Yuba College's 'Miser' splendid; tears shed at MCAA's 'Pygmalion'

It is amazing what a good director can do with two matched chairs and an Indian rug. That is the entire set director David Wheeler had for Moliére's "The Miser," presented at the Lee Burrows Center for the Arts in Marysville last weekend.

The Moliére (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, 1622-1673) play was the first Wheeler produced as a director at Yuba College. That was in 1976.

It will be the last play he directs as head of the theater department at Yuba College when he retires next year, Wheeler said.

"The Miser" show here was splendid in several respects.

The costumes. designed by Ann Evans, were magnificently appropriate to the period — right down to the shoes, an expensive detail costume people are often oblivious to and are unable to deal with because of cost.

The acting was uniformly good, with all 14 in the cast coming out equal in their respective performances.

There was Andre Leben as the miserable protagonist, Harpagon. Jessica Oakman played his daughter, Élise, with Stephen Frothingham as Valére. Candice Coolidge was Élise's friend in love with Cléante (played by Joshua Splinter), but is pursued by Harpagon.

You can see how complicated it can get, and that is just the beginning. The twists and turns of the play are many.

Also adding to the colorful characters are Courtney Coolidge as a wonderfully costumed go-between, Frosine, and Eddie Ferreira as Master Jacques, a comic cook-coachman.

Other cast members included Richard Foote, Jonathan Knew, Alex Yamada, Hanna Hudgins, Loren Adams, Nick Kimberly and Tyler Cosgrove.

The play's title pretty much gives away the plot. "The Miser" wants it all, as well as the girl. In the course of the play, his box of gold coins — all his earthly treasure he thought he had buried — disappears into the hands of others and he is devastated.

One interesting note about dialogue: It is remarkably up to date. Many sayings and phrases could leap right out at you from the television screen today. This is evidence of Moliére's timelessness.

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Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts put on its last performance of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" with a few tears by one of the stars.

The acting was generally good, led by James Murphy as Henry Higgins, Madeline Kellogg as Eliza Doolittle, Leah Madsen as Mrs. Higgins (Henry's mother), Shawn Lukeman as Colonel Pickering and Derek Olsen as Alfred Doolittle.

Kellogg was able to make a believable transition from the Cockney-shouting Eliza into the sedate, well-spoken protégé of Henry Higgins.

Leah Madsen stood out, in part because she was able to modulate her voice so it was always discernable.

Others had a little trouble from time to time, largely, I think, because of the acoustics in the hall.

Kellogg was placed at a disadvantage in the initial portions of the play because she was required to adopt an accentuated Cockney speech pattern, not an easy thing to do. But she made a fine job of it nonetheless.

I listen to BBC 7, which is a comedy and drama station. Even the British become impossible to understand when they do a Cockney accent and talk too fast.

Other cast members were Max Jeffrey, Christine Kenny, Caraya Lende, Sydney Johnson, Emerald Green, Evan Furr and Jordan Hindo.

Extras included Stephy Gamble, Ziana Ramsey, Tamara Gresham, Dustin Lindgren, Rachel Batterton and Adrianna Hernandez.

At the final curtain, flowers were given to director Wendie Marks with James Murphy shedding a few tears at his congratulations.