44 PASADENA WEEKLY | <strong>07.11.19</strong>
PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS •NITELIFE• Guitar Madman CONTROVERSIAL TED NUGENT ROCKS THE ROSE PHOTO: Jenny Graham FAIRNESS VS JUSTICE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42 perfect person,” Seneca says. “We see her struggle [when she] decides to leave her son with a family that can take care of him and the first thing she feels is relief. I’m glad that’s in the play because it’s so human. We think, ‘Ooh, a mother should be 100 percent fawning over her child 100 percent of the time,’ but that’s not human or reality.” Brecht, who died in 1956, often outraged Nazi officials and sought refuge throughout Europe after Hitler took control of Germany in 1933; from 1941 through 1947, he lived in the United States. Plays like 1938’s “Fear and Misery of the Third Reich” and 1941’s “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui” were openly anti-fascist and 1939’s “Mother Courage and Her Children” became a particular classic of the era. His notorious distancing effect arises from combining Marxist politics with the theory of “epic theater” and his way of challenging audiences to engage intellectually rather than emotionally. But the quandary on which “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” turns — i.e., which mother is “real” and has the truest claim to the child — is more emotional than other Brecht vehicles. Seneca notes “little pockets and scenes that are incredibly human and real” that audiences can hook into. “I think it will be a love-it-or-hate-it experience. I always hope to be part of projects that people will either love or hate; the worst response is, ‘That was nice, where shall we go drink?’ … This celebrates what theater is capable of when the audience and actors willingly suspend their disbelief together and allow themselves to go on a real epic journey.” Brecht wrote lyrics but did not reach out to frequent collaborator Kurt Weill (with whom he created 1928’s “The Threepenny Opera”) for this play, so cast members have introduced melodies and play an Liza Seneca and Steve Hofvendahl eclectic range of instruments: accordion, banjo, duduk (Armenian woodwind instrument), harmonium, piano, ukulele, violin, and a tonbak (a Persian drum) made by one actress’s brother. Actors with musical skills were cast intentionally, including violinist and prime musical leader Turner Frankosky, and Shroyer says the 16-member ensemble’s diverse accents — Armenian, Dutch, Farsi, German, Polish, Russian, Spanish — enhance musicality as well as a sense that “the world is present.” “It’s a thrilling collaborative process. I had no idea we were going to do this going in,” says Seneca, who considers herself a “musical person” because she grew up playing piano and singing, but not a composer. “That’s such a different skill set,” she notes. “But what’s exciting is you realize things you’re capable of, qualities you didn’t necessarily identify in yourself, when you have to rise to the occasion.” One song has a main character singing, “Times change, times change.” But because of the nature of the circle they — and we — exist in, they really don’t. As Shroyer points out, the chalk circle fable recounted within the play depicts a different culture in a different century, but is “virtually the same story” as the chronicle of King Solomon in the Old Testament. “We keep revisiting the same things, and that nature of a circle. We think we’re doing something new, but are we just leading up to where we were? Is it just that there are different players in the story? I think that’s why people are constantly interested in it.” n Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” runs through Aug. 26 at Antaeus Theatre Company’s Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Broadway, Glendale; $15-$35. Box office: (818) 506- 1983. antaeus.org/shows/the-caucasian-chalk-circle “MOTOR CITY MADMAN” TED NUGENT DELIVERS HIS GUITAR-SHREDDING INSANITY JULY 19 AT THE ROSE. Nugent boasts a long career, having come to fame in the late 1960s with the Amboy Dukes, with the psychedelic hit “Journey to the Center of the Mind.” He went on from there to produce albums with songs including “Stranglehold,” “Cat Scratch Fever,” and was part of the super group Damn Yankees, which hit with the song “High Enough.” Nugent has been critically heralded as one of the top six-string slingers in the country. His shows verge on spectacle. He once shot an arrow from the stage into an old guitar during a concert, highlighting his well-known penchant for hunting wild game. Of course, the man has not been without controversy. His high-profile allegiance to the Second Amendment, his more recent support for Donald Trump and his longstanding place on the NRA Board of Directors has put him in the crosshairs of rancorous debate nationwide. But love him or hate him, he is nonetheless one of the most powerhouse rock guitarists of the past 50 years. Visit tednugent.com.— John Sollenberger Doors open at 6 p.m. and Nugent plays at 9 p.m. Friday at The Rose, 245 E. Green St., Pasadena. Tickets are $58 to $98. Call (888) 645-5006 or visit wheremusicmeetsthesoul.com. Rootsy Friday CROWN CITY BOMBERS ROCK THE MIXX ROOTS ROCKERS CROWN CITY BOMBERS DELIVER THE OLD SCHOOL GOODS FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE MIXX. The band has been performing for more than a decade, with the sounds that built rock and roll. In addition to rockabilly, the band tips its hat to R&B, 1950s and ’60s rock, and also has a repertoire of original music. The Bombers celebrate influences from the early years of rock, such as Elvis, Eddie Cochran and Roy Orbison, and later advocates of the rockabilly sound, including the Stray Cats. The style has led to numerous gigs at car shows and other big events. The expert musicianship, coupled with a flamboyant live show, complete with period costumes, makes them a foot-stomping crowd pleaser. Visit facebook.com/pg/ccbomers. — John Sollenberger Music starts at 8 p.m. Friday at The Mixx, 443 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. No cover. Call (626) 500-0021 or visit themixxclub.com. <strong>07.11.19</strong> | PASADENA WEEKLY 45