Don Grigware - Page 18

Playwright Brent Beerman is A UCLA MFA graduate;his Gabriel's Rapture won the Corner Stage National Theater Contest; Millionaires opened Off-Broadway; Dancing in the Shadows won the Pacificus Foundation of Los Angeles Literary Award; his libretto for Jesus' Daughter and Womin, touring Europe and the United States, were featured on CNN. In Los Angeles, Another Washington Affair was recently directed by Kay Cole. A Dull Pain, Turned Sharp was a prizewinner at the MOXIE Films New Play Competition and a reading featured at the HOWL festival in New York City. He is the director of theater at Crescenta Valley High School which annually produces over 14 plays with five guest directors. Written by Steve Peterson

Into the Woods/book by James Lapine/music & lyrcs by Stephen Sondheim/Fiasco Theater Company Production Tour/Ahmanson/directed by Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld/through May 14 I first saw Into the Woods in 1987 when it premiered in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre. At that point, the Witch was not the leader of the pack; in New York the role was enlarged in 1988 and Bernadette Peters played her on Broadway. The play which cleverly intertwines favorite fairytales Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstock, and Rapunzel with a new story The Baker and his Wife, somehow left me cold. The

Writer/Director/Producer Gordon Bre4ssack is a veteran of the NY Off-Off Broadway scene as a member of The Playhouse of the Ridiculous. He toured Europe three times with that group and was with them in 1971 when they were all arrested for obscenity in Brussels. He came to Los Angeles in 1983 and was soon hired at Hanna-Barbera writing such shows as 'Scooby- Doo' and 'The Smurfs'. He went on to Warner Bros. Animation and won three Emmys for his work on 'Animaniacs' and 'Pinky & the Brain.' His two previous plays in LA, 'Fuggedaboudit' and 'Missing Dick' were audience and critical favorites. by Steve Peterson

On April 1 and 2 GMCLA presented its spring concert  at the Alex Theatre in Glendale He Had It Coming, a compilation of Broadway tunes with special guest star Tony winner and Emmy nominated actor/singer Alan Cumming and a few magnificent surprises. Needless to say, the show was one of their longest, running almost two hours and a half including intermission, but was well worth it.

The last time I laughed, really laughed at something funny, I didn't stop to ask myself what made it funny. The various classifications of comedy through the ages have never seemed that significant to learn unless I were a professor of comedy or were looking for a few items of fun trivia to share at a cocktail party. Reed Martin and Justin Tichenor love to abridge as in their Reduced Shakespeare and the History of America, both of which seem to work just fine with audiences, but if you reduce comedy, doesn't it take the fun out of funny? For the first half of The Complete History of Comedy (abridged), currently onstage at the Falcon Theatre, I felt like I was in a classroom instead of the theatre. Lists and lists of the funniest people, funniest double acts, etc were thrown at us as if we were students preparing for a major exam on the subject. But by the time the first act came to an end, in a scene filled with strobe lights, a Mack Sennett chase replete with cream pies flying and cops falling down took center stage, and what he had been hearing about started to make sense. Comedy is the slap, the pratfall, the schtik, the slapstick produce the laugh-filled relief that we get from the pressures of everyday living. Under the fast paced direction of Jerry Kernion, three geniuses of physical comedy Marc Ginsburg, Mark Jacobson and last. but hardly least Zehra Fazal prove that they can put on a show and make us laugh.

Artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington DC Molly Smith directs John Strand's The Originalist about the Supreme Court onstage at the Pasadena Playhouse beginning April 11. The play focuses on a clerkship between a young woman and recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia portrayed by Edward Gero. It fits the times to perfection as the two characters spar on a grand scale to defend their interpretation of the truth as written in our constitution. In our chat, Smith talks about the play, its mission, this co-production and also about her work at Arena Stage.

In Part I of this interview, Ana Isabel Ordonez gives us a glimpse into her next project and the elaborate process her brilliant mind goes through in its organisation and execution. In Part II, she discusses the Leah Tutu Unsung Heroes Award, which took place in November last year.

Carousel is Rodgers and Hammerstein's favorite musical. Produced on Broadway in 1945 with John Raitt and Jan Clayton in the roles of Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan, it was R & H's second hit in a row, Oklahoma! being the first, with a string of others to follow. Any Rodgers & Hammerstein musical is among the very best there is in the annals of musical theatre history. The incredibly beautiful music alone is enough to keep an audience riveted, but Hammerstein's books were also laden with topical themes and much food for thought, as with Carousel that becomes a sort of parable for love, forgiveness and redemption. In their current beautifully mounted revival of Carousel, MTW may be assured of a gigantic hit.

Parisian charm is precious, incomparable. Even though the action of An American in Paris takes place in 1945 after World War II had taken its toll, it is still lively, colorful and full of breathtaking romantic excitement. Fans of the 1951 film with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron will not be disappointed because the choreography of the live musical by director Christopher Wheeldon is magnetic as are the leading players Garen Scribner as Jerry Mulligan and Sara Esty as Lise Dassin, both ballet dancers. If you love great dancing, that is reason enough to see An American in Paris currently at the Hollywood Pantages through April 9.

On Sunday March 19 I paid a visit to Archway Studio Theatre in Burbank for the matinee performance of Romeo and Juliet. It was the last performance and my very first time at Archway, who are known mainly for their presentation of the classics. Needless to say, I was blown way by the production, the direction and the entire ensemble who all invested themselves so dearly in their roles.

Based on the poetry, diaries and letters of poet Emily Elizabeth Dickinson of Amherst, Massachusetts, William Luce's The Belle of Amherst opened to great acclaim on Broadway in 1976 winning a Tony for its star Julie Harris. Petite like Dickinson herself, Harris continued to play the role for 25 years, again reviving it on tour at the Laguna Playhouse in the year 2000. I am happy to say I saw both the 1976 and 2000 productions, which were indeed mesmerizing. Now at Sierra Madre Playhouse, tall and very unique Ferrell Marshall produces and stars as Emily in a brave and exciting performance through April 23. I can only say that in spite of her physical differences, she pulled me in immediately and in the end made me feel every bit as joyful as when I had seen the play before.

Amanda began her career as an actress in New York City working for the late Sidney Lumet.  Amanda has appeared in numerous films and TV shows and earned a SAG Award for Ensemble Cast for the Academy Award-winning film Crash. Pursuing her real passion, writing, Amanda has learned from the best by working behind the camera for Woody Allen, Bobby Moresco, and David Chase, and in writer's rooms as assistant for Paul Haggis, Todd Field, John Lee Hancock, Mark Johnson, and Gil Adler. Amanda wrote two episodes for the first season of NBC's The Black Donnellys. She has had two feature films produced.  Amanda has written and produced numerous one-act plays.  Most recently, she directed the L. A. production of William Hoffman's 'Cal in Camo' which went on to a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run. Amanda is raising two sons and splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.

Director Bryan Fox is an award-winning writer, director, and actor, as well as notable photographer whose work has been displayed in gallery shows around the world. Most recently, his photography was shown at the prestigious Art Basel in Miami. Bryan began directing with his short film "Dissonance" which screened throughout the U.S. and opened film festivals in Canada, Italy, Germany, and India. It won over 20 awards including Best Short Film at the Accolade Global Film Competition, Indie Fest Awards, LA Spotlight Film Festival, Waterfront Film Festival, Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival and the Temecula Film Festival. He also wrote and directed the film "We Alone' which took top prize for music video at the Accolade Global Film Festival. Bryan most recently directed an upcoming episode of the web series "Gossip Boy."

Charles Busch is more than just a drag artist; he is a bonafide actor./actress. This has been amply proved through the last 40 years in the performances of his plays off-Broadway and on tour with Vampire Lesbians of Soddom, Psycho Beach Party, and Die, Mommy, Die! among many others. Now in his LA cabaret debut at Rockwell Table and Stage, Busch has added more dimension, more layers to his persona in performance as he exposes himself to the audience from the inside out and comes clean in a dress as … Charles Busch.

Las Vegas Weekly, in naming ABSINTHE the #1 greatest show in Las Vegas history ever, said, "A performance of ABSINTHE is almost criminally fun. It is the domain of the Gazillionaire, the gold-toothed, foul-mouthed, lecherous dirtbag who runs the show. For the entirety of ABSINTHE's 90 wildly entertaining minutes, you feel like you've discovered something new, or stumbled onto a secret meeting of acrobats, dancers and reprobates. And the first thing you want to do after is tell everyone you know."

On Sunday evening March 5 The Beverly Bombshells exploded on the LA scene at Rockwell Table and Stage. This newly formed group that consists of Tiffany Dissette, Heather Lundtstedt O'Neill and Leah Sprecher reworks contemporary pop songs with a 40s style and all new arrangements. It's fresh, it's sassy, and its harmony is delightfully unlike anything you have ever heard. Adele's 'Send My Love' or Lady Gaga's 'Million Reasons' sung to the sound and beat of a swing song like 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B'? Yes, siree! These beautiful ladies have a one.of.a.kind approach laden with pizazz and gusto that takes a contemporary song and transports it back to a time when storytelling wasn't storytelling unless it poked fun at men, at seduction, at romance, at love...in both its sound and its meaning!

Playwrights Steve Shaffer and Mark Schiff have a background as standup comics and a plethora of television experience, so they certainly have an eye and an ear for what is funny. Their little play Married People A Comedy is a series of scenarios involving two couples who are best friends. Each pair has a son whose issues threaten to breakup their marriage, so they turn to group therapy...with much hesitation and trepidation. Currently onstage at the Zephyr Theatre through April 2, Married People has a real grounded base with four resourceful actors portraying nice, average, middle class people with whom audiences can assuredly relate.

Actor, singer, playwright and film historian Charles Busch is a multi-talented artist who has won many awards over the course of  his varied career. Remembered for his plays Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Psycho Beach Party and Die! Mommie Die!, the latter two having been translated to film, Busch never ceases to amaze with his unique style of creativity. On March 13 and 14 he is bringing his act That Girl/That Boy to Rockwell Table and Stage. In our chat, he talks about this cabaret evening along with delightful observations of the theatre and movie world. In a nutshell, tell our readers about what you are doing in That Girl/That Boy at Rockwell on March 13/14. How is the show unlike any show you have ever done?

Finally an extraordinary musical that is high on substance and heart as well as entertainment value! 2015's Tony Winning Best Musical Fun Home is based on Alison Bechdel's graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. The Bechdels are an atypically dysfunctional family living in Pennsylvania. Cartoonist Alison (Kate Shindle) is trying to draw her father Bruce (Robert Petkoff) and to understand why he committed suicide. Currently onstage at the Ahamsnon Theatre through April 1, Fun Home with its emotionally engaging book by Lisa Kron and curiously vibrant music score by Jeanine Tesori, boasts seamless direction from Sam Gold and a wonderfully sensitive cast. 

To say that the musical version of Finding Neverland is a real charmer is an understatement. The book by James Graham retains all of the sweetness of the 2004 film and adds on a delightful theatricality for the stage that just will not quit. One surprising element is the musical score by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy that includes some wonderfully poignant and moving ballads. With sweeping direction by Diane Paulus and a dynamite cast this national touring production is bound to please just about everyone, the young and the young at heart. It plays at the Hollywood Pantages through March 12.