Shari Barrett - Page 23

Somewhere in the world tonight there are 7 performances of the hit musical MAMMA MIA! onstage entertaining audiences. In fact, the show based on the music by Swedish pop group ABBA, has become so popular that the only continent where a regional or touring production has not occurred is Antarctica, and the show has set the record for premiering in more cities faster than any other musical in history. And after seeing the current 3-D Theatricals production, it's easy to see why audiences continue to fill theaters to experience the fun, spectacle, great music, and overall happy atmosphere generated by this feel-good musical.

Gloria Gifford is a stage-trained actress from New York City, giving her the necessary background to understand the intricacies of people caught up in a place where the traffic is loud and people live in close proximity to each other, yet still think it's necessary to always be screaming at one another to get the upper hand. Such is the case with the five characters in Stephen Adly Guirgis' 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning THE MOTHF**CKER WITH THE HAT, an urban comedy now being presented as the inaugural production at the Gloria Gifford Conservatory for the Performing Arts new location on Theater Row in Hollywood.

For the past several summers, I have attended the Festival of Arts and The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. But this year, I also decided to also visit two other art festivals along Laguna Canyon Road rather than spend any time cruising the town as I had done before. The full-day of exploring all the artistic delights on display this year at all three locations left me dazzled by all the talent on display, while wishing I had lot of extra income to purchase and bring home many of the awe-inspiring items that caught my fancy. But the real highlight of the day was viewing the abundance of 'local color' on display in this summer's 'Under the Sun' themed Pageant of the Masters.

Even if you have seen it before, I cannot stress enough how miraculous the current production of ANNIE is at the Hollywood Bowl, directed with creative ingenuity by Michael Arden. Featured in the cast of incredibly talented triple-threat (acting, singing, dancing) performers are Ana Gasteyer as the ruthless headmistress Miss Agatha Hannigan, David Alan Grier as the refined, generous billionaire Oliver 'Daddy' Warbucks, Lea Salonga as his dedicated and caring assistant Grace Farrell, with newcomer Kaylin Hedges as Annie, who won the role over hundreds of other young girls from across the country who submitted video auditions to win role. Miss Hedges is the cornerstone of the production and her soaring, pitch-perfect voice and effervescent stage presence setting the jubilant tone for the entire ensemble.

A major theme running throughout THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW musical is transvestism which, according to O'Brien, was not originally meant to be as prominent as it ended up being after its original London production starring the cross-dressing, incredibly sexy Tim Curry as Frank-n-Furter. Brilliantly continuing in that tradition since the Maverick Theater's first production in 2007 is Dennis Tong, who absolutely inhabits the iconic role with every ounce of his being. From the moment he appears atop the bar in the theater and throws back his cape to reveal Frank-n-Furter's scantily dressed sexy self, you know this is going to be a night of theater you will never forget. In fact, the entire cast creates each and every character purely from their hearts.

Norm Foster has written over sixty plays which have been produced all over the world. Selections from this most-produced Canadian playwright have been included at Theatre 40 for many years, but this time the group is excited to present the U.S. Premiere of his appropriately titled new play SCREWBALL COMEDY which pays homage to this classic genre of entertainment. Emerging in the 1930s, screwball comedies were a wild new strain of fast-talking farces involving battles of the sexes and a world forever on the brink of chaos. The elements included a male and female who may be adversarial at first but are ultimately ideal for each other. Think of the classic films It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby and My Man Godfrey during which some farcical or slapstick action occurs, including snappy patter and crackling dialogue with bits of off-color humor thrown in, with the plot ultimately leading to the female gaining the upper hand in the relationship.

Featuring an eclectic mix of sexy, DARK & DIRTY show tunes and comedy songs, Bucket List Cabaret, the brain-child of Theatre 40 member Amanda Conlon and her husband Peter Flanigan, invaded Three Clubs on July 19, 2018 with an explosively entertaining evening of musical fun that kept its audience laughing from start to finish. I am not exactly sure how Ms. Conlon found (or perhaps created) such an amazing mix of naughty tunes, I can say each one kept me laughing at the unexpected language and subject matter throughout the entire show.

Due to Wilson's fervor when performing, with his dynamic dance moves, impassioned singing and impeccable dress, he was soon christened 'Mr. Excitement,' a title Wilson would keep for the remainder of his career. His live performances consisted of knee-drops, splits, spins, back-flips, one-footed across-the-floor slides, removing his tie and jacket and throwing them off the stage, and a great deal of basic boxing steps, advance and retreat shuffling, and one of his favorite routines, getting women in the audience to come up to the stage and kiss him. In fact, the only thing Wilson loved more than music, it seems, was women, many of whom you will meet during several interviews about his life included in THE JACKIE WILSON STORY.

Perhaps, as suggested by playwright Peter Lefcourt in his world premiere play THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARY JO KOPECHNE, she had also been drinking and could not say no to a man of considerable power and influence, a man who could help advance her career, a man she also may have admired after the death of his brother Robert the previous year. Certainly, this dilemma has become particularly prominent in the #MeToo era in which we are now living where men of power are being taken to task for making unwanted sexual advances on those working for them who go along with it for career gain. What we do know is that Kennedy survived and she did not. But who was Mary Jo Kopechne?

Featuring 18 original songs and a cast of ten (6 dogs and 4 humans), the world premiere of MUTT HOUSE: THE MUSICAL at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City recounts the story of quirky outsider Eddie Corbin (Ryan McCartan) who has managed to find a place to call home in a neglected downtown animal shelter. But when the city threatens to close the shelter, Eddie must do something he's never done before - stand up for himself and fight for what's right. With the help of six zany mutts, he faces his fears and makes an unexpected human connection in the process. It's a fun and furry musical tale for animal lovers of all ages!

Summer would not be complete without seeing at least one Shakespeare play outdoors somewhere in Los Angeles. This year I decided to spend a bewitching night in Griffith Park, selecting to see my favorite Bard comedy, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, presented by the Independent Shakespeare Company (ISC) celebrating the 15th anniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. In 2010, ISC moved free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park to Griffith Park, the second largest city park in California. The growth in attendance has been extraordinary, certainly due in part to the quality of the productions. So grab a blanket or a lawn chair, pack a picnic, and take a short hike into Griffith Park to a land of wonder and imagination thanks to the Independent Shakespeare Company's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - and bring the kids!

When Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theatre decided to present MARY POPPINS The Broadway Musical as the final production of their 2017-18 Mainstage season, the group had no idea how the old theater adage "The Show Must Go On" would prove the title character's belief that "anything can happen when you let it." You see, the original directing team deserted the production a month before it was due to open, with an incomplete cast in place and tickets already having been sold. How could the challenge be met on time? Let me assure you, thanks to its new directors Kristie Mattsson and Aric Martin, musical directors Andrew Lederman and Daniel Koh, choreographers Lauren Blair and Holly Weber, and producers Anne & Larry Gesling, Spencer Johnson, and Meredith Wright, I would never have known such an additional challenge had been in place given the incredible quality of the production I saw!

Anyone following today's ever-present and socially-challenging political scene via news outlets will certainly appreciate the humor and biting commentary in Larry Shue's comedy THE FOREIGNER. From its setting in rural Georgia with individuals who appear to be living in a social world hundreds of years in the past, to the danger of racial and religious prejudice those people promote as being the right way for people to live, there may be times now when many can just shake their head at the nonsense - or, hopefully, admit it is time to take a different message out in the world ourselves.

This solo show, written and performed with amazing emotional insight by her mother Danna Schaeffer, begins with stories from her only child's childhood during which she worried if little Rebecca was out of her sight for a few minutes. So imagine how this proud mother, who spoke daily with her daughter when she moved from Oregon to Los Angeles to pursue her acting dreams after landing the lead role in My Sister Sam and then visited with her in Rome and Venice while filming a movie, reacted with disbelief when a call from a police officer in Los Angeles informed her that Rebecca had been gunned down and died.

Amanda Peet may be best known as an actress, having appeared in films such as 'The Whole Nine Yards' and 'Syriana' and in TV shows, including the Duplass brothers' family dramedy, 'Togetherness.' But she's also a serious writer, with her second play, OUR VERY OWN CARLIN McCULLOUGH, now making its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. Peet says that for the Geffen production, with a cast that includes Mamie Gummer, Abigail Dylan Harrison, Caroline Heffernan, Tyee Tilghman and Joe Tippett, she was most interested in examining the mother-daughter relationship and 'the idea of how to parent and to what degree you can keep your narcissism in check.'

English playwright and screenwriter Frederick Knott, though a reluctant writer, is known for his ingeniously complex, crime-related plots even though he only completed three plays in his career. Two have become classics: the London-based stage thriller Dial M for Murder, which was later filmed in Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock, and the chilling 1966 play Wait Until Dark, which also became a Hollywood film starring Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman terrorized by thugs in her basement apartment. His third play, WRITE ME A MURDER, has never achieved the same acclaim nor been performed nearly as much as his other two hit plays. See it now at Theatre Palisades, directed with attention-grabbing skill by Michael-Anthony Nozzi.

ALEICHEM SHOLOM! The Wit and Wisdom of Sholom Aleichem, a new musical written by the internationally acclaimed team of Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie with lilting songs by Ben Weisman, is now playing at the Santa Monica Playhouse. It follows the life of the beloved Yiddish story-teller and everyone is his entourage, especially his wife, spinning tales of his loves and losses, his fame and his failures, his travels, his travails and the tremendous joy and optimism that kept him going against all odds.

Directed and choreographed by musical theatre whiz Kathleen Marshall with Musical Direction by Gerald Sternbach who brilliantly directs a full orchestra seen onstage as part of the staircase set designed by Stephen Gillford, SWEET CHARITY stars Laura Bell Bundy who brings the joy and wonder of Charity Hope Valentine energetically to the Freud Playhouse stage. With her heart literally worn on her sleeve, the musical follows the dance hall hostess as she searches around the mean streets of New York City in 1966 in her attempt to be loved, not just for sex but for her generous heart and giving nature.

The process of acquiring government grants is intended to spread public dollars across electoral districts and across a variety of art forms and projects. Even more importantly, the focus of the grants is on increasing cultural equity-the notion that our arts organizations need to reflect our diverse communities and that grant dollars need to help increase the access to high quality arts experiences for underserved populations. CRE Outreach is proud to have received recognition of our mission via these funding streams, as we tirelessly work to provide a dedicated performing space for the voices and stories of people historically marginalized by society. Next production, the world premiere of MARCHING ON, is written and performed by military veterans.

Directed by Patricia McGregor at the Geffen Playhouse, this emotionally-charged play looks deep into the hearts and souls of its four characters, with all four actors brilliantly commanding the stage from start to finish. Caroline Stefanie Clay portrays Faye, the factor's UAW union rep who finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place when her supervisor Reggie (DB Woodside) informs her privately that the factory will soon be closing, throwing everyone out of work. Asking her to keep the information confidential to insure his own employment to the end, puts Faye, his mother's former lover who first got him a job at the factory, in a difficult position with her co-workers.