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The Playhouse’s “Belleville” A Hit With Theatre Enthusiasts
Pasadena Independent Apr 24, 2018
"Belleville" stars Thomas Sadoski and Anna Camp on the red carpet on opening night. Photo by Nick Agro
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“Belleville” stars Thomas Sadoski and Anna Camp on the red carpet on opening night. Photo by Nick Agro
By May S. Ruiz
Anna Camp and Thomas Sadoski performed to an appreciative and intent audience this past Sunday when Amy Herzog’s psychological thriller “Belleville” opened at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Directed by Jenna Worsham, Camp and Sadoski played a young American couple living in a Bohemian neighborhood in Paris called Belleville. It began as Camp’s character, Abby, came home unexpectedly one afternoon and heard her husband Zack, played by Sadoski, watching porn in their bedroom.
Thomas Sadoski and Amanda Seyfried. Photo by Nick Agro
This seemingly harmless incident quickly turned into a catastrophic event, as one revelation after another of secrets Abby and Zack had hidden from each other were exposed. Slowly their real identities were unmasked and each of them was surprised to learn they didn’t really know the person they married. The audience watched the intense interplay between the two characters with such concentration one could hear a pin drop.
With no intermission to break the intensity, we didn’t have so much as time to catch our breath. When the play finally came to an end, about a hundred minutes later, we were almost as finally relieved as we were utterly devastated.
Anna Camp and Skylar Astin. Photo by Nick Agro
“Belleville” was indeed a Hitchockian thriller of a play. Director and actors did not disappoint. Camp and Sadoski kept up the tension right up to its conclusion. And an appreciative audience showed their approval with a rousing standing ovation when the lights turned down.
Both Camp and Sadoski enjoy a loyal following and their fans must have come out to support them. Last Sunday’s performance attracted noticeably young theatergoers. It was a stroke of genius that the Playhouse’s Producing Artistic Director, Danny Feldman, chose to mount a play about millennials. And it certainly didn’t hurt that Anna Camp and Thomas Sadoski starred in it. Well done, all!
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