ON STAGE
‘Alamo’ battle brutal
but fascinatingLadies at the Alamo2 p.m. tomorrow and March 14, Richardson Theatre, Fort Shafter. Tickets: $6-$8. Call 438-4480 or 438-5230.
By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinCAT fight doesn't begin to describe the ferocity of Dede Cooper's battle for her professional life in Paul Zindel's savage and memorable "Ladies at the Alamo."
Cooper is the deeply entrenched artistic director of a local theater group whose new multimillion-dollar Alamo Theatre complex is awash in red ink.
Joanne Remington is the wealthy patron whose annual subsidy goes a long way toward keeping the doors open. She has decided that Cooper must step aside even if it takes a bulldozer and a flamethrower to dislodge her.
What follows isn't pretty, but as part of Army Community Theatre's "Sunday@2 Matinee" series, "Alamo" is a fascinating and challenging experience. The cast performs seated in swivel chairs with copies of the script at hand. A narrator describes the characters and the setting, and provides any other relevant information.
Cecilia Fordham (Joanne) and Jo Pruden (Dede) are the ruthless primary adversaries. Shari Lynn (Bella), Jill Esser (Suits) and Linda Ryan (Shirley) are their equally nasty foot soldiers.
None of the characters is particularly likable or admirable, but the cast is as excellent as their collective credentials would suggest. Their voices, facial expressions and body language convey perfectly the attitudes and venomous passions in the play (token male Richard Pellett acts as narrator).
The seamier side of community theater -- raging egos, actress divas, politicking, personality cults, gender preference issues -- has rarely provided more memorable entertainment.
The thrusts and counterthrusts become progressively more vicious and scathing. Both sides aim well below the belt as the battle for the Alamo plays out. One side appears to win but there's a sense that the victory may be as pyrrhic as Santa Anna's in 1836.
