Don Grigware - Page 12

3-D Theatricals is currently reviving their Ovation winning production Parade at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. The production will end there on Sunday June 10 and next week move on to Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach opening June 15 and playing through June 24. Ovation winner Jeff Skowron talks about reviving his lead role in Parade. Jeff, what is it like doing this role again? I know as an actor you approach it fresh. What do you feel are the greatest challenges at this point in time?

This show is a classic in every sense of the word. Its sustained dark & forboding atmosphere of pre-Nazi Berlin and its celebrated Kander & Ebb score are but two glowing attributes. One, of course, cannot deny Bob Fosse's brilliant 1970 film, but, it was totally different from the Broadway show, as it became more of a showcase for Liza Minnelli's unique talent. And, the stage version has taken on a brand new look since the Roundabout Theatre revamped it in the 90s. This is not the original 60s Cabaret that had Joey Gray as MC onstage only for his musical numbers. Now the MC takes center stage and when he is not speaking or singing, lurks around, ecchanging glances with the other members of the ensemble.

When you are dealing with a phenomenal talent such as Billy Porter, expect the unexpected in his performancve onstage. His Tony and Grammy winning tour.de.force as Lola in Kinky Boots is living proof. In his latest touring cabaret/concert show entitled Billy Porter: The Soul of Richard Rodgers, Porter delivers some of his own compositions along with a bevy of show tunes from the collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein that truly affected him as he was growing up in Pittsburgh. What stands out is the soul of the man who wrote music that not only moved us but changed the world. Rodgers had that kind of power...and so does Porter. His divergent and unique appearance and vocal style express passion in spades. The 90-minute set is bold, dynamic and full of the rage about resisting the current adminstration and continuing to fight for gay rights in our country.

Soft Power/play and lyrics by David Henry Hwang/music & additionaal lyrics by Jeanine Tesori/directed by Leigh Silverman/choreographed by Sam Pinkleton/music supervisor - Chris Fenwick/Ahmanson Theatre/through June 10 When was the last time you listened to or watched the musical The King and I and really zeroed in on it from a cultural perspecive? In the world premiere play/musical Soft Power now onstage at the Ahmanson through June 10 The King and I is referenced throughout.

Bold and brassy? Yes. Loud and raucous? At times! But... Jackie Hoffman is terribly, terribly talented and self-deprecating. Let's add juicy and mirthful! In her one-woman show Memoircita!, which played three performances at LGBT's Renberg Theatre this past weekend, Hoffman doled out more dish than gay audiences could ever dream of ... about her unhappy life, checkered career, whacky view of the world, and of course not excluding working with the brilliant and condescending Jessica Lange on Feud: Bette and Joan on fxtv. Her diary Memoircita! was the highlight.

Director Richard Israel is returning to Actors Co-op to helm the musical Violet. At the Co-op he has previously directed Our Town, The Baker's Wife and 110 In The Shade (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award Winner for Outstanding Musical in an Intimate Venue), among others. Most recently, Richard was the Theatrical Coordinator for the multiple Emmy-award winning HBO series Big Little Lies, directing all of the Avenue Q sequences in the series. Regional theatre credits include West Side Story, Rent and Floyd Collins (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards for Direction and Outstanding Musical in a Large Venue) for McCoy-Rigby Ent.; Kiss Me Kate and Once Upon A Mattress for Cabrillo Music Theatre; the multiple Ovation award-nominated Having It All for the Laguna Playhouse; and Meet Me In St. Louis for MTW. Intimate theatre productions include Bronies The Musical, The Burnt Part Boys, The Full Monty, Avenue Q, Gypsy, Assassins, Big The Musical and the world premiere of Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins. As a resident director for the Musical Theatre Guild, he has directed Women On The Verge, Do I Hear A Waltz, Road Show, High Fidelity and many others. He is recipient of the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Career Achievement in Directing. Tell our readers about the musical Violet.

Playwright Jane Anderson was revered for the Baby Dance and is currently represented at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura with the Baby Dance: Mixed. In our conversation she tells us about the urgency of the updated, practically new play. Will you talk at length about the play and why the update at this time? I wrote the original Baby Dance in 1989 and the main theme of the play was about the class divide in America - white America, that is.  The adopting couple from Los Angles were affluent, educated and liberal. The birth couple were desperately poor, uneducated and living in a trailer park in the south. Both couples were white and the conflict between them was cultural and economic. Many years later, Jenny Sullivan, who directed the or

Actress/stand-up Jackie Hoffman took the world by storm with her electric performance as Mamacita in Feud: Bette & Joan last year on Fox TV. She has since played in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway and is now bringing her new one-woman show Memoircita! to the LGBT Center May 11-13. Hoffman took time from her busy schedule to give us the dope on what to look for in her new show. We all loved you as Mamacita in Feud: Bette and Joan. Was this a difficult characterization for you? If so, describe how?

You may know Ari Stidham best as genius Sylvester Dodd on CBS's 'Scorpion' fourth season just completed, or possibly as Ian Schonfeld from ABC Family's 'Huge'. Other TV credits include 'Insecure', 'Mick and Molly', and 'Glee'. You may also know his music which he releases as DRTV. Ari has also produced films that have premiered at Fangoria Fear Con ('Curse of the Siren') and Sundance ('Clara's Ghost'). Original plays include Theatricus Americanus (Pack) and Dick Duquesne Radio Plays (Open Space). As director, he is currently rehearsing Solo Must Die: A Musical Parody to play the Hudson Backstage Theatre beginning Friday May 4.

Here's the scoop for those newer generation theatre and movie fans who do not remember 1952's blockbuster hit film Singin' in the Rain. Directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green and costars Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds all contributed to making it the smash that it was... and still is...on cable like TCM. The zany lightweight hit transferred to the stage in the early 80s and showed the craziness that may have happened when the big movie studios were transitioning from silents to talkies in the late 20s. Now in a fun-filled revival at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, it's all brought back to vibrant theatrical life by skilled director DJ Gray and a delicious company of triple threats through June 2.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame/book by Peter Parnell/lyrics by Stephen Schwartz/music by Alan Menken/directed by Misti B. Wills/choreographed by Michelle Elkin/musical director: Dan Redfeld/5-Star Theatricals (formerly Cabrillo Music Theatre), Civic Arts Plaza, Thousand Oaks/through April 29 ONLY Victor Hugo's monumental romantic/gothic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, published in 1831, centers in, around and on top of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The musical of the same name written by Peter Parnell, Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, a regional revival at 5 Star Theatricals in Thousand Oaks, presents the cathedral interior and exterior with the belltower and bells dominating the scene. This touring set represents the entire world of bellringer Quasimodo (Will North), who lives like a prisoner, confined within its walls.

Artistic director of Cabrillo Music Theatre Will North is doing double duty as he is playing Quasimodo in the next production The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Musical, set to open in Thousand Oaks Friday April 20. North sat down and talked about how much the role and musical mean to him.

Broadway had one of its greatest commercial hits and the longest running comedy-thriller with Ira Levin's Deathtrap in 1978, and it was later on film in 1982 with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. Like Sleuth  before it, Deathtrap makes a game out of murder with plot twists too numerable to mention, and adds just a small amount of comedy to make it all palatable. It's a play within a play, making it doubly intriguing to watch. Now on stage at Group rep, this new production of the classic is sturdy with fine direction from Jules Aaron and a top notch cast.

West Side Story/book by Arthur Laurents/music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/directed by Danny Michaels and Orlando Alexander/choreographed by Orlando Alexander/music director: Steven Applegate/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through May 26

One thing for sure about Joshua Harmon's Significant Other is that all of the characters like to talk, nonstop, and while talking about the mundane, like dating, possible mates and themselves, they manage to be funny and serious simultaneously. Jordan Berman (Will Von Vogt) is gay and desperately seeking a partner. He has his eyes set on Will (John Garet Stoker), with whom he works, and is nothing short of obsessive in his approach to asking him out. Will is distant, and it takes Jordan a lot of effort to get

South Pacific plays The Soraya (formerly VPAC) at CSUN this weekendApril 13-15 and then moves to La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts April 20. We sat down with multi-talented actress Jodi Kimura who is essaying the role of Bloody Maryin the production. As you will see, Kimura is really into this role. What is it about Bloody Mary that everyone loves? She is so brash, you listen... but end up really caring about her. Well, I can't really speak for

The Gershwins' Nice Work If You Can Get It is such a smooth entertainment and a joy to watch where and whenever it plays...if the director and cast are top notch and up to a myriad of challenges. You cannot pull off farcical material unless actors are atuned to split timing and can sing and dance up a storm. You must have triple threat performers. No problem at MTW, whose 'S'Wonderful' production keeps the audience consistently applauding for more. Dependably resourceful director Larry Raben, splendid choreographer Peggy Hickey and a stellar ensemble create real 'Fascinating Rhythm' through April 22.   

Let's make one thing perfectly clear from the start. If you are expecting a sequel to Phantom of the Opera in Love Never Dies, you may be let down. This new show that is making its American premiere in the tour across North America, after a dismal opening in London in 2010, has been rewritten and reworked many times over, and is based on Frederick Forsyth's The Phantom of Manhattan, not on Gaston Leroux's Le Phantome de l'Opera upon which the first Phantom was based. Even Lloyd Webber stated emphatically that it is not a sequel, but a different story with the same characters. If you open your imagination and find it in your heart to believe that the Phantom and Christine consummated their love for one another by having sex and producing a son, you will enjoy much of the show. If not, and you want this production to follow the original from 1986, it will most likely not suit you.

On Friday April 6 and Saturday April 7 actress/author/minister Adrienne Barbeau brought An Evening with Adrienne Barbeau: There Are Worse Things I Could Do to the Debbie Reynolds Mainstage Theatre of the El Portal in NoHo. Playwright Brian Christopher Williams, a good personal friend of Barbeau's, moderated the evening. For 95 minutes Barbeau and Williams sat in comfortable chairs onstage and talked about her life which began in California and then moved onto New York and back. Barbeau is still youthful and beautiful at 72 and has such warmth and honesty oozing from every pore that the audience hung on every word. The evening never lagged..The time moved too quickly and an enthusiastic Q and A followed with Barbeau still beaming.

ules Aaron has directed shows at GRT including The Paris Letter (a major critical success) and That Lovin' Feelin' (the Righteous Brothers musical that was extended and broke all house records).  Aaron is the winner of over 40 awards for direction around the country (including LA Drama Critics Award, Garland Award, Bay Area Critics Award, Philadelphia Critics Award, Utah Theatre Critics Award, etc.  He is bi-coastal, working frequently in fifteen California theatres including South Coast Repertory,  ICT, McCoy/Rigby, Pasadena Playhouse, Odyssey Theatre (most recently directed the acclaimed Two Fisted Love), TheatreWorks, Colony Theatre, Falcon Theatre and Theatre 40; In New York at The Public Theatre (personally developed plays with Joe Papp), Soho Rep, the Unit Theatre; regionally at the Humana Festival (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Philadelphia Theatre Co., Utah Shakespearean Theatre among many others. Aaron is currently in rehearsal for Deathtrap expected to open at Group rep Friday April 6.