Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Three-ring circus

Moxie's Enron is a must-tell story that's too absurd for its own good.

Eddie Yaroch in Enron at Moxie Theatre.
Eddie Yaroch in Enron at Moxie Theatre.

Enron

  • Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite N, Rolando
  • $20 - $27

Rich Kinder doesn’t appear in Laura Prebble’s satirical, three-ring circus based on the colossal collapse of Enron. From 1990 to 1996, he was President and Chief of Operations. According to Robert Bryce, author of Pipe Dreams, Kinder was a “tightwad…who made everybody accountable for every penny.” When Jeff Skilling replaced him, day-to-day activities turned to “unbridled aggression.”

Skilling was a strategic genius, says Bryce. But “when it came to understanding the importance of cash, he was dumber than a box of hammers.”

Skilling and finance wiz Andy Fastow shot Enron through the economic roof, then plunged the company with the “golden reputation” into bankruptcy. In 2001, 20,000 employees lost their jobs, medical benefits, and $1.2 billion in retirement funds (retirees lost $2 billion in pension funds). The employees received $4500 in severance play; execs, bonuses of $55 million.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Californians who remember the rolling blackouts of 2000-2001 can thank Enron for the “electricity crisis.” They would probably remember the company — and the market manipulations, pipeline shutdowns, and deregulated energy — even more if 9/11 had not seared the nation’s psyche.

Enron follows the rise and fall of a mega-corporation by following the rises and falls of:

Kenneth Lay, founder and chairman: hobnobbed with Bill Clinton and George W., and who said “I believe that the balance sheet was fundamentally strong. I believed that then, I believe that now.”

CEO Jeffrey Skilling: who had to pay defense attorneys a $23 million dollar retainer.

Andy Fastrow: who managed to conceal $30 billion in debt and who confessed at his trial, “I was extremely greedy. I lost my moral compass and did many things I regret.”

Claudia Roe: a composite of three women, one of whom, Rebecca Mark, said “I don’t feel remorse…equity is called equity for a reason.”

Enron at Moxie

To spice up a play with so many explanations and backstory, Prebble includes puppets, song and dance, three blind mice, and three red-eyed velociraptors, a la Jurassic Park. The latter represent Fastrow’s SPE’s (Special Project Entities), which enabled him to conceal almost $30 billion in debts. He called them “raptors.”

Enron’s a major story that demands to be told on a stage — in a live event — not as statistics, sound-bytes, or TV shots of the principals led up courthouse steps by batteries of lawyers. One could wish that Prebble were less eager to entertain with the side shows. They create an absurdist atmosphere, but pull focus from the monumental monstrosity of the scandal.

They’re one of the weaker aspects of Moxie Theatre’s in many ways fine production. Javier Velasco’s choreography is inventive, but the execution’s uneven, especially in the dance of the “lightsabers,” where several flash their separate ways. The songs reveal that about half the cast has little experience in musical theater.

Max Macke’s Skilling thinks he’s King Lear, and with conviction. He’s right and the world, closing in on him, is dead wrong. Macke traces a sweeping arc, from victory to defeat and raging denial. Unlike Lear, he gains no wisdom.

As Ken Lay and Claudia Roe, Mark C. Petrich and Lisel Gorel-Getz have little to work with, though they could put more variety into Lay’s soft and Roe’s hard-core attitudes.

In a terrific performance, Eddie Yaroch makes Andy Fastrow a mad scientist with frizzled hair on fire. Yaroch brims with “bubble mania,” the giddy, bulletproof high that blazed through “the world’s most innovative company.”

Sandra Ruiz, Savvy Scopelleti, James P. Darvas, and Jo Anne Glover make useful contributions. As do Jennifer Brawn Gitting's up-market costumes and Emily N. Smith’s raptors. Tim Nottage’s sleek, white, three-paneled set uses a turntable for quick changes of scene. By play’s end it resembles Fortune’s Wheel.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Dim Sum Tour, Warwick’s Holiday Open House

Events November 24-November 27, 2024
Eddie Yaroch in Enron at Moxie Theatre.
Eddie Yaroch in Enron at Moxie Theatre.

Enron

  • Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Boulevard, Suite N, Rolando
  • $20 - $27

Rich Kinder doesn’t appear in Laura Prebble’s satirical, three-ring circus based on the colossal collapse of Enron. From 1990 to 1996, he was President and Chief of Operations. According to Robert Bryce, author of Pipe Dreams, Kinder was a “tightwad…who made everybody accountable for every penny.” When Jeff Skilling replaced him, day-to-day activities turned to “unbridled aggression.”

Skilling was a strategic genius, says Bryce. But “when it came to understanding the importance of cash, he was dumber than a box of hammers.”

Skilling and finance wiz Andy Fastow shot Enron through the economic roof, then plunged the company with the “golden reputation” into bankruptcy. In 2001, 20,000 employees lost their jobs, medical benefits, and $1.2 billion in retirement funds (retirees lost $2 billion in pension funds). The employees received $4500 in severance play; execs, bonuses of $55 million.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Californians who remember the rolling blackouts of 2000-2001 can thank Enron for the “electricity crisis.” They would probably remember the company — and the market manipulations, pipeline shutdowns, and deregulated energy — even more if 9/11 had not seared the nation’s psyche.

Enron follows the rise and fall of a mega-corporation by following the rises and falls of:

Kenneth Lay, founder and chairman: hobnobbed with Bill Clinton and George W., and who said “I believe that the balance sheet was fundamentally strong. I believed that then, I believe that now.”

CEO Jeffrey Skilling: who had to pay defense attorneys a $23 million dollar retainer.

Andy Fastrow: who managed to conceal $30 billion in debt and who confessed at his trial, “I was extremely greedy. I lost my moral compass and did many things I regret.”

Claudia Roe: a composite of three women, one of whom, Rebecca Mark, said “I don’t feel remorse…equity is called equity for a reason.”

Enron at Moxie

To spice up a play with so many explanations and backstory, Prebble includes puppets, song and dance, three blind mice, and three red-eyed velociraptors, a la Jurassic Park. The latter represent Fastrow’s SPE’s (Special Project Entities), which enabled him to conceal almost $30 billion in debts. He called them “raptors.”

Enron’s a major story that demands to be told on a stage — in a live event — not as statistics, sound-bytes, or TV shots of the principals led up courthouse steps by batteries of lawyers. One could wish that Prebble were less eager to entertain with the side shows. They create an absurdist atmosphere, but pull focus from the monumental monstrosity of the scandal.

They’re one of the weaker aspects of Moxie Theatre’s in many ways fine production. Javier Velasco’s choreography is inventive, but the execution’s uneven, especially in the dance of the “lightsabers,” where several flash their separate ways. The songs reveal that about half the cast has little experience in musical theater.

Max Macke’s Skilling thinks he’s King Lear, and with conviction. He’s right and the world, closing in on him, is dead wrong. Macke traces a sweeping arc, from victory to defeat and raging denial. Unlike Lear, he gains no wisdom.

As Ken Lay and Claudia Roe, Mark C. Petrich and Lisel Gorel-Getz have little to work with, though they could put more variety into Lay’s soft and Roe’s hard-core attitudes.

In a terrific performance, Eddie Yaroch makes Andy Fastrow a mad scientist with frizzled hair on fire. Yaroch brims with “bubble mania,” the giddy, bulletproof high that blazed through “the world’s most innovative company.”

Sandra Ruiz, Savvy Scopelleti, James P. Darvas, and Jo Anne Glover make useful contributions. As do Jennifer Brawn Gitting's up-market costumes and Emily N. Smith’s raptors. Tim Nottage’s sleek, white, three-paneled set uses a turntable for quick changes of scene. By play’s end it resembles Fortune’s Wheel.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader