The Daily Californian: You grew up in the Bay Area. How did that influence your choice to go into theater?

Madeline Trumble: I’ll always feel grateful for growing up in the Bay Area. Me and my brother and my sister all performed growing up. There was so much community and regional theater around us. I mean, we also had a great mom who was always willing to drive us. There’s a lot of theater in the Walnut Creek area. We would highlight the auditions we wanted to go to. I never really took classes growing up; I was always in a show. That’s the best education. And then when I went to college and I had to take acting classes and voice classes — it was weird. Growing up in theater, I know now how to be in a show. And it also made me grow up because all of my friends were at least four years older than me. So I definitely grew up and matured in the theater world.

DC: You’re in Minneapolis right now (at the time of the interview). It’s a pretty hectic touring schedule. How do you keep the show fresh every night?

MT: It’s stressful. I was in the ensemble before. But as the lead now there’s just a lot more pressure. When I was in the ensemble, if I wasn’t feeling well or tired, you could just dial it down. I can’t do that now. It means that I have to be careful after the show. I don’t go out; I have to be really careful and save my voice. It’s fun because you get to travel and see the country, but (it is) also very exhausting. It’s live theater, so things are rarely perfect or the same every night. The audience has no idea, but I know. I do the same thing every day, and then I see people who come to the show and friends of mine, and they’re so in awe. It is really cool and exciting what I do. It’s easy to forget when you go to work every day.

DC: What was the audition process like?

MT: It’s the same show with different management. I went to New York, got in “Newsies,” did that for a few months and I knew that the girl playing Mary was leaving. I just crossed my fingers that the company would call me. They’re really great about moving up understudies. I got a call to come in and audition. And they make you go on something like five auditions with only two days notice. So I went in (and) saw the show, surrounded by this group of kids. I had never seen it; I knew nothing about it. But the play is quite different from the movie. It takes the music from the movie but stories from the book — new characters and new songs. Now, when I watch the movie, I think the movie is so different and crazy.

DC: How do you feel the show appeals to both children and adults?

MT: “It is Disney, so the spectacle of that is a huge part of it. It has amazing sets, costumes, lights. You get all of that with tap dancing, with lots of singing and magic. The magic, though, is for the kids and the adults. It brings the adults back to when they were kids. But our show also has this great message about family, about rediscovering what is most important in life.”

Contact Jessica Pena at jpena@dailycal.org.

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This month welcomes the arrival of the third installment of “Jukebox Stories,” cleverly titled “The Secrets of Forking,” which premiered on the Impact stage this past weekend. Unlike the previous two, this version incorporates the audience through fortune-telling rather than audience-interactive games. This time around, Gomolvilas and Patton are not merely performers but tarot-card-slash-mind-reading extraordinaires.

Tucked beneath the modern-day pizzeria is a theatrical space decorated with Chinese calligraphy wall art, Maneki-neko cat figurines and Asian lanterns — they evoke a feng shui ambiance as if one has just set foot into a dingy fortune-teller’s cave in Chinatown.

Throughout the course of the performance, Gomolvilas and Patton allow audience members to draw tarot cards from a deck. Each of these corresponds to a particular song or story, as well as an audience member, all of whom are given tarot cards when they first enter the theatre. Not only do these cards dictate the content of the show, they also allow for audience members to be entered in prize drawings. All in all, “Jukebox Stories” is entirely audience-based, creating a theatrical experience like no other.

Gomolvilas performs soliloquies of sorts that tell stories based on the events and interactions he’s experienced throughout his life. These stories range from the time he spent mistaken as an expert in Eastern European cinema to his first and last semi-professional ghost-hunting experience. While some stories resonate in humor and cleverness more so than others, Gomolvilas executes each with character and charm.

One of Gomolvilas’s most memorable rants chosen for the opening night performance was one in which he narrates and provides commentary on (in a hilarious Rifftrax fashion) a music video titled “Get Down” by ’90s Canadian boy band B44. ’90s. Canadian. Boy. Band. Enough said.

In between the spoken stories, Patton plays the guitar and sings songs he wrote himself, also based on his past experiences. Think Flight of the Conchords with a more personal touch. The musical repertoire ranges as extensively in topical variety as Prince’s monologues. One song tells of Patton’s tumultuous upbringing with cheating parents and even touches briefly on his grandmother’s vagina (“Mixed Up Modern Family”). Another, titled “The List: 5 Celebs You’d Sleep With,” is an online forum thread set to music. The list goes on.

Rarely is there a dull moment in the show, as there’s simply too much variety. If you grow tired of Gomolvilas’ voice, no worries, because a musical serenade from Patton is sure to follow. The two differ completely in character and bring separate forms of performance art to the table but manage to balance each other out perfectly. It is this harmonized dichotomy that gives “Jukebox Stories” its individuality and makes the show one of such high caliber. So hats off to both of you, Prince Gomolvilas and Brandon Patton, for crafting a fantastically sublime theatrical experience.

“Jukebox Stories: The Secrets of Forking” will be playing at Berkeley’s very own Impact Theater from Thursdays to Sundays every week up until June 9. Songs will be sung, stories will be told and fortunes will be read.

Contact Michelle Lin at mlin@dailycal.org.

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The location: space. The time: the future. “NOVA” is the story of a futuristic society in which the Earth has degraded into a planet-wide civil war. The victors remain on Earth, while the losers are exiled to an established penal colony on Mars. The Martian humans, in an effort to free themselves from the oppressive force known as the SPINE, stage a rebellion, headed by a mysterious and faceless leader, NOVA. The insurgents are known as the Cluster. Though the revolution fails, the remaining revolutionaries do not give up their chase of freedom. In an effort to reintegrate the remnants of the Cluster, the SPINE is deporting ex-revolutionaries. The story of “NOVA” follows a man named Dante and the events that occur on a single space cruiser as the rebels make a mass exodus in hopes of returning home to planet Earth.

“NOVA” draws its inspiration from a collection of elements from film, musical theater and opera. Weston Scott, “NOVA” co-writer and a third-year English major at UC Berkeley, said, “We were very pressed for time. We only had three months to complete the show after we were told that we won the prize.” The idea for “NOVA” began in December 2012, shortly after the completion of Scott’s first original musical production, “Death and Other Hobbies.” He remarked, “When I write new shows, I want to be original and write something that has never been written before.” Scott describes the show as a fast-paced, action-packed adventure in which the audience will be “thrown into the middle of everything happening all at once.”

Parunyan, an alumnus of the Berkeley music department as well as the show’s composer and music director, spoke extensively about “NOVA’s” creation process from the musical side of the production. “I worked off of the script and focused on the feelings in the story,” Parunyan said. “I started with a simple musical motif and then integrated it into the show. Eventually, I developed more themes, and each theme latched onto a different character in the show.” Parunyan spoke about how he wrote the show’s soundtrack with opera as an influence. “I feel like the show can be best classified as a music drama — it isn’t entirely one or the other. I wrote it with the idea of the German ‘singspiel’ (sung text) in mind, much like Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute.’”

This production also marks the debut of a new Bay Area theater company, Usually Strawberry Productions, which was founded entirely by UC Berkeley students. According to its website, USP strives to “expand conventional theater into an adventurous, creative space for any and all with deep passions for the stage and what it can do.”

“There aren’t many opportunities for the music and theater departments to collaborate,” Scott reflected. “I hope that USP can bridge that gap and provide more opportunities for those with an interest in musical theater.” The release of “NOVA,” along with the creation of USP, marks the establishment of original student musical theater as an important element in the Berkeley theater scene.

Contact Nick Cotter at ncotter@dailycal.org.

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Unfortunately, Rivedal’s show, “The Gospel According to Josh,” was awkward and uncomfortable. The show was held in a drab classroom in UC Berkeley’s Evans Hall on April 16, which was crammed with desk-chair hybrids that conspicuously outnumbered the audience members. It quickly became apparent that everyone who came — all six or seven people — did so at the behest of one person, who presumably coordinated the event.

Rivedal began the show with a song about religious obedience, which he sang in character as a church leader with the kind of effeminate lisp insensitive people adopt when mocking a man’s sexuality. Rivedal’s exaggerated and somewhat inappropriate portrayal of the man was overpowering in the far-too-intimate classroom setting, and it set off “The Gospel” on the completely wrong note.

The rest of the performance was equally awkward, punctuated by meager, forced laughter at Rivedal’s cheesy jokes and amateur acting. It then ended, rather abruptly, with him learning of his father’s suicide and resolving not to follow in his footsteps (all with a melancholic piano piece playing in the background). The audience responded with half-hearted applause, which was made even more pitiful by the much more enthusiastic cheers of Green Day fans that echoed out of the Greek Theatre.

The show’s saving grace was the suicide prevention presentation that followed. Rivedal imparted useful information in a respectful way, and the presentation itself would have been appropriate and meaningful without the show as a preface. Instead of singing and character-acting, Rivedal could give a short speech about how his father’s suicide affected him and then present his information about suicide — it would probably be more effective than the entirety of “The Gospel” as Rivedal performed it.

On the other hand, if “The Gospel According to Josh” simply ended without the suicide presentation, it would be much easier to critique. The show itself is somewhat aimless — it begins with the story of Rivedal’s highly religious upbringing, a subject that remains unresolved at the end of the piece — and the comedy isn’t clever or all that funny. Without the noble message, the show is comparable to a warm-up exercise in a high-school drama class.

But there is a noble message, and Rivedal is trying his hardest to spread it as widely as he can. To his credit, he approaches his father’s suicide in “The Gospel” very tactfully if not well. He uses the performance to acquaint the audience with his life, which ensures the subject of suicide isn’t imposing or intimidating for people who might be uncomfortable hearing about it. In a way, “The Gospel” is an icebreaker of sorts for the real discussion, and in that sense, it sort of works.

Suicide, of course, is a tough subject to approach under any circumstances, and Rivedal’s presentation could be extremely helpful for people who might not understand the warning signs of suicide. Rivedal covers it all — isolation from friends and family, loss of interest in formerly beloved activities, the obvious but often overlooked threat of suicide outright — and provides phone numbers for suicide prevention hotlines.

However, the mediocrity of “The Gospel According to Josh” as a theater piece undermines Rivedal’s real purpose, which would be better served by an independent speech — and even then, the information is easily found elsewhere.

Contact Kallie Plagge at kplagge@dailycal.org. Check her out on twitter at @kirbyoshi.

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BareStage is Cal’s oldest student-run theater company and has been running on a streak of producing charming plays and musicals on both a modest stage and budget. The basement of Cesar Chavez Student Center is no Zellerbach. However, the works put on by the theatrical group entertains even within such a small space by bringing forth a fresh allure under the direction of witty college students — in this particular production, under that of Weston Scott.

For its spring musical, BareStage chose the absolute perfect show to produce. The Tony Award-winning “Spelling Bee” is not only exceptional in music and script but is also a production that needs not rely on a large-scale stage or cast to enthrall audience members. The content is hilarious and simply needs to be led under the right guidance and matched with actors willing to shamelessly act like cracked-out children (and a few adults). BareStage excels in both masterfully.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” tells the story of a fictitious spelling bee that takes place in a crummy high school gymnasium. The bee is hosted by former bee champion Rona Lisa Perretti (Jessica Slaght) and, alongside her, word reader Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Mike Kohn), who has the temper fuse of a 5-year-old, and comfort counselor Mitch Mahoney (Matthew Williams), a man with a serial killer-like stare in the midst of his court-mandated community service.

The participants include Chip Tolentino (Francis Dournayan), a youth on the brink of puberty who breaks into song in one scene about his “unfortunate erection.” There’s also Leaf Coneybear (Matthew Borchardt), a not-so-smart child with a strange affinity for finger puppets who only advanced to the county bee by default; Marcy Park (Cecily Schmidt), a misanthropic perfectionist child and Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Meghan Cleary), a young liberal activist with two gay dads and a lisp. The bee largely centers around finalists Olive Ostrovsky (Trina Rizzo), a soft-spoken girl whose parents don’t give her the affection she needs, and William Barfee (Nathan Corbett), a boy with a “rare mucous-membrane disorder” who spells out words with his so-called “magic foot.”

This strange array of characters will keep you in hysterics as they each tell their stories in song. “Spelling Bee” also calls for audience interaction — members of the audience are chosen to compete as contestants in the bee as well.

Because BareStage is completely student-managed, one shouldn’t expect a theatrical extravaganza. There are definitely some rough technical edges. However, there’s much to praise about this particular production. For one, the amateur set manages to revolve and shift from gymnasium to settings within the minds and private lives of the characters. Secondly, the acting is fantastically bold and shameless in all the right ways — especially with Nathan Corbett’s William Barfee, who absolutely steals the show. Thirdly, it’s downright crude and laugh-out-loud funny. With the charm of the libretto and the fresh BareStage touch, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” surely meets expectations as a student production.

Contact Michelle Lin at mlin@dailycal.org.

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The beautiful Julia Morgan theater — with its natural redwood paneling, exposed wooden beams and rustic light fixtures — provides an intimate setting for the classic musical, made more so by the use of a raked stage. Nina Ball’s creative set design was inspired, making the most of the space by using a combination of simple props and innovative lighting techniques on a set of bare walls, complemented by a silhouette suggesting a city skyline.

The musical numbers were fantastic from the moment the show began. Musical director Robert Michael Moreno led a small but talented cast, accompanied by a wonderful band, who romped through the familiar score, including old favorites like “Luck Be a Lady.” Choreographer Chris Black composed sharp dance numbers full of energy and flamboyance, particularly the subtle moves of the background cast members. The story was unquestionably dated — no one would tolerate women being called “dolls” these days — yet the production was warmly nostalgic, embracing the fun of the story and the charm of Loesser’s original musical numbers.

The story begins with Nathan Detroit (Michael Scott Wells), a member of New York’s rather tame criminal underworld and manager of “the Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York.” Detroit needs $1,000 to secure a location for the week’s game, so he places a bet with big-time gambler Sky Masterson that Masterson can’t take neighborhood missionary Sara Brown to Havana. However, Masterson ends up falling for Brown, and the rest of the story follows the obstacles they tackle on their way to happily ever after.

The central love interests were regrettably underwhelming, letting down the rest of the colorful, distinctive cast. Carmichael J. Blankenship’s Masterson was cheesy rather than charming, and his operatic soprano seemed forced and unnatural. Angel Burgess’s Brown was too stiff to convince an audience that she could ever fall hopelessly in love. This was made especially clear in the almost distressing scene of Brown dancing drunkenly in Havana, a scene in which she seemed to be more belligerent than fun and free. The leads failed to bring any passion to the familiar romance plot, and most of their interaction lacked chemistry, resulting in a rather lifeless love story.

However, the secondary romance in the show was much more vibrant and exciting to watch. The formidable Sarah Mitchell plays Miss Adelaide, Detroit’s long-suffering fiancee of 14 years and leading Hot Box showgirl. Mitchell’s stern personality and scene-stealing performances of “Adelaide’s Lament” and the wonderfully catchy “A Bushel and a Peck” are certainly the most captivating of all. Mitchell’s exceptional performance alone is enough to recommend the show. Detroit and his exuberant sidekicks, Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Joshua Castro) and Benny Southstreet (Gregory Sottolano), also gave terrific performances throughout. Castro’s hilarious rendition of “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” was a show-stopping highlight.

The costumes were a particularly weak point, and it would have greatly added to the show if they had been more authentic and reflected the era of the show. Apart from the mixed acting and the poor quality of the costumes, the show is highly enjoyable overall and definitely worth watching.

Berkeley Playhouse offers special Pay What You Can nights every so often, for which audience members pay what they can afford (at least $5) for tickets, a program implemented to make theater accessible to everyone.

“Guys and Dolls” runs through April 28 at the Julia Morgan Theater at 2640 College Ave. in Berkeley. www.berkeleyplayhouse.org. Showtimes are Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.

Contact Meadhbh McGrath at mmcgrath@dailycal.org.

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Neil LaBute has always had an eye for the ugly, past the superficial sense of the word. “Reasons to be Pretty” is the third and final installment of a trilogy written by LaBute, following “The Shape of Things” and “Fat Pig” — all of which explore America’s disgusting obsession with physical appearance.

The play opens with a huge domestic quarrel between a furious Supercuts hairdresser, Steph (Lauren English), and her bewildered boyfriend, Greg (Craig Marker). There are F-bombs dropped left and right (even words like “fuckheadedness” tossed in there somewhere), objects thrown and tears shed all because Steph’s friend overheard Greg describing Steph’s face as looking simply “regular” and told her about it. The scene closes with a breakup and a door slam, setting the stage for the rest of the production.

“Reasons to Be Pretty” isn’t exactly a love story, but it plays out similarly to the plot of a traditional romantic comedy. There are hysterical public breakdowns, attempts at rekindling romance and stereotypical characters (“Pretty in Pink,” anyone?). As the drama unravels, we are introduced to the two other characters in the story — Greg’s misogynistic best friend, Kent (Patrick Russell), and his “pretty”-faced wife, Carly (Jennifer Stuckert). Carly had, ironically, been the one to rat Greg out to Steph in the first place and ends up being cheated on while pregnant with Kent’s baby. The relationship between the couple exemplifies the truest depths of misogyny, superficiality and human indecency — comically combined in a nice little satirical package.

In one of the most noteworthy scenes, Greg attempts to win Steph back in the food court of a shopping mall but is instead shut down as Steph stands on a chair and publicly reads aloud a long list of his physical flaws. She touches on nearly every single part of his body except for his penis — out of politeness, of course.

As entertaining and funny as LaBute’s dialogue may be, it also digs deeply into society’s everyday problems and provides a clear view of how truly twisted humanity is capable of being. The conversations, the fights and the events that take place onstage all revolve around physical appearance to a certain degree. However, the conversations are so easily relatable to and reminiscent of our own reality that it’s almost a little frightening.

However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. If anything, “Reasons to Be Pretty” is a coming-of-age story that follows Greg as he slowly comes to realize the vapidity of the world around him. And as frustrating as the characters and subplots may be at times, the work is ultimately moving.

LaBute’s script is undoubtedly vivid and smart on its own, but when combined with the talent and vivacity of the SF Playhouse cast under the keen direction of Susi Damilano, the production is an exceptional one. While there are some scenes that stall for longer than they should, SF Playhouse’s “Reasons to Be Pretty” can still be described as edgy, hilarious entertainment and downright ugly. Sometimes, not being pretty isn’t so bad after all.

Contact Michelle Lin at mlin@dailycal.org.

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Upon superficial inspection, this might seem like an hourlong fan magazine — the kind with pictures cropped to appear as if you and your celebrity devotee are the best of friends. This is not “Patti Issues.” Nineteen years ago, Ben Rimalower came to the UC Berkeley campus with dreams beyond finding original Broadway cast recordings of “Evita.” Though, he does admit to “majoring in buying Broadway-related CDs.” No, Rimalower came to Berkeley with the hope of training as a theater director. When the then-called Drama department refused to fund productions by underclassmen, he founded BareStage Productions — now a staple of the Berkeley campus theater culture. And it was on this stage, in Choral Rehearsal Hall, where Rimalower recounted not only his love for Patti, but all the “issues” — familial, emotional, creative, etc. — in between.

Unlike Lupone, who wore full-length ball gowns in “Evita” and an elaborate sailor’s uniform as Reno Sweeney in “Anything Goes,” Rimalower came onto the stage with a casual manner. The look was classic — vest, button-down, tie — but not showy. However, once the monologue began and he started speaking at a mile-a-minute pace, gesticulating madly and punctuating his punchlines with a fierce and wry passion, it became clear that despite the minimal dressings, there was more drama in this one-hour story than possibly in the whole of Lupone’s most theatrical flourishes.

Rimalower’s tale — which spans nearly the same 30 years from the premiere of “Evita” in the early ’80s to present day — is one that could only be delivered with this type of manic, unbridled energy. At the same time he was discovering Lupone, his father was living as a closeted gay OB/GYN. He was, in Rimalower’s words, a man “who has no balls,” the kind of guy who “picks the bitch terrier” in Monopoly — “not the top hat.” This complicated and unstable relationship, riddled with guilt, shame, disappointment and confusion, ironically provides a solid foundation to a monologue that could easily spiral out of control.

Several times throughout, Rimalower seemed on the verge of just that. His breakneck pace, loaded exposition and arcane references to off-Broadway cabarets could be off-putting or scattered if this very personal, father/son backbone were not in place. Because for all the madcap dialogue and ostentatious fan-gushing, “Patti Issues” is, at heart, an intensely private and touching saga about self-discovery.

Toward the end of the show, things calmed down a little bit. Rimalower ends his monologue where it began — with Patti and his father. Only this time, he’s at “Gypsy” after having worked with Patti Lupone personally and having not spoken to his father for nearly 10 years. It’s an emotional moment that doesn’t need the piercing vibrato of a Broadway ballad to cement its importance.

Rimalower’s work is at its strongest during these quieter moments of reflection where we, the audience, get a chance to breathe and absorb all this fantastic tumult. Midway through, Rimalower quotes John Housman, who once said, “Patti has the smell of the gallows.” Rimalower may not have the “smell” of the gallows, but his performance of “Patti Issues” certainly has all the power and melodrama of life and death.

Contact Jessica Pena at jpena@dailycal.org.

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This is the plot of “Fallaci,” an original play by bestselling author Lawrence Wright. It remembers the gritty and beautiful journalist not as whom she was but as what she had become at the end of her life. Oriana Fallaci, who had, as her character says, “undressed” so many of the world’s most influential public figures, was portrayed as an old, irrelevant shut-in whose only satisfaction came from the bones she was thrown by her newfound audience on the far right. Chain-smoking and curmudgeonly, Fallaci conveys her unrelentingly critical opinions, which seem as much pleas for attention and relevancy as they were genuine ideas. As she became more tired, the efficacy with which Fallaci could cover her lies dwindled, and the inconsistencies in her stories were made humorously clear.

The show — as was its premise — was somewhat of an obituary, a teleological retrospective on the life of Oriana Fallaci. It is this telling of the story from its ending that is both the play’s strong point as theater and its weak point as narrative. Hearing Fallaci’s character tell the story herself to a young journalist is a wonderful way to present it. Additionally, the dialogue between the two cast members (there are, in fact, only two) makes the play, directed by Oskar Eustis, engaging and easy to follow.

Miryam, as a foil to Fallaci’s otherwise pontificating character, adds a lot of dimension to the play by challenging Fallaci, qualifying her story with insights and adding her own story to supplement the main narrative. On the other hand, by telling the journalist’s story from the end of her life, Lawrence Wright discounts half the value of the stories about her that are undoubtedly true.

Oriana Fallaci, whatever one may think of her later publications, did make tremendous waves in her day as a war reporter and journalist. She revolutionized the interview, getting personal with her subjects (in every sense) and saying to them, untempered, exactly what she thought. Approaching the interview with an aim to defeat is what allowed her to take subjects off guard and lead them to say things that would make the impact of her interviews, as Henry Kissinger once said, “disastrous.”

The messages that Fallaci brought out in her interviews — spoken or acted — were trophies for the cause she had fought for since she was a small child: to disobey the oppressive “as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.” Hearing about these experiences from a woman who is presented as spiteful and hallucinating her own cancer, however, simply does not do justice to these great moments and achievements.

In all, however, the dialogue of “Fallaci” was well-formed, and the play took on another dimension by telling the story of the young journalist. The script itself was generally well-written as well, save for the number of times that Fallaci’s character refers to herself in the third person (which feels every time like a glaring theatrical cliche in the middle of the dialogue) and the lack of coherence and intent throughout the play on Wright’s theme of Islamophobia, which he develops quite choppily. However, Concetta Tomei’s formidable performance as Fallaci carried the play through till the end, and one leaves the theater with a more nuanced perspective of the woman Fallaci was, became and has come to mean to us today.

The post Fallaci relays story of renowned journalist at Berkeley Repertory Theatre appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The Daily Californian: You were the founding artistic director of BareStage, what was that experience like? How did you first get involved and what has been the takeaway from your time with BareStage and at Cal?

Ben Rimalower: When I got to Berkeley as a freshman in 1994, I knew that I wanted to be a Drama major and I knew that I wanted to be a theater director. At the time, there was no musical theater at Cal except for a DeCal called “Musical Theater Workshop” which was just performing. They didn’t do shows, they just did songs. So, I performed in that. But, the Drama Dept. (now, Theater, Dance and Performance Studies) would not let me direct anything. There were better schools. But, I wanted to be in Berkeley. I felt that so much of being an artist is looking at the world and saying something about it, being part of a culture and speaking to a community. I felt that Berkeley was the community that I wanted to be doing that in.

DC: How has your experience with BareStage and your time at Cal influenced you professionally?

BR: I’m so grateful in retrospect that I went to Berkeley. Because, the reality I’ve had in this business in New York City is that I’ve had to think outside the box. Anything I’ve done that’s had any success I’ve had to initiate myself and build myself and support. I’d see peers of mine who were just as talented as me, even more so, try to do things and just be frustrated, have the door slammed in their face and give up. That never occurred to me because I went to Berkeley. Now, when I have the door slammed in my face, I don’t think “Oh shit. I’m screwed.” I think this is a chance for triumph.

DC: Coming from that environment of being a big fish in a small pond, what was the transition to New York like?

BR: Well, it’s taken a long time. In a way, Berkeley is a microcosm of the real world. I remember, during my freshman and sophomore year, trying to build my name and I’ve seen the same process in real life. I would say I’m the equivalent of a first semester junior right now.

DC: After working as a director and producer for several years, what made you decide to transition into writing and performing with “Patti Issues”?

BR: What I talk about in my show a little bit is how frustrating it was going from being an assistant director to a director. I just kept feeling my career being stalled because of the material I was directing. It’s very hard for directors because an actor can audition and a playwright has their work on paper. A director really has no way of putting themselves out there. So, I directed this show that I conceived called “Leslie Kritzer is Patti Lupone at Les Mouches” where we recreated Patti Lupone’s famed 1980 cabaret act. But then I thought, what else am I going to do? I felt like I want to start writing and that’s when I began blogging. I really enjoyed the experience and so, the next thing was to develop a full-length piece that was in my own narrative voice. The thing that was obvious for me to talk about was Patti Lupone, but then when I actually started writing, I ended up with a show that was much more about me than it was about her.

DC: You mention blogging as a way to get yourself out there. How do you think social media and the internet in general has changed the theater business?

BR: I think that YouTube especially and the fact that we are all on social networks, where everyone is starring in their own reality show all the time, is wonderful. It puts the means of production into someone’s hands. When I was in school, if you wanted to do a radio show or a TV show, there were so many channels and red tape you had to go through. And now, anybody with a computer has access to the whole world.

DC: Because “Patti Issues” is so personal, how did you go about structuring the show?

BR: Well, I started off just writing about Patti and I knew that my show needed to have a theatrical finale. What felt like a very natural moment to end the show on was a real life experience I had that was kind of insane. I hadn’t seen my father in years and he was sitting directly behind me at “Gypsy” on Broadway. It felt very full circle for me, but then I had a show that was an hour about Patti Lupone and ended with a thing about my father. So, I had to have that make sense.

DC: What would you say you’ve learned about yourself during the development and run of this show?

BR: I’ve certainly learned that I can say I’m a performer. I didn’t perform at UC Berkeley. I knew I just wanted to be a director. I was wrong because I love performing. I don’t think my father ever saw this show — I don’t even think that he would like it — but, in my experience, what struck me about giving him voice is that I actually found a lot of sympathy for him.

DC: Finally, what would you say to those students coming to see “Patti Issues” who want to make it in show business?

BR: Just that, behind every “No,” there’s an opportunity to do things a different way. And, if they really want it, then nothing can stop them. It might take one year, it might take fifty years. But, if you believe in it and are in it for just the pure love of it, nothing can stop you.

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