Other Desert Cities at The Modern-Spokane
Remember theater?
For patrons, there was always the thrill of reading the previews and reviews then making a date to attend the show. The excitement of what may unfold on the stage is an addictive feeling and the payoff of a successful show kept folks coming back again and again.
For me, the thrill was a bit different. Yes, I enjoyed seeing the finished product on stage but as the photographer and marketing fella, I was able to get an intimate view of how all the parts and pieces came together over the preceding weeks and months. I wasn’t a true member of the production team but I was able to mingle with them and get their perspectives on various shows.
As we can’t have nice things right now because of covid, I’ll be revisiting many of my past shows and highlighting the visual imagery that I’ve created as well as introducing you to some of the wonderful artists I’ve engaged with.
Other Desert Cities at The Modern-Spokane
Originally ran September and October 2015 at The Modern-Spokane
Spokesman-Review/Nathan Weinbender Review
The less you know about Jon Robin Baitz’s “Other Desert Cities” walking in, the better. The play, which opens at the Modern Theater Spokane tonight, is an intimate character drama about splintered family dynamics and old wounds being reopened, and its story takes off in unexpected directions.
“It’s a beautifully crafted script, and it unfolds in a very heart-wrenching way,” said the show’s director, Dawn Taylor Reinhardt. “If people have not read it, then it will unfold exactly as it needs to unfold.”
The play centers on the Wyeth family, who are gathering for the Christmas holiday in the impeccably furnished Palm Springs home of Lyman (Wes Deitrick) and Polly Wyeth (Diana Trotter), wealthy conservatives who have retired from Hollywood.
Polly’s liberal sister Silda (Marianne McLaughlin), fresh out of rehab, is visiting, as is their youngest son Trip (Billy Hultquist), a TV producer. But it’s the arrival of their estranged daughter Brooke (Sarah Miller) that shakes things up, especially when she reveals she is going to publish a memoir that hinges on a tragic event from the Wyeths’ past.
Read the complete Spokesman-Review article here!
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Inlander/EJ Iannelli Review
Last season Miller came out of nowhere to deliver a noteworthy performance in the comedy Boeing Boeing. Here she proves she's got dramatic chops as well; the plot, after all, hinges on the immersive believability of her decisions and exchanges. Trotter plays a character not too far removed from her appearance last year as Vivian Bearing in Wit. She walks with rigid poise, speaks with chilly, clinical precision, and yet this tough shell is primed to crack. McLaughlin's stage time, though brief, is effective in adding to the dense — and draining — emotional texture of the play. Among the numerous highlights of this production is the unique and unexpected musicality among the actors' voices, so Baitz's confrontation-rich script takes on a symphonic quality of fortissimo and pianissimo, dal niente and crescendo.
If Other Desert Cities is a showcase of up-and-coming and established acting talent, it also shows Dawn Taylor Reinhardt (Reasons to Be Happy/Pretty) to be one of the most consistent dramatic directors in the area. Jeremy Whittington's set is gorgeous and warm, evoking a real-life living room that, coupled with the skilled direction and performances, epitomizes the transportive power of theater.
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