Review: ANATOMY OF A BACK by Kick Boom Theater at Electric Lodge

John Wuchte and his Kick Boom Theater ensemble of five actors and two onstage musicians (Wuchte on percussion and Sarah Green on guitar) continue their exploration of live percussion scoring the actors’ movement, gestures and stylized dialogue during Anatomy of a Back at the Electric Lodge in Venice during the Daredevil Arts Festival, taking musical theater and dance to an exciting new level.

This inventive physical musical takes place in New York City in 1962 in the offices of the TV sitcom “That’s My Sister” in which Oscar winner Lillian Spencer (Kate Faye) is making a comeback portraying identical twin sisters. But for the scenes when the 2 sisters interact, the show hires an unknown actor named Betty (Jenny Griffin who dances around barefoot during the entire show) to portray “The Back” of the other sister. To keep the unknown actress from being recognized, Lillian makes sure Betty’s contract limits the uncredited actress from turning around, never able to reveal her face or speak one word on the show or in any other media. These limitations, while accepted by Betty, create major problems for the show when the uncredited actress is thrust into the limelight when she is nominated for an Emmy for her work as “The Back,” which infuriates the demanding and insecure Lillian.

Jenny Griffin portrays "The Back." All production photos courtesy of Kick Boom Theater.

 With the uncredited actor’s career taking off, the show’s three writers, Jerry (Michael Heger), Eddie (Tyler Marquis), and Seymour (Logan Spahitz) are thrown into a tizzy trying to create new scenes for “Two Sisters” featuring The Back - and even toss around the idea of writing the character as the lead in a new sitcom! And of course, the media comes calling for interviews.

The writers kick around ideas for "Two Sisters." (L-R) Jerry (Michael Heger), Seymour (Logan Spahitz) and Eddie (Tyler Marquis)

Griffin and Marquis as Betty and Eddie put their heads together to figure out a way to go on TV and not reveal who The Back really is, with Eddie convincing her that “people will believe what they are shown.” His comical creation for the interview is turning Betty into Una Credité, an Italian actress whose face is hidden by a veil. It’s a role in which Betty - excels although the only Italian words she knows involve food such as ricotta and mozzarella! So, of course her answers make no sense, but Eddie manages to control things by adopting what he considers to be an Italian accent along with adding a curly-cue moustache and a soul patch to his face. And somehow, the two get away with it! 

And once The Back wins the Emmy, accepted at the ceremony by Lillian, of course, since Betty (as Una Credité) cannot reveal her face, the former Oscar winner makes an absolute fool of herself accepting the award as if it is her own. Thus, the actors’ careers come to a crashing halt when “Two Sisters” is cancelled.

Lillian Spencer (Kate Faye) accepts the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for "The Back," hoping the public still believes she plays the part.

After a short blackout, creator John Wuchte stepped out from behind his assortment of instruments to let us know it’s now 1972 and TV sitcoms have reached a new pinnacle of popularity. And since Lillian has passed away, The Back can now reveal her true self. Betty timidly enters, not dressed in her beautiful, flowing and back-revealing green dress but now in a tee shirt and jeans. Her demeanor is totally unprofessional as she struggles with words, referring to Lillian as “that bitch who never stopped talking,” revealing the one-hit wonder has been reduced to a silly shell of her former glory as “The Back.” 

Wuchte’s look at the “live for the moment” and “go with the flow” world of 1960s media was not only entertaining but also revelatory in its stylized representation of the self-proclaimed “Me” generation – especially in scenes where the actors use flashlights to illuminate just their faces in the darkness as if to say “Hey – look at me!”

The black box theater set included the two musicians downstage right, with five non-matching chairs lining the back wall. Actors moved the chairs around to use them in various scenes, sometimes as if tamers were doing their best to control each other as lions demanding to be the center of attention. On the stage floor were a portable typewriter upon which sitcom copy was created and an old dial telephone that often rang to forward the story, both props placed to create the illusion of the writers’ office. Actors deftly moved chairs and other props on and off the set during scene changes.

Each of the actors is to be commended for their skill in performing such physically demanding movement which often required making their bodies appear like rubber – making it easy to believe their bones had been disconnected! Special recognition to actor Logan Spahitz who unselfconsciously smeared red lipstick all over his face, hands, and undershirt to great effect while trying to score points with Lillian, and John Wuchte whose amazing sound effects and impressive percussion added elements of both reality and fantasy to every scene.

Anatomy of a Back performances took place on July 12 and 17 as part of the Daredevil Arts Festival, a multi-weekend performing arts festival co-presented by Electric Lodge and Pacific Resident Theatre from July 11-19 celebrating bold voices and multidisciplinary storytelling in the Venice community. Check the website at https://www.daredevilarts.org/shows for future performances and festivals.

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