a big screeching noise - on multiple occasions.

The film is at its best when it features weird moments that are never or only slightly explained. A dead body in a rabbit suit is echoed by the unexplained broadcast from Bauman’s youth featuring a terrifying TV host with bulging eyes and rabbit ears. Bauman’s explorations take him into the hotel’s basement via a dumbwaiter, where he encounters all manner of strange things, including what seem to be witches. Because most of these things are left to the audience’s imagination, they hit harder in the moment.

Scott is known to be understated in his acting, and that skill works well in this particular role. Although he clearly plays Bauman as freaked out, he never indicates panic, and that level-headedness makes his character someone you want to follow no matter how dark the path might be. The mostly-Irish supporting cast is not well-known, but Wilmot and Florence Ordesh make the most of their short time on screen.

Hokum — a title that is also not explained — is a horror film that earns its bona fides through mood more than action. Even though not much of consequence happens throughout the film, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next.

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Hokum is now playing in theaters.

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