Don Grigware - Page 13

Mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie never dreamed that her little play The Mousetrap that opened in 1952 would still be playing on London's West End, making it the longest running play in history. It's a favorite in high school and college drama programs and community theatre. I myself played Christopher Wren in the 70s in Massachusetts. It's popular because murder mystery fans love to sit on the edge of their seats as they try to figure out the identity of the culprit. Now in a strong production at Crown City Theatre in NoHo, The Mousetrap is alive - no pun intended - and captivating audiences through April and most likely beyond.

In 1993 Neil Simon penned his experiences as a young writer for Your Show of Shows on early 50s television in a play entitled Laughter on the 23rd Floor. At that time he was a novice learning from the likes of series star Sid Caesar and fellow-writers Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, and Selma Diamond among others. The seven member team plus Caesar collaborated on sketch comedy that ran live weekly on NBC. Daily work was hellish with the crazies bringing their personal issues and divergent styles of expression every hour of every day to the writers' room. The sketch material was not only affected by their various personalities clouded by bold ethnic traits but also by the world around them that included the infamous attacks of McCarthyism. In the arts actors, writers, directors and other artists were endangered of being branded a communist and fired from their work. NBC found Your Show of Shows to be too sophisticated and thereby made cuts threatening the show's existence. It was cut back to an hour. In the play Sid Caesar is Max Prince (Pat Towne), an alcoholic and drug addicted tyrant who will stop at nothing to prove his point. He fights NBC; of course, to no avail. Laughter... plays the Garry Marshall Theatre through April 22, brilliantly directed b

Actor Alex Skuby was born in Neptune, New Jersey. He moved to Chicago in 1992 and was cast in various plays with several different theater companies. In 1998 Alex moved to LA and has been in television series, films and voice-overs. Some of his credits: 'Santa Clarita Diet,' 'Bones,' 'Last Man Standing.' 'CSI,' CBS's hit sitcom 'The King of Queens' (5 seasons recurring as 'Mr. Pruzan'), recently recurring on Freeform's drama series 'The Fosters' as Detective Joe Gray. We caught up with him in rehearsal for the new play Damaged Furniture opening Saturday March 24 and running Saturdays only at the Whitefire Theatre.

Mo Collins, a Minnesota native, moved to LA in '98 where she landed 'Mad TV,' giving birth to characters such as Lorraine, Stuart's Mother, Trina and more. Post 'Mad TV,' Mo built her credits with hit shows such as 'Parks and Recreation' as Joan Callamezzo, Gyna in '40 Year Old Virgin' and Susan on Netflix' 'Lady Dynamite' . Mo Collins garnered her first Emmy Nomination in 2017, for her work on the animated show 'F is for Family' on Netflix. She's about to open onstage at the Whitefire in Damaged Furniture.

What better way to celebrate the day after Saint Pat's March 18 than to attend a concert starring Irish tenor Dennis McNeil? He's half Irish; so am I, and that's more than good enough, for at this time of the year everyone has a bit of the blarney in them. Once a month McNeil sings a concert at the Lounge of the Hermosa Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa. This month he titled his show I'll Have Another and, true to form, on the small table next to his chair was a tall glass of Guinness. At the end of the 90 minute set, the glass was empty. Dean Martin could never get away with that on national television, but on stage, when you're the only star, you can do anything you want, and if anything the Guinness gave McNeil that extra lift to deliver a gloriously tuneful performance. Backed by wonderful musician Ed Martel on electric keyboard, McNeil was aglow the instant he hit the stage and never let down.

Annie Get Your Gun is a tried and true musical gem from the Golden Age. The music by Irving Berlin is the major highlight with a book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, updated by Peter Stone, about the life and times of Annie Oakley (Jamie Mills) focusing on her romance with sharpshooter Frank Butler (Brent Schindele through March 18/Johnny Fletcher from 3/23-4/14). Candlelight Pavilion's current production provides a fun-filled evening for audience who do go out humming the tunes. Oakley, so beautifully played on screen in 1957 by Betty Hutton, is an

If the laws are changed for convenience, who will object to money, favors or a higher position? When you think about it, the issue is timeless. In the 16th century, King Henry VIII (Ian Michaels) divorced his wife Catherine, who could not give him a son, and married Anne Boleyn. He was excomunicated from the Catholic Church by the Pope of Rome. The Anglican Church resulted and Henry's power became supreme in England. Spain, who had conducted the Inquisition, looked upon England with disdain. Anyone under Henry's command, who had signed an oath accepting the changes, stood to benefit in convenient ways. For example, Master Richard Rich (Mitchell Lam Hau) moved up the ladder and betrayed his mentor and friend Sir Thomas More (Bruce Ladd), who had offered him sound advice about becoming a teacher and staying honest. Under oath, Rich lied about More, who was accused of treaso

Thom Babbes credits at Actors Co-op include Summer and Smoke, Ah, Wilderness (Best Director/StageSceneLA), The Miracle Worker and Wait Until Dark.  He has directed workshop productions of new works, Dietrich (based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer) by John Martins III, The Real Real Thing by Frank Higgins and Washington Irvine's Sketchbook by Frank Higgins and Southhamton County (based on Nat Turner's slave rebellion) which Mr. Babbes wrote.  Other credits:  Sun City by Jim Geoghan at Stella Adler Theater, Hollywood.  A writer as well, Mr. Babbes recently adapted William Saroyan's novel The Human Comedy for the stage.  Screenplays include Deadly Dreams and Body Chemistry (Concorde New Horizons), The Audition - A Short Film (Co-Writer - Winner Best Screenplay & Best Comedy 2008 - 168 Hour Film Festival), X-treme Weekend - Short Film (Co-Writer, screened at multiple fests USA and Canada.)  Insurrection (Samuelson Prods.), Bleeding Writing and Arithmetic (Kings Road Ent.), The Substutute (Apollo Pictures), Island of Lonely Men (Sotela Pictures).

Focusing on one of the most devastatingly controversial periods in history after Pearl Harbor in the early 1940s, Allegiance portrays Japanese Americans, loyal to the US, who were forced out of their homes and relocated to centers akin to concentration camps. Treated like animals with little food, water or medications, somehow through the grace of strong will many of them toughed it out. Currently on stage at JACCC in its Los Angeles premiere, Allegiance has a fairly sturdy book and some fine uplifting music, but is not without its flaws.

So many fans know Del Shores as a prolific playwright and screenwriter, and film director and producer they forget he's also a character actor...and a damn good one. Currently onstage at the Celebration Theatre at the Lex, Shores' new one-man show Six Characters in Search of a Play is hysterically funny ...and ... it's all Shores. The audience gets a chance to see just what a versatile talent he is. Shores's sense of humor is flamboyant but sincere. His first big laugh comes with saying he's a thief, as the idea for the show comes from Pirandello...at least the title. Another big chuckle emanates when he professes to be a storyteller, quoting Mark Twain, 'Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.' What better than a few delicious lies to embellish the anecdotes! After all, he from the South and Southerners are prone ... to lie.

What a rare treat to see a play based on true events that is simultaneously informative as well as entertaining! The Cape and the Klan by Tin Penavic and Ted Ryan is such a play. Now onstage at the Group Rep Theatre Upstairs, the play tells the story of how one newspaper writer infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan and attempted to put an end to bigotry and violence via the Superman radio show on WOR radio. The time is 1951, when the Klan continued to rear its ugly head in the South, l

Guys and Dolls/music & lyrics by Frank Loesser/book by Joe Swerling and Abe Burrows/based on stories by Damon Runyon/directed by Mark Martino/musical director: Benet Braun/choreographer: Daniel Smith/Musical Theatre West (MTW),Long Beach/through March 4 My first association with musical composer Frank Loesser was as an actor in the 70s in a revue of his music. I played Sky Masterson of Guys and Dolls and sang a duet of 'I've Never Been In Love Before'. I came to realize quite rapidly how lovely his music is and how well he manages to capture the moment of genuine emotion within a song. Upon seeing Guys and Dolls several times since, I have been awestruck as well by Abe Burrows' and Joe Swerling's ability to take Damon Runyon's New York Broadway characters from the 20s and 30s and blow them up into something overwhelmingly moving and appealing. The two worlds of sin and redemption have never been connect

'The mega-popular 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert delivered miles and miles of heart. Priscilla Queen of the Desert the musical remains loyal to the movie  and is delightfully extravagant and colorful with perhaps the most dazzling array of costumes, amazing sets and brilliant lighting design in theatrical history. Over the last few years it has become almost as popular as the film with touring companies in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Sweden as well as in the US'. This was my opening quote when the tour bowed at the Pantages in 2012. Now onstage at the small Celebration Theatre in Hollywood, the show is much scaled down but with an incredible cast of 11, under the amazing direction of Jessica Hanna, it is more bright and alive than ever. Audiences will fall in love with this brand new Priscilla... and come away exhilarated...and wanting more.

Playwright Phil Olson is best known for his popular, hilarious DON'T HUG ME musical plays written with brother Paul Olson, that are crowd favorites wherever they are performed.  His comedy, A NICE FAMILY GATHERING, played at Group Rep Lonny Chapman Theatre in 2016, has been nominated for an NAACP LA Local Award for Best Ensemble.   Phil shares with us some details about his life as a writer and how "Don't Hug Me, We're Family" came about.

Each time I attend An Evening of Classic Broadway at Rockwell Table and Stage, I leave refreshed and revel in the tunes I just heard. Monday February 12's show, a salute to Valentine's Day, was certainly no exception. On the bill were incredible talents musical director Brad Ellis and producer Dianne Fraser, Diane Vincent, Julie Garnye, David Burnham, Caitlin Gallogly, Terron Brooks, Stanton Kane Morales and Autumn Reeser.

New York critics gave many unfavorable reviews to Million Dollar Quartet for what they called a dearth of dramatic tension onstage, but it went on to receive a Tony nomination for Book of a Musical in 2010 anyway, and based on the overly passionate delivery of the sizzling artists recreating the show for 3-D Theatricals, there's enough fervor to bring audiences to their feet and shakin' in Redondo through February 18 and then in Cerritos until March 4. On opening night there was indeed an extra long standing - and swaying - ovation to 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'.  

The Road Theatre on Magnolia is proud to present the West Coast premiere of Anna Ziegler's exciting A Delicate Ship. The play opened officially Friday January 19 and runs through March 11. Over the course of the run we will spotlight the director and members of the cast. This week the light shines doubly on director Andre Barron and playwright Anna Ziegler, as we present an interview that Barron recently conducted with Miss Ziegler. Director Barron won BWW LA 2016 'Best Direction" for Edward Albee's "The Play About The Baby" at The Road Theatre Company.

Playwright Edward Albee is a master of fact vs. illusion. Think of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? or the later The Play About the Baby, where the plot and characters' game playing baffle the audience from beginning to end.The storyline of his much later play Occupant, now onstage in its West Coast premiere at the Garry Marshall Theatre through March 4, concerns a Man (James Liebman) conducting an interview with famous dead sculptress Louise Nevelson (Martha Hackett). This interview cannot possibly be taking place. Nevelson is dead (April 17, 1988). Yet, when you accept the premise - how can you avoid it except by walking out? - within this framework there are perhaps more real facts than in other Albee plays. The point of this real perspective of an artist? Nevelson and Albee had been close friends; he is paying homage to her and her hard-earned success.

I have seen Ragtime the Musical a half dozen times since it premiered in LA in 1997 prior to Broadway and...have never tired of it. Why? First, its simply gorgeous almost opera-like musical score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens moves me to tears. Secondly, it presents elements of pop culture mixed in with the meaningful historical content of America at the turn of the 20th century, making it the most relevant show in the last 25 years. Now by means of Candlelight's revival production, onstage in Claremont through February 24, Ragtime continues to enlighten and enchant simultaneously.

The Chinese Wall/by Max Frisch/translated by James L. Rosenberg/Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, NoHo/directed by Larry Eisenberg/through March 11 Suffice to say, The Chinese Wall by Max Frisch, written in 1946, after Hitler and World War II, is a cluttered play about facism and those who revolt against it. Its message is repetitious, and the play goes on much too long, but Group Rep's vibrantly colorful production boasts a wonderful cast of 20 actors under the superb direction of Larry Eisenberg through March 11.