Don Grigware - Page 30

When Bent first premiered in 1979 its persecution of gays in Nazi Germany was a real eye opener. This was before the onset of AIDS...in the first scene, the depiction of Max's (Patrick Heusinger)one night stand and his gay relationship with a dancer could have been taken right out of contemporary West Hollywood were it not for the fact that we are told up front that the play takes place in 1934-36. The violence against gays that follows is staggering and horrifying. Deep down we knew that being homosexual had built-in problems and tensions, but did we really think about it so seriously? Did we really know how ugly it all was back then? And what about now? In spite of marriage equality in the US, in Kenya and in other areas of the world, the struggle for sexual freedom unbelievably goes on...to this very day. In a rare revival, Moises Kaufman brilliantly directs this new production of Bent at the Mark Taper Forum, and you'd be a fool to miss it. The cast is extraordinary, and Martin Sherman's poignant lyricism is simultaneously funny, touching and thoroughly riveting from moment to moment.

In its California premiere The Fabulous Lipitones by John Markus and Mark St. Germain sounds like a silly promo for an overrated sexual enhancement product and with its initially corny lines could easily fall into the category of 'sitcom onstage' comedy, but thank heavens it rises far above and beyond. Lipitones is a deliciously funny and substantially reflective take on what might happen if a traditional barbershop quartet inducted a culturally un...suitable replacement. Now onstage at the Colony Theatre, Burbank, Lipitones will make you laugh your pants off!

From the moment you enter the Group rep theatre and see a warmup football practice onstage, the tone for the play is set. You are about to watch, breathe, eat and sleep football. At least that is what Vince Lombardi did as head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959-1968. Now onstage at the theatre in NoHo, LOMBARDI, an LA premiere, has no great dramatic plot or conflict but is true to form, an excellent slice.of.life character study of the man of the hour whom the play is named after. Boasting brilliant direction from Gregg T. Daniel and an outstanding cast of six, LOMBARDI, like a good football season, should pack 'em in.

Director Gregg T. Daniel returns to The Group Rep to direct Eric Simonson's critically acclaimed play LOMBARDI based on the book When Pride Still Mattered:  A Life of Vince Lombardi by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss.  In our conversation, Gregg talks about the play, his fascination with the nature of greatness, and what he's been up to as a director. By Steve Peterson

On Sunday, July 19 pop/ rock/soul balladeer Mark Arthur Miller brought his uber entertaining show Soul Searching to an SRO crowd at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. The man tells his story about growing up on the south side of Chicago in the 60s via the tunes that shaped him, notably those of Motown and his dad Ron Miller who became one of the few very successful white lyricists/composers at Motown Records. Ron Miller wrote 'Touch Me in the Morning', 'For Once In My Life' and 'If I Could' among many other hits. Mark Arthur Miller's show is not only a reflection of his passion for the unforgettable rhythms of that era but also a loving ode to his father.

What do the 1950s have in common with 1912? Ages of innocence, both. When Meredith Willson wrote his story with Franklin Lacey about a con artist bamboozling an Iowa town in 1912, which formed the substance of his musical The Music Man (1957), the effect became like that of N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker. People were jubilant, ecstatic and welcomed Professor Harold Hill, as they craved a good old-fashioned love story coated with ironic excitement. He was a charmer, and they saw way past his bad side. Now in a spirited new production at Moonlight Amphitheatre, Vista , the company pulls out all the stops and yet presents a delightfully down.to.earth show that keeps the flavor of Meredith Willson in tact. With fast-paced direction from John Vaughn and a splendid cast led by David Engel as Hill , The Music Man offers an unrealistic yet refreshing look at the way life should be.

Stacy Ann Raposa has, for several years, worked with actors to explore the depths of their minds and souls.  In doing so, the actors create solo pieces that are performed in public at the end of a four month process.  Rather than just moving from one solo piece to another, all actors are on stage throughout the show – sometimes playing characters in other actors' solo pieces.  We sat down with Stacy to hear about the process and how BARE NAKED ANGELS came to be.

Considered Andrew Lloyd Webber's first official musical in the late 60s, in spite of the fact that it really took off after Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has within itself a miraculous power to entertain and inspire...especially the young among us who dare to dream. Now onstage at the Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre in Claremont, with a totally contemporary and fresh perspective, this Joseph under the direction of choreographer Alison Hooper really leaps off the stage and rocks the entire house...and the audience was composed of mainly seniors, which has a lot to say about dreaming...it's never to late to follow your dreams.

On Sunday July 12 the Pink Lady Jackie Goldberg and her producer partners Barbara Van Orden and Amanda Blake Secola presented their unique Senior Star Search competition for the very first year 2015 to a sold out crowd at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Barnsdall Park, Hollywood. It was such a resounding success, a real love affair with the public, that hopefully the event will be an annual occurrence. Seniors perform exceedingly well, as well as anyone at any age. Age has nothing to do with talent and drive, a fact which was assuredly proved during the course of this show. All contestants ranged in age from 55 and up with the oldest contestant Nick Pietroforte, age 86. Accompanist for the program was maestro par excellence Ron Snyder.

To 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. 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 classy revival at Musical Theatre West (MTW) in Long Beach, it's all brought back to exuberantly colorful life by skilled director Jon Engstrom and a delicious company of triple threats through July 26 only.

Adam & Eve and Steve/written by Chandler Warren/musical composer: Wayne Moore/directed by Ronnie MarmoTheatre 68 at/NoHo Arts Center/through August 30 A humorous take on the biblical version of creation as told through the rantings of dueling Beelzebug and God is the award-winning world premiere musical Adam & Eve and Steve, a Fringe Festival winner, now onstage through the summer under the auspices of Theatre 68 at the NoHo Arts Center. The show with a cast of five and evenly directed by Ronnie Marmo turns out to be quite deliriously clever entertainment.

On Sunday June 28, actress/singer Candi Milo brought her one.of.a.kind comedic cabaret to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal and boy, oh boy, is she funny. 'How funny?' you may query. This little lady grew up in a mental institution - well, her father ran one in their home, so she was exposed to craziness at a tender age...and on top of that, she's Italian...and a voice-over artist who does many, many cartoon voices to amazing perfection, starting with Sweetie Pie. She was also a member of 'The Mighty Carson Art Players' on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. What fabulous improvisational training! So it's no surprise that the lady knows how to get a laugh. Humor comes gushing out of her the minute she opens her mouth, and it's never forced. It's all natural and with a multitude of sarcastic asides, it works deliciously on a cabaret stage.

William Inge's Pulitzer-Prize-winning Picnic depicting a small Kansas town in 1952, its strict code of morality and the inner longings of its people to break away, is perhaps his finest. Now in a stunning production at Antaeus directed ever so lovingly by Cameron Watson and boasting a superlative ensemble - actually three alternating casts: 'Deviled Eggs', 'Stuffed Peppers' and 'Pork Chops', Picnic still holds up some 60 years later, proving the omnipotence of human fragility. My visit was with the 'Deviled Eggs'cast. The music, the clothes, the hairstyles, and the cars are distinctly 50s, but goals, motivations and emotions remain the same. For those unfamiliar with the play or the uber popular 1956 film Picnic starring William Holden and Kim Novak, let's recap the plot briefly.

As part of season 36, GMCLA (Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles) outdid themselves in the presentation of their summer show Vegas, Baby! the weekend of June 20-21 at the Alex Theatre, Glendale. It was a fun, fun production like those of yesteryear, which featured much more than just the group's singing talent. Choreographers Billy Rugh and Michelle Benton had small groups from the chorus dancing their tushes off in several scenarios including a salute to showgirls (Cy Coleman's and Dorothy Fields' 'Pretty Legs'/'Big Spender'), gambling fever ('Luck Be a Lady'), a tribute to Rocky and Vegas boxing ('Rocky Medley'), and just a plain old mischievous look at female as well as scantily clad male dancers shimmying those strip club poles ('She Works Hard for the Money').

During the crazy broohaha of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, there are plenty of loud, over.the.top noisy shows, if that suits your pleasure. Sondheim's Marry Me a Little is a quiet, gentle little 60-minute musical revue that just doesn't fit that bill. And that's totally fine by me! I prefer Sondheim anyway. In Marry Me a Little, conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene, many of the songs are from the then - late 90s - unproduced Saturday Night coupled with a multitude of songs cut from hits like Company, Follies, A Little Night Music and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It's a two-person intimate show on the vast Lillian stage and as usual Janet Miller has staged the piece adeptly with lots of tender loving care.

Excessively harsh reality is at the core of most current popular dramedies as it is on television. A character cannot be rude or abrasive enough to arouse a viewer's attention or glean laughs. It's particularly characteristic of the irritating females who talk too fast, too loud and scream their shrewish lungs out. It makes me happy that I live alone; and yes, I do care and respect others and their feelings; but, being pleasant nowadays is considered boring and in drama, it will never win awards, so on with the show. In Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews currently onstage at the Geffen Playhouse there is such a character Daphna (Molly Ephraim), Hebrew for Diana, who with her two cousins Jonah (Raviv Ullman) and Liam (Ari Brand) are in New York to pay homage to their dead grandfather, their beloved Poppy, a Holocaust survivor. Daphna is referred to by Liam as a super Jew.

Actress Amy Madigan will direct Neil Koenigsberg's play Off the King's Road later this month at the Odyssey. A production of the play in New York last season was critically acclaimed, including a New York Times critic's pick. In our conversation Madigan talks about the play, her cast and her association with the playwright. 

In its series Broadway @ the Broad, which began in October 2013 with Patti Lupone, Sutton Foster was the latest star to grace the stage, featuring Seth Rudetsky as pianist and host. The event took place Sunday June 14 at 5pm and 8pm, and Foster proved a real trouper. On her recent honeymoon in Italy she contracted laryngitis and her voice has been down ever since. It took some quick maneuvering to adjust the program to her vocal capability, but with Seth Rudetsky on board as accompanist, all went well, and the packed house was overjoyed with what Foster had to offer.

If you have a hankering for romance and you love the old-fashioned musicals of a by-gone era, Waterfall is a perfect fit. Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire have created a beautiful glimpse of passionate love that develops amidst the turmoil of divergent cultures, east and west before WWII. Currently onstage at the Pasadena Playhouse, Waterfall is sumptuously breathtaking with an extraordinary director and ensemble.

The Bad Seed, she has worked on stage, in film and on television to great acclaim for over 60 years. Now she is onstage once more in a hilarious world premiere dark comedy Miserable with an Ocean View playing Saturdays only at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks. She recently sat down to chat about the play and about highlights of her long career.