At International City Theatre, Kate Hamill\u2019s \u201cMs. Holmes & Ms. Watson \u2013 Apt. 2B\u201d arrives with energy to spare.<\/p>\n
Director Amie Farrell frames her production as a \u201ccheerful desecration\u201d of Conan Doyle\u2019s originals, and her interview reflections show her intent to explore female friendship and connection through a lens of farce.<\/p>\n
That vision is admirable, and the design team and cast certainly throw themselves into the quick-change, puzzle-box spirit \u2014 but the pacing often veers from brisk to breathless. Scenes tumble forward so quickly that wit gives way to whirl.<\/p>\n
Sarah Wolter\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Cheryl Daro\u2019s Watson radiates warmth and comic impulse, though Hamill\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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Actors Brian Stanton, Sarah Wolter, Tamarra Graham, and Cheryl Daro from International City Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cMs. Holmes & Ms. Watson \u2013 Apt. 2B.\u201d (Photo courtesy ICT\/Jordan Gohara).\n<\/p>\n
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Actors Brian Stanton, Sarah Wolter, Tamarra Graham, and Cheryl Daro from International City Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cMs. Holmes & Ms. Watson \u2013 Apt. 2B.\u201d (Photo courtesy ICT\/Jordan Gohara).\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n Tamara Graham, meanwhile, finds the sweet spot of Hamill\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Farrell\u2019s concept \u2014 a modern Holmesian romp filtered through female camaraderie \u2014 remains intriguing, but in execution the comedy\u2019s sheer speed often outruns its clarity.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 rather than why simply these people \u2014 unanswered.<\/p>\n Still, ICT deserves praise for championing Hamill\u2019s voice and offering its audience a feminist caper that, even when uneven, pulses with contemporary curiosity.<\/p>\n Across town at Musical Theatre West, \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d bursts open like a confetti cannon of color and sentiment. If ICT\u2019s offering is heady experimentation, MTW\u2019s is restorative nostalgia.<\/p>\n Under Cynthia Ferrer\u2019s elegant direction and Cheryl Baxter\u2019s buoyant choreography, Jerry Herman\u2019s classic regains its full Technicolor sweep, parade banners, parasols, ostrich feathers, and all.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s Horace Vandergelder blusters with old-world pomposity, while Damiano\u2019s Dolly glides through every entrance as if she\u2019d never left the stage.<\/p>\n David Engel and Tami Tappan Damiano from Musical Theatre West\u2019s production of \u201cHello, Dolly!,\u201d which is on show through Nov. 2. (Photo courtesy MTW).\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 1<\/p>\n David Engel and Tami Tappan Damiano from Musical Theatre West\u2019s production of \u201cHello, Dolly!,\u201d which is on show through Nov. 2. (Photo courtesy MTW).\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019s wide-eyed Cornelius, Anna Mintzer\u2019s luminous Irene, Benjamin Raanan\u2019s eager Barnaby, and Natalie Holt MacDonald\u2019s effervescent Minnie,complete a picture of exuberant polish.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cMs. Holmes & Ms. Watson \u2013 Apt. 2B\u201d continues through Nov. 2 at the Beverly O\u2019Neill Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way. Tickets at internationalcitytheatre.org.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d continues through Nov. 2 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Tickets at musical.org.<\/p>\n If you go: \u201cMs.\u00a0Holmes & Ms. Watson \u2013 Apt. 2B\u201d<\/p>\n Where: International City Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way.<\/p>\n When: Runs through Nov. 2.<\/p>\n Cost: Thursday, Friday and Saturday tickets cost $56; Sunday shows cost $59.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n