Don Grigware - Page 88

Cirque du Soleil's newest show Kooza, now playing in Denver, Colorado, will open at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles on October 16 for a limited run until November 29 in the familiar blue and yellow big top. Derived from the Sanskrit word 'koza' which means 'box' or 'treasure', Kooza was chosen as the title to fulfill the concept 'circus in a box'. Melanie Lalande, the new US artistic director of Kooza, a former dance instructor in the DC area, told me more about this intriguing production.

Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire directed by Neil Wilson Sea Glass Theatre @ The Little Vic @ The Victory Theatre Center through November 1

Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas written by Blair Singer/directed by John Rando/Geffen Playhouse through October 18

Diehard fans of TV's The Golden Girls will love this cute spoof called The Golden Gays. Yes, its humor could be more rollicking and spicy - this is a Nite Club after all - and it should be a tad shorter, but I had a great time and loved the cast, especially John W. McLaughlin as Dorothy/Damian and John Downey III as Blanche/Blaine.

Lovely Katherine Hopkins Nicholas performed her nostalgic solo evening @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's on Sunday, September 20 to exciting audience acclaim. What a memorable and exhilarating walk down memory lane with this singular beauty who sings, taps and entertains as well as she did in 1978! It was '78 when Mrs. Nicholas, married to the late great dancing MGM star Fayard Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers fame, costarred with Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies. Nicholas has talent to spare and is a real charmer. When she started her set with 'Make Someone Happy', she instantly warmed the intimate crowd.

Arthur Schnitzler's 19th century play La Ronde represents heterosexual lust and love within multiple encounters. Joe DiPietro bases his new play Fucking Men on La Ronde, but his treatment shows homosexual love via encounters such as blowjobs in the bushes, sex in the bathhouses, quickies in the confines of a broomcloset and then on to more intense lovemaking in chique hotel or private bedrooms.

August: Osage County by Tracy Letts directed by Anna D. Shapiro Ahmanson Theatre through October 18

Spectacular vocalist Marilyn Maye performed 2 shows at the Catalina Bar and Grill Tuesday September 8. This lady is one hot singer. She not only looks stunning and sings like a nightingale, but oozes a kind of charm and style that only the great singers of the past know how to convey. In a class with Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, and Broadway vocalists Barbara Cook and Karen Morrow, Marilyn Maye is a class act all the way.

Gaslight written by Patrick Hamilton directed by Charlie Mount Theatre West through September 27

Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins written by Brian Christopher Williams/directed by Richard Israel West Coast Ensemble through October 4

Kelly Dodson, Jon Paul Burkhart and Josie Yount performed their act Bitter, Party of 3 @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's Saturday, August 29 to overwhelming audience approval. Every song they picked dealt with a personal complaint, mild to vehement, like...for example, that an actor may have about the auditioning process or that a neighbor has against a noisier neighbor, etc.

Oedipus the King, Mama Troubadour Theatre Co directed by Matt Walker Falcon Theatre through September 27

Those who like plays to have a clearly drawn perspective and a definitive ending will not take to The Receptionist.

This last in the series of Wicked Summer Nights concerts from Upright Cabaret @ the Ford Amphitheatre Sunday evening August 23 was undoubtedly the best. It boasted the introduction on the West Coast of Stephen Schwartz's new opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon, narrated by Schwartz and sung magnificently by Lauren Flanigan and company. Act II was a fitting celebration of Schwartz's past works with a lineup of very exciting, and mostly fresh, lesser known talents.

My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra created by David Grapes & Todd Olson directed by David Grapes at the Moulton Theatre @Laguna Playhouse through August 23

Prolific composer Stephen Schwartz has delighted us with such musical megahits as Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show and...the most successful show in Broadway history Wicked, which is still playing in New York and on tour internationally and grossing millions of dollars on its souvenirs alone.

Billie & Bogie back-to-back solo shows written by performers Synthia L. Hardy (Billie Holiday) & Dan Spector (Humphrey Bogart- Bogie) directed by Bryan Rasmussen Whitefire Theatre Saturdays only at 8pm through August 22

Legally Blonde The Musical book by Heather Hach music & lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin directed by Jerry Mitchell Pantages Theatre through September 6