Gil Kaan - Page 42

In their current production of  NEXT TO NORMAL, the East West Players present a first-rate, extremely well-executed musical look at mental illness. Nancy Keystone smoothly directs this two-hour-plus performance at a steady, non-stop, heart-wrenching pace with barely enough time for the audience to catch their respective breaths or wipe their teary eyes before the next song happens - through the collectively A.MA.ZING voices of the ultra-talented cast of six.

L.A. Theatre Works' latest world premiere THE TUG OF WAR will begin May 25, 2017 at UCLA's James Bridges Theater. LATW commissioned prolific writer/producer David Rambo to create this piece on President John F. Kennedy's tough, thankless position dealing with Russian and Cuban relations in 1992. David took some time from teaching at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts (during his hiatus from Will) to answer a few of our curious inquiries.

With House of Cards and Ides of March (based on this play) on playwright Beau Willimon's resume, you might come to see his FARRAGUT NORTH with rather high expectations. Jack Tynan's confession and termination scenes (with Geoffrey Lower as Paul, Stephen's boss) really pop and sizzle, with their tension and their clashing confrontation rating as the drama's highlights.

The Geffen Playhouse tackles the various conflicting definitions of sexual consent in its co-world premiere of playwright Anna Ziegler's ACTUALLY beginning May 2, 2017. I made the most of the opportunity to delve into Anna's thoughts on her love of writing; how, by chance, she became the successful writer she is today; and her reaction to winning London's 2016 WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play for her PHOTOGRAPH 51.  

Not a single weak link in JTK Productions' powerful, pitch-perfect RABBIT HOLE, playwright David Lindsay-Abaire's 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. The strong cast of five sleekly directed by Eric Hunicutt vividly illustrates Lindsay-Abaire's tale of a family coping with the accidental loss of their little boy Danny.

SING HAPPY!, a delightful cabaret showcase of Ann LeSchander's vocal chops and comic talents backed by wonderful musicians who know when to take focus and when to lay back. Kudos to The Gardenia's sound system that allows each instrument to be heard so distinctly as individual instruments, then blend so wonderfully with Ann's vocals.

The Elephant Theatre Company's LONE STAR provides an interesting character study populated with three intriguing characters, the most being the younger brother Ray as embodied by Christopher Parker.

The first act of the Skylight Theatre Company's world premiere of LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD'S HOME FOR UNWED MOTHERS presents a riveting, fast-paced, well-acted tale of Dee, a teenage girl experiencing the joys of young love and the pains and consequences of unexpected pregnancy. Corryn Cummins totally owns her role of Dee, effortlessly exhibiting Dee's very wide range of teenage emotions. Brava, Corryn Cummins!

The West Coast premiere of Complicite's THE ENCOUNTER amazes with its cutting-edge technology of 3-D audio. Co-creator/performer Simon McBurney commands the Wallis stage as he recalls National Geographic photographer Loren McIntyre's 1969 photographic expedition into the depths of the Amazon rainforest. The inventive use of Sennheiser headphones astonishingly brings all the various sound effects and voices into your ears.

John Strand's THE ORIGINALIST had its world premiere in 2015 at The Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. with the titular role of Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia played by the critically acclaimed Edward Gero. Edward reprises his role at The Pasadena Playhouse's starting April 11. I made the most out of the opportunity to put Edward on the stand to cross-examine him on what it means to portray one of the most polarizing judges in U.S. history.

Perfection! A Noise Within produces a stunning, modernistic, most entertaining take on MAN OF LA MANCHA, the tale of Don Quixote and his man servant Sancho during the sixteenth century Spanish Inquisition. Co-Producing Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott most skillfully directs her very talented cast of thirteen staging them in non-stop action.

The West Coast Premiere of Mike Donahue's latest directorial project THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA McBRIDE arrives at The Geffen Playhouse April 4, 2017. Mike took some time out of rehearsals to chat with BroadwayWorld and myself.

Hollywood's renown El Capitan Theatre features the exclusive pre-show complements to the newly released, live-action version of Disney's animated classic Beauty and The Beast. A curated exhibit of costumes, props and set pieces, actually used in the film, fills up two of the three theatre lobbies. Then, when you enter the auditorium, your eyes will be quite dazzled by the Swarovski crystal curtain.

A solid acting ensemble fires up the Ruskin Group Theatre's world premiere of playwright Justin Yoffe's THE GUN. Dave Florek sure-handedly directs his talented cast at a brisk pace in this 60-minute one-act brimming with suspenseful taunt and tensioned urgency.

The award-winning playwright/drag legend/cabaret artiste Charles Busch displayed the reasons why he's such a creative force to be reckoned with as he had the Rockwell audience easily eating out of his outstretched hands in his THAT GIRL/THAT BOY cabaret show. Busch and his adoring fans most deservingly experienced a two-way love affair with each witty bon mot or sobering lyric Busch casually or dramatically tossed.

The Whitefire Theatre's west coast premiere of playwright Ellen Melaver's MARTHA possesses all the creative elements, exquisitely combined, for a stunning one-woman show on modern dance revolutionary Martha Graham. The incredible Christina Carlisi totally embodies this movement innovator with her very first hand gestures.

A committed group of six actors give depth and much emotions to a collection of correspondence between older mentors and younger mentees of the gay community. Psychotherapist Brian Gleason has cherry picked portions of Rainer Maria Rilke's book 'Letters to A Young Poet' and dramatized them to some fine results on stage.

Circle X Theatre Co.'s world premiere of playwright Susan Rubin's LIANA AND BEN presents one of the best technical productions I've seen in small LA theatres. Walking into the Atwater Village Theatre, more than a number of entering audience members do a double take at the optical illusion right in front of their faces. The lighting design of Dan Weingarten combined with the very basic, very clever set of set designer Alan E. Muraoka lead one to believe they're looking...

UMPO's continues its winning recipe for a raucous evening of laughs and musicality with its latest production THE UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY OF MEAN GURLZ. Take one part cult film favorite. Separate out the funny situations accenting them with witty, new lines. Add hit pop songs, repurposed to advance the original film plotline. And top it all off with a very talented, triple-threat cast. And what you have is a very tasty WOW!

East West Players' new Artistic Director Snehal Desai ambitiously tackles the US premiere of playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar's FREE OUTGOING as his directorial debut. FREE OUTGOING centers on a single mother and her two teenagers living in a very conservative Chennai, India. Strong performances from the talented cast of five vividly illustrate the consequences of a video of the 15-year-old daughter engaged in a sex act going viral.