Becky's New Car (Limelight by SVCT)
Aug 4-27 (Gilroy)
We’re halfway through the run of Becky’s New Car at Limelight by SVCT, so I wanted to take a moment to write it up and capture some of the highlights.
First of all, the cast is amazing —
Denee Lewis absolutely knocks everyone’s socks off as Becky. We had seen her in Office Hours at Pintello Comedy Theater and she’s been in a number of other Limelight shows (Kat in Mom’s Gift - which had also featured Christy Wait, Bill Tindall, Angie Higgins, Myra Kaelin, and Tim Shamrell; Brooke in Other Desert Cities - along with Rosalind Farotte, John Varela, Anthony Andrade, Jr. and Betsy Andrade; and Truvy in Steel Magnolias - which had featured Joanne Engelhardt, Roberta Vinkhuyzen, JoAnna Evans, Robin Harris, Deanna McGill, Rachel Perry, Betsy Andrade, Rosaland Farrote, Donna Knippen, Dana Morgan, and Jen Ellington) as well as some SVCT playhouse shows (Masha in Sonya and Vanya and Masha and Spike — which also featured Scott Lynch, Adrianne Wilkinson, Roberta Vinkhuyzen, Tyler Savin, and Krista Warner), and Claire in Proof — which had featured Angie Higgins, Adrianne Wilkinson, Andrew Cummings, and Doug Doughty).
In addition to a huge number of lines and monologues, her character frequently not only breaks the fourth wall but has to adlib with audience members depending on how they respond to her inquiries. She even does a whole pre-show routine where she seats the audience members as they enter the theater and gives them the welcome talk, all while cleaning her ‘house’ and even vacuuming the stage.Robert Sean Campbell plays Becky’s husband Joe. I had seen him perform in Los Altos Stage Company’s production of Oslo (which had also featured Keith Larson and Peter Mandel). He does such a great job in the role and makes everyone like Joe — and also become a little bit afraid of him. You won’t be able to take your eyes off his face during the show as all the emotions wash over it.
Rob Christopher plays the eccentric widower Walter who offers Becky an alternative life. This is Rob’s first time performing at Limelight, but his photograph was prominently featured on the set of The Outsider, when we depicted him as the disgraced former governor. On SVCT’s Playhouse Stage, Rob has been in many shows, and we saw him in last summer’s Beauty and the Beast (he played Cogsworth — Miriam was a villager & spoon, and Clara did lights in that one). He has been in many other SVCT shows including 1776 (Charles Thompson), The Music Man (Harold Hill), Annie Get Your Gun (Frank Butler), Wizard of Oz (Tin Man), City of Angels (Stine), Act One (George Kaufman and Barnett Hart), and Santa Tells the Night Before Christmas (Santa, online). We also saw Rob in San Jose Musical Theater’s Mamma Mia! (Sam) and San Benito Stage Company’s productions of Mary Poppins (Mr. Banks) and My Fair Lady (Henry Higgins.
Bruce Pember plays Steve, Becky’s co-worker at the car dealership. Bruce was most recently in Limelight’s Later Life, where he played multiple roles (Jim/Roy/Duane/Ted/Walt). Also at Limelight, he was in Tigers Be Still (Principal Moore) — which featured Annalisa Tkacheff who is rehearsing now for Limelight’s next show The Wolves; as well as Ripcord (various roles) — both of which Clara was involved in. Before that, he was in The Country House (Michael), The 39 Steps (Clown), and It’s Only a Play (Freddie).
Jenna Hernandez plays Walter’s daughter Kenni Flood. She’s been off at college in Chicago but we were lucky enough to get her while home for the summer. We first met Jenna in the City of Gilroy’s production of Alice in Wonderland (she played the Queen of Hearts), and then saw her in productions of Spamalot (King Arthur), Lion King (Rafiki), and Rock Of Ages (Lonny) — which we were lucky enough to catch before the production was shut down for the pandemic.
Joyce Bedard plays Walter’s neighbor Ginger. While her first time on stage at Limelight, we’ve seen Joyce in lots of SVCT shows including Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret, 1776, Follies, Willy Wonka, Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, and probably others. Most recently we saw her in Pintello’s Holiday Snap.
Rounding out the cast and getting some great lines diagnosing his family with psychological disorders is Alex Topete, who plays Becky and Joe’s son Chris.
A real highlight of this show for me has been watching director Andrew Cummings in action. We’ve worked together on all the shows this season at Limelight, but this was the first one that he was the director of (coming up next — A Christmas Carol!) I loved watching him work with the cast throughout the lead up to the production. He has a long history of involvement in SVCT shows both behind the scenes and on stage. The set for this show includes a raked stage, a wall of papers that lifts up to the ceiling in an impressive Act II effect, and all sorts of cool lighting. All of the furniture on the stage is made up of banker’s boxes — many of which were internally reinforced so they could serve as chairs, a desk, and a couch, and the boxes are sprinkled around the audience area as well, becoming part of the pre-show when Becky seats patrons that hand the boxes to her.
It’s also been great fun to get to spend more time with Assistant Director, Christy Wright, who we first met in last year’s productions of Tigers Be Still (she ran sound in the booth with Clara who was on lights) and then The Outsider where she completely stole the show as Lulu. Most recently we saw her in Pintello’s Spamalot (Lady of the Lake.)
Also behind the scenes, we were lucky enough to have Dana Scribner as Stage Manager, and Lorraine and Katie Bell as Costume Designers. Kris and Marianne Snook jumped on sound for us.
Here are a few of the fun photos Elizabeth took of the show.
The show runs through August 27th if you want to come join us for the ride!