Don Grigware - Page 47

About to costar at the Fountain in The Normal Heart, opening September 21, actor Tim Cummings discusses his role in the play and his award-winning role in The New Electric Ballroom at the Rogue Machine, as well as other theatrical interests.

Funny Girl/book by Isobel Lennart; music by Jule Styne & lyrics by Bob Merrill/directed by Michael Matthews/3D Theatricals/through September 22 at Plummer Auditorium, Fullerton/September 27-29 at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Redondo Beach

On Sunday evening September 1, Kritzerland celebrated its third anniversary and 37th show at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Entitled The Songs That Got Away II, it featured a batch of songs from various composers/musicals that Bruce Kimmel considers great but that over time have received far less airplay than deserved. In short, they have just not attained a solid popularity. Many of these songs are familiar like 'Some People' from Gypsy, but, it certainly did not gain the fame of, say, 'Everything's Coming Up Roses'... but should have. Some of the lesser known but beautiful tunes like 'It Must Be Spring' by Michel Legrand and the Bergmans are so good that it seems a shame it did get nominated for awards. Featured on this stellar program were dynamic singers Valerie Perri, Kay Cole, Jane Noseworthy, speciaLguest star Sharon McNight, Dan Callaway, Joshua Finkel, Jenna Lee Rosen, and sisters Sami and Sarah Staitman. John Boswell brilliantly served as musical director at the piano throughout the 90-minute set.

Actor James Marsters, popular star of TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (1997-2004) as Spike returns to the stage with his costar from Buffy Juliet Landau in a world premiere comedy The Bells of West 87th at Greenway Court Theatre opening September 7. In our chat, Marsters talks confidently about his successful rock band Ghost of the Robot, acting, doing other plays he would like to pursue as actor/director/producer...and of course, this new play by Elin Hampton The Bells... where he claims fans will not recognize him...his character is so radically different from the villains they're so used to seeing him play...

The world mourns the loss of a great, one.of.a.kind philanthropist/artist Gertrude 'Trudy' Morse, who passed away on August 21 at Arden Courts, Potomac, MD. She was 94. This pure renaissance woman was a civil rights activist, having traveled through Africa, Australia, Europe and the US, an advocate for natural childbirth and breast feeding, a poet, a dancer and all-around champion humanitarian. She is survived by six children, twenty-one grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

A Short Stay at Carranor/ by William Blinn/ directed by John Gallogly/ Theatre West/ through September 29

Rapture, Blister, Burn/by Gina Gionfriddo /directed by Peter DuBois/Geffen Playhouse /through September 22

Hairspray/book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan/music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman/choreographed by Orlando Alexander/directed by Martin Lang/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through October 12

Actor/singer/dancer Emrhys Cooper, winner of the 2012 BWW Award for Actor to Watch in 2013, has certainly made his mark on the entertainment world. After much TV and film work, the British born performer shifts to singing with his first single 'Hypnotized' to be released Tuesday August 20. In our chat he discusses the career move. He also gives us a heads up on his recent trip to Bhutan, the film he made there, as well as other career breakthroughs.

There's no need to stretch one's imagination when people jump to their feet and dance in the aisles, shaking and grooving the night away. They've already formed their own images and feel the magic. Motown's a fun show with 12 pretty great singers and a full orchestra center stage under the nifty musical direction of Andrew Reyes.

What can you say about a 6 foot three inch lesbian Jewish mother of two? Well, if she's Judy Gold, she is amusingly offbeat, as quirky as the description sounds and...genuinely funny. Growing up Jewish in New York with all its religious restrictions and where communication consisted of 'either no talking or... screaming'... then on top of that to be a girl and exceedingly tall...ouch! You are most definitely out of place, but by no means out of touch, even though the temptation for her may have been to run and hide. Judy's escape? She planted herself in front of the TV, watched sitcoms...and learned. And in the 70s, with All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Brady Bunch, The Partidge Family, Welcome Back, Kotter, to name but a few, what a fun education it was! Now at the Geffen Playhouse, Judy Gold plays out her award-winning The Judy Show extended through August 18, appropriately subtitled My life as a sitcom.

The title says it all. Women Are Crazy Because Men Are Assholes is an in-your-face sexual comedy that is indeed aggressive with its sexual encounters. As far as the relationships are concerned - there are five couples - there is merely superficial exploration. The characters, with one exception, are exceedingly selfish and self-centered: they want what they want when they want it. If TV sitcoms are your thing, then this play will most definitely make you laugh uproariously, but if you want something extra, the play is not the thing. Currently onstage at the Macha Theatre, despite its flaws, Women... has skilled direction and some delightfully comic performances.

On Sunday August 4 Kritzerland presented its monthly tribute this time in honor of composers Meredith Willson (right) and Gene de Paul. On hand were regulars host Bruce Kimmel, musical director par excellence Tom Griep and terrific singers Jane Noseworthy, Chelsea Emma Franko, Robert Yacko, and newcomers to Kritzerland: Charlotte Mary Wen, this year's winner of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013, Allen Everman, Justin Jones, Bruce Merkle and David Zack. Special guest star was the beautiful Sue Raney who had a record contract at Capitol Records at the age of 17.

Alfred Hitchcock's/The 39 Steps/adapted by Patrick Barlow/based on the book by John Buchan & on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon/directed by Todd Nielsen/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through August 17

Double Indemnity/reinvented for the stage by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright/based on the novel by James M. Cain/directed by John Gould Rubin/Old Globe, San Diego/Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre/extended through September 1

Doris & Me/conceived, written & performed by Scott Dreier/directed by Richard Israel/with musical accompaniment by Johnny May and Trevor Mulvey/Welk Resorts, Escondido/Thursday matinees at 1 pm through August 22

Wrap Your Heart Around It/written, composed and performed by LynnMarie Rink/directed by Michael Kearns /musical direction by Paul Carrol Binkley/Falcon Theatre/through August 11

Singer/actress Joan Ryan made a rare appearance with a brand new show An Evening with Joan Ryan at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal on Sunday, July 28 prior to a cross country tour which includes 54 Below in New York. This lady, who has an entire comedic medley labeling herself a belta-holic, remains a consummate vocalist, one of the best there is. She possesses an incredibly powerful range, has a glowing personality that will not quit, and knows how to work a cabaret room, literally from back to front, side to side with superior direction from Andrew MacBean.

On Friday July 26 and Saturday July 27 Andy DiMino brought his spot-on tribute to Dean Martin to the Encore Dinner Theatre and Club in Tustin, accompanied by a heavenly 12-piece orchestra. A lifelong musician, once a gondolier at the Venetian in Las Vegas, DiMino is a stunningly handsome Italian, who has the laid-back presence and easy-going vocal style of the late great Martin...and that's no easy task. To be as relaxed with an audience as you swing and sway to these all-time favorite tunes is in itself quite an art. DiMino captures the cool and collected, sophisticated, and sardonic Martin to the letter.

Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's screenplay for the 1959 cult classic film Some Like It Hot relied on one comedy gimmick, that two men, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, could escape from Chicago mobsters by donning drag and joining a girl band ...and convince everyone around them that they were really women. Could they pull it off? Wilder himself reputedly stated that he never thought the movie would be as successful as it became due to its meager plotline. But... with Marilyn Monroe alongside Lemmon and Curtis as Sugar Kane, the hilarious trio really blended uproariously...and the rest is history. When in 1972 Jule Styne and Bob Merrill collaborated with book writer Peter Stone to create Sugar, their Broadway musical flopped, probably for two reasons. Firstly, Styne's music, with the exception of one or two songs, is not memorable. Secondly, the book, too faithful to the screenplay, has tremendous holes for a stage play and just does not, no offense to composer Styne, come up roses.