A CurtainUp LA Review
Nosferatu…Angel of the Final Hour

Cult successes are an interesting phenomenon in show business. There really is no accounting for them on artistic terms. One really has to delve into areas beyond the arts themselves and think about the mysteries of the audience. One possible explanation for Los Angeles audiences' appetite for "shows" as opposed to legitimate theater is the fact that until very recently LA was only a road town, as, say, Oklahoma City or Indianapolis. Rather than creating real theatergoers, who make a point of going to the theater on a regular basis, road-town audiences possess an uncritical anticipation level comparable to a child's fascination in the circus. You know you are in such an audience when the applause at curtain rise exceeds that produced when the curtain falls. This is what I witnessed when I saw Phantom at the Ahmanson and now more recently at the Zoo District's production of Nosferatu.

What the hype promises is a "daring" and "original" work based on the story of early German filmmaker and director F.W.Murnau, who made the silent masterpiece "Nosferatu" in 1921. What is actually delivered is an hysterical piece of "theatre" which combines old-fashioned camp reminiscent of "The Rocky Horror Show," deafeningly shrill rock music, and a cast whose only accomplishment consists of some rather desperate mugging. An Ovation award for make-up is possibly in order.

What is praised as "stylization" no doubt explains the inane acting, which, without the pretentious atmospherics, could be favorably compared to sitcom antics. Dressed-up in Weimar moodiness, our ghoulish set prance and smirk to what to me was a thoroughly incomprehensible purpose. The three distinct locales in and out of which the players move never coheres to any end beyond that of maintaining what the creative team calls "expressionism," but while the externals of this are indeed observable and skillfully presented - that is, the production values remain high - nobody seems to have formulated an idea of what the style is meant to serve. Given the fact that this milieu of German decadence occurred in the shadow of Hitler's rise to power, the failure to create a moral or political context should make an audience feel more than a little uneasy. Or at the very least bored. After all, hasn't this all been done before, even on TV, where blood-sucking monsters are routinely turned into figures of fun?

Of course, one might ask, why not? Strobe lights, stage smoke, a live band: isn't that all part of modern theater's apparatus? Yes, only I can't see making a special trip into the city for that when I can wait patiently for the next time the kids beg to be taken to that far greater purveyor of style over substance, Disneyland.

By David Lohrey
NOSFERATU…ANGEL OF THE FINAL HOUR
Creators: Kaaren J. Luker, Jon Kellam & Bernadette Sullivan
Director: Jon Kellam
Cast: D. Morris, Michael Childers, Peter Alton, Christine Deaver, Antony Deaver, Antony Sandoval, Joe Fria, Jenna Fischer, Loren Rubin, Ben Simonetti, Patrice Pitman-Quinn, Kelly Lynn Doherty, Graham Jackson, Becky Wahlstrom, K.B. Dulude. Original Music: Jef Bek
Choreography: Brian Freete
Set Design: Rick Paladino, Michael Franco
Costume Design: Patrice Pitman-Quinn
Lighting Design: Peter Smith
Sound: Jef Beck, Eric Snodgrass, J. Warner
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
Zoo District at the Evidence Room, 2220 W. Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 769-5674 or visit www.zoodistrict.org. From 02/16/2001-indefinite

Reviewed by David Lohrey based on performance of 03/23/01.

A CurtainUp LA Review
Nosferatu…Angel of the Final Hour

By David Lohrey

 Cult successes are an interesting phenomenon in show business. There really is no accounting for them on artistic terms. One really has to delve into areas beyond the arts themselves and think about the mysteries of the audience. One possible explanation for Los Angeles audiences' appetite for "shows" as opposed to legitimate theater is the fact that until very recently LA was only a road town, as, say, Oklahoma City or Indianapolis. Rather than creating real theatergoers who make a point of going to the theater on a regular basis, road-town audiences possess an uncritical anticipation level comparable to a child's fascination in the circus. You know you are in such an audience when the applause at curtain rise exceeds that produced when the curtain falls. This is what I witnessed when I saw Phantom at the Ahmanson and now more recently at the Zoo District's production of Nosferatu.

What the hype promises is a "daring" and "original" work based on the story of early German filmmaker and director F.W.Murnau, who made the silent masterpiece "Nosferatu" in 1921. What is actually delivered is an hysterical piece of "theatre" which combines old-fashioned camp reminiscent of "The Rocky Horror Show," deafeningly shrill rock music, and a cast whose only accomplishment consists of some rather desperate mugging. An Ovation award for make-up is possibly in order.

What is praised as "stylization" no doubt explains the inane acting, which, without the pretentious atmospherics, could be favorably compared to sitcom antics. Dressed-up in Weimar moodiness, our ghoulish set prance and smirk to what to me was a thoroughly incomprehensible purpose. The three distinct locales in and out of which the players move never coheres to any end beyond that of maintaining what the creative team calls "expressionism," but while the externals of this are indeed observable and skillfully presented - that is, the production values remain high - nobody seems to have formulated an idea of what the style is meant to serve. Given the fact that this milieu of German decadence occurred in the shadow of Hitler's rise to power, the failure to create a moral or political context should make an audience feel more than a little uneasy. Or at the very least bored. After all, hasn't this all been done before, even on TV, where blood-sucking monsters are routinely turned into figures of fun?

Of course, one might ask, why not? Strobe lights, stage smoke, a live band: isn't that all part of modern theater's apparatus? Yes, only I can't see making a special trip into the city for that when I can wait patiently for the next time the kids beg to be taken to that far greater purveyor of style over substance, Disneyland.
NOSFERATU…ANGEL OF THE FINAL HOUR
Creators: Kaaren J. Luker, Jon Kellam & Bernadette Sullivan
Director: Jon Kellam
Cast: D. Morris, Michael Childers, Peter Alton, Christine Deaver, Antony Deaver, Antony Sandoval, Joe Fria, Jenna Fischer, Loren Rubin, Ben Simonetti, Patrice Pitman-Quinn, Kelly Lynn Doherty, Graham Jackson, Becky Wahlstrom, K.B. Dulude. Original Music: Jef Bek
Choreography: Brian Freete
Set Design: Rick Paladino, Michael Franco
Costume Design: Patrice Pitman-Quinn
Lighting Design: Peter Smith
Sound: Jef Beck, Eric Snodgrass, J. Warner
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
Zoo District at the Evidence Room, 2220 W. Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 769-5674 or visit www.zoodistrict.org. From 02/16/2001-indefinite

Reviewed by David Lohrey based on performance of 03/23/01.