Shari Barrett - Page 29

CRE Outreach is pleased to announce the World Premiere dance production of EMOTIONS by the newly formed Blind Dance Company, in which all performers are sightless, on Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 7:00pm at The Lazarus Experience, located at 224 E. 11th Street Loft 501, in downtown Los Angeles, CA 90015. Featured dancers include Natalie Gross, Kenny Lee, Ronald Chism, Sylvia Taylor, Barbara Ford, Christina Johnson, and William Andrus, who, guided by professional dancer and choreographer, Hydeia Muhammad, perform for the first time as the Blind Dance Company. During the performance, you will experience various emotions through these talented, all-blind dancers, with many genres of dance represented including Hip-Hop, Ballroom, Contemporary and much more! Each number will introduce a different form of emotion while incorporating the beauty of fulfillment and the ability to overcome obstacles through dance.

In her new latest play KING OF THE YEES, now enjoying its World Premiere at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, Yee shares the tale of how her father Larry has been a driving force in the Yee Fung Toy (Yee Family Association), a seemingly obsolescent Chinese American men's club formed 150 years ago in the wake of the Gold Rush when workers from China were brought to San Francisco to assist in the building of the much-needed railroads crossing America. And while the story may be totally fictionalized, it seemed very real to me, especially since Yee wrote herself as well as her father into the play, having them introduced in an innovative, comical, and interactive way during the preamble to the production. For those of you lucky enough to be seated in the front row, be prepared to interact with the overly friendly and well-intentioned Larry Yee, portrayed with energy and glee by Francis Jue.

Back by popular demand after being a hit of the 2017 SoloFest, accomplished actress Claudia DiMartino once again shares her touching, moving and hilarious story of leaving the corporate world to pursue her acting dreams in IT'S ONLY LIPSTICK at the Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks on Thursday evenings at 8pm through August 17. Directed by acclaimed solo show veteran Jessica Lynn Johnson, the show is DiMartino's story of surviving the dysfunction of an Italian-American family in Brooklyn to weathering the instability of being a marketing executive in the beauty industry in corporate America before the life-shattering events of 9/11 caused her to take a good, hard look at her life and make the decision that it's never too late to go after your dreams.

Every once in a while, I am treated to an amazing evening of theater featuring actors who step outside of themselves and totally encompass their characters every single moment they are onstage. With performances as riveting as any I have seen, Tanna Frederick and Robert Standley are marvels to behold as unlikely lovers Roberta and Danny in John Patrick Shanley's DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, brilliantly directed with soulful abandon by Carl Weathers at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. The Rainbow Theatre Company production is the show to see this summer!

Have you noticed how on most packaging, there is a short statement asking you to please write or call with any questions or concerns about the product you have purchased? That fact came to the attention of author Ted L. Nancy (aka Barry Marder) when he was eating a bag of Fritos while watching television in the middle of the night. Figuring it might be fun to write to the company to see if he would get a response began his career writing absurd correspondence as a customer in need of customer service. Nancy brings his madcap collection of correspondence to the Geffen stage for a one-of-a-kind show that is both outlandish and uproarious.

Kentwood Players is presenting THE GINGERBREAD LADY, a dramedy by Neil Simon, opening Friday, July 14 through Saturday, August 19, 2017 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by Drew Fitzsimmons and produced by Jenny Boone and Lynn Gutstadt for Kentwood Players with rights secured from Samuel French. Featured in the cast (in alphabetical order) are Marco Garcia Ballare, Sara Bozin, Al Gomez, Ken MacFarlane, Lezlie Moore, and Genous Novin.

Have you been waiting for the perfect musical extravaganza to which you can take your entire family, from the youngest to oldest member? Now is your chance by experiencing SEUSSICAL the musical at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. It is such a fabulous production from its perfect cast, direction, lighting, set, and more incredible costumes than you can count, I guarantee you will walk out thinking just 'How Lucky You Are' to have seen it.

An undisputed comic legend, Lenny Bruce was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. His life and work have had an impact on poetry, politics, music, film and comedy from Don Rickles to Richard Pryor and Chris Rock, and any other comedian who is now free to speak his/her mind without fear of legal retribution thanks to Bruce challenging our First Amendment freedom of speech rights. Lenny's tempestuous personal and professional life which Marmo embodies with his body, heart and soul, was marked by great passion and great pain, thanks to his unwavering commitment to free speech, which led to numerous obscenity charges and arrests.

After a sold-out and critically-acclaimed run at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in April 2017, CRE Outreach, in partnership with the Veterans Empowerment Theatre, is pleased to announce a one-weekend extension of THE HERO WITHIN, the powerful play which brings 7 local veterans' personal stories to life through an artistic journey that gives voice to the difficulty of transitioning from the war zone back into society as they search for the hero within themselves. The show includes both lighthearted comedy and dramatic moments that will leave audiences on the edge of their seat.

ELEVATOR is currently enjoying a sold-out run at the Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood, and due to ticket demand, has been extended again through July 30, 2017. I originally reviewed the show in April 2017 and was fascinated by the level of audience emotional attachment to the characters, so I arranged an interview with writer/director Michael Leoni and one of the featured actors in show, Erica Katzin, who plays The Temp, hoping some of their comments will encourage you to order your tickets NOW before the Los Angeles run ends.

Those of us raised in a home where we knew dating a person of another race would never be accepted will certainly identify with the premise of EMMITT AND AVA, a modern tale of love and loss written and directed by two-time Ovation winner Dominic Hoffman as a Co-Production with Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. The play's Los Angeles Premiere, presented by Delta Highway Productions, features Tucker Smallwood, Tom Schanley, Stephanie Schulz, and Harry Fowler as members of two families, unacquainted with one another, who suddenly find themselves forced to communicate on most intimate terms after their two children die together in a tragic car accident.

S/HE & ME chronicles the unvarnished, complex, desperate, and often hilariously wacky story of Billings' life, centering on the transition from the young Scott to the show-stopping Alexandra. She carries the story forward through story and plenty of songs, all of which represent the various life lessons she has learned along with way about herself, from learning to deal with feeling like a girl in a boy's body, falling in love at 16 with the woman who becomes her wife, to now living her life as an openly transgender woman. I learned more in this one evening's entertainment than I ever have leading any articles on the subject, especially when the fiercely flamboyant star stripped down to reveal her body as well as her soul to the audience.

THE BOOK OF MORMON, the nine-time Tony Award®-winning Best Musical, is an incredibly irreverent and hysterical musical comedy about two young Mormon missionaries who travel to Africa to preach and recruit new members to their faith. First staged in 2011, no one is safe from parody as the play satirizes various Mormon (as well as many other religious) beliefs and practices, as well as many well-known public figures. With book, lyrics, and music written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, best known for creating the animated comedy South Park, the two co-created the music with Robert Lopez, the co-composer/co-lyricist of Avenue Q and Frozen.

There has been much revealed in legal proceedings relating to what actually constitutes consent when it comes to physical entanglements that somehow go incredibly wrong, thus resulting in a rape charge. Lives can be sidetracked and careers often destroyed upon a court or jurors ruling on who was at fault in such cases, even when the evidence seems too point in both directions. So how do you decide? Such in the case in the award-winning playwright Anna Ziegler's ACTUALLY, directed by Tyne Rafaeli at the Geffen Playhouse.

The current production of DINNER WITH FRIENDS, directed by Mark Piatelli at Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro, has the audience up close and personal to the cast, so much so you may feel like a fly on the wall witnessing conversations not meant to be heard by strangers. In fact, Margulies' overall "slice of life" writing will no doubt pull you in, whether or not you have been through a marriage break-up or have known friends who have gone through the process with you as their shoulder to cry on. Ultimately, the value of true friendship can prove to be even more important than family.

JERSEY BOYS opened at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway to critical acclaim on November 6, 2005, running 11 record-breaking years and becoming the 12th longest running show in Broadway history. The Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical telling the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, is now onstage at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre through June 24, 2017. It is absolutely one of the best musicals I have ever experienced, and not just because their music was so much a part of my teenage years and brings back so many great memories, but for its astounding staging and the incredible cast who make the show one not to miss for musical theatre lovers of all ages!

Everyone has dreams they wish to have fulfilled during their lifetime. And as it turns out, the energy we put into fueling our passion to achieve them can take us in directions we could never have anticipated, yet become so necessary in obtaining whatever goal we have set for ourselves or influencing how others see us. Such is the case in the Broadway musical BIG FISH, a heartfelt, powerful, and truly magical musical about fathers, sons, and the stories that we use to define our identities.

The romantic dramedy HAROLD AND MAUDE incorporates elements of dark humor, centering around the exploits of a young man named Harold who is intrigued with his own death, often staging his own suicide to avoid dealing with his overbearing mother who wants nothing more than for Harold to find the 'right' woman to marry who can snap him out of his self-imposed depression and detachment from society. But of course, Harold finds his own way into the arms of romance with 79-year old Maude, a free-spirited woman who teaches 19-year old Harold about living life to its fullest, and eventually that life is the most precious gift of all, even though she has already made plans to end her own life on her own terms.

Grammy® Award-nominated and multi-platinum R&B/pop recording artist and film/TV actress Deborah Cox is starring as Rachel Marron in the first U.S. National tour of the hit musical THE BODYGUARD during its Los Angeles premiere at Hollywood Pantages Theatre through May 21, 2017. Ms. Cox is not only one of the most incredible singers I have ever seen onstage, her renditions of the many hit songs performed by Whitney Houston in Lawrence Kasdan's 1992 Oscar nominated Warner Bros. film, sound even better than the originals! In fact, in 2000, Cox collaborated with Houston to record the duet "Same Script Different Cast" for Houston's Greatest Hits CD, setting the precedent culminating with this production.

After working in the Warner Brothers Manhattan office mailroom, Playwright Neil Simon got his first big break as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's celebrated television series 'Your Show of Shows,' a live 90-minute variety show starring comedy legends Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca that ran from 1950 to 1954. The writing staff had a staggering talent pool that included; Mel Tolkin (All in the Family), Carl Reiner (Dick Van Dyke Show, The Jerk), Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Space Balls), Michael Stewart (Bye Bye Birdie, Hello Dolly!), Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof), Lucille Kallen (worked on Broadway), Danny Simon (The Carol Burnett Show, Diff'rent Strokes) and his brother Neil Simon (The Odd Couple, Murder by Death). As a way of sharing his own experience working as the 'new kid' learning the ropes from the other, more experienced writers, Neil Simon wrote the outrageous comedy LAUGHTER ON THE 23rd FLOOR, now brilliantly staged at Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro through May 20.