The world premiere of Crevasse by Tom Jacobson deals with the rise of fascism and antisemitism in 1938, and its effect on art and the artists who resisted or contributed to it. At its center is well-known and respected German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl who booked a meeting with Walt Disney to learn about his animation techniques. This co-production by Son of Semele, creatively directed by the group’s artistic director Matthew McCray, and The Victory Theatre Center, runs through August 18 at the Victory Theatre in Burbank. I decided to dedicate this column to the brilliantly staged production given the immense talent of the cast and creative team, and how the terrible resurgence of those hatreds appears in the news daily.
“In November 1938 there was public outcry about Germany, but full details were not yet known,” says director McCray. “This was just after Kristallnacht, years before the U.S. officially entered the war. There is a perplexing draw toward autocracy again, so it’s important to explore issues around power and the conflicting influences of money and ethics. In Crevasse, the comparisons between the work and ideals of filmmakers Disney and Riefenstahl provide a compelling examination of business and power through film.”
The play is an astonishing true story of betrayal, propaganda, and Disney animation, running an extremely intense 90 minutes during which you could hear a pin drop in the audience. You see, all of us were held in rapt attention by the brilliant acting of Leo Marks and Ann Noble, with Marks portraying Ernst Jaeger, Joseph Goebbels, and Walt Disney and Noble portraying Lotte Jeager, Lorelei, and Leni Riefenstahl. And each of those characters not only required a different accent, physicality, and quick changes of glorious historical costumes designed by Michael Mullen, with complete transformations often required in less than a minute by each talented actor.
The main action takes place when Riefenstahl managed to get to Hollywood to find American distribution for her award-winning film, Olympia. But during her visit, only one studio head agreed to meet with her: Walt Disney. And even though she is thrilled to get inside the Hollywood moviemaking machine, including a visit to his Rainbow Room where all the colors for his projects get mixed, she had no idea until then just how brilliant and strange Disney could be. But what if each is playing the other, hoping to manipulate their personal as well professional beliefs?
Enthralled with Disney’s tales of animation procedures (told with clips from his most famous cartoons), she is hoping he will want to assist in her mission to dominate American cinema. But just as he seems to be speaking from her side of the table, Riefenstahl realizes he is just playing with her emotions, betraying her, just as her agent Ernst did to set up this all-important meeting for his own personal reasons. And I guarantee as the story unravels, several twists and turns will shock you as these masters of film illusion circle each other to reveal their hidden secrets.
Along with these masterful actors, the production team working together inside the small theater space lifts Crevasse into the legions of great world premieres taking place on Los Angeles area stages, thanks to the talents of scenic designer Evan Bartoletti, lighting designer Azra King-Abadi, sound designer John Zalewski whose varying levels surround you with war sounds too scary to comprehend, projections designed by Nicholas Santiago which included clips of war scenes and Disney cartoons, props designed by Amanda Zarr, with special kudos to Production Manager Erick Marquez, and Stage Manager Erin Newsom and Assistant Director Fiona Burrows whose attention to detail made each scene transition done behind curtains believable without distracting from the scene taking place in front of them.
And just a bit of information to producers: when you use art work or show photos depicting symbols of the WWII regime in Germany, social media sites may remove them as not following community standards, which limited me from sharing information about this extraordinary production with my followers.
Performances of Crevasse run through August 18 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. at The Victory Theatre Center, located at 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank 91505. Tickets range from $32 to $40; groups, students, seniors, and union members are $25. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (818) 841-5421 or go to www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org. Crevasse is made possible in part with support from the California Arts Council and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
Next week look for my reviews of Company at the Hollywood Pantages, Balancing Art at Theatre 40, and The Little Mermaid by Torrance Theatre Company at the James Armstrong Theatre.