Don Grigware - Page 72

1948's Summer and Smoke was rewritten in the 60s by Tennessee Williams and what resulted was a more clearly structured/themed play with the same central characters entitled The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. Music teacher Miss Alma, daughter of an Episcopalean minister, was passionately in love with her neighbor young Dr. John Buchanan and when that love was unrequited rather than become a miserable spinster, she turned to prostitution. Now in a rare and lovely production of the refined play @ A Noise Within, Williams poetic spirit is alive and well in Miss Alma, the Spanish word for soul.

Actor/singer/musician/author Hershey Felder's multi Award winning depiction of composer George Gershwin in George Gershwin Alone is now on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse for a limited run through May 8 celebrating a ten year anniversary. Felder fills the space with his virtuoso musicianship and creates such an extraordinary stir and love affair with his public that he is becoming almost as popular as the legendary composer himself.

As I watched Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan, some painful recollections surfaced from my childhood about Ireland and its people. My mother was second generation Irish, her parents Irish immigrants who declared quite emphatically that they were happy in America and never wanted to return to their homeland, even for a visit. My mother relayed this information to me with tears in her eyes as she recalled how her mother, my maternal grandmother, would never care to endure again her harsh existence in turn of the century Ireland. The characters in McDonagh's play, circa 1934, are desperately lonely creatures, forced to take it out on those closest to them for want and need of a better way of life. Now at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. the Druid and Atlantic Theatre Company return to LA on tour in their rightfully acclaimed production of ...Inishmaan.

For those of us who lived through the 60s and saw firsthand the arrival of the Beatles in the US and their premiere on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, we know the impact that they had on pop culture and on female fans, who screamed, yelled and literally passed out while watching them. Like Elvis, they were a phenomenon and to think of how they revolutionized music over the course of the next twenty+ years! Paul, George (deceased), John (deceased) and Ringo were IT for a long time, and now the band Rain is replicating their look and musical style to the letter on Broadway and for one week only at the Pantages. Steve Landes, Joey Curatolo, Joe Bithorn, Ralph Castelli and Mark Beyer are Rain and they are as big a smash as those Liverpool youngsters who preceded them. These very same boys who played the show at the Pantages in 2009 are back once more, but will return to New York next week.

What Edward Albee boldly achieved with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in the 60s, fiercely influenced Yasmina Reza as she seizes the moment and goes a giant step further in her brilliant recreation of human savagery in God of Carnage now onstage @ the Ahmanson Theatre until May 29. With the complete original award-winning Broadway cast in tact, this Comedy of Manners - Without the Manners, like an explosive, tears the roof right off the theatre.

Roger Bean has delighted audiences cross country with The Marvelous Wonderettes, Winter Wonderettes and Life Could Be a Dream. Weaving the 50s, 60s and 70s hits together into a playful scenario is his specialty, and if only Hair had never existed! For, his latest endeavor Summer of Love, now onstage @ the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach has the look, feel and message of Hair : 'Make love not war'! In spite of the comparisons, Summer of Love has its moments... and a dynamite ensemble that moves and grooves.

Three things may be said quite frankly about Jane Anderson's plays. First of all, the subject matter is never boring. In fact, what you see is bound to create controversy especially amongst those possessing middle class values. Secondly, the protagonist is a mixed bag of strength and insecurity, but in his (her) different perspective or lifestyle, he (she) bravely faces the consequences. Thirdly, there is usually a double standard for those pointing that ugly finger at the protagonist. What they think may be good for them may not be necessarily right for others to follow, or vice versa. Now at the Geffen The Escort lives up to all three, with four outstanding performances and superior direction from Lisa Peterson.

Allan Manings' world premiere play about two aging stand up comedians starts off with a couple of jokes from Louis Berns (Alan Freeman) and Benjy Gordon (Steve Franken) but the tired old jokes turn sour when a deep dark secret is revealed in Goodbye, Louie ... Hello! now onstage @ Theatre West. With an outstanding cast, very detailed writing and sharp direction ...Louie becomes an engrossing winner.

On Sunday, April 10 to celebrate her new CD Once Upon a Time, Stephanie Burkett Gerson performed a CD release party concert @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's to an exceedingly enthusiastic packed house. No stranger to musical theatre in LA or anywhere for that matter, as she has sailed across Europe for Disney, tall and lovely Gerson has a beautiful voice and quite a vocal range. The show, with a focus on her life and career thus far, utilized a video screen projecting photos and playbill covers of shows that Gerson has played in and which remain her favorites. There was also a cute video clip of her first performance singing to her dad at age 6.

Eugene Ionesco's classic absurdist play The Chairs (1952) has had many interpretations through the years including political and religious, from soup to nuts. Now onstage at A Noise Within in a marvelously crafted production, The Chairs boasts a tremendous trio of actors under the expert direction of Julia Rodriguez-Elliott.

Frederick Knott's psychological thriller Wait Until Dark first premiered on Broadway in 1966 with Lee Remick in the title role and was later turned into a film with Audrey Hepburn. As I watched the play opening night at Group rep, I couldn't help but wonder how much better the play might be if the whole first scene with the conmen were eliminated completely. So much exposition with setting up the scheme is draggy, tedious. If audience were to learn about what is happening through Susy Hendrix (Liza de Weerd) at the same time she's figuring it out, the play might be ultimately more gripping. Not that it isn't already suspenseful! As is it's the non-seeing central character and her ultra-sensory world that engage and her solitary dilemma from moment to moment that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Above all, Miss de Weerd's sensational commitment under David Colwell's taut direction makes it all the more fascinating to experience.

'I'd Rather Be Blue...thinking of you, I'd rather be blue over you ...than be happy with somebody else.' The lyrics of this famous old standard seem to sum up the deep yet peculiar attraction of Anna (Zabryna Guevara) for Pale (Adam Rothenberg) in Lanford Wilson's mysteriously unpredictable story of love Burn This (1987) now in a fine revival @ the Mark Taper Forum. With unquestionably high calibre writing, a marvelous cast and superb direction from Nicholas Martin, Burn This leaves an indelibly piquant impression long after the curtain falls.

With the release of her new CD Crazy Little Things in April, actress/singer Lynda Carter and her band opened a three day gig @ the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on Thursday, March 31 to a wildly enthusiastic crowd. Carter, best known for TV's Wonder Woman in the 70s is still incredibly gorgeous and knows how to envelop an audience with just the right amount of warmth, charisma and genuine down-home fun. Backed by a six-piece band and three vocalists, the stage was overflowing with talent and that indescribable energy that can only emanate from expertly harmonious musicianship.

One thing certain about writer David Ives is his ability to compose short plays with an unparalleled quirky style that is at once entertaining and reflective. All in the Timing, now onstage @ Crown City Theatre in NoHo, is composed of six one-acts, the first three light and frivolously frothy, the second three of a more artful and philosophical nature. As the title implies, each playlet requires expert concentration and delivery on the part of the actors. The cast is most decidedly up to it, and direction from both William A. Reilly and Ben Rovner is top of the hill, making the evening a definite crowd pleaser.

As I sat through Becky Mode's Fully Committed for the third time, I realized just how many meanings the title has. First, as it takes place in a restaurant, fully committed means that lunch or dinner reservations are completely booked. Secondly, it indicates that a person is 100% devoted or dedicated to the work. Then, thirdly, due to a stressful position, perhaps that person is now certifiable and should be thrown in the loony bin. I mean, who could put up with such intolerable crap from management and clientele for such an extended period of time? An extreme analysis, right? There are certainly many young actors who work as receptionists or waiters and somehow allow themselves to be put through the wringer. They complain, but they stay. Nothing ever improves, but out of necessity, they stay loyal and do not leave. A lot to examine, and through Becky Mode's play, via the character of Sam (David Engel), the audience learns just how far a worker must go to find a little happiness and contentment in his menial job. With a superb performance from fully committed Engel and taut direction from Joel Bishoff, this second production of Coyote StageWorks current season hits the jackpot.

Playwright Kathleen Clark has fashioned a very sweet play Southern Comforts about two aging people, both widowed, who decide to tie the knot for the second time, with each other. Now onstage @ ICT, Long Beach it boasts fine direction from Jules Aaron and two superlative performances from Michael Learned and Granville Van Dusen.

If you want to laugh your tush off, you cannot afford to miss Alexandra Billings as Katie Hepburn @ the Celebration Theatre. This silly 70-minute piece Katie's Corner is a loosely structured improv where an older Kate Hepburn gets about as demented as one could imagine, saying and doing any f----n' thing she wants. After all, she is a 4-time Oscar winner for Best Actress, the only 4-time winner ...and a legend too, at least in her own mind!

Noel Coward's timeless wit is as pleasing as watercrest sandwiches or scones and butter. It's irresistible, especially in his now classic Private Lives and works to perfection when properly cast. In the new revival at Laguna Playhouse, Andrew Barnicle has assembled a glorious ensemble, one that knows how to bring out Coward's subtleties with panache, a somewhat rare quality for an American troupe.

On Sunday March 20 Broadway's former Young Cossette of Les Mis pretty Demaree Alexander brought her cabaret act to Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's with a bevy of talented guests on board. This young lady has a background not only in Broadway pop music but also in country; consequently, she nicely essayed a variety of musical styles alone and in duets with Kevin Odekirk, Dee Dee Magno-Hall, Jess Buda, Maura Hanlon Smith and brother Braden Danner. It was a lovely laid-back evening with Alexander's cute, easy going delivery and not without some exciting musical surprises.

On Sunday March 13 actor/singer/impressionist Perry Lambert returned to Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's with The Perry Lambert Show. The one thing that people can say about Lambert, apart from the fact that he is multi-talented, is that he abounds with an infectious energy which keeps the show moving, moving, moving for 60 minutes with a varied mix of songs and stellar impressions. Having performed on cruise ships, Lambert has learned to deliver what pleases the crowd and deliver he does! It's one hell of a show with nonstop hilarity and laughs.