Don Grigware - Page 16

Former BWW Award winner Emrhys Cooper opens up about his latest projects. Always a man on the go, delving into athletics, modeling, dancing and having fun, his work usually aims to please. As an actor he is equally adept at comedy and drama. From the photos, it all looks terribly exciting.

Some shows I can see again and again, especially those composed by the forever upbeat Jerry Herman. Hello Dolly bowed on Broadway when I was a teenager in the 60s and it had a long run with original star Carol Channing, followed by turns with Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Pearl Bailey, Martha Raye and Molly Picon, to name a few. Every major star wanted to do it because the role offers a female actress the chance to sing, dance and act the hell out of it. It's a big, splashy gut buster about a woman who has more moxy than the Pied Piper and enough wisdom and panache to win over an army or a whole kingdom, for that matter...and, for the audience, it's one of those extra-special feel-good musicals that just doesn't quit... 'It Only Takes a Moment' to fall in live with it.. You leave the theatre actually humming the tunes. The first National Tour of the latest Dolly!  at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre through February 17 is just about the best starring thje glorious Betty Buckley..

Art Shulman has produced many full-length plays including The Rabbi's Mission; The Rabbi & The Shiksa; The Yentas Wear Red Hats; I Got Troubles; Doubting Thomas; I'm Not Just A Comic Genius; Rebecca's Gamble; Not One More Foot Of Land!; Bagels; Boxcar & Eugenia; Sex Is Good For You!; Old Broads Can't Dunk; God, Bring Me A Miracle; The $4 Million Giveaway; Misconceptions; Joe Carbone's Job; September 10; Career Day; and the Xmas musical, Trolls Stole The North Pole. Additionally, he's written many one-act plays, too numerous to list here.

From the very top of James McClure's one-act Laundry and Bourbon, best friends Elizabeth (Savannah Shoenecker) and Hattie (Kristin Towers-Rowles) gossip in heavy Texas accents and drink bourbon with such fierce intensity that you will end up either loving or hating them; there is no in-between. Midway Amy Lee (Sarah Zuk) makes her entrance. She is quieter but also creates trouble in her own irritating way.What is it about comedies set in the deep South? Steel Magnolias and Crimes of the Heart pull us in the same way. The women put their claws out yet support one another and have hearts of gold ... and their men?  We hear about them via their wives. They act like jerks, love to talk sex in raw detail and treat their cars with more love and respect than their spouses. Unlike the other plays, we actually see the men, apart from their wives, for there is a male companion piece to Laundry and Bourbon. It's entitled Lone Star, after the beer, and it presents Elizabeth's husband Roy (Nick Paonessa), maladjusted since his service in Viet Nam, his younger and weaker brother Ray (R.J. DeBard) and like his wife Amy Lee, the outsider in the group, her husband Skeeter (Todd Andrew Ball).

Actress/producer Dianne Fraser is a well known and much beloved gal  in and around the LA cabaret scene. She is executive producer of the popular An Evening of Classic Broadway that performs five/six times a year at Rockwell Table and Stage. She recently sat down for a look back at 2018 and to discuss her plans for 2019 for the show and for her own career as actress/singer. Sum up, if you would, the progress of An Evening of Classic Broadway in 2018. An Evening of Classic Broadway hit its stride in 2018. Brad Ellis and I celebrated a milestone with out 25th performance and have been sellin

Titanic the Musical/story and book by Peter Stone/music and lyrics by Maury Yeston/directed by Chuck Ketter/musical director: Andrew Orbison/Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, Claremont/through February 23 In spite of the fact that it has one of the most majestic musical scores ever written for a Broadway stage by Maury Yeston in 1997, Titanic the Musical was, no pun intended, a disaster with lukewarm reception from both audiences and critics. Come to think of it, how entertaining can a musical be about the sinking of the Titanic? People were repelled by the

Actress/director Barbara Brownell has numerous credits as an actress. Broadway: Play it Again, Sam and The Ballad of Johnny Pot.  King Lear at the Actor's Studio, NY.  Touring: Oklahoma, On a Clear Day.  Regional: Zing!, Barefoot in the Park, Star Spangled Girl.  L.A.: Happy Birthday Wanda June, Dylan, A Case of Libel, Early Cabaret, Chicago, Dull Pain. She won the 2017 Broadway World award for Best Leading Actress in a play, LA . T.V. shows include Mad Men, Big Love, Night Court (3), Grey's Anatomy, Monk, L.A. Law, Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, and recurring on Webster and MASH.  Films include Behind the Candelabra, Going Home, Hearts of the West, Someone to Watch Over Me, Ants, Mark of the Witch, and The Master.  In this interview, Brownell discusses acting and directing Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star at The Group Rep, set to open this Friday January 25.

Award-winning actor/singer James Barbour is an LA onstage favorite. His charming personality, good looks and magnificent voice are all reasons to rush ro buy a ticket to 1776 opening Friday January 11 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Barbour took time from his busy schedule to chat about his involvement with the show and others in his remarkable career thus far.

Singer Steve Ross has been knocking 'em dead on the cabaret circuit in New York and other theatre cities for many years. He has released several solo albums. His latest is It's Almost Christmas Eve but features an ensemble of singers. Ross took time from his busy touring schedule to talk to me from Boston about the album and his love of old music.

I am forever excited with GMCLA's Holiday Spectacular, this year entitled Calling All Angels....and this is their 40th anniversary season. The concert was performed Saturday and Sunday December 15 and 16 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The level of singing under Dr. Joseph Nadeau's superior direction was top notch. What we as an audience looked forward to was solemnity...and ... fun.

Singer Steve Ross has been knocking 'em dead on the cabaret circuit in New York and other theatre cities for many years. He has released several solo albums. His latest is It's Almost Christmas Eve but features an ensemble of singers. Ross took time from his busy touring schedule to talk to me from Boston about the album and his love of old music.

Pop singer Robyn Spangler appeared at Rockwell Table and Stage Sunday December 16 for a cd release party to celebrate her new album Christmas Is. This lady, if you remember, is nonpareil in her homage to Linda Ronstadt and Billy Barnes, two previous best-selling cds, and has enough warmth to spread Christmas cheer everywhere... all by herself. However, joing her onstage were not one, but three guest stars: Don Most, Joanne Tatham and Shawn Ryan.What a treat for the holidays! 

International recording artist Lyn Stanley has had an amazing career thus far. Within just a few years she has produced six albums, her newest London Calling, her first salute to a singing star, the late great Miss Julie London.

Babyboomers are familiar with the original 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. Stewart played George Bailey who was trapped in his father's Savings and Loan establishment in Bedford Falls, unable to pursue his dreams. Now through December 23 only, the Pasadena Playhouse is presenting a radio play version live onstage adapted by Joe Landry from the 1946 screenplay.

Actor/singer Kevin Odekirk has been delighting audiences worldwide with his stage appearances in musicals such as Miss Saigon, concert venues and with his amazing CD Unheard. He now has a Christmas album called Season of Hope. Odekirk took time from a hectic holiday schedule to tell us about the album. Why did you want to record a Christmas album? And why at this point in time?

What a dazzling array of talent (pictured above)! Monday December 10 marked the 25th performance of An Evening of Classic Broadway at Rockwell Table and Stage. For those unfamiliar with this event that meets 5 or 6 times a year, it's a musical evening of Broadway tunes, both familar and lesser known, introduced by producers Dianne Fraser who also performs and accompanist Brad Ellis who serves as musical director and fun narrator par excellence. Joining them this time around are Domonique Paton, Ashley Fox Linton, Shannon Warne, Larry Poindexter, Michael Kastroff, Scoth Ellis Loring and the piece de resistance Queen of Los Angeles Cabaret Andrea Marcovicci. I say are instead of were because, due to popular demand, this particular show is having a second performance on Wednesday December 19 once again at Rockwell with most of the cast intact.

Consummate singer Robyn Spangler has been resurrecting her singing career for the last ten years with great success. She appears in cabaret from coast to coast and has just released her newest CD Christmas Is. She took time from a busy schedule to talk about the album and her concert appearance at Rockwell Table and Stage on Sunday December 16.