Don Grigware - Page 12

At a talkback after a show at her school, the presenter asked the audience if anyone had experienced a time when something they considered a flaw turned out to be an asset. Jessie Knowles raised her hand and boldly told the audience that her bipolar and schizophrenia actually heightened her creativity and spiritual insight. The room went silent and Jessie noticed that afterward people either treated her differently or avoided her altogether. She realized the lack of understanding people had about mental health…and that she could do something about it.

Grace Jasmine writes in a variety of genres. With 47 nonfiction books in print, she decided to return to her first love, writing for theater. She sat down to talk with us about her work The Masher about to open as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival. I love your logo. It looks so eerie, like the child from Les Mis turned inside out. I love bizarre tales. How did you get started writing in this style? Is this your first play for the Fringe Festival?

Monkey Mind is a family rock musical about a bright, precocious teen driven to thoughts of suicide because of an over active mind. This lesson of life becomes an uplifting and fun experience. Monkey Mind opens June 8th for the Hollywood Fringe Festival at The McCadden Place Theatre at 1157 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood. WriterTerri Weiss sat down recently to discuss the show. 

Trial Run Productions presents the world premiere of Gunfight at the Not-So-OK Saloon a new musical comedy by Brooke deRosa. Gunfight at the Not-So-OK Saloon is a Gilbert and Sullivan-styled musical comedy set in the Old Wild West with a modern spin. The show opens as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival on Saturday June 8th at the McCadden Place Theatre, 1157 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood., Brooke deRosa sat down to talk about the show and here's what she said.

Actor Will Holbrook made a big splash as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet when he first arrived in Los Angeles in 2016 at the Archway Theatre Co. The grandson of Hal Holbrook, Will is ambitious with two plays scheduled to perform this summer and the presentation of his new production company dedicated to film. In our conversation, Will talks with candor and enthusiasm about his plans for this summer and beyond.

Death is never an easy topic to deal with, read about or view on film or stage. Playwright Bekah Brunstetter has crafted a play entitled Be a Good Little Widow about Melody (Adrienne Visnic) and her new husband Craig (Sterling Knight) who dies suddenly in an airplane crash. How does Melody, totally inexperienced about life and love, cope? Currently onstage at the Odyssey, Widow is a dark comedy that is simultaneously enjoyable and life-affirming entertainment.

Theatre of the Absurd is offbeat and terribly entertaining, but you must have the right actors and skilled direction. Fine director James Bundy has dynamic actress Dianne Wiest in the role of Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days. With her consistently optimistic outlook crashing up against a cloudy world, laughs are guaranteed. Currently onstage at the MTF through June 30, the play will have audiences mesmerized by the dandy work of Miss Wiest and her partner Michael Rudko playing her husband Willie.

Just a warning to those who think that Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill is a musical revue of Billie Holiday's greatest hits. Lanie Robertson's work is a very heavy play with music featuring brilliant Deidrie Henry front and center baring her soul in one of Holiday's last performances in 1959 before her death. Incredible musicians Abdul Hamid Royal as musical director and as Jimmy Powers at the ivories and James Leary on bass add immense flavor to the evening, currently onstage under the outstanding direction of Gregg T. Daniel, at the Garry Marshall Theatre through June 2 only.

Erin Stegeman is thrilled to be back as Cersei for the encore LA run of Shame of Thrones: The Musical, a role she originated Off Broadway. In real life, she's married to Khal Drogo, has a spanking new son, and is (barely) functioning between matcha lattes. Erin is known for the cult hit musical feature she created and starred in,Once Upon a Time: The Rock Opera, and the award-winning Hulu anthology, "Fun Size Horror" (writer/director/actor). She has a comedy feature in development with Panther Films and is working on producing the music for her third show, a rock opera about Beethoven, debuting Off Broadway this fall.

Be a Good Little Widow starts previews as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre May 18. Actress Sandy Bainum, who has delighted audiences for several years in both musicals and plays in Los Angeles and her friend, director Brandon Baer recently sat down to talk about the play and what makes it tick as a dark comedy.

An Evening of Classic Broadway returned to Upstairs at Vitello's for Mother's Day, where it launched 5 years ago. Headed by Brad Ellis and Dianne Fraser, this was a family show entitled A Classic Broadway Mother's Day, with performers appearing and performing with sons or daughters On tap were Nita Whitaker with her lovely daughter Skye LaFontaine, Tami Tappan Damiano with her son Dante Damiano, Karen Benjamin and her daughter Molly Chapman, Bill A. Jones, the only father, with his daughter Samantha A. Jones, and of course, individually and together, hosts Fraser and Ellis.

A veteran actor, writer and producer hailing from Colorado. Steven has credits in a slew of hit movies including Juno, Rebound, Blades of Glory and Little Miss Sunshine. He's also had substantial roles on primetime television shows such as ER, Rizzoli and Isles, Fish Hooks, 90210, and PBS's Mercy Street along with countless national commercials. Steven co-wrote and produced the highly successful theatre show Lost: The Musical. He had the pleasure of directing, co-writing and producing the Los Angeles, San Diego and Off-Broadway runs of ShameThe Musical. Currently Steven works as the managing director of the Whitefire Theatre's musical theatre company.  What challenges does it take to bring Shame of Thrones: The Musical to such a small space?to such a small space?

My Thing of Love is an off-center black comedy about the down side of marriage and the pain of love. Written by award winning playwright Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros and produced by the Steppenwolf Theatre in the 1990s, the play is a lesser known work and rarely produced. The Sixty-six Theater Co, has audaciously seized the moment and mounted a sterling presentation that will appeal to your twisted sense of humor now through May 18.

Director Thomas James O'Leary is delighted to be back at Actors Co-op after receiving the 2018 Ovation Award for Direction of a Play for 33 Variations. Other recent directing credits include Sunday in the Park with George (Musical Theatre Guild), Next to Normal (Pico Playhouse), Flim Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter (Malibu Playhouse), Dusty de los Santos andBloodletting (Skylight Theatre), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Carrie, Nine, How to Succeed in Business… (AMDA), Reserve Champion and A Horse with a View (Hollywood Fringe Festival), and The Escape Artist's Children (Celebration Theatre).  

Many singing artists honor their family with a CD project, but few genuinely enthuse an audience like Tiffany Bailey has just accomplished with her Jazz with Pop. Combining her intrinsic singing talents with that of her father Alan 'Buddy' Bailey, a glorious jazz trumpeteer, Jazz with Pop is a lovely laid back album including songs from the worlds of jazz, pop and beyond with fresh upbeat arrangements, making old songs totally new again. Bailey premiered her CD at Upstairs at Vitello's recently to a packed house who reveled in not only the music but in the gifted Bailey's bright unending charm and personality. When I interviewed her in March, I knew from her passionate sense of commitment to this CD that it was to be something quite special.

Paul Rush is the artistic director of Sixty-six Theater Co. located inside the Strasberg Institute in Hollywood. This past weekend April 26 - 28 he opened a new play in the Marilyn Monroe Theater of the Institute entitled My Thing of Love. In our chat Rush talks about the play, the Sixty-six Theater Co. and why he started it three years ago. Tell us about Sixty-six Theater Co. and its mission. It was founded by myself and two of my friends (Maggie Cleary and Coleman Kelly) while we, new to LA, were in that typical Hollywood routine of asking people to look at us, and we got kind of tired of just humbly asking to be looked at. We thought we weren't giving to the community. We wanted to really create thought-provoking theatre with an intention of giving to our audience. Do you always do first-run shows?

Actress/director.producer Odalys Nanin presented her award-winning Frida: Stroke of Passion at Casa 0101 in February of this year to great acclaim. The play bowed originally in 2017 at the Macha Theatre and ran for 3 months. The Casa 0101 engagement was made possible by a grant from the Eastside Arts Initiative. Kahlo wrote the play and directs, produces and stars in it as Frida Kahlo. She will have a fundraiser in August and September so she and her team can continue their programming in 2020 and hopefully acquire a new space. In our interview she talks about her success and points to the difficulty in mounting good theatre in Los Angeles. How did your run of Frida go at Casa 101?

The time is 1947. The place, England. Politics abound with the murder of an heir to a foreign throne, hunting a jewel thief. At the Chimneys Estate we find in residence Lord Caterham (Lloyd Pedersen), friend Lottie Lomax (Michelle Schultz), and visitor Virginia Revel (Stasha Surdyke), highly suspect...as is Cade (Lee Grober) who seems to be in love with Virginia. On the surface he's investigating a blackmail against her for scripting some mysterious letters.

In my mind Tiny Beautiful Things is a perfect radio play because of its content. Letters to online journalist Sugar (Nia Vardalos) and her responses make us focus intensely. Vardalos has adapted the novel by Cheryl Strayed into a stage play in which she, in her living space, approaches Letter Writer # 1 (Teddy Canez), # 2 (Natalie Woolams-Torres) and # 3 (Giovanni Adams) and addresses each, as if they were in  direct conversation. At times the concept works well; at other times, it becomes speechy and rambling. Currently onstage at the Pasadena Playhouse through May 5, the play will appeal most to those who visit online chat rooms looking for advice on how to deal with a myriad of problems.

Singer Tiffany Bailey took time out of a busy rehearsal schedule to talk about her concert at Upstairs at Vitello's on April 17, the release party for her first cd Jazz with Pop.