Hollywood Rituals Hilariously Hit by Hilarions

You can miss the Oscars, the Tonys and all the other self-congratulatory rituals. But don’t miss the PLATE awards (the Pico Lake Award for Theatrical Exuberance), by the Hilarions at Theatre/Theater. It’s withering satire.

The “27th annual� PLATE ceremony is highlighted by scenes from such Pico Lake community theater favorites as “Hooker in a Wheelchair� (naked, raw, gritty), “Less Miserable� (created by associate editors for Reader’s Digest), and “A Spot of Tea for the Bigot in Ward Nine� (from the Basically British Company).

Among those honored as best director of a non-nominated play or musical are Trevor Lungman for “Dark Suffocation� and Dottie Blaze for “The Spontaneous Combustion of Vivian Lindquist.�

In a city of improv houses, where comedy sketch is king, it’s refreshing to see a company of 18 select a single target, script it into a full-length production, and deliver a devastating send-up.

Those who have attended the annual ceremonies thrown by local critics organizations will immediately discover a riotous affinity with the forced glee, sentiment and weary sobriety at these events. But couch potatoes who have never been to an awards dinner will also get the joke.

Some of the stuff in this production suggests outtakes from recent L.A. Drama Critics Circle festivities: the chipper and dour speeches, the Lifetime Achievement Award to a character too old to talk (Del Arte), and the multiple winners in a single category, leaving one agonizing loser.

Ensemble members created the material; performers Michael Caldwell, Rachel Winfree and Bill Fagan shared the direction. Will success spoil this company? Will it be nominated for an award? Theater had better duck.

“The 27th Annual PLATE Awards,� Theatre/Theater, 1713 Cahuenga Blvd., Sundays, 2 p.m. Indefinitely; $12. (213) 850-6941. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.

Reno’s Visceral Acting Adds Bite to ‘Fleas’

Occasionally an unfamiliar actor pops up in a rough play--in this case the setting is a prison for the criminally insane--and clamps you in a vise-like grip with a blistering, visceral style. That describes Johnny Reno in “Fleas� at the Powerhouse.

Reno, with his squeaky-clean jail denims and his wet hair neatly combed back like a character out of the ‘40s, plays a serial killer, and he commands the stage like a boa constrictor, intimidating but never histrionic. How much of his electricity was shaped by director Brian Forrest is impossible to tell.

The Powerhouse, which used to be a flavorful venue, is a murky theater devoid of amenities, but that suits this new play by D.W. Brown just fine. Brown also portrays a murderer in his play, but Brown’s achievement is his writing, not his acting, which is stolid.

“Fleas� trumpets Brown’s ear for dialogue and his instincts for creating tension. He also overwrites (his last monologue should be chopped altogether), but his cast is blessed by the aforementioned Reno and Jonathan Gries as a dim-headed sexual psycho who keeps playing with his stringy hair. Gries turns a sow’s ear of a role into a pearl. But this prison could sure use a few more guards.

“Fleas,� Powerhouse, 3116 2nd St., Santa Monica, Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Sunday. $12; (213) 392-6529. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

‘B-Sides’ Captures Life’s Underbelly

Life’s festering underbelly is also the subject of young playwright Angelo Masino. He writes with a hammer and chisel. But anyone from Gotham or anyone who ever set foot in a rat’s nest of a motel in East Hollywood will identify with the jungle here.

Masino is featured as an abusive husband and mobster in “With the Help of the Dragon,� one of his two scabrous one-acts under the umbrella title of “B-Sides� at the Cast Theatre. Cozily fitting onto the squalor of Andy Daley’s set for “Avenue A,� the productions are overbaked, but they are salvaged by pockets of humor and coiled acting--especially from tall, reedy, vituperative Sarina Grant as a man-hating bounty hunter in the L.A.-set “The Road Home� and by Masino’s raucous thug in the Queens-set “Dragon.�

Masino’s Italian-American musclehead, who punches a bag, makes Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire� look like an Ivy League bowler. When Masino pummels his pregnant wife (the actor-playwright’s real-life wife, tremulously played by Christine McQuade) the audience audibly gasped.

The wife’s best friend (Kenya Winchell) is so tough and vulgar, she could probably open beer bottles with her teeth. Director Andrew DeAngelo needs to tone things down to keep the production from falling into self-parody.

The curtain-raiser, “The Road Home,� features a co-starring turn by Richard Tanner as a bigoted white guy who lusts after his black captor. Here Masino is both bleak and passionate, probing racial barriers and sexual tensions in interracial relationships.

There’s promise for these plays if the playwright is willing to soften the edges--and if he has any strength left.

“B-Sides,� Cast Theatre, 800 N. El Centro Ave., Hollywood, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Indefinitely; $8. (213) 462-0265. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Campus Protest Theme of Wollner’s ‘Badgers’

There is something terribly melancholy about the campus protest drama, “Badgers,� at Theater Rapport. Donald Wollner’s story of student rebellion during the 1967 Dow Chemical sit-in/riots at the University of Wisconsin has been plucked out of oblivion and re-ignited.

Actually, the play dates back only 10 years, which is probably its salvation because its autobiographical tone is compassion, not anger. Director Michael Shaverdian gives this odyssey of three guys and a gal sharing a campus apartment much more of a human than a political spin. It’s impossible to watch, though, without reliving Michael Weller’s ‘60s saga, “Moonchildren,� or Hollywood’s take on campus turmoil in “R.P.M. (Revolutions Per Minute)� and “The Strawberry Statement� (both from 1970). College kids today stack up as incomparably placid next to the characters in “Badgers.�

The irony and downside of this time capsule is that only one character is endearing (Louis Balestra’s conservative student, whose date with a prom queen is tantamount to a Nazi act in the eyes of his roommates). Others are either arrogant (Michael Trent’s insufferable firebrand), foolish (Deborah Riecks’ loyal girlfriend) or sarcastic (Vince Shavers’ arch intellectual).

Some football jocks, in a minor scene, are classic types, and Cynthia Speer, the quintessential Sally Coed, almost steals the show.

“Badgers,� Theater Rapport, 1277 N. Wilton Place, Hollywood, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends June 8. $14. (213) 850-8705. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

‘Amadeus’ Scants on Production Values

It’s strange to see Peter Shaffer’s powerful “Amadeus� reduced to a beguiling chamber piece.

The production at the West Coast Ensemble features a riveting performance by Tony Pandolfo as the increasingly crazed court composer Antonio Salieri. And James Thomas Bailey’s flea of a Mozart--buzzing around in Salieri’s ear--is in some ways sublime: quirky, unself-conscious, mercurial. The costumes are lavish. The two gossips (Steven Avalos and Pablo Marz) and the Austrian Emperor (the amiably dim Forrest Witt) are staged with panache by director Michael Donovan. So what’s the problem?

Too much austerity. This is a period piece without enough ornaments. The stage needs to be filled with the illusion of bustle, of people, not just a single grand piano. Salieri and Mozart don’t have a world to play against. There’s no emotional opera. Mozart’s wife (Marjorie Bowman) is a snit.

The play is so well constructed, it’s almost indestructible, but the juice is drained here.

“Amadeus,� West Coast Theatre Ensemble, 6240 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood , Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 23; $15. (213) 788-5900. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.