Don Grigware - Page 34

Versatile actress Tanna Frederick, who played the quintessential Lizzie in The Rainmaker a couple of seasons back, is now performing in another Henry Jaglom production, his world premiere play The Train to Zakopane again at Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. In our chat she talks about the challenges of playing Katia and other projects for stage and film.

On Sunday evening January 18 the beautiful songstress Nita Whitaker brought her inimitable style and warmth to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in a new show entitled All That Matters. Backed by musical director Nelson Kole at the piano and a three-piece combo, Whitaker spoke of the value of love and sang about it via a precious collection of songs both old and new. On hand were her two daughters Elyse and Skye LaFontaine, who joined their mother in a few of her original compositions.

One of the first - if not the first jukebox musicals, The Buddy Holly Story is short on plot and high on the unique rock and roll music of Buddy Holly. This is my second time seeing the show - I first saw it on its American tour in 1999. The music I grew up with in the 50s is so appealing, that I sing along to every tune and move and groove in my seat from start to finish. If you are of that nature - and it seemed that many in the audience on opening weekend fit the bill - then you will have a really good time at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre through February 22. Remember, it's enjoyable fare with no need to think, just set your mind to the relax mode!

Loosely patterned after 'an audition process', this 9th annual fully produced event is geared to discovering new talent between the ages of 18 and 32 for the musical theatre stage.

Just how amazing is the music made by Pink Martini? Well, judging from their recent appearance on New Year's Eve December 31 at Walt Disney Concert Hall - and this was not their first NYE appearance in this venue - pretty awesome! How many other orchestras do you know that play such a mix of genres; classical, jazz and pop...and in so many different languages within the same program? Pink Martini is unique in that respect and they know how to rivet and hold an audience spellbound for 100 minutes.

Akin to a Las Vegas show, We 3 Kings works dynamically as a showcase for its 3 artists: Luca Ellis, Shawn Klush and Brandon Michael Jones, especially for Jones, currently considered the premiere tribute artist of Michael Jackson. Now onstage at the El Portal in NoHo through New Year's Eve, it's enjoyable fare for those of us who grew up with and lived through the music of all three. Frank Sinatra (Luca Ellis) was the King of Swing of the 40s on up, Elvis Presley (Shawn Klush) the King of Rock and Roll in the 50s and Michael Jackson (Jones) the King of Pop commencing in the 60s as the tiniest member of The Jackson 5 (Jacquez Shanigan).

The Best in LA Theatre for 2014 (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories)

On Monday December 22 the terribly amusing song stylist Cortes Alexander presented his annual Swell Noel to an uber packed house at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Alexander has such frenetic energy and charm that, and I've said this before, you just want to wrap him up. What a joyous Christmas present...and with his two glorious backup singers, the Swell Girls Melissa Bailey and Julie Gar

On Monday, December 15 exciting singer Laura Dickinson brought her CD release party One For My Baby to Upstairs at Vitello's. It was a packed house and Dickinson, needless to say, blew the roof off the joint with her dynamic delivery, oozing charm and warmth from every pore. Not only is she beautiful, but oh so terribly engaging as she grabs hold of you and won't let go. Her special guest Mel Collins, who opened the show, called her 'masterful'; I'll go a step further and add 'captivating and spellbinding'. She's a singer to be reckoned with!

Noel Coward wrote in a song, 'If love were all, I should be lonely', declaring the impossibility of romantic love. He continued this theme onstage in Private Lives, and on screen in Brief Encounter and once again in his most produced play internationally Blithe Spirit, now onstage in a sterling production at the Ahmanson through January 18, and starring the one and only Angela Lansbury.

For the last few years the uber talented Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, first at the El Portal in NoHo and now at the Pasadena Playhouse with a British style panto. A panto is an interactive entertainment that starts with a very contemporary retelling of a fairy tale such as Snow White, Cinderella, or in this case Sleeping Beauty and turns it into a fun imaginative show with music that will appeal to both children and their parents. There's usually an actor in drag (outrageous David Engel as Nanny Tickle, Aurora's nanny), a villain or villainess (Lucy Lawless as Carabosse))... and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and HISS loudly at the villains. Lawless tries to sway and seize control over the audience by singing 'One Way or

Executive director Chris Verdugo and artistic director/conductor Joe Nadeau of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) are busy these days getting ready for the big holiday concert to take place this weekend Saturday December 13 at 3 pm and 8 pm and Sunday December 14 at 3 pm at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills.

Actor Charles Edwards, known for his roles in Batman Returns and Downton Abbey, will appear in Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury at the Ahmanson opening December 14. In our conversation he talks about the play, working with Miss Lansbury and other highlights of his career so far.

Few singers have the expertly unique phrasing or deeply felt emotional delivery of Ellen Greene. She is a one.of.a.kind first class gem and after 10 long years, has finally released a second CD entitled Songs for a Winter's Night with her terrific musical partner Christian Klikovits at the piano. Fans of Greene will remember that in 2004 they collaborated on her first solo album the evocative In His Eyes.

Loud repetitious music usually is a turnoff to me, in spite of the fact that the rock and roll of the 60s and 70s constitutes a large part of my musical background. I grew up listening to it and like much of it, but in later years have narrowed my preferences to pop standards, jazz and Broadway fare, which always make me happy. Although Irish, I have learned to love Celtic music more recently; since Once, I have become increasingly enamored of that sound especially at Christmas. When you add violin to keyboard, drums and guitar, as do the creators of Striking 12, now in its Orange County premiere at the Laguna Playhouse through December 28, you get that joyful sound loud and clear, and that plus the brilliance of the four musicians/actors (Brent Schindele ...

The cast of fantastic singers included Kim Huber, Robert Yacko, Madison Claire Parks, Roger Befeler, special guest Jason Graae, and young singers Sami and Sarah Staitman, Brennley Brown, Paige Befeler and 10 year-old Hadley Belle Miller. Virtuoso pianist James Lent served as musical director for the event headed up by host Bruce Kimmel, who was in especially good form about to celebrate a birthday on December 8.

Shawn Ryan sparkles onstage just by being himself. Of course, he exaggerates a tad. Every actor/comedian does. But, it is Ryan's genuine likability that makes him shine. He is self-deprecating, willing to go all the way with a joke or gag, and within the boundaries that he creates, his four-letter words and raw sex talk seem almost as sweet and endearing as apple pie. Honestly, I never heard him curse, it all sounded so natural.

Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre's annual Christmas show is an original with concept and script by artistic director John LaLonde incorporating well-known and lesser known holiday tunes and carols. It's Christmas Every Day is a feel-good, forget.your.troubles kind of show. Think the whimsy of White Christmas, the silliness of The Wizard of Oz, the sass of Sister Act, the daring.do of Singin' in the Rain and other MGM movies and even the class of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Ballet, which are all thrown in for good measure.

A Little House Christmas/based on the book Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder/'adapted for the stage by James DeVita/directed by Emily Chase/Sierra Madre Playhouse/through December 23Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic book Little House on the Prairie (1932) became famous as an hour-long TV drama in the 70s (1974-1983) starring Michael Landon and featuring Melissa Gilbert in her acting debut as Laura. The books, as well as the TV show, are forever popular. As part of their focus on America season, Sierra Madre Playhouse and its artistic director Christian Lebano have chosen James DeVita's stage adaptation of the stories as its holiday presentation A Little House Christmas beautifully directed by Emily Chase and featuring a superb cast of 10, now onstage in its West Coast premiere, through December 23.

Ah, the art of making art! In an excellent adaptation of the 1999 Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together, Chromolume Theatre steps up to bat with stellar direction from Cate Caplin and boasting a terrific cast through December 21 at their home the Attic Theatre in West LA.