Don Grigware - Page 42

Slowgirl/by Greg Pierce/directed by Randall Arney/Geffen Playhouse, Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater/through April 27

The big question surrounding the fate of Harmony: Is Broadway ready for another musical about the turbulent 30s and Nazi occupation of Germany? With The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof (although set in Russia and at an earlier time, it's still about the plight of the Jews) and Cabaret firmly planted in our minds as three of the greatest musicals ever written about the Nazis, do we need one more? Barry Manilow has been trying desperately for over 10 years to get his Harmony, the true story about the Comedian Harmonists, onstage. Now at the Ahmanson through April 13, Harmony is beautifully produced and mounted, exceedingly well-performed and a thoroughly moving story about 6 singers/performers whose careers and lives were interrupted and controlled by Naziism. The answer to the big question is a shaky maybe.

As a teen in Tulsa, Oklahoma who aspired to be a dramatic actor, Chicago-born Jason Graae was advised to 'Be a Clown' and to 'Make 'em Laugh'. Not everyone can fill the shoes of a clown; those shoes are pretty damn big. But for Graae, whose mind never stops clicking with its razor-sharp wit, fierce timing and shotgun-speed spontaneity, clowning seemed the natural choice, and thank heaven for us, he not only followed through but has turned into one of the most endearing comic performers the world has ever known. On Monday March 10, Graae premiered his brand new cabaret show 49 1/2 Shades of Graae at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal to an ecstatic packed house. Introducing his material, he said it was based on the porn novel 50 Shades of Grey, but...'This is gonna be dirtier.' 'Dirty' in Graae terminology means... yes, indeed, some smut thrown in, but with a whole lot of charm, pizazz and miles and miles of genuine humor. There are a few serious scenarios included in the mostly autobiographical show, but every one with heart and banners waving high. And when I mean autobiographical, there are not only career stories but personal anecdotes as well. Expertly staged by Heather Lee and with fab musical direction from John Boswell, the evening was, to quote Graae, in an improv-takeoff of my supposed BWW review, 'the best show I saw in NoHo all day...' and for those lucky enough to get reservations, it will repeat next Sunday March 16.

On Sunday March 9, Spirit of Ireland lit up Morgan Auditorium at the University of La Verne with Michael Ryan and seven other electric musicians onstage, as well as lovely singer Cassie Murphy and three award-winning Irish dancers including Caterina Coyne from Riverdance. Part of a monthly program from the University's music department entitled Sundays at the Morgan, the evening was introduced by the interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Felicia Beardsley and turned out to be a real pre-St. Patrick's Day treat for the packed house.

Just short of his 66th birthday, Henry Holden, an actor with a disability, will run the LA MARATHON this Sunday, March 9. In doing so, he will help raise funds to support his theatre company, the Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, which is facing a frivolous lawsuit that could drain their operating funds. Henry's also racing to see if he can improve his time of twenty years ago - when he was in his mid-40s and first participated.

On Saturday March 1 Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation presented Broadway star Susan Egan, who originated the role of 'Belle' in Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, as part of its first season at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center. Joining Egan on stage were the sixty-member Arcadia Stage, the theatre student program at Arcadia High School. They sang four songs with Egan, and then two from their upcoming production of Curtains, which will open March 20.

Boeing Boeing/by Marc Camoletti/translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans/directed by Larry Eisenberg/Group rep/through April 13

Prolific Broadway singer/actress Susan Egan will perform a benefit concert on March 1 at Arcadia High School. She talks about the concert and other career tidbits in our chat below.

Me and My Girl/music by Noel Gay/book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose/directed & choreographed by Orlando Alexander/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through March 29

Larry Shue's career as playwright/actor fell far too short with his sudden death in 1985. He had written two howlingly funny farces The Nerd and The Foreigner, both of which have become cult classics. Each farce exposes an eclectic group of people to a mishmash of insanity. There is an underdog at the center who fakes his identity, and as a result of this switch in role-playing, the total chaos which arises bears unexpected fruit and a major miracle or two for one and all. Now onstage at Crown City Theatre in NoHo, a superb ensemble of actors bring off The Foreigner with tremendous skill and gusto.

The Producers/book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan/music and lyrics by Mel Brooks/choreography (recreated from the original) by Linda Love Simmons/original direction recreated by David Lamoureux/3-D Theatricals @/Redondo Performing Arts Center/through March 2

Noel Coward's film Brief Encounter (1945) based on his 1936 play Still Life, is perhaps one of the finest movies ever made about illicit romance. Now the Kneehigh production from London, which played Broadway in 2010 to great acclaim, an event quite unlike any you will ever see, is being mounted at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts through March 23 with some of the original Broadway cast, including the remarkable Hannah Yelland as Laura. Wisely presented in one act without an interval, Brief Encounter never drags and retains a unique solidarity.

On Sunday, February 16 LA's Next Great Stage Star 2014 came to an exciting conclusion at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. After an amazing two-hour program in which the 20 contestants gave 150% to their uptempo songs from Broadway shows, fourteen contestants were eliminated and the top six* finalists selected. After a brief intermission, each of the six then proceeded to perform a second number after which the distinguished panel of 18 judges made the final decision. Musical director par excellence James Lent accompanied at the piano throughout the three hour show.

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 colorful new production at Musical Theatre West (MTW) in Long Beach, this company pulls out all the stops and presents a delightfully bigger-than-life show that would do Willson proud. With super direction from Jeff Maynard and a divine cast led by Davis Gaines, The Music Man offers a refreshing take on the way life should be, whether 1912, 1955 or 2014.

Like a beautiful painting Adam Guettel's The Light in the Piazza is a true work of art. With discordant music not unlike that of Stephen Sondheim, written for a small chamber orchestra, feelings of love - from all kinds of people -fuel passionately. Without the right actresses to play the American mother and daughter visiting Florence, the play loses its fragility and inner beauty. This production could not be more divine. Patti Cohenour as Margaret Johnson and Erin Mackey as her decidedly different daughter make sparks fly with their glorious acting and singing.

Talk about quirkiness and how it can be used to its best advantage in a musical! The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is terribly funny in a smart, slick, offbeat manner with prize worthy characterizations of lively eclectic people.It may be a tad long like the actual spelling out of words (that are not to be believed!)yet the exaggeration and contestants' varied reactions give rise to some great comic moments...and I love the audience involvement! Some of the contestants are picked from the audience and their ad-libs lend one.of.a.kind hilarity. The unpredictability in denouement is another big plus in the overall enjoyment of the show. It's like a real contest.

Called by many the perfect musical, My Fair Lady based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion has perhaps the wittiest and showiest debate between the sexes. Shaw despised marriage and loved to magnify human frailty, both female and male. And with Lerner and Loewe to create the book, music and lyrics, the result is a creation with music and story that flow together in ideal harmony. Even when its at its abrasive best, it's funny; even when Professor Henry Higgins is obnoxious, selfish and self-centered to the hilt, we cannot help but to laugh with him...and love him. Despite what a man says about a woman, he cannot live without her, and vice versa. We were born to live in a love/hate relationship, to be at each other's throats and in the next second, rolling around in the hay. It's all a part of life and Shaw, Lerner and Loewe displayed the ups and downs of romantic living better than anyone else...period. Now in a loverly production at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, patrons are in for a real treat through March 16.

Tony nominated actress Hannah Yelland is about to make her Los Angeles debut in the stage version of Noel Coward's Brief Encounter, the role which garnered her a Tony nomination in 2011. The classically trained actress talks about the role and how she feels about opening in Los Angeles.

Christopher Durang loves to take a somewhat placid environment and turn it upside down, inside out. What doesn't happen matters just has much if not more than what does and the characters let out their feelings at the slightest provocation. Sound like it's right out of Anton Chekhov? When Sonia gives coffee to her brother Vanya and he seems displeased with it, she takes the cup away from him in anger and throws it against the wall. It's not the coffee comment that has upset her, it's the way she feels inside, at the overall way her brother neglects her, takes her kindness for granted. She's sad and is not afraid to tell him so. Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, now onstage at the Mark Taper Forum and last year's Tony winner for Best Play, is one hilarious ride from moment to moment with wonderfully surprising twists and an eclectic mix of characters that would make any world dysfunctional. Dysfunctional is the new normal, and that's what makes Durang's work shine. Akin to drama queens, misery forms their best company. It's as if everyone were totally smashed...they say and do what they feel; they're so brutally honest, you can't stop laughing.

Comedienne Gilda Radner became one of the most idolized comic figures of the 70s as well as a popular tragic heroine of the 80s as she lost her battle with Ovarian cancer. Possessing an edgy brilliance that defied description, she lived passionately for every moment and won the hearts of millions. Writer Alan Zweibel, who was one of Gilda's closest friends - he created Roseanne Roseannadanna - from the beginning of her professional career to her death in 1989, penned Bunny Bunny to keep Gilda's memory alive...how lucky for us as we witness a triple threat production now onstage at the Falcon Theatre: great writing, vibrant direction from Dimitri Toscas and superb acting by a trio of artists who evoke and maintain a visceral energy that is every bit as remarkable and palpable as Gilda herself (Erin Pineda).