For the next three nights at the Pasadena Playhouse a rare and delightful opportunity is available to anyone who appreciates how intricate the process of creating a unique project can be.
I think Val Kilmer has created CITIZEN TWAIN in the hopes of not only showing us a slightly different side of Mark Twain but also a different side of Val Kilmer. But then again that could just be my left side brain working overtime.
You can go on his website www.ValKilmer.com and order tickets. Hopefully the remaining shows are not sold out. This is a rare and delightful opportunity to watch one of America's premiere actors unfold a project as he unfolds it himself.
From the very beginning of the evening everything about the show was unique.
My daughter treated me to a night at the theater and I promise you neither of us had any idea how fulfilling the evening would be.
It started on a down note in that I brought along my 4th of July project journal book ( a project that I can't talk about because it involves a question that I ask and then record....and if I told you about it the surprise would be ruined) with the outside chance that Mr. Kilmer might answer my special question. I printed the theater tickets and the directions and placed them in the 8 x 11 inch journal and then preceded to place the book on top of the car while I opened the door, and then being the complete idiot that I am.....drove away.
As we turned right on San Vicente off of 11th street in Santa Monica I started telling Lily about a time I went to Dodger Stadium about 20 years ago, with a friend of mine named John Roberts ( not Jon) who, as we pulled in to parking lot, discovered that he left the tickets at home..The second I finished telling her the story....LIGHTS FLASHED INSIDE MY HEAD and I pulled over to he side of the road somewhere between 16th and 21st. Lily said "what are you doing Dad?" I looked at her and said, "I think I put my book, with the tickets and the directions,on top of the car!" We got out and looked around and then did a double check inside the car and decided that while I was a complete goof ball, maybe we should go back to the house and reprint the tickets.....which we did and we retraced our route with no luck. As we left the house,for the second time, Lily thought maybe we had gone north on 10th street instead of 11th. As we turned right on San Vicente again, we spotted a few sheets of white paper on the ground. What we found were the two electronically printed tickets and the directions......no book. Hopefully someone will note the e-mail addresses in the book and return it....but I've already planned my second edition so the old adage...."if you love them let them go; if it's meant to be they will return." Please keep in mind....great books and people have much in common.
It's been awhile since Lily and had gone out on a special evening and I was completely flustered that I was responsible for making the evening start so erratically....but she remained calm and the 5:30 rush hour traffic in Los Angeles County diverted our frustration in another direction. The amount of road work being done on the 405 freeway between Wilshire and Mullholland Dr. boggles the mind.
We finally arrived at the theater around 7:20 with showtime being 8. The Pasadena Playhouse is quite retro and very lovely. People can mingle outside with a bar on one side and a gallery on the other side of the patio. Our plans of getting there early and having a bite to eat were scuttled and we had to settle for a few bags of pretzels and some white wine that was available at a make shift bar in the middle of the patio. As I took a sip of my wine I heard Lily say...."excuse me" to someone on her left. Apparently a man had bumped into her and as I turned I realized that quite a few people were staring at the man who happened to be dressed in a white suit and had Einstein looking hair.
Mark Twain had entered the patio and playfully bummed into Lily and then apologised (I think) and started moving through the crowd. He did about ten minutes of meets and greets and displayed a true southern gentleman's persona with a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other.
My first thought was how brilliant it was to engage with the audience and then realized that this could only happen in certain types of arenas and with certain types of performances. Mark Twain mingling was true genius and I fully appreciated the effect it had on Lily. Ok....I was a bit starstruck myself but more for the packaged concept than the actual player.
I love it when extra details are included that go over and above what we expect from our entertainers.
After charmingly floating through the crowd Mr. Twain simply said...."I think it's time we went inside"...or something like that........and he Pied Pipered us into the theater...where we were about to witness a magical two hours.
On the guise that you might decide to go see the show I think I've already said too much but perhaps what I've chosen to disclose will push you to exercise your fingers and purchase a few tickets.
I promise you it will be an evening to remember.
As a LSJ (large screen junkie) I admit to being a Val Kilmer fan and was able to relay my BRAVO story to him at the meet and greet which followed the show. The BRAVO story centers on the last film that Sean and I saw together in December of 1993.
He and I and one of his friends....I think it was Cort......went to the sold out movie on the night it opened in Santa Monica.
As Doc Holliday (Val) passed away at the end of TOMBSTONE a man stood up in the middle of the theater and yelled....."BRAVO, BRAVO" clapped and then sat down as Kurt Russell went off looking for Dana Dalany in San Francisco. Sean said afterward that he had never seen that before. He was 15 at the time and I told him I had never even heard of something like that happening....and to this day I've yet to encounter anyone standing up and applauding an actor in a movie...during the movie. I've heard applause for a actor as the credits scroll but never while the film is still rolling.
Mr. Kilmer's face brightened up and he generally seemed pleased by the story. Then I proceeded to explain that my son passed away in February of 1994 and that Tombstone might have been the last movie he saw in a theater. Val's disposition somewhat changed and Lily and I both noticed it....it was slight but something hit and hit hard and when we got home and Googled him and discovered that in 1977 he had lost a 15 year old brother...... we both understood.
Before we left him I explained very quickly about losing my journal on the way and that I had a special question to ask him. He put on his glasses and I asked the question and his answer was...."well you've asked the question." I looked at him and said...."and you aren't going to answer it, are you?" "No, I'm not," he said. We thanked him for the performance, had a picture taken and then say goodbye and proceeded to get completely twisted around freeway detours trying to leave Pasadena.
As we were driving home Lily wondered why he didn't answer the question and I simply said he's not the first and he won't be the last.
If you are curious about the question you'll have to wait until I ask you, but for now this story is supposed to focus on Val Kilmer's wonderful production of CITIZEN TWAIN at the Pasadena Playhouse running through August 30th.
Besides, don't you hate it when one artist tries to divert the attention from another artist when the other artist is actually performing.
I apologise Mr. Kilmer for asking a question that you would be more than happy to answer if we were friends....I think.
Your entire body of work during the evening just made it seem like we were all friends and that's an aspect of entertainment that I haven't seen since Steve Martin did stand up at the Boarding House in 1973. White suit and white hair.....hummmm. Was Steve paying homage to Mark?
CITIZEN TWAIN IS A TRIP.....BECAUSE VAL KILMER
IS A MULTI-TALENTED ARTIST.
and that should be reason enough to check out his show.
ONLY THREE NIGHTS LEFT
WWW.VALKILMER.COM
Michael Timothy McAlevey
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