Love in Bloom, presented by Santa Monica Playhouse, reopens Jan. 8; plays Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 6 pm; through Feb. 28. Tickets: $20-$25. The Other Space, 1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica; 310.394.9779, ext. 1 or santamonicaplayhouse.com
Santa Monica Playhouse reaches 50 years of operation in 2010. And 450 plays later, its Artistic Directors Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie say it is a celebration, not a culmination, of their work because they plan to keep writing, producing, directing and acting, as they are in their recently extended show Love in Bloom.
Chris DeCarlo
The show was originally set to close December 13 but after an audience outcry it was extended for another two month run through February. “This play is part of our 50th year celebration and our audience members wanted more opportunity to see it,” says DeCarlo.
Love in Bloom, which is a world premiere, was an idea the dynamic duo had for a while and decided it was the perfect show to commemorate their expansive work thus far. “It integrates all forms of theatre and celebrates it in its most basic sense,” he says. “It is a fusion of the work we did over the past 50 years.”
DeCarlo and Rudie pay tribute to great theatre giants like Shakespeare, Ionesco, Gilbert and Sullivan, Marcel Marceau and many others in their new work. From star-crossed lovers, dainty damsels, fairies, feisty wenches and handsome rogues to kings and queens, the actors morph from one character into another to tell this whimsical musical comedy tale.
Besides DeCarlo and Rudie, who play the King and Queen of the Faeries, the cast is comprised of members of SMP’s Actors’ Repertory Theatre (Serena Bolinsky, who is also musical director, and Melissa Gentry) and outside actors (Liz Eldridge, Jake Levy, Adam T. Rosencrance and Tyner Pesch as Prince Hamelot). Most play two to five different characters throughout the show.
Rudie and DeCarlo
While Rudie and DeCarlo are directing and acting within the play they do not see it as a creative hindrance to the work. In fact, it brings their belief in teamwork full circle. “Our work is all about collaboration with each other and with the cast,” says DeCarlo.
The couple gets creative inspiration from each other and from the talented actors they encounter onstage in their repertory and conservatory programs. Although they are technically directors of a show they are acting in, he says they don’t “direct themselves. We have a language; we have been working together for over 40 years and we work as an ensemble. It’s an intimate process.”
This language/process has proved effective and successful, earning recognition for both DeCarlo and Rudie as performers and their productions from critics, newspapers such as Drama-Logue and LA Weekly as well as the Los Angeles City Council and the California State Senate.
DeCarlo estimates about 99 percent of their work is original because they believe there is a need for actors, especially youth, to perform in new material that “speaks with the voice of youth, addressing both their personal and global issues in a theatrically innovative manner,” say Rudie and DeCarlo in their mission statement.
In Love in Bloom, the duo incorporates traditional devices that define theatre, such as storytelling, spectacle, myth, magic and of course harsh reality. “Sure, it’s a happy comedy but there is some strong reality couched in the piece,” says DeCarlo. “It’s a substance of ideas and thoughts of who we are.”
Evelyn Rudie
This dichotomy of innovative entertainment and serious thought define how Rudie and DeCarlo see their roles in theatre. They are pioneers, constantly trying new and different ways to entice audiences, especially non-theatregoers, to attend the Playhouse. “We want to give them something live out there; we constantly ask ourselves how we can use the same old form and images to expand disbelief in a different way,” says DeCarlo.
For Love in Bloom the couple offers a free buffet of desserts during intermission. On other shows they go even further. “If we can offer them a full meal and get it donated, we will,” he says. While many artistic directors might think a full meal is going overboard, DeCarlo and Rudie believe this type of approach is necessary. “We all live in a world where we isolate ourselves because we are afraid of intimacy. But in fact we are hard-wired to want to be together,” he says. “So we ask how can we embrace that feeling and move into it. Find comfort in it?”
Their answer: put on theatre. “Theatre by definition is practicing intimacy within the boundaries of the stage,” says DeCarlo. “In the celebration of our work we are trying to have a conversation about this intimacy.”
DeCarlo and Rudie’s intimacy reaches beyond their professional relationship into marriage. As life partners, DeCarlo acknowledges the unique impact the couple’s business relationship has had on their personal one. Working together has shown DeCarlo all forms of relationships are in a sense pragmatic and practical; they can’t be constantly romantic.
His personal relationship has also impacted his career. “I think it’s taught me not to walk away when things get hard and not to give up. It has allowed me to gain appreciation in theatre I would not have gotten on my own,” says DeCarlo. “Each night, each show, is a path to satisfaction.”
Both DeCarlo and Rudie acknowledge 50 years is a big accomplishment and as they continue their work they look to challenge their audiences and make theatre accessible to everyone.
Feature image by G. Vennes
Article by Greta McAnany
