24
Larchmont Chronicle
APRIL 2022
SECTION ONE
Fairy tale retold in London’s Blitz harkens modern war
A goose. Orange jumpsuits. Mirrors and whips. A shroud and cross. Images signify meaning, but context can often change how signs are read. Let me start with the goose. Rapunzel Alone is a reworking of the Grimm Brothers’ tale. Opening at the 24th Street Theatre, the play moved to the Wallis for a brief
run, and it is back at 24th Street. Written by British playwright Mike Kenny, the story, set in London during the Blitz, opens with firstrate documentary visuals of British children sent away to escape Nazi bombing. On opening night, it was impossible not to think of terrified Ukrainian children forced to leave their home-
Theater Review by
Louis Fantasia land. Of course, when the theater commissioned the play in 2019, no one could
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Ann Ronus
We are deeply saddened to announce that Ann Ronus, beloved wife of Robert Ronus, died suddenly on February 20, 2022. Ann was extremely devoted to her family and was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She was caring, thoughtful, and selfless, and she took great pride in creating a happy home. She was particularly close to her granddaughters Emma and Lucy, with whom she shared much innocent mischief and laughter. They greatly admired her and were just as proud to be her granddaughters as she was proud of them. Above all, Ann loved and admired her husband Robert. Married for more than 53 years, they truly complemented one another, and their respect and affection never waned. Ann left an indelible imprint on our lives and the world of classical music in Los Angeles, most notably as a board member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and of the Colburn School. She was also an enthusiastic supporter of the choir , of St. James in-the-City Episcopal Church. She served on the Vestry of the Church and also as a trustee of St. James’ Episcopal School. Her generosity was boundless — and very discreet — so only a few will ever know the true impact she has made.
Ann was born in Adelaide, Australia, where her love of classical music developed at an early age. Her mother was a concert pianist, and many others in her family were professional musicians. Even though she never pursued it as a career, Ann became an accomplished pianist and possessed a remarkable ear. She was not only devoted to music, but she was also fiercely supportive of the musicians, artists, and staff who make it happen. Ann lived in England and in Switzerland before moving with her family to Los Angeles in 1983. In the last part of her life, she suffered from chronic medical problems which greatly impacted her quality of life. Nonetheless, she never complained and will always be remembered for her tremendous courage and resilience. Along with Robert, Ann is survived by her son Christopher, daughter Caroline, son-inlaw Andrew, and granddaughters Emma and Lucy, her half-siblings Felix and Wendy, and extended family in Australia and England. She is mourned by friends across the world who remember her elegance, kindness and wicked sense of humour. In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested donations to the Los Angeles Adv. Philharmonic Association.
have foreseen this horror. The play, which focuses on a mixed-race girl sent to an isolated English farm, tells of the relationship between the girl (Tara Alise Cox) and the lonely farm owner (Marie-Françoise Theodore), also from the Caribbean. William Leon plays the village boy who turns out to be the play’s narrator. It’s a tender tale, tenderly told, but somehow I wanted more. Not the production’s fault, but the world’s. Context. Oh, the goose? A life-size puppet (handled by Matt Curtin) who terrorizes the farm and steals the show, singlemindedly protecting her defenseless chicks, which the Londoners did then and which we all must do now. 24th Street Theatre, 1117 W. 24th Street; ends Sun., May 1. ••• The orange jumpsuits are from Detained, recently at the Fountain Theater. A quality ensemble tells the story of immigrants here illegally (though they have served in the army, earned degrees, held jobs, raised families, etc.), who are arrested and held by ICE. The performances can’t make up for the didacticism of France-Luce Benson’s script, which preaches to a sympathetic audience despite the fact that, since the start of the Biden Administration, ICE arrests and deportations have fallen to their lowest levels in the agency’s history (“Washington Post”, 3/11/22). Context, again. The Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave.; ends Sun., April 10. ••• Then come the mirrors and whips, the icons of Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play at the Taper. The cast is heroic in its emotional, physical and psychological commitment to the play’s roller coaster ride of sexual and racial dynamics, but I was left underwhelmed. The mirrored walls of the production (which has served as a barometer for race relations in America over the past two years) reflect the complicity of the audience in systemic racism, I suppose, and the whip-cracking acts to light up the thrill of domination, or being dominated, in some. Apart from the interracial makeup of the three couples on stage (and the two analysts conducting the antebellum role-play experiment), the hang-ups that spur the gay and straight pairs to therapy feel like clichés from old Jules Feiffer cartoons. The flaw in Mr. Harris’ script is that he takes for granted the very normalness of such interracial love today. Most of us reflected
in the stage’s mirrors accept racially-mixed couples, gay or straight, without hesitation. But, within my lifetime, miscegenation and sodomy were crimes in America. Context. That there are those who want to drag us back from the admittedly halting progress we have made is the issue, not that some couples, no matter their color or identity, have problems hearing and seeing each other. Ended March 13. ••• The shroud and cross are signs, of course, of Christ’s crucifixion. One of its greatest settings is Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, written in 1725, and presented by the Los Angeles Opera in a revival (whose last performance was March 27) of John Neumeier’s 1981 Hamburg Ballet version. Under James Conlon’s baton, the L.A. Opera mustered a world-class reading of the oratorio. Some of Bach’s antiphony was lost to the bowels of the Chandler stage, as the chorus was pushed back behind a scrim and the soloists stuck in the pit to give the dancers the stage. Some might argue (and I might be among them) that any ballet distracts from the power of Bach’s music, but Neumeier’s choreography, especially in the chorales, has a compelling power of its own. Context. In 1981, the first cases of AIDS were reported, and U.S. inflation was at 8.9 percent. In 1725, a small band of Armenian freedom fighters drove the massive Ottoman army from its homeland. The Bach evening began with a rendition of the Ukrainian National Anthem that brought the Music Center audience to its feet. No context was needed. We all understood.
. JFLA’s ‘Wonder Women’ is May 1
The Jewish Free Loan Association will honor three leading women at the Wonder Women Gala on Sun., May 1 at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, 11461 Sunset Blvd. The event will honor Jacky Dilfer, Deborah Kallick and Jessica Kronstadt. Sen. Sydney Kamlager, 30th District, is a special guest. Gala cochairs are Sam Yebri and Adeena Bleich. Cocktails will be served at 5 p.m., and dinner follows at 6 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit jfla.org, write sara@jfla. org or call 323-761-8837. Also, mark your calendar for the JFLA gala to support the Feit 4 Kidz Fertility Loan Fund to be held Thurs., June 2 at 6 p.m.
