The historic Depot Mall and Bar in Los Alamos has been transformed into a fictitious county courtroom, thanks to Jim Albertson, the set constructor behind a new one-act musical currently held at the venue (with performances scheduled to run through July 11).
Presented by the Los Alamos Theatre Group, TRASH debuted on July 2 and proceeds from its two-weekend run will be split between Olga Reed Elementary School and a handful of nonprofit organizations, including the Friends of the Los Alamos Public Library. To date, the local community theater (founded in 2018) has raised more than $12,000 to benefit various programs and causes. Tickets to TRASH start at $25, with special bar seating also available to patrons for $35.
Written and directed by Jeffrey Bloom (locally known as a prolific wedding and portrait photographer), TRASH has been described as a courtroom comedy centered on “a very untidy death,” made possible by a team of volunteer performers and technicians, with a cast and crew made up of unpaid community members. The plot follows Prosecutor Blanchfield (played by Shelby Sim), who squares off with Defense Attorney Dandi (Krista Harris, co-publisher of Edible Santa Barbara) as she comes to the aid of three men (Jason Mergenov, Gabriel Bustamante, and Kris Beverly) on trial for murder. The decedent? A motorcyclist who the trio got into an aggressive scuffle with after they accused him of littering on the highway (hence the title, TRASH).
Judge Clara Click (Ilene Bezahler) presides over this procedural parody, as the audience becomes a jury of sorts, watching as the play progresses like an actual court case in real time—with the minor exception of characters periodically breaking into song and dance routines. The show features about a dozen original songs, composed by collaborators Connie Rhode and Lee Stanchfield (the duo who scored the Los Alamos Theatre Group’s last original musical, Crazy Talented).
The songs are brief (as you’d expect from a one-act), but every cast member lends their voice to the plot at least once, expressing their opinions (whether they seem fair, biased, or anywhere in-between) of the unfolding case. Even the court’s stenographer (Deborah Ulrick) and bailiff (Douglas Clark) weigh in with their thoughts on the case in operatic fashion.
While Prosecutor Blanchfield openly sings lyrics alluding to the defendants rotting in hell someday, the trio isn’t afraid to revel in their belief that the person they’re accused of murdering is already there—whoa, talk about a major burn! While it’s evident early on that these three men believe the decedent deserved his fate, whether they’re responsible for his death remains a mystery up until the play’s final moments.
Throughout the show, the audience hears testimonies from several witnesses, including twin sisters Beatrice and Anna Flatta (played by real-life twin sisters Dianne McGowan-Lindquist and Gretchen McGowan, respectively), and brother and sister Lucas and Penelope Redwine (played by Cooper Smith and Bella Sim, respectively). Speaking of siblings, cast member Addison Jones (who also gets called to the witness stand during the trial, playing Detective Blaine O’Reilly) thanks her sister for inspiring her to pursue acting during her childhood.
“My sister planted the acting seed with me a long time ago,” Jones said in the show’s program. “We performed anything and everything we could, for anyone who would sit down long enough for us to grab their attention.”
Grab Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood’s attention at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 8-15, 2021.
