Shari Barrett - Page 40

What is truly amazing - a miracle really - is the entire production began rehearsals (including learning the music as well as staging) on August 13 and opened on August 21. That this ensemble, directed and choreographed by the talented powerhouse Jeffrey Polk, was able to put the rock opera together in just over a week is astounding, given the incredible rock band and talented singers who harmonize so beautifully that you would think they had been working on the show for months. Add in the big rock stage show lighting fit for a large arena, and the resulting show is sure to appeal to all who believe in the power of faith with a real dash of musical flash.

The San Pedro Theatre Club presents the World Premiere of FRACTURED BROADWAY: MADE IN LA. This hilarious parody with a big Los Angeles point of view is a satirical romp through your favorite musicals parodied to reflect the current affairs of live theatre in Los Angeles. With 24 original parodies set to favorite tunes from well-loved Broadway musicals, everyone from would-be actors to those struggling with auditions, from directors to producers to critics, audience members to old folks reminiscing about their past theatre glory days, has their moment to shine in the spotlight.

Kentwood Players presents Don Nigro's comedic murder mystery "RAVENSCROFT" from September 11 to October 17, 2015, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. In this stylish, witty mystery-thriller, a detective investigates a murder at an English country estate inhabited by five intriguing women and finds that he is caught in a web of deceit and lies. He learns that everyone is a suspect; everyone has a motive! The mystery unfolds with comical twists and turns until the unpredictable ending reveals all.

Sister community theater groups Kentwood Players and Theatre Palisades are working in tandem this summer to present all three plays in Neil Simon's Eugene Trilogy, beginning with "Brighton Beach Memoirs" by Kentwood Players from July 10 through August 15, the just added staged readings of "Biloxi Blues" at Theatre Palisades on Saturday, August 29 at 8pm and by Kentwood Players on Sunday, August 30 at 7pm, and ending with "Broadway Bound" at Theatre Palisades from September 4 through October 11, 2015.

Twenty-nine years after it premiered, playwright Jerry Mayer's hit comedy ALMOST PERFECT has returned to the Santa Monica Playhouse playing weekends through September 27 as part of the Playhouse's three-year Jerry Mayer-a-thon, reuniting Mayer with director Chris DeCarlo. Mayer is based in Pacific Palisades and has premiered many of his plays at the venue, but this one is his first play and meant a lot to him personally - a piece that explores marriage with honesty and humor.

Playwright Lyle Kessler is perhaps best known as the author of 'Orphans' which began its stage life at the Matrix Theater in Los Angeles. Similar to the two lost brothers living in Philadelphia looking for family in that play, Kessler's new play 'The Great Divide' also centers on two very different brothers in the Fishtown area of Philadelphia dealing with the loss of their mother and overhearing father as best they can while life throws them curve balls, especially when two unexpected siblings show up and break into their family home looking for love as well as money.

In our modern dating world, there is no real way to know when a relationship has the potential to last longer than a one night stand. In THE PORCINI TEST, a contemporary play written and directed by Laureen Vonnegut, three long-time friends with hidden truths and concealed weapons banter back and forth over drinks about the merits of men, many of whom they have shared, finally deciding the best way to sift through them is to give each the Porcini test, basically asking if they know how to correctly pronounce the Italian fungi properly. If so, you're in. If not, so long!

Like modern soap operas, THE FALSE SERVANT centers on a love triangle between two women and one man. Each plans to marry him, but he is only interested in which woman can bring him the best financial arrangement. And we are told from the beginning that if your mind has room for reason, there is no room for love. Thus is set up the battle of the sexes with the only reason for love being the acquisition of money.

A global phenomenon that has wowed audiences for over 40 years, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is a timeless work set against the backdrop of an extraordinary and universally-known series of events but seen, unusually, through the eyes of Judas Iscariot. Performed on the intimate thrust stage with no scenery other than a long, thin center platform at the Long Beach Playhouse, the actors enter and exit in many places throughout the audience, often creating a surround sound experience not available on a proscenium stage. This makes it very easy to feel you are a part of the production and biblical history itself. No doubt the effect is thanks to sound designer Larry Mura working with the new system put in place for this production.

Written by James Reach, adapted from the 1955 teleplay by Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame, PATTERNS, takes an insightful look at corporate politics, examining just how much it takes for an individual to crack in order to succeed financially. Directed with great skill and insight into human foibles and behavior by Jules Aaron (one of Los Angeles' most honored directors, the recipient of over thirty awards for his work, directing over 250 stage and television productions), with a brilliant cast and design team at Theatre 40, the play depicts the emotional wreckage that corporate culture can inflict on individuals to bring them into the fold.

Fraser Entertainment Group's critically-acclaimed ongoing series AN EVENING OF CLASSIC BROADWAY returns to Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Feliz on Monday, August 10 at 8pm, the ninth installment of the successful concert series, produced by Dianne Fraser. Acclaimed musical director Brad Ellis (from the hit television series GLEE, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, etc.) leads a cast of superb singers from Broadway, television, and film.

Folklore tells us The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. Amiri Baraka's thought-provoking play DUTCHMAN, directed with a sure hand by Levy Lee Simon at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica, takes this concept into 1964 when Lula, a young white woman waiting on a New York subway platform, spots Clay, a black businessman, through the passing train's window and decides to join him for no other reason than to entice him to succumb to her physical charms.

THE MUSIC MAN with Book. Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson continues to be one of the most-loved American musicals of all time, regularly performed on stages across the country. What really makes the Aerospace Players production a joy to behold is the intricate and extremely varied choreography designed by Angela Asch who also portrays Zaneeta "Ye-Gods" Shinn to perfection. Director John Woodcock is to be commended for making sure each of the ensembles members, and there are many of all different ages, get a moment in the spotlight during the show either with a line during the many ensemble numbers or a featured spot while dancing.

In this absurd, poignant, uncomfortably funny play written by Academy Award nominated Peter Hedges ('What's Eating Gilbert Grape,' 'Pieces of April,' and 'About A Boy') and directed by Clare Carey (NBC Hit 'AQUARIUS'), stars Sirena Irwin and Sarah Randall Hunt portray two women who despite their initial differences grow a unique friendship of compassion, support, and survival. What becomes apparent as we get to know these two women is that IMAGINING BRAD takes a realistic look at the often-disquieting dynamics of domestic violence in the relationships of men and women in contemporary society.

Los Angeles-based comedic writers and performers Josh Lanzet and Lindy Voeltner met performing comedy at The Second City in Chicago. While developing a scene together about relationships, its popularity encouraged them to work it into a full show now entitled DATING: ADULTS EMBRACING FAILURE. Grab your friends and be prepared to laugh as you recognize yourselves in the many hilarious vignettes about how love is found and lost in the most ordinary or extraordinary of places and circumstances.

I have to admit I had never seen the 2001 MGM movie, Legally Blonde before seeing LEGALLY BLONDE The Musical at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. And I am happy to say it is great fun for all ages in every aspect from the effervescent musical numbers presented by the remarkably energetic cast to the over-the-top bright pink costumes designed by Kristie Rutledge. Director/Musical Director Anne Gesling and choreographer Lauren Blair surely spent hours on end putting together the many incredibly intricate musical numbers, including the momentous "What You Want," Elle's video essay to get into Harvard, which includes at least 3 set changes, several costume changes by dozens of cast members, and many types of dance from tap to jazz. That 12-minute number alone is worth the price of admission on its own!

Kentwood Players presents Neil Simon's 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' from tonight, July 10, through August 15, 2015, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045.

"Brighton Beach Memoirs" is the semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene Trilogy, followed by "Biloxi Blues" and "Broadway Bound." This first play centers on 15 year old Eugene Jerome who lives with his family in Brighton Beach during the height of the Depression in 1937. He has dreams of becoming a star pitcher for the New York Yankees alternating with his growing awareness of girls. Eugene narrates the play with wit and takes us through his memories and reflections of himself and his family as they share their laughter, tears, and love as they navigate the hard times of the depression.

The brilliantly creative mind of Michael Keith Allen has worked wonders with a new re-telling of Shakespeare's MACBETH at the Art of Acting Studio by setting the tragedy in a postmodern Scotland where street thugs battle for leadership as well as territory, while cutting the run time to 90 minutes and allowing the actors to speak without heavy accents, making it easy to understand the dialogue and follow the plot and character development. It is definitely the best rendition of the classic I have ever seen.

From Cabaret to Chicago, the non-stop hit-parade features unforgettable gems including 'Mr. Cellophane,' 'Maybe this Time,' 'Cabaret' and 'New York, New York', all seamlessly interwoven into a passionate, harmonious, up-tempo evening of musical theatre now onstage at Theatre Palisades, directed and choreographed by Victoria Miller with musical direction by Joshua Eli Kranz who also appears onstage accompanying the singers on a lusciously rich-sounding grand piano along with Anthony Barbarotta on drums and percussion. And thanks to Kranz's musical direction, the singers harmonize beautifully throughout the production.