Steve Allen Theater, at the Center For Inquiry West (Los Angeles, CA)
The Steve Allen Theater presents Nevermore, a one-man show celebrating Edgar Allen Poe's bicentennial. Actor Jeffrey Combs stars as the brilliant and tragic author of "The Raven" and "The Tell-tale Heart"; Combs starred in such horror film classics as Re-Animator, as well as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Director Stuart Gordon and writer Dennis Paoli both worked on Re-Animator.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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My husband is from Richmond, Virginia, as was Edgar Allen Poe, so was very familiar with his back story as there is a lot of Poe lore to be found there. He found the character in NEVERMORE authentic to Poe's time in history and to all the stories he had heard about him as a boy.
I had certainly read Poe's poetry and short stories and enjoyed learning about the man behind them and the stylized delivery of the actor. The Steve Allen Theater could be described as a small auditorium; arrive a little early to get a good seat.
Nevermore Indeed.
The comments on this performance are all raves. The show has been extended. It would seem sacrilege to criticize. Sometimes an iconoclast is needed.
I was looking for real insight into Poe and some new angles on his work. What I heard were very familiar works, in fact war horses, a few unimpressive snippets of rather tired romantic verse and a lot of exaggerated stretches of attempts at caricature of a drunk. It did not work. I did not think this was Poe anymore than the character lampooned in Amadeus is Mozart. This focus on drink and clowning did not tell us much about how Poe became Poe or what he thought or did. If this was the real Poe than he was not interesting enough for a one man show and a recital of his works by an expert declaimer would be far better. Some artists should only be known through their art.
If you are thinking Mark Twain Tonight you will be disappointed. There is no commentary on the present to make Poe alive. There is no information on his work you did not hear in junior high except perhaps his petty squabbles with long dead contemporaries. And sad to say, the declamation of the poetry read is not well paced or revealing. The high point is Tell Tale Heart , very familiar of course, but well done capturing the humor and suspense that made Poe unique and ahead of his times. Combs is better at this prose than he is capturing poetry. The Raven is also interesting though with ill-timed pauses. At the opposite end the Bells is a travesty of unhistorical presentation and not even completed.
The wrongness of the performance was not aided by the location. The Steve Allen is a narrow long hall with all the forward seats essentially at the same level If you are not tall either get to the front or settle for a rear seat on the raised platform. There also a few high chairs at the end of some rows.This viewer spent the whole performance positioning and repositioning around restless obstacles in front.
The sad thing is the one paragraph blurb in the program provides more insight than the play. I recommend reading up in Wikipedia and picking up a good recording at the library. My guess is the real Poe was a true psychological drama worth the examination. A rare famous Southern artist before the 20th century who must reveal aspects of the divide then forming and a unique example of America at this stage growing a writer different than any in Europe. Why Poe you may wonder, how did he develop that unique voice and style? No Answers in this Performance.
I read the negative review just prior to mine. Please don't be pursuaded by that review---it is WRONG...in my humble opinion! I mean nothing is perfect but overall you will really ENJOY this one- man presentation about Edgar Allan Poe. The actor is VERY talented and the writing is mostly excellent. And you WILL learn alot that you didn't know about Mr. Poe. I say with all sincerity, you'll rarely see anything as good as this on any stage!
The only people who might not like this play are people who aren't accustomed to the use of WORDS to tell a story and/or haven't developed much of an imagination. Or, another dissatisfied group will be those people who expect TOO MUCH from such a play by demanding and expecting to know or understand "the inner soul" of the subject through the play. The above people will be dissatisfied but....unless you are one of the above types my suggestion is for you to GO SEE IT, YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!
PS: The play is so good you'll forget about the minor seating deficits in the theater with all the seats on one level. Just move to a better seating location plus the actor is mostly standing up so you'll be able to see him in any event.
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Website: http://www.steveallentheater.com/nevermore
Film and television star Jeffrey Combs will be performing “Nevermore” a live one-man show as the brilliant but tragic poet and storyteller Edgar Allan Poe in honor of the bicentennial of the author’s birth. He will recite Poe’s most famous poem “The Raven” as well as other selections including “The Tell–tale Heart”, “Annabel Lee”, and “The Conqueror Worm”.
“Nevermore - An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe” is a dramatic recreation of the readings that Poe performed during the final years of his short life. Set in 1848, a year after the death of his beloved young wife Virginia, and at the height of his fame as the author of “The Raven”, we watch as he is undone by his own self-destructive tendencies, or in his words: “the imp of the perverse”.
Combs and Gordon began their collaboration in 1985 on the cult film classic “Re-Animator” and have worked together on many movies since including “From Beyond”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Fortress” and most recently “Edmond” based on David Mamet’s play. Jeffrey is also well known to audiences for his frequent television appearances on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, “Enterprise” and “The 4400”.
In 2007 Mr. Combs, Mr. Gordon and Mr. Paoli collaborated on an original adaptation of Poe’s “The Black Cat” for the Showtime series “Masters of Horror” in which Combs played the story’s tortured protagonist as Poe himself. The wrenching details of the writer’s life were interwoven with one of his most famous tales to great effect. Mr. Combs was the very image of the famous writer and captured the essence of Poe and his desperate struggle with poverty and alcoholism.
“An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe” will be touring the east coast this fall as part of the Poe Bicentennial Celebration.
at Steve Allen Theater, at the Center For Inquiry West
on November 10, 17, and 24th
on November 23rd and 1 more date
on December 6th
on November 18th
on November 8th
on November 15th and 1 more date
on November 19th
Steve Allen Theater, at the Center For Inquiry West
on December 3rd