Review: THE MANOR Returns for its 14th Season at Greystone Mansion

"The Manor" is by now a Los Angeles/Beverly Hills institution, now in its 14th year and having surpassed its 200th performance in 2014. The show is a roman a clef, a fictionalization based on real events with the actual historical characters given new names. "The names have been changed to protect the guilty," is shared during the show's introduction to the audience. To lend authenticity to the tale, the show is presented in the grand and glorious architectural landmark in which the events of 87 years ago actually took place. Audience members are led from room to room in the lovingly restored marvelous Greystone Mansion as different scenes of the narrative are portrayed, leading up to a shocking and apparent murder and suicide.

I am a big fan of interactive theater where the actors perform in close proximity to the audience, making us feel as if we are part of the show. While only James the butler (stalwart Daniel Lench) and two others on the house staff (Katharine Henryk as Ursula the caring housekeeper and Esther Levy Richman as the mute maid Ellie) communicate directly with the audience as they guide us from scene to scene, the characters in the play do not as they represent "the spirits still living in the home where the tragic events occurred, doomed to repeat them forever." And what a treat it is to wander through the glorious architecture as the story unfolds, especially all the fine woodwork and rooms decorated with 20's appropriate furnishings and props on display just for this production.

Kathrine Bates is the playwright and an actor, she appears as MacAlister matriarch Marion, often seated at the lovely grand piano in the living room, with her melodies echoing throughout each of the scenes in the other rooms. Her other works include TALHOTBLOND, which I thoroughly enjoyed at the Ruskin Group, as well as several other plays. Her love of the story and enthusiasm for the production radiates in every scene. Bates and Melanie MacQueen as Cora Winston, the Senator's wife, have several fine moments together discussing the trials and tribulations of their respective marriages to powerful men.

Money, madness, murder, sex. Before there was Dallas, before there was a Dynasty or Scandal, there was "The Manor." And if it hadn't actually happened, Hollywood could not have invented it. The play begins in the grand living room on the wedding day of MacAlister heir Sean (handsome John-Paul Lavoisier whose final scene is a wonder to behold) and the virginal and anxious-for-that-to-change Abby (lovely Shelby Kocee) the daughter of MacAlister lawyer Frank Parsons (Theatre 40 leading man Martin Thompson). While the guests mill about drinking "ice tea" from the hidden bar, in walks the emotionally confused and hard drinking MacAlister handyman Gregory Pugh (Caleb Slavens), who recently returned from a trip to New York where he met and married the loud-mouthed British music hall entertainer Henrietta Havesham Pugh (red-dressed flapper Sarah Van Der Pol) who sees dollar signs in her future. It is Pugh's unrequited love for Abby that drives the story to its bitter end.

As the new husband and wife attempt to consummate their marriage, the supporting scenes in the walk-through production depict momentous changes in the fortunes of the fabulously wealthy MacAlister Family (fictional surrogates of the oil-rich Doheny Family) via the actions of family patriarch and mining tycoon Charles (determined and decisive Darby Hinton). When he makes an illegal if well-intentioned loan to Senator Alfred Winston (a stand-in for Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall portrayed by "good old boy" actor Daniel Leslie to the comical hilt), both men face imminent disgrace and worse in the oncoming Teapot Dome bribery scandal which engulfed the Warren Harding administration. Events are put in place that lead to machinations put in place which cause a scion of the MacAlister family to face an unexpected and violent death. That scene is played out on the grand staircase, although the real events took place in the room now used as the actors' dressing area.

Several of the roles are double cast so the actors I have mentioned may be different than the ones you see when you attend. "The Manor" company includes, in alphabetical order, Kathrine Bates, Ben Gavin, Katherine Henryk, Darby Hinton, Shelby Kocee, John-Paul Lavoisier, Daniel Lench, Daniel Leslie, Melanie MacQueen, Esther Levy Richman, Annalee Scott, Caleb Slavens, David Hunt Stafford, Martin Thompson and Sarah van der Pol. Don Solosan returns for his fourth season as production Stage Manager. The fast-paced production is directed by Flora Plumb, who recently was a standout as Lillian Hellman opposite Dick Cavett in the West Coast premiere of Hellman v. McCarthy at Theatre 40.

I strongly suggest booking your tickets soon as seating is limited with tickets more readily available for weeknight performances at Greystone Mansion in Greystone Park, 905 Loma Vista Drive (above Sunset Blvd.), Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Free parking onsite. Performances continue through February 5, 2016 with available weeknight shows at 6:00 pm on January 27, 29, February 1, 2, 3 and 5. Previously announced matinees are now sold out.

ADMISSION: $60. RESERVATIONS: (310) 694-6118. Reservations must be made by phone, in advance. No online ticketing. No one will be admitted without advance reservation. Please reserve early, as many performances will sell out. More information at www.theatre40.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.