High-Octane Revival of ‘Miss Reardon’

The revival of Paul Zindel’s “And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little” at the Zephyr Theatre is a boisterous tour de force.

A dramatic comedy about three neurotic sisters, the show capitalizes on some serendipitous connections with the 1971 Broadway production. The director at the Zephyr, Rae Allen, won a Tony as an actor in that New York show and one of her actors, Paul Lieber, was also in it with her.

These personal associations appear to have rubbed off on this crisp and sure-footed revival. Originally staged by the Mark Taper Forum’s New Theatre for Now in 1967, Zindel’s whacked-out drama is a performer’s gold mine, and the quintet of actors at the Zephyr is splendidly neurotic.

This is not a black comedy. Zindel is a realist and humorist and leaves the impression that everyone is crazy if you get to know them well enough.

Here his lost ladies are high school educators (Zindel himself was once a high school teacher). The entitled Miss Reardon (Rosemary Alexander) doesn’t drink a little but drinks too much. Another Reardon (the explosive Samantha Harper flying around the sisters’ apartment in a white nightgown) is wildly unhinged and the scandalous subject of an unmentionable incident with one of her students.

Alexander and Harper are adroit at inflicting and suffering the pain of two sisters who, sexually and psychologically, are vulnerable old maids. But Zindel sides with them over their insensitive, executive-type married sister (the forceful, metallic Mary-Margaret Lewis).

Meanwhile, this isn’t Greek tragedy. Much of it is quite funny, especially when the sisters’ hair-trigger world (complete with a popping handgun) is set off by the arrival of a crude, bickering couple from downstairs (the abrasive Lieber, who is terrific, and the inanely brash Gloria LeRoy).

“And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little,” Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Ends Nov. 13. $10. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

‘Breath’ Tops Trio of Effective One-Acts

It’s refreshing to see plays about homosexuals in which the characters’ lifestyles become irrelevant. In “Breath,” three one-acts by Thomas O’Leary at the 2nd Stage, AIDS and gay and lesbian themes are eclipsed by the imperatives of love, rejection and death.

You are encouraged, in addition, to look with colorblind eyes at the show’s racially mixed casting.

But O’Leary and the actor-directors do not exhort or plead a case. The plays are small puffs of light--unhurried, unpretentious, indirect. The result is an easy identity with events and characters.

“Baby,” directed by Thomas Heppler, puts an unusual twist on a mother and son (Reen Strother and T. E. Russell) waiting in an abortion clinic for the return of his girlfriend (Juliette Jeffers).

“The Park,” under Liz Torres’ direction, reunites two ex-lovers (Maurice Davis and Heppler) who have accounts to settle.

But it is the closing play, “Breath,” that you remember. A young man (Richard Israel in a strongly crafted, low-key performance evocative of the “breath” of death) is dying of AIDS. But his doom is not dealt with head on.

A sister-caretaker (Blaire Baron) has become his surrogate mother while his self-absorbed real mother (Bibi Besch) makes a guilt visit and proceeds to prattle on about her career as a TV actress. Simultaneously, with some stark clinical images, director Davis and playwright O’Leary create an emotional subtext that’s quietly potent.

“Breath,” 2nd Stage, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Nov. 10. $8-$10. (213) 848-9223. Running time: 1 hour,20 minutes.

‘Ida’ Unfolds as Lively But Predictable Romp

“Ida,” a sprightly, humorous in-law comedy at the Court Theatre, reminds one of the popular 1940s radio show “Abie’s Irish Rose.”

One of the oldest and most durable domestic comedy devices is flapping together characters of sharply divergent backgrounds.

In “Ida,” playwright Jean Van Tuyle adroitly but ever so lightly uses a Jewish-Irish romance as a framework for an aging widow and widower who, against all expectations (especially those of their overprotective children) fall madly in love.

The play is terribly predictable with schematic subplots featuring three other couples and 10 short scenes ending in cute freeze frames. But the production is so well executed that it’s a romp. Jules Aaron’s direction is crisp and brisk. Gloria Dorson as the lively Jewish Ida and John Bluto as the brusque Irish pool player with a touch of Alzheimer’s who moves in with her, are vivid and endearing.

Lending distinctive support is Elliot Goldwag as a saxophone-playing lothario who suggests a character out of “Guys and Dolls.” Even the cliche roles (Steven Susskind and Jodi Carlisle as the married son and daughter-in-law who plot their folks’ matchup) convey a nervous brightness.

“Ida,” Court Theatre, 722 N.La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Dec. 15. $18. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours.

Strength of Conviction Saves ‘Azusa Street’

Unlike the big, black gospels that periodically march into town (such as “Wicked Ways” and “Mamma, I Want to Sing”), the Pentecostal musical docudrama “Azusa Street Revival” at the Ebony Showcase Annex rings with historical conviction.

The production is unpolished, unevenly cast and marred by wooden stand-up narrators who stop the show in its tracks. But there’s a musical diamond in the rough here. And the material fills a gap in black L.A. history.

Written and directed by Andre David Brooks, and originally developed as his M.A. thesis at Cal State L.A., the production bursts with gospel rhythms, complete with tongues, while dramatizing a little-known slice of L.A. history: the landmark 1906 Pentecostal L.A. Revival fathered by a charismatic African-American named William J. Seymour in a shanty on Azusa Street near downtown L.A. Brooks’ mix of dramatic license and historical research catches the racism and denominational jealousy and rancor leveled at Seymour by angry white Pentecostal leaders. Michael Turner is a forceful Brother Seymour, and some others in the huge double-cast show are also compelling (particularly Patrisha Dixon as Seymour’s elegant bride and Lonnie Morgan and Gary Sturgis as Seymour proteges).

The infectious Pentecostal musical fervor is indebted to Morgan’s musical direction. Even the women’s neck-choking period costumes (by designer Mylette Harris) are the real thing.

“The Azusa Street Revival,” 4720 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 3 and 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $10-$25. (213) 882-1989. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.