Dinner Theatre: Filippos and Shotgun Players

I love the Ashby Stage, home of Shotgun Players. It's right next to the Ashby BART, which means you can not only pay lots of money to BART from the city to the theatre, but also park right across the street form the theatre as well.

What I don't like about the Ashby Stage so much is the lack of restaurants in the immediate vicinity. Sure, there's the Berkeley Bowl, but I wasn't quite up for that. Now, I don't go to the Ashby Stage very often, so this first Dinner Theatre column already exposes my lack of restaurant knowledge. Deal, or suggest.

So, the other thing I dislike about, well, Berkeley, is the traffic. I know, I'm not supposed to drive. But sorry, I want food. So we (me and my thetare date) drove, uh, crawled up to College, where we parked (I have good parking karma) and walked into the first acceptable restaurant closest to the car: Filippos.

Cute but social atmosphere plus great and super-fast service make Filippos a great pre-theatre restaurant--as long as you don't mind getting back in the car and careening back down Ashby. I had butternut squash ravioli in a sage and butter sauce, which was pretty nice, though the pasta was a bit too firm. My date had something with chicken and penne and red sauce, equally nice. And at about $10 or less a plate, pretty economical.

By the time you read this, the Shotgun Players show Cabaret would have closed, so treat this as a mere historical piece. Hey, the show didn't need another review anyway--it already got great reviews and sold out its month-long extension. Director Russell Blackwood outdid himself with the show's concept and design, from the Kit Kat Klub girls flirting with the audience before the show--Divina Cohen made an especially nice lap partner--to the sleight of hand to implicating the audience in the "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" number and especially the end where the whole Klub comes down. Blackwood's kinkiness is evidenced, yet he mixes it wonderfully with this intelligent interpretation. Kimberly Dooley was absolutely fetching as Sally Bowles, and Cassidy Brown framed her nicely as Clifford Bradshaw. I only wish that Clive Worsley was still playing the EmCee. I did feel bad for Kieran Chavez, who did just fine in the role, because anyone who knows Worsley's acting would be looking forward to his edgy performance.

My guess is that Blackwood was also behind the lobby decorations, the kinky photos and especially the peep shows in the walls, which revealed drawing and dioramas--the really kinky stuff, of course, was closer to the floor. So shorter people like kids could see? Actually, a couple brought in some kids, who looked no older than 12. I watched as one of the pre-show actors pulled them aside and started talking intently. I guess they were mature enough to handle nudity and all the sexual innuendo--and overtness.

In all, a good and cheap meal plus an entertaining musical (and parking at BART) made for a good Friday evening of Dinner Theatre.