Dr Strangelove, backstage

They let me play Goldie one night

with Tim Kay, constant lead

chicks, man

Doc Loi, on the corner of 18th and Mission, has the BIGGEST ASIAN PEARS

I got really good at not buying burritos OR mission dogs.  Also, comfy sweater

I'm sure whatever I was saying was very amusing

Dr Strangelove: on stage!

(All photos by Rhiannon Charisse)

a small selection of Max Kellenberger's photos of Dr Strangelove: LIVE!!

Buck Turgidson (aka Damien Chacona) and Miss Scott (aka Becky Hirschfeld)

Miss Scott and Mrs Huggles (aka Maggie del Darkroom)

Program bio, Dr Strangelove

Becky Hirschfeld (Miss Scott/Stage Manager) has acted in many things, including Star Trek Live: The Way to Eden, Beetlejuice Live!, Sally Cohen Discusses Music, Space Wasters, and The Twitter Bar. She loves the Dark Room more than she could ever express in a tiny bio and is very pleased to also take on a tech role in this production.  Becky was born in San Francisco and has two enormous cats. Tumbl with her: oftenon.tumblr.com

Jason watches movies and plays and then writes about them.

Jason watches Dr Strangelove: Live!

At the Dark Room. Yeah, they do stuff other than Bad Movie Night there. In fact, they do bad movies and good plays, often (as in this case) based on good movies.

DR STRANGELOVE is, of course, a classic. And this play reminded me why it's one of my favorite movies ever. They do a pretty straightforward take on this, not a lot of jokes that aren't in the film. Often such pop culture plays are parodies of the original, but this is more accurately an homage by people who love the film (it was written and directed by Dark Room owner/operator Jim Fourniadis, who not only claims this as his favorite movie, but met his wife at their first production of DR STRANGELOVE: LIVE! some number of years ago).

The stage is pretty bare and simple, but the energy is excellent, and the cast is spot on. Particularly high marks for Sean Kelly as the titular Dr. Strangelove, Damien Chacona as General Buck Tergidson, and Tim Kay as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake. Even more than the rest of the cast, they became Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, and...um...Peter Sellers.

The only thing I missed from the original was the closing song of "We'll Meet Again." Jim told me they had tried it in earlier productions but it was too somber and he prefers ending on an upbeat note. So instead they played "Dr. Love"

It plays Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until the 17th. Tickets here.

Oh yeah, and see pics of the performance from my friend Ira here.

Halloween

The cast of Star Trek Live were allowed to keep our costumes.  Guess what I will be wearing every single Halloween until the end of time.  GUESS.

The ears are the same ones Tim Kay/Spock wore in the play.  I couldn't get the spirit gum out of my real ears for days.

Cue "One big Dark Room" jokes

Beetlejuice LIVE!
The Dark Room Theater
San Francisco, CA
Oct 21 through Oct 30

Ralph Hoy presents 'Beetlejuice LIVE!', an adapted parody for stage of the cult film classic Beetlejuice. Sandworms, a dog causing a tragic death scene, possession of a dinner party to a song about stacking bananas? Yup, this has all that, plus the famous, one and only Beetlejuice being set loose onto a dysfunctional family where nervous breakdowns, snappy retorts, and photographs are always being taken. Treat yourself to something special this October, and remember, don't say his name three times unless you're sure you know what you're doing.

Megan Palagi, who played Lydia Deetz, did all of our makeup. She also took real photos with her Lydia camera. 

taking a break with Maggie 

rehearsing with Sean Wigglesworth 

with Ralph Hoy, Director/Producer/Bioexorcist 

dinner party guests 

captivated audience

Herbert Is as Herbert Does: A Theater Review by Sam Hurwitt

The Dark Room in the Mission hosts a variety of comedy events, solo shows and Bad Movie Nights, but it really seems to have a yen for pop culture homages. The last time I was there a few years back was to see a stage version of The Blob, the place often hosts live Twilight Zone episodes, and upcoming events include Beetlejuice: Live, Breakfast Fight Club, and Dr. Strangelove.

Rarely is there a show with such an avid preexisting audience as Star Trek: Live! The Way to Eden, because lord knows people who love Star Trek really, really love Star Trek. The live version uses an existing episode of the original ’60s series, keeping true to the basic plot but taking considerable comic liberties with the details.

“The Way to Eden” is a perfect episode to use for this campy treatment, because it’s pretty camp-friendly to begin with. (Not that there aren’t plenty of other installments to choose from in that respect, such as any time that Abraham Lincoln shows up.) The original 1969 story by Arthur Heinemann involves the Enterprise being taken over by an annoying group of singing, zoned-out space hippies who want the ship to take them to a mythical paradise planet called Eden. They have their own hippie lingo, saying “we reach” when someone’s on their wavelength (most notably, Spock) and calling all squares “Herbert.”

There’s no set to speak of on the tiny black-box stage, just a few metal folding chairs and a boxy homemade captain’s chair. The preshow music is an amusing mix of Trek-related novelty tunes, selections from William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy’s respective pop album and other space-related songs.

The cast doesn’t look or sound much like their prototypes, but they capture the essence of what people think of when they think of the original Enterprise crew and then exaggerate it tenfold. Jay Huston is a delightfully larger than life Kirk, obnoxious in all the right ways, with a preening swagger and staccato delivery. Justin Gomes dials Dr. McCoy’s irascibility up to near-psychotic rage at any setback, and Mikl-Em (a nice Kryptonian name) plays Scotty with a bizarre grimace and broad-as-a-barn accent.

Misha Trubs’s hangdog Chekov has almost as much Ed Sullivan as Walter Koenig, with hunched shoulders, a permanent scowl and near-inscrutable mumble. Tim Kay is an appropriately deadpan Mr. Spock, and Jepoy Ramos is a subdued Sulu, always adjusting invisible consoles. Becky Hirschfeld comes on strong as libidinous Yeoman Janice Rand, who wasn’t in the actual episode. (The dialogue addresses this by asking where Uhura is, although she actually wasn’t in the episode either.) Adam Curry has a funny cameo as a succession of redshirt security guards in silly wigs (series-accurate Starfleet uniforms by Ralph Hoy).

It would be hard for the space hippies to be any more obnoxious that they were on the original episode, and in the stage version they seem a nice enough bunch of freaks. Andrew Moore has a happy-go-lucky surfer-dude quality as Adam, the group’s musician, and Sean Wigglesworth is especially zoned-out as Jesus-haired ambassador’s son Tongo Rad. Katelyn Danger Sharp works the cute-girl angle and a cursory Russian accent as Irina, Chekov’s old flame from Starfleet Academy, now dropped out, tuned in and turned on. With an oversize bald cap, Ash Clayton maintains an air of grim blankness as the hippies’ mysterious leader Dr. Severin.

The songs the hippies sing (“Eat all the fruit and throw away the rind—yeah, brother”) are changed from meandering space folk to rock numbers with electric guitar played offstage by director (and Dark Room co-owner) Jim Fourniadis.

It’s definitely lightweight entertainment, but there are enough added gags sprinkled throughout to keep the basic shtick from getting old: a tender moment between Kirk and Spock, Sulu checking out the hippie guys, Spock pleading not to let Kirk sing. Some of the Herberts out there may not reach, but you don’t want to be Herbert, do you? I think we reach. Yeah, brother.

Star Trek: Live! The Way to Eden runs through September 24 at the Dark Room, 2263 Mission St., San Francisco. http://darkroomsf.com

Star Trek Live: The Way to Eden

photos by by Max Kellenberger.

Program bio, Star Trek Live: The Way to Eden

Becky Hirschfeld (Yeoman Janice Rand) likes to spend her time acting, drawing, and making movies; her short films include Sally Cohen Discusses Music, ANN, and Rendezvous at Outpost Alpha, which illustrates some of the hazards of space exploration. She loves all Star Treks and tries her best to stifle her giggles whenever someone says “duty.” The Dark Room is her very favorite theater ever.

Mr Harry - Understudy!

I understudied for the illustrious Elaine Gavin for the final production of Mr Harry, directed by Shawn O'Shea, performed at The Dark Room. Thank you to my sister for her covert documentation.  :)

My mustache was not supposed to fall off and I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner in the show.

I've just been cast as Yeoman Rand in the Dark Room's adaptation of The Way to Eden (ST:TOS). Yaaaaay!!!!

by Charles Chan Casela

I recently did a photoshoot with Charles Casela. He takes old paintings and mixes them all up with new photography. I think I might end up being a zombie in this one, but I'm not sure yet.

DJ Shopping Cart Challenge

I can't embed this video, but you'll probably still want to watch it:  http://vimeo.com/37479773

I come in around 1:04.

This video is how the shopping cart for the "DJ challenge" was made and why it was used.

The Challenge->"The Night Club DJ has five minutes to make as many mixes as possible with the Shopping Cart that starts at a slow pace and picks up speed as the clock counts down."

I used the song by Foster The People, "Pumped Up Kicks"

The video starts out with how we made the shopping cart.
By Jules McChesney.
Starring Becky Hirschfeld, Brandon Solem, Ivan Rodriguez, Jules Alexander, Hope Washam, and Berek Wins!

Concept created By Ramsey Anderson
Check out uthinkucandj.com for more DJ Challenges!

Ann

Karen and Doug, a young professional couple, acquire the latest modern convenience in housekeeping. Unfortunately, they are soon disappointed with the gadget's performance.

The Crushing Darkness presents ANN, a science-fiction tragicomedy about the future of Humanity and Artificial Intelligence.

By Kelly Daugherty, with the Rolleiflex 2.8c