At International City Theatre, Kate Hamill’s “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B” arrives with energy to spare.
Director Amie Farrell frames her production as a “cheerful desecration” of Conan Doyle’s originals, and her interview reflections show her intent to explore female friendship and connection through a lens of farce.
That vision is admirable, and the design team and cast certainly throw themselves into the quick-change, puzzle-box spirit — but the pacing often veers from brisk to breathless. Scenes tumble forward so quickly that wit gives way to whirl.
Sarah Wolter’s Holmes is physically precise and verbally quick, yet her interpretation sometimes feels pitched toward manic rather than methodical. The issue is not her gender but the tonal register; moments that should sharpen into deduction blur into nervous animation.
Cheryl Daro’s Watson radiates warmth and comic impulse, though Hamill’s script leaves her oddly adrift, a physician who strangely knows nothing of Shakespeare and is filled with uncharacteristic anger running from her profession. Still, Daro finds a sort of buoyancy keeps the partnership afloat.
Actors Brian Stanton, Sarah Wolter, Tamarra Graham, and Cheryl Daro from International City Theatre’s production of “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B.” (Photo courtesy ICT/Jordan Gohara).
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Actors Brian Stanton, Sarah Wolter, Tamarra Graham, and Cheryl Daro from International City Theatre’s production of “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B.” (Photo courtesy ICT/Jordan Gohara).
Tamara Graham, meanwhile, finds the sweet spot of Hamill’s comic style. Her turns as Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Drebbler, and Irene Adler showcase a variety of voices and physicalities that feel both disciplined and delightfully eccentric. Brian Stanton, as Lestrade and others, gamely supports the chaos, though even he at times seems caught in the velocity.
Farrell’s concept — a modern Holmesian romp filtered through female camaraderie — remains intriguing, but in execution the comedy’s sheer speed often outruns its clarity.
Ultimately, though the script gestures toward a deeper bond between the two women, suggesting that Holmes and Watson may need one another more intimately than their predecessors ever did, it never clarifies why their genders had to change to tell that story. The transformation feels more like a clever conceit than a revelation, leaving the question of why these women — rather than why simply these people — unanswered.
Still, ICT deserves praise for championing Hamill’s voice and offering its audience a feminist caper that, even when uneven, pulses with contemporary curiosity.
Across town at Musical Theatre West, “Hello, Dolly!” bursts open like a confetti cannon of color and sentiment. If ICT’s offering is heady experimentation, MTW’s is restorative nostalgia.
Under Cynthia Ferrer’s elegant direction and Cheryl Baxter’s buoyant choreography, Jerry Herman’s classic regains its full Technicolor sweep, parade banners, parasols, ostrich feathers, and all.
The production also marks a jubilant homecoming for Tami Tappan Damiano and David Engel, two Long Beach favorites returning after some absence. Their chemistry anchors the show: Engel’s Horace Vandergelder blusters with old-world pomposity, while Damiano’s Dolly glides through every entrance as if she’d never left the stage.
David Engel and Tami Tappan Damiano from Musical Theatre West’s production of “Hello, Dolly!,” which is on show through Nov. 2. (Photo courtesy MTW).
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David Engel and Tami Tappan Damiano from Musical Theatre West’s production of “Hello, Dolly!,” which is on show through Nov. 2. (Photo courtesy MTW).
Her performance fuses comic sparkle with lived-in wisdom, reminding us that beneath the bustle and boas lies a woman reclaiming her life. The supporting cast, Robert Pieranunzi’s wide-eyed Cornelius, Anna Mintzer’s luminous Irene, Benjamin Raanan’s eager Barnaby, and Natalie Holt MacDonald’s effervescent Minnie,complete a picture of exuberant polish.
From the first brass flourish to the final reprise, it is exactly the kind of old-fashioned musical that reaffirms why audiences keep coming back: craftsmanship, joy, and connection writ large. Placed side by side, the two productions reveal the healthy breadth of Long Beach theater.
One bends a classic to interrogate gender and genre; the other embraces tradition to celebrate endurance and community. Both, in their very different ways, remind us that theater, whether cloaked in farce or feathers, is still our most reliable magnifying glass for what it means to be human.
“Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B” continues through Nov. 2 at the Beverly O’Neill Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way. Tickets at internationalcitytheatre.org.
“Hello, Dolly!” continues through Nov. 2 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Tickets at musical.org.
If you go: “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B”
Where: International City Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way.
When: Runs through Nov. 2.
Cost: Thursday, Friday and Saturday tickets cost $56; Sunday shows cost $59.
Info: ictlongbeach.org.
If you go: “Hello, Dolly!”
Where: Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 E. Atherton St.
When: Runs through Nov. 2.
Cost: Tickets range from $28 to $230.
Info: musical.org.