Don Grigware - Page 73

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.

'Jumping gingerbreads!' proclaims Prince of Sunshine Copernicus (Christopher Maikish) to just about anything that proves a consternation. You see Copernicus is not an ordinary Prince, and The Next Fairy Tale is not your ordinary musical. They abound in the world of fantasy. It's about a Prince in love with...a Prince, and the Mistress of Fairy Godmothers is not in the least pleased to accept and publish this newest fairy tale in a long line of traditional fairy tales for children of the next century. What happens to Minerva, her inept charge Hazel and to Copernicus and his love interest Helio is at the core of this world premiere by Brian Pugach at the Celebration Theatre through April 24. For the most part, it succeeds with a marvelous cast, fabulous direction by artistic director Michael A. Shepperd and spot-on production values. One thing that's needed is more humor. As is, it's witty and entertaining, but not nearly as funny as it could or needs to be.

The subtitle of the world premiere musical Having It All - Take Flight - speaks volumes. Five women, from totally different walks of life, are in the waiting area of a New York airport, each with a problem that needs attention. What happens to them over the course of 100 minutes gives this introspective a la Sondheim or Jason Robert Brown musical its punch and substance. With five stellar singers/actresses and fluid direction from Richard Israel Having It All has hit written all over it. It truly soars.

The 2006 movie dramedy Little Miss Sunshine was and still remains such a low-key charmer that to attempt to simulate it on stage with music is at once challenging, courageous and perplexing. Why? Why retell a story that is so perfect on film unless you can achieve a brand new and interesting take on it? I guess Spider-Man and other films being translated to the stage is the rage these days, especially when there's a dearth of original musicals. All this aside, the production values, the cast and the very artistic endeavor of the stage musical Little Miss Sunshine, now at the Mandell Weiss Theatre of La Jolla Playhouse through March 27, should be lauded and appreciated.

'Tale as old as time' nails the complex simplicity of Beauty and the Beast the quintessential story of true love, the most difficult to obtain and sustain. Disney's adaptation of the fairy tale with its sweepingly imaginative spectacle wins over even the hardest of hearts. The animated film was such a tremendous hit in 1991 that it was adapted for the stage in 1994 with new songs by Tim Rice added to the Academy Award-winning movie score originally written by deceased Howard Ashman. It ran worldwide until 2007 and proves undoubtedly that fairy tales retain a popularity that never dies. The current revival tour of Beauty and the Beast, now at the Pantages until March 27, is every bit as glorious, delectable and elegant as the original.

Triple threat Lee Roy Reams will be performing a song from 42nd Street in this year's S.T.A.G.E. benefit entitled Original Cast 2 at the Luckman Theatre on Saturday April 2. He has been in the original cast of Lorelei and in more productions of Hello Dolly! and 42nd Street than he can remember. In our recent phone chat he reminisced about the shows and the people he's worked with, including late greats Ruby Keeler & Juliet Prowse and legendary Carol Channing and Jerry Herman.

On Saturday March 5 comic actor Jim J. Bullock debuted a whole new cabaret act entitled Different @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's. Expecting the silly, over-the-top zaniness that has characterized Bullock's work on TV and stage over the past 30 years, the audience was blown away by his ferocity, warmth and sincerity as a serious performer. deed, Bullock set out to show a different side of himself, and he succeeded admirably. This is a fine actor with a great set of pipes who knows how to nail the substance of a song and then send it soaring. Careful not to begin with an overly dramatic tune, he grabbed the audience with the humor of Harry Warren's classic 'Keep Young and Beautiful' and then continued with a comic torch song 'Newt' which he had performed in Mark Waldrop's When Pigs Fly a few years back. If you're going to do something different, better to start with the familiar and take the dramatic turns little by little, which is the way Bullock proceeded. It worked beautifully!

What makes a celebrity a legend? At the beginning of a career, it's talent, lots of drive and guts, great press and of course just a little bit of luck. Once on top, the celebrity must sustain over time the image that catapulted her to stardom. There's a mystique, a je ne sais quoi, that should keep the star out of reach, inaccessible. Barbra Streisand has managed to become an icon, so when a female impressionist attempts to reproduce the speech, the incredible singing voice and style, and every hand gesture and body movement - and the overall persona - that have all made la Streisand one-of-a-kind, it would seem next to impossible to ingest it all and give it back believably. Steven Brinberg is the major exception. He sings exactly like Streisand, speaks with her quiet, laid-back manner and sense of humor, and has the hand and body movements down to perfection. For an hour and a half, one is convinced that he is in the company of the legend. Simply Barbra puts Streisand in closer proximity to an audience than usual and we revel in her individual candor and quirky attitude thanks to the astounding artistry of Steven Brinberg.

Insatiable avarice is at the core of Tennessee Williams last play (1980-82) A House Not Meant to Stand, now receiving its West coast premiere at the Fountain Theatre. Astutely directed by Simon Levy and performed by a brilliant ensemble, this House has the symbolism and lyricism expected of Williams with the addition of a few surprising features.

Actress/singer Rita McKenzie accomplishes something quite rare: she channels the charisma and voice of Broadway legend Ethel Merman. This is more than just capturing the essence of a character; in McKenzie's case, it is really becoming that person. She looks like Merman, sounds like her, sings like her and has all the body movements down pat. In this latest version of Ethel Merman's Broadway, that she has been doing for some 20 years, there are some delightful additions, including a 7 piece onstage orchestra, a huge video screen and several colorful costume changes. There's also more dialogue about the 4 marriages, Merman's daughter, who died under questionable circumstances, and a more casual and realistic look at the woman, whom many feared and despised, as well as adored. Dynamic McKenzie lets it all hang out and makes us feel like we are in the presence of a star and a lady.

Actor/singer Jim J. Bullock, best remembered for the role of Monroe in the 80s sitcom Too Close for Comfort will be appearing @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's Saturday March 5 with his all new cabaret act. Jim has had a varied career in television over the last twenty-five years, also making regular appearances on Hollywood Squares and doing a talk show with Tammy Faye Baker. He has always gone back to his theatre roots and recently did the Broadway and cross country tour of Hairspray. In our chat he talks about what inspired him to do the club act at this point in time and his overall love of the theatre. His great off-the-wall sense of humor is still in tact, as he had me laughing throughout.

The issues of gay marriage and fidelity in marriage in general are explored with humor, intelligence, and a genuine optimism in David L. Ray's Caught, now extended at the Zephyr Theatre through April 3. Fans of Del Shores and Southern Baptist Sissies will see parallels. Growing up Southern Baptist and homosexual do not mix. In Ray's play it's the fundamentalist church that damns to hell any marriage which is not a foundation for family and family values. Putting religion aside, the more urgent message in Caught becomes the support system, the compassion that one should have for another. DeGruccio's expert pace and a top-notch ensemble keep the dramedy riveting and equally entertaining.

Mon dieu! When they said Traces was one-of-a-kind and would knock me out of my seat, they weren't kidding! This is an acrobatic/dance-mixed, very physical performance. The troupe of 7 amazing people, not unlike the clowns, aerialists and gymnasts of Cirque du Soleil, all rolled into one, offer a jubilantly loose performance structure and set forth an innocently novel intent. Indeed, there is no malice intended, despite initial warnings that anything dangerous might happen and in spite of an ending that places the performers' safety first and foremost. There are really only good humane thoughts. Remember: they are part clown trained to make people smile and maybe, even think a bit. But happily just a little, as entertainment is the top priority. Through February 20 the Ricardo Montalban stage serves as home to this Canadian based group, ingeniously guided by not one but two directors Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider.