TAG is not your
By John Berger
mama’s kind of theater group
Special to the Star-BulletinThe history of modern community theater in Hawaii is littered with extinct or dormant acting companies. Some died slowly and painfully after years of success, others were essentially the showcase and forum of a single performer. Most were created to present contemporary theater other than the Broadway and off-Broadway material favored by Hawaii's mainstream troupes or "local experience" theater.
Most of the alternative troupes died when Honolulu audiences proved uninterested in such options. Mike Mazzola and The Actors Group plan to be the little theater group that survives.
"We think there's a market for the niche we're trying to fill -- affordable entertainment, good acting, right up close in your face. We're 3 feet from the audience in a theater that's only three rows deep," Mazzola says with enthusiasm. He's TAG's designated spokesman and the producer of the group's current show, the world premiere performance of "The Committee to Expose the Reverend Terry Jamestown," a contemporary crime drama by TAG member Eric Nemoto.
A single parent who "did a lot of acting in my youth," Mazzola also appears in the title role. It's actually one of the smallest roles, but he's happy to be back on stage.
TAG has a couple of things going for it. First, it has a home; the small TAG theater is one room in a warren of offices, rehearsal spaces, and assorted nooks and crannies. Second, Mazzola says TAG can make ends meet with ticket prices that amount to barely more than the cost of a movie ticket -- $10 Friday and Saturday, and $6 on Sunday afternoon.
This isn't theater on the level of Acting 101 either. Several TAG members have commercial, film and national television credits. Others share Nemoto's interest in writing. Director Jon Brekke has a movie entitled "Hawaiian Christmas Story" to his credit and is working on a second titled "A Boy, a Girl, and a Dead Cat." Several TAG members are also working on a video pilot project, "Bar Stories." Mazzola promises more from TAG in the future.
"We expect to do at least one good off-Broadway play next year, as well as one or two more original productions. We also have an original thing that we want to do for Christmas next year. Probably four shows in all."
TAG also plans to bring in actors, acting teachers and directors from Los Angeles to conduct acting workshops that will be open of the community. Mazzola says TAG hopes to give local actors more opportunities here while also helping them make personal contacts with the national markets.
"The whole idea is to get to know people. Richard Hatch was here for a workshop recently and told two people who came that they should get themselves to Los Angeles -- they were good enough that they should be there."
TAG presents:
"The Committee to Expose the Reverend Terry Jamestown"
When: 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday
CHEESY costumes and bargain- basement sets and props are things sympathetic audiences try to overlook when small theater groups stage plays on a shoestring budget. The Actors Group production of Eric Nemoto's drama, "The Committee to Expose the Reverend Terry Jamestown," is one such show, but Nemoto ties almost everything together in the end.
Look beyond the cheese
His script seems to require some editing, but almost all the apparent weak spots turn out to be intentional and significant .
Nemoto works with a familiar premise. Three men with guns break into the office of psychiatrist Geraldine Johnson (Florence Hulihee). They're expecting to find the Rev. Terry Jamestown (Mike Mazzola), a wealthy southern evangelist. Instead, they find Jamestown's steel-magnolia assistant (Julie Berry), the psychiatrist and her receptionist (Dorothy Stamp). The gunmen wait for Jamestown, amusing themselves with their captives in the interim.
But first they argue music trivia and engage in Quentin Tarantino-style banter. Jimmy (Steve Cedillos) is the leader -- smart but mean. Glen (Nemoto) is a short-tempered sadist. Webb (Tom Ivanyi) is an amiable doofus who uses a charge card when he's sent out to get some food.
The gunmen's objective is revealed when the rest of the team turns up. Jamestown will be forced to have sex with a $400-an-hour prostitute (Patricia Handley). Richard (Gary Kau) will photograph the action. A multimillion -dollar payoff will keep those pictures private. Thomas (Bude Aaron Martin) adds muscle and another gun to the equation.
The gunmen collect more hostages when Johnson's patients arrive. Denton (Sam Polson, in an award-worthy performance) is a voyeuristic executive with a weakness for sexual harassment. Debbie (Anita Bruhl) has "a slight manic-depressive disorder."
Cedillos and Nemoto share credit for defining the hostage-taking as brutal and unpleasant. The initial comic overtones created in the exchange of misinformation about things like who sang "Stand By Me" is wiped away when sadistic Glen grabs the receptionist and throws her to the floor. Brutality is an ugly thing. These guys are very ugly.
Mazzola and Barry are convincing as the terrified evangelist and his assistant; greater development of their relationship would have added impact and brought a key issue into sharper focus.
By John Berger, special to the Star-Bulletin
