Shari Barrett - Page 26

Quiara Alegria Hudes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wrote the book for the Broadway musical "In the Heights," which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical and was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Her Pulitzer-nominated and winning trilogy of plays known as the "Elliot Trilogy" are now being presented concurrently, giving Los Angeles theatre audiences a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in this exciting playwright's work. ELLIOT, A SOLDIER'S FUGUE, the first in her trilogy of Elliot plays, is being produced by Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre at the same time they are presenting the second play in the trilogy, Hudes' Pulitzer-winning WATER BY THE SPOONFUL at the Mark Taper Forum. The Latino Theater Company will present the final installment of the trilogy with their production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) opening later this month.

Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, the 80-minute play IRONBOUND by award-winning playwright Martyna Majok recounts the hard luck life of Polish immigrant Darja and the men she chooses to have in it. Moving between 2014, 1992, and 2006 - but not necessarily in that order - this wry drama points out that sometimes survival is the only measure of success. No doubt the title of her play, though set at a bus stop a quarter of a mile from Elizabeth, NJ, makes sense since that blue-collar town is just like where Darja works in a nearby noisy paper factory and as a maid for a wealthy married woman, and yet still suffers through poverty, abusive husbands who drink too much, single motherhood, and then an adult son who steals her car and abandons her with no way to get to work other than the bus, which of course is always late.

SISTER ACT is a feel-good musical comedy smash hit based on the 1992 film that has audiences ready to rejoice! Featuring original music by Tony® and 8-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken (Disney's Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Enchanted), dazzling dance routines and songs inspired by Motown, soul and disco, SISTER ACT qualifies as the funniest and funkiest musical around. Lately this popular musical has been performed at many theaters in the greater Los Angeles area, each one brilliant in its own right. But I have to say I have never seen one more perfectly cast than the current production at the Simi Valley Cultural Center with the amazingly talented Elizabeth Adabale as Deloris Van Cartier, a disco diva whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder and then goes into hiding in a convent!

When Danny, son of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic rabbi, injures the more traditionally Orthodox Reuven during a baseball game between their rival yeshivas, their two universes collide and a unique friendship is born. "This powerful story shows how essential it is to consider the views of those who are different from us," says director Levy. "It's an antidote to the toxicity of our times. Potok beautifully depicts what it means to bridge chasms - between modernity and tradition, the secular and the sacred, Zionism and Hasidism, adolescence and adulthood, friendship and family, fathers and sons, the head and the heart, and the struggle to choose for ourselves, to fight for what we believe in and who we want to be."

Like Andy Warhol, another well-known, towheaded, Avant Garde artist who pushed the boundaries of his art form, Klaus Kinski was one of the most celebrated and controversial actors in the history of world cinema. The reckless abandon with which he approached both life and art left him tortured, demonized and worshiped by scores of his fans. And since the German actor died in November 1991, there is no way to speak with him now about what motivated him and why he felt so tortured throughout his life. The project first germinated when writer/actor Andrew Perez lined up interviews with Phyllis Winter (a very close friend during the last 10 years of Kinski's life in Lagunitas, CA) and her daughter Sara to learn more about the temperamental artist. He then worked hand in hand with director Eric G. Johnson to interview the two women which led to the creation of a theatrical tribute to the outspoken artist entitled THE SECOND COMING OF KLAUS KINSKI, a hit at the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival which is now enjoying an open-ended encore run on Thursday nights at Studio C on Hollywood's Theatre Row.

THE PRICE by Arthur Miller premiered on Broadway in 1968 and was nominated for two Tony Awards, for Best Play and Best Scenic Design. It is a timeless piece regarding the choices we make and the consequences we eventually face. It is about family dynamics, the price of furniture and the price of one's decisions, taking place in a soon to be demolished family house where two brothers, estranged for decades, meet together to dispose of their late parents' property. The resulting confrontation leads them to examine the events and qualities of their very different lives and the price each of them has had to pay to have the lives they now lead.

Back in the late 60s, groups of people would meet up at an agreed-upon place to attend a "happening," defined as a partly improvised or spontaneous piece of theatrical or other artistic performance, typically involving audience participation. This description is exactly how I would describe what is taking place at the Pasadena Playhouse through February 25, 2018, with Gilbert and Sullivan's PIRATES OF PENZANCE as reimagined by the Chicago-based Hypocrites acting troupe who turns the classic on its head, surprising audiences with a raucous 80-minute beach party that blends the original operetta with modern day attire, a central stage area from which the tossing of beach balls is encouraged, kiddie wading pools are available for seats, and lots of audience participation is expected during every moment the 10 energetic actor-musicians are in the house.

Ken Ludwig is a two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright whose work is performed throughout the world in more than thirty countries and over twenty languages. He has written twenty-five plays and musicals, with six Broadway productions and seven in London's West End. I learned about his incredible way with comedic farce when I saw his first Broadway play, Lend Me A Tenor, which won two Tony Awards and was called 'one of the classic comedies of the 20th century" by The Washington Post. So when I heard the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica was presenting Ludwig's MOON OVER BUFFALO, one of his other comedic farces I had never seen before, I knew I was in for a treat watching all the missed communications, mistaken identities, secrets, and lies collide hilariously backstage. And I was not disappointed.

Every January I look forward to attending THE MANOR by Katherine Bates, presented by Theatre 40 inside the historic Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills where the story upon which it is based actually took place. Now celebrating its 16th year, the annual production has become a Los Angeles/Beverly Hills institution with several performances selling out even before tickets go on sale to the public. Its popularity, no doubt, is due to the talented actors, costumed to time-period perfection, who make up the cast of characters about the oil-rich Doheny family, as well as the chance to be inside the grand and glorious architectural landmark in which the events of 89 years ago actually took place, performed in two acts taking place 10 years apart.

INTO THE WOODS may be one of the most popular musicals for those skilled in the art of presenting musical theater comedy. So much so that when Cupcake Studios held auditions for the 17 character roles in the show, over 1,000 people submitted online and in person to be in the show at the North Hollywood theater location. So it is no wonder each and every person in the show creates magic when they take the stage! Kudos to Michael Pettenato, the group's Artistic Director who directs and produces this musical extravaganza, for selecting the best of the best to bring such excellence in all aspects of the production.

Have you and your partner ever thought how nice it would be to go back and have a conversation with your younger selves that might be able to change the course of your lives together? No doubt playwright Jerry Mayer, whose plays deal with the 'ups, downs and sideways' of male/female relationships, must have wondered the same thing and created the comedy A LOVE AFFAIR to address the idea of one couple, at two different stages of their marriage, meeting in the midst of relationship upheaval when selling their family home and sorting through years of marriage mementos. Witty sexual innuendos abound as the business of aging is handled with great humor and understanding from both the youthful and more mature viewpoints.

By now, we all know that new laws have been enacted which allow the first born, whether male or female, of the reigning heir to the British monarchy to be named that person's successor. This new move to equality of the sexes when it comes to being named the crown was perhaps initially started by Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII, who he made Queen Regent when he went off to war (allowing her to rule in his place). Parr then took it upon herself to have his daughters Mary and Elizabeth (Bess) added to the line of succession should their younger half-brother and heir apparent, Edward, die without any legal heirs to assume the crown. That move led to advancing their status as women of royal privilege as more than just a piece of property to be used as a bargaining chip for royal alliances through marriage.

Fans of Orange is the New Black certainly enjoy watching the escapades of female inmates stuck together in prison as they attempt to understand each other and either try to get along or attempt to dominate each other. Marja-Lewis Ryan's fourth original production at The Lounge, entitled BUGABOO & THE SILENT ONE, centers on just such a tale based in the women's block of Henderson County Jail in West Virginia in the present day, centered around two female inmates faced with life in prison. Presented by producer Chris Bender (American Pie, History of Violence, Mulan), Marja-Lewis Ryan's timely new drama is an intimate look at the power of female friendship despite devastating circumstances.

Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Disney film, MARY POPPINS delighted the audience of all ages, although the 3-hour run time may be a bit of a challenge for very young children. It tells the tale of everyone's favorite nanny who arrives on the doorstep of the Banks' home on London's Cherry Tree Lane, taking Jane, Michael, and their entire family on a magical, musical adventure where they eventually learn the value of family and that anything can happen if you let it. The musical features beloved songs from the classic film, including Step in Time, a Spoonful of Sugar, Feed the Birds, Let's Go Fly a Kite, and the always popular Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious which had the audience clapping and singing along during the amazing production number.

Since 2003, Hologram USA has delivered more than 700 successful projects, making groundbreaking strides in how people experience live events and communicate with each other using dynamic, cutting edge Holographic 3D technology. Their holographic experiences allow audience members to sit in a theater and feel as if they are attending a live three-dimensional concert or nightclub performance right in front of their eyes. Sounds too incredible, right? That's what I thought until I attended their latest creation, Billie Holiday Alive! at the new Hologram USA Theater in Hollywood

Led by Director/Musical Director/Costume Designer Anne Gesling, along with Choreographer Lauren Blair, the Y.E.S. musical production for November/December 2017 was A WINTER'S TALE, and I can tell you these two talented women worked miracles with a cast of 39 young performers already at the triple-threat status. As a former secondary teacher, I can honestly say that I have never seen such a talented group of young performers work together as the members of this group do, with not one of them breaking the fourth wall or character, all the while keeping their accents authentic with their harmonious singing always in tune and dancing perfectly in step and always presented with enthusiastic joy.

Thanks to director Gloria Gifford, who retains Shakespeare's text while augmenting the proceedings with a contemporary and very soulful song score in the current production at Grey Studios in NoHo, the overall addition of the much-needed modern sensibility through music makes the complicated plot easily understood, even while adding in moments of sheer levity. Just imagine Anthony and his troops starting off the show by lining up and singing Super Freak by Rick James, as their way to describe Cleopatra and you get the idea.

ASHES TO ASHES centers on liberal Sara (Lena Bouton) and right-winger Jefferson (Kevin Young), ex-spouses who are polar opposites about everything except their love and devotion for their two, newly deceased, filthy-rich best friends. Trapped by the time-constraints of their friends' will, the two are forced to spend the next 16 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes together, scattering their friends' ashes across Europe under the direction of pre-arranged tour guides who meet the duo as they arrive at each of their destinations. The places visited where ashes are to be left trace a journey of the heart from their friends' lives, and the feuding duo soon realize the steps in a relationship that test true love may soon re-ignite the passion between them.

PACIFIC OVERTURES with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman, with additional material by Hugh Wheeler had its Broadway premiere in 1976 and was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. It opened to mixed reviews and closed after six months, despite being nominated for 10 Tony Awards. Given the unusual casting and production demands, there is good reason why this remains one of the least-performed Sondheim musicals. So it's no wonder it has been 19 years since the musical has been presented in Los Angeles.

THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (Abridged) by Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor, directed by Perry Shields with a knowing wink at all the holiday craziness now rampant in the world. Adding to his own stressfully creative holiday season, the production features two casts performing on alternate dates with Kenyon Meleney, Jimmy Duong, and Matt Garber making up the all-male cast; and Alison Mattiza, Amanda Webb, and Cindy Shields in the all-female cast. So not only is their comic timing absolutely essential throughout the show, along with more costume changes than I can count and continuous choreography, each of Perry's two casts rehearsed separately in half the usual rehearsal time! And if casting is 99% of the success of a show, kudos to Perry for his casting perfection!