‘Movin’ Man’ ropes a career in the sun

“It felt good to be an actor. It felt good to be black. It felt good to be seen.”

Thus, Glynn Turman describes the 1959 opening of “A Raisin in the Sun” on Broadway. The sentiment also sums up “Movin’ Man,” Turman’s autobiographical solo turn, part of the “Soul X 3” series at 4305 Village Theatre.

At age 12, Turman originated the role of Travis Younger, and his “Raisin” reminiscences serve as pivot to his story, delivered with the zest of an evangelist and the technique of a born actor.

Beginning with his childhood at 1770 Amsterdam Ave. in New York, Turman moves smoothly from family lineage and racist encounters to his Broadway debut, which eventually led to a Hollywood career despite industry double standards. For dessert, Turman offers an indelible account of his ascension to rodeo champion, punctuated by object lessons in lariat technique.

Turman’s range is imposing, channeling family members with immense subtlety, and alternately rocking and silencing the house. Director Art Evans keeps pace with his star’s mercurial skill, providing just enough tech and tempo to underscore Turman’s rich talent.

The main reservation is the piece’s brevity, which, given the fertile material, is insufficient. The short format seems destined for full-length expansion, as Turman could captivate an audience until the cows came home to be lassoed.

For if “Movin’ Man” is, like its treasurable subject, a work in progress, it’s equally redoubtable, nonetheless.

-- David C. Nichols

“Movin’ Man,” 4305 Village Theatre, 4305 Degnan Blvd., L.A. Fridays, 8 p.m.; also April 20, 3 p.m. Ends April 25. $25. (323) 939-2438 Running time: 60 minutes.

*

‘Blood Brothers’ at its limited best

The Willy Russell musical “Blood Brothers” has been interpreted as an indictment of Margaret Thatcher’s England, while one of its central characters has been ranked alongside the strong women depicted in Russell’s “Educating Rita” and “Shirley Valentine.”

These seem rather overblown responses to a melodrama that expands five minutes’ worth of plot to 2 3/4 hours of bombastic repetition. But try telling that to the show’s many fans, who’ve helped keep a production running on London’s West End for nearly 15 years.

So, maybe it’s time for cynics to give the show another chance. A well-sung presentation at the Knightsbridge Theatre in Los Angeles offers as good an opportunity as any.

Set in Liverpool, England, “Blood Brothers” begins with two dead bodies and a lot of weeping. A Rod Serling-esque narrator (Jeffrey James Ircink) then steps forward to explain how the tragic event came to pass. Turns out, the deceased were twins born to a divorced, working-class mother (Carmen Lynne) who had agreed, years before, to let a rich couple raise one of the boys while she kept the other. The boys weren’t supposed to know about each other, but somehow, the blood connection kept drawing hardscrabble Mickey (August Vivirito) and posh Edward (Jonathan Zenz) together. Also drawn into the vortex was the enticing Linda (Jennifer Richardson).

It’s not much of a story, especially in the first act, when the twins’ development is arrested at age 7 and the adult actors must play kids for waaaay too long. The lyrics’ clunky rhymes are similarly off-putting.

The tunes, however, can be pretty catchy as they mimic styles from the 1960s pop charts. Sure, the best melodies are endlessly reprised, but that’s OK when they’re sung with as much fire as this cast gives them.

It would be nice to have more than Bill Newlin’s electronic keyboard for accompaniment, but all in all, the production, directed by Ed Cotter, squeezes about as much blood out of this turnip as is possible. And that, fellow cynics, is all we can expect.

-- Daryl H. Miller

“Blood Brothers,” Knightsbridge Theatre, 1944 Riverside Drive, L.A. Saturdays, 5 p.m.; Sundays, 6 p.m. Ends May 11. $20. (626) 440-0821. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

*

Zen proves elusive in cluttered ‘Nite!’

If a work of theater were judged by nobility of intention, director Ron Sossi would be heralded as a genius. Unfortunately, Sossi’s reach exceeds his grasp in “Buddha’s Big Nite!,” an ambitious new venture at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

A joint effort on the part of Sossi and the KOAN Company, the Odyssey Theatre’s newly formed resident ensemble, this world-premiere production tries nothing less than to distill the Zen experience for Western audiences -- no easy task, considering the vastness and subtlety of the subject.

Conceived and developed by the company, the piece derives primarily from three works: Hesse’s “Siddhartha,” Attar’s “The Conference of the Birds” and Ionesco’s “Exit the King.” Also included is original material by the company, as well as samplings from an eclectic array of other writings, both secular and sacred.

The result is enterprising but not cohesive, yielding only lightning glimpses into Buddhism and the Zen way. Perhaps that’s because the source material includes samples from so many cultures and literary traditions that the core meaning is obscured. Hesse’s classic about the young Buddha’s painful quest for spiritual enlightenment is obviously apt, but the contributions from Attar, a 12th century Sufi mystic, take the play in such a radical new direction that the main thrust is lost.

Top-heavy passages from “Exit the King” further hamper the play, particularly in the second act, which attempts to blend the stylized death of Ionesco’s doomed monarch with the spiritual rebirth of Siddhartha. Misplaced emphasis reduces this particular segment to the level of a tepid Ionesco revival.

Of course, to cavil about the lack of rational progression in a Zen play may seem the height of Western hubris, especially considering the indescribable nature of Zen and Eastern metaphysical thought. After all, the koan, for which the company is named, is essentially a riddle without a logical answer, used as a Zen teaching tool.

But how, then, to theatricalize that conundrum? Although his efforts are praiseworthy, even edifying, Sossi never accomplishes that essential goal.

-- F. Kathleen Foley

“Buddha’s Big Nite!,” Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; April 27 and May 11, 2 p.m. only. Ends May 25. $20.50-$25. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.

*

‘Valparaiso’ runs a good second lap

Acclaimed postmodern novelist and National Book Award winner Don DeLillo attempts to channel his sweeping, surreal prose style into theatrical form in “Valparaiso,” now in its L.A. premiere at Sacred Fools Theater.

“Valparaiso” is only DeLillo’s second full-length play, a dark satire about Michael Majeski (Thomas Craig Elliott), a businessman who takes a routine business trip to Valparaiso, Ind., and winds up thousands of miles away in Valparaiso, Chile. His comical detour hits the headlines and makes him an overnight media darling, sought for talk shows, speaking engagements and autograph signings. Michael embraces his celebrity, but his glib and glitzy new persona masks a hollow man with a grim secret.

As in “The Day Room,” DeLillo’s first play, the sheer effulgence of imagery, paired with a desultory plot, can be irksome. In “The Day Room,” a man checks into a hospital for routine tests and lands in a shifting reality that tests his sanity -- a dramatically charged situation that eventually dead-ends in an extraneous story line. Conversely, “Valparaiso,” which initially emphasizes static “interviews” with Michael and his wife, Livia (Dee Nelson), gains in substance and comic intensity in Act II. So does director David LM McIntyre’s increasingly nimble staging, after stumbling through a halting first act.

In Act Two, Michael and Livia appear on a talk show hosted by the deceptively warm and gushy Delfina Treadwell (Julie Alexander), a muckraker who digs the dirt with her gloves off.

Abetting Delfina in her psychic bloodletting is her second banana and alter-ego, Teddy Hodell (Robert Tobin), a dystopian Ed McMahon who exists to validate Delfina’s monumental ego and destructiveness.

Frequent airline commercials featuring three airline stewards (John Wuchte, Liesel Kopp and Julie A. Lockhart, speaking in perfectly calibrated unison), punctuate the proceedings. This pointedly amusing talk-show segment coalesces into a lacerating critique of the media -- one of DeLillo’s favorite targets.

Commenting about his celebrated novel “White Noise,” DeLillo remarked, “It’s about fear, death, and technology. A comedy, of course.” That “of course” is revealing. Under all the hemorrhagic verbosity, DeLillo can be a funny guy. After a slow start, McIntyre finally gets that message.

-- F.K.F.

“Valparaiso,” Sacred Fools Theater, 660 N. Heliotrope Drive, Hollywood. Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday, April 13, 7 p.m. Ends April 23. $10. (310) 281-8337. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.