Don Grigware - Page 81

Robert Mollohan's play Jesse Boy, now receiving its world premiere at Ruskin, is a potent mix of reality and fantasy.

Ser o no ser. Esta es la cuestion. Spanish Shakespeare consumes actor Rene Rivera. Throughout his stimulating one man show, The King of the Desert, autobiographical and penned by his wife Stacey Martino, Rivera quotes Hamlet more than once to describe his passion and to help sustain his dream of one day becoming a great actor. Like Hamlet, the young TexMex Rivera had difficulty assessing his self-worth amidst a life of constant struggle and turmoil.

Jeremy Aldridge most recently directed the World Premiere of Savin' Up For Saturday Night at Sacred Fools Theatre, for which he received a Best Director Nomination from LA Weekly. Previously he directed the award-winning and critically acclaimed Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara (Sacred Fools and Matrix Theatres), for which he received an Ovation Nomination and LADCC and Garland awards for Outstanding Direction. In this second interview with the creative team of Priscilla's Perfect Day @ GROUP rep in NoHo, Aldridge as director of the play describes his challenges in working on it.

Jumpin' Jehovah! A giant lobster edging in on young Priscilla's blueberry pancake feast! Grab that lobster! Save those pancakes!! This plot sounds quite the yummy treat for kids and adults alike! It sure has my mouth watering! Husband and wife team Diana Martin (book) and Richard Levinson (songs), pianist for the recent hit Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara, are collaborating on Priscilla's Perfect Day to open Saturday June 12 at the GROUP rep in NoHo.

In a thoroughly engrossing and original piece, actor Kevin Dulude portrays Katharine Hepburn in selected highlights throughout her long career. Each segment includes a song from that time period, which though Hepburn never sang originally, adds mysteriously fascinating luster to the Hepburn mystique. If she had recorded an album of these songs, each would punctuate to perfection a feeling, mood or opinion that was undeniably Hepburn.This portrayal is not an impersonation, mind you, but a loving and moving tribute - both humorous and poignant - and, remarkably well etched.

From Ain't Misbehavin' and Big, prolific team Maltby & Shire produce a Tony nominated Baby - in which three couples at various stages of life find themselves expecting a child. Sound simple? Well, in Baby 's revised, West Coast premiere, it's pretty damn complicated as life's unexpected changes do not always work smoothly. The GROUP rep has a first-class production on its hands that will surely appeal to a wide audience, especially to marrieds and those planning for the patter of little feet.

Quintessential_South_Pacific_Docks_At_Ahmanson_20010101 Who said film, not stage, was the director's medium? The Lincoln Center Theater Production of South Pacific is an example of just how one ingenious director's vision makes a great show even greater. The message of heartbreaking love across racial borders has never been portrayed as quintessentially or more beautifully as in Bartlett Sher's stunner now docked at the Ahmanson until July 17.

When A Chorus Line premiered at Joe Papp's Public Theater in 1975, its bold form changed the face of the American musical. I wonder if James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante (book), Ed Kleban (lyrics) and Marvin Hamlisch (music) really knew the impact that their soon-to-be Pulitzer Prize winning drama would hold for future generations as it moved from Joe Papp's Public Theater to Broadway? It promised to be be a singularly sensational success all over the globe for decades. And - in 2010 - it still remains one of the most thrilling musicals ever.

Actor Gregory Harrison will star @ La Jolla Playhouse in June in the world premiere of Surf Report. His association with Catalina Productions in Los Angeles for so many years put him at the top of his craft as a stage actor and theatrical producer. He revolutionized the theatre scene here and was rewarded over and over for those successes. Of course, he is recognized most for TV's Trapper John M.D. and the countless MOWs and Cable films he has done over the past thirty years. This ageless man, still an avid surfer, is now preparing to take on his dream role @ La Jolla.

Doug Carpenter and Jessica Keenan Wynn, costars of the original Life Could Be a Dream, made their cabaret debuts @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's Sunday May 30 in a deliriously entertaining evening of song entitled Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.

Playwright, essayist and famous author of radio drama of the 30s and 40s Norman Corwin, now 100 years young, loved to entertain audiences with light entertainment, including fantasy, that often tackled important social issues, not unlike Orson Welles. He has frequently been referred to as the 'Poet Laureate of Radio'. CART (California Artists Radio Theatre), to celebrate Corwins's 100th birthday on May 3, presented two of his short comedies, both directed sublimely by Peggy Webber, on Saturday, May 29 at the Beverly Garland Theatre in NoHo.

Painful though the subject matter of Four Places truthfully is, you can identify and spot at least one member of your family within its four characters. Mother Peggy, daughter Ellen, and son Warren are present; the father never appears, but his presence is felt as clearly as the other three, thanks to the astute writing of Joel Drake Johnson. In fact, the play has everything going for it: great writing, directing, acting and technical values.

Actress/singer/dancer Lesli Margherita is a super talented artist. She's been in The Grave White Way, Beehive, Zorba for Reprise!, among many other shows. And...she's already won an Olivier Award (Great Britain's Tony) for Featured Actress in a Musical - unusual for an American artist - and is currently finishing up her run in the controversial world premiere of Michael LaChiusa's See What I Wanna See on Sunday May 30 at the Blank Theatre. On Tuesday June 8 she will perform her acclaimed one-woman show All Hail the Queen once more for one night only at Level 3 in Hollywood. We talked about her theatrical successes here and abroad.

See What I Wanna See words and music by Michael John La Chiusa suggested by the stories of Rynosuke Akutagawa as translated by Takashi Kojima directed by Daniel Henning The Blank Theatre Company through May 30

Crown City Theatre's adaptation of Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore entitled U.S.S. Pinafore mixing the rhythmical musical score with a Treky-based theme is one gigantically terrific musical takeoff.

Broadway actress/singer Janene Lovullo returned to the concert stage after a ten-year hiatus @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's on Sunday, May 23 with a superior evening of song entitled You Are My World. She was accompanied at the piano by fine musical director Chris Marlowe.

Comedian Rip Taylor has been entertaining audiences for over 50 years with a fast-paced delivery of stupid jokes and hysterical one-liners accompanied by a visual menagerie of props that won't quit. You really have to focus in to keep up with him; once he lets loose with a punchline, that's it; whether you caught it or not, it's on to the next, in a barrage of 50 or more, shot out and sprayed around in machine gun style. As Charles Pierce used to say, 'I hope you're wearing pampers, my dear, because you're going to pee!' Taylor is a scream and audiences have always had a ball.

The evening was directed by Edward Sayegh and featured Gil Darnell, James Snyder, Alli Mauzey, Alli McGinnis, Anthony Carillo, Carolyn Schultz, Reid Lee, Amy Lawrence, Cynthia Stults, Marikah Cunningham and Lisaun Whittingham, all vocal students of Mr. Sayegh. The evening was in support of The American Musical Theater Workshop. (AMTW) And... T'was A Grand Night of Singing!