Don Grigware - Page 11

Director Shira Dubrovner serves as the Artistic Director of the Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre and the Festival Director of the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival. As a past member of the Group Repertory Theatre she is excited to be back and thankful to Larry Eisenberg and Chris Winfield for giving her the opportunity to direct R&J. Some of her favorite past directing projects include Broken Glass starring Robert Picardo, GRT productions; Sylvia, Nuts, Veronica's Room and And Then There Were None. What was the genesis of the change-up of ROMEO AND JULIET?

On Monday, August 27 LA's Next Great Stage Star 2018 Presented by Princess Cruises came to a thrilling conclusion on the Debbie Reynolds Mainstage of the El Portal Theatre in NoHo. After a very entertaining 90-minute program in which the 10 contestants gave 150% to their monologues and songs from Broadway shows, eight contestants were eliminated and the top two finalists were selected. It was then decided,  from the consensus of the judges, to add a third runnerup. Then each of the three proceeded to perform a second number after which the distinguished panel of judges made the final decision. Musical director par excellence Jennifer Lin accompanied at the piano throughout the three hour show.

The jukebox musical is currently the rage with Tony nominated Summer: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway and On Your Feet! on a sell-out national tour. Des McAnuff directed and conceived Summer and Sergio Trujillo choreographed both shows. The two men join forces once more with the tour of Ain't Too Proud, The Life and Times of the Temptations currently onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre through Septembret 30. Ain't Too Proud will remin

Broadway veteran actresssinger Desi Oakley is essaying the role of Jenna in Waitress on tour, currently at the Hollywood Pantages through August 26. Oakley took time from her busy performance schedule to discuss the show and what it means to her.

Disney's The Little Mermaid/book by Doug Wright/music by Alan Menken/lyrics by Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater/directed by John LaLonde/choreographed by Chelsea Morgan Stock/musical director: Julie Lamoureux/Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, Claremont/through September 1 Disney's The Little Mermaid is an entertaining treat ... it's aglow and scintillating for kids of all ages. Young kids laugh and hiss at Ursula and her mad pranks; older ones love Ariel's romantic reverie with the Prince. All the color and splendor of the ocean is onstage without water, and that has a lot to say about the creative team who strive to make us believe where we are. As technical aspects of the show are working smoothly, and splend

Disney's Beauty and the Beast/book by Linda Woolverton/music by Alan Menken; lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice/originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions/directed by Yvette Lawrence/choreographed by Cheryl Baxter/musical director: Dan Redfeld/5-Star Theatricals at the Kavli Theatre of  Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza/through July 29 only Without question, 'Tale as old as time' fits the message of Beauty and the Beast, a story of true love, the most difficult to encounter. And once it's found, will it endure? Disney's adaptation of the fairy tale with its sweepingly imaginative spectacle won over even the hardest of hearts. The ani

Famous Indian journalistplaywright Aruna Harjani has written a new comedy West Bollywood that will play at the Matrix Theatre for 4 performances only beginning July 27. Due to its controversial subject matter about two gay men, one American and one Indian - who become a couple, the play has been banned in many countries. In our conversation Harjani talks about the highlights of her illustrious career and tells of her excitement at finding what she feels is the perfect place to produce West Bollywood.

Famous Indian journalist/playwright Aruna Harjani has written a new comedy West Bollywood that will play at the Matrix Theatre for 4 performances only beginning July 27. Due to its controversial subject matter about two gay men, one American and one Indian - who become a couple, the play has been banned in many countries. In our conversation Harjani talks about the highlights of her illustrious career and tells of her excitement at finding what she feels is the perfect place to produce West Bollywood.

Actordirectorwriter Michael Arden needs no introduction. He was nominated for a second Tony this past season for directing the Tony winner for Best Revival of a Musical Once On This Island and is the first Artist.In.Residence at the Wallis Annenberg Theatre here in Los Angeles where he has directed Spring Awakening among many other productions. In our conversation he talks about directing Annie at the Hollywood Bowl, set to open next week Friday July 27. He also explores why the classic Award-winning show is still a popular revival.

Called a Jukebox Musical, On Your Feet! is so much more. It is the true story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. At 17 in 1970s Miami, Gloria Fajardo met record producer and musician extraordinaire Emilio and they fell in love at first sight. Estefan recognized Gloria's supreme singing artistry and chose her as the female vocalist in his all male Latino boy group that later grew into the Miami Sound Machine. This story, via Emilio and Gloria's music, tells a  rich nd passionate story of how two unknown Cubans made it to the top, but not without tragedy and sorrow. Currently onstage at the Hollywood Pantages through July 29 only, this national touring production consists of a dynamic ensemble under the outstanding direction of Jerry Mitchell.

Triple threat performer Susan Egan is no stranger to theatre audiences. She originated Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and is now reviving it 20 years later for 5 Star Theatricals. She took time out of her busy rehearsal schedule to discuss the role and explain why it means so very much to her and her career.

Previous attempts have been made to bring George M. Cohan's life to the stage. None is remembered, however, as much as the 1942 film starring James Cagney. Book writer David Armstrong has constructed a much more realistic account of Yankee Doodle Dandy, tryimg to avoid the traps of Hollywood glamor and tinsel, currently onstage at MTW Long Beach at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts through July 22 In spite of the fantastic cast and sturdy direction and scintillating choreography by James Rocco, it turns in a rather weak account of the father of the American musical comedy (1878-1942). Not that you shouldn't see it; go for the cast and the sheer entertainment value of the music alone that set the scene for Rodgers nd Hammerstein and others to follow.

If you are Brooklyn born, Howard Skora's latest play Damaged Furniture will be an instant reminder of what it was like growing up in a loud Brooklyn family. Constantly at odds with one another and in your face - father and son; mother and son; aunt and nephew; sister and brother - whatever the relationship, it doesn't matter. You're street smart, so you object, shout and yell. Based partly on his own life, Damaged Furniture is about Skora's dad running a family furniture company ... and how he forbad his son to become an actor. Skora's first critically acclaimed hit Miserable with an Ocean View was about his mother, who was ill, couldn't speak, but still dominated his life. When all is said and done, it's funny stuff even if you aren't from Brooklyn, because regardless of nationality -whether Italian or Jewish, we have all encountered parental, sibling and extended family interference. It's just a helluva lot noisier around Brooklynites.

Despite a bomb threat that caused the audience of the Saturday matinee to be evacuated from the Alex Theatre in Glendale and the performance to be cancelled, GMCLA persevered and went forward with the Saturday evening performance of their spectacular Pink Carpet.

Humans fear monsters, and monsters we are told are even more scared of humans. Monsters are not real but horror really does lie in the human experience. Ask the Blakes. Losing one's job, facing illness, the worst being dementia, is a part of their lives and many others in the decaying/disappearing American middle class. In Stephen Karam's riveting play, The Humans, the Blake family gather for Thanksgiving in daughter Brigid's latest dwelling, a Chinatown New York apartment, that she shares with boyfriend Richard, some year since the devastation of September 2001 The parents and grandmother have made the long trek from Scranton, Pennsylvania; they love their children that much and of course like to meddle in their lives. Currently onstage at the Ahmanson, the Tony winning play with the original Broadway cast and directed by Joe Mantello, engages our thought processes, and is simultaneously relatable and entertaining.

n 1998 when Jason Robert Brown won a Tony Award for the score of this unusually provocative musical Parade, the opulent Broadway production closed to critical acclaim, but due to excessive costs, the show remained inaccessible until the Donmar Warehouse resurrected it and produced a tight - minus the frills - mounting at the Mark Taper Forum in 2009. 3-D Theatricals, who are becoming increasingly known for their superlative skill with producing big musicals, have decided to put back many of the frills of the original and double the cast to its original size - 36, in order to enhance and give the musical the big, full-voiced chorus sound it deserves. And, in my mind, this bigger hybrid version surpasses the Taper's for its grande musical elegance and the presence of a perfectly cast lead actor in the role of Leo Frank, Jeff Skowron.

OMG! You mean, like, Elle Woods isn't from the San Fernando Valley, but from Malibu? Wow! And- she not only attended college locally but got into Harvard Law School? May seem a bit far-fetched or too hard to swallow, but it doesn't matter, because once you've seen Elle in action, she's irresistible: a cross between Goldie Hawn, Glinda from Wicked and a splash of Mary Poppins thrown in for good measure. You're gonna love her, guys, in this grande spanking, freshly blossomed pink rosebud of a show. If you liked Reese Witherspoon, you will adore perky, gorgeous Callandra Olivia and everyone else in the fantastically sugar-coated romp Legally Blonde The Musical currently onstage at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre.

A native of San Francisco, Doug Engalla first joined The Group Rep in 1997 as an Actor; while directing projects outside of the Company. In 2007, Doug's first full-length play as Director at the Group Rep was Arsenic and Old Lace, with Rumors being his seventh production as Director there. Other directorial projects included Harvey, A Nice Family Gathering, A Nice Family Christmas, Bless Me, Father (by late Playwright and Group Rep member, Craig Alpaugh); and four World Premieres in the Don't Hug Me musical comedy series by Phil Olson and Paul Olson. When did you first get interested in doing theatre or working on the stage?

Actress Laura Bell Bundy is about to reopen Reprise. She will be playing the role of Charity in Sweet Charity, set to open at the Freud Playhouse, UCLA on June 20. In our chat, Bundy talks about the joy that Charity exudes, the reason she cannot wait to play her. Laura, how exciting to be playing Charity and …being a part of the first show to open the new Reprise! What do you love most about the character of Charity? I love her childlike quality.  Children are open, excitable, playful, optimistic, hopeful, delicate, resilient … they haven't become jaded by life's trials yet… and despite the trials Charity goes through, she still keeps going back for more with her head up, and her heart open.  

As part of Hollywood Fringe 2018, the world premiere Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde bowed at LGBT in Hollywood on the smaller stage on June 9 for 10 performances. Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, this adaptation is written by Fringe veterans Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg who also perform the piece. Grinstead plays the dual main characters and Stromberg everyone else, including maids, professors, detectives, Sara, Jekyll's love interest and even small children. Set in London in 1865, the story takes a few twists and turns from the original, but still focuses on Jekyll's scientific study of good and evil. Grinstead and Strombeg lace their script with lots of dark humor and farce, making us question at first whether we are watching a comedy or a thriller. As the plot moves along, though, the joke lines become a naturally entertaining part of the proceedings.