Don Grigware - Page 22

Triple threat performer Susan Egan is no stranger to theatre audiences. She originated Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and is now reviving it 20 years later for 5 Star Theatricals. She took time out of her busy rehearsal schedule to discuss the role and explain why it means so very much to her and her career.

Previous attempts have been made to bring George M. Cohan's life to the stage. None is remembered, however, as much as the 1942 film starring James Cagney. Book writer David Armstrong has constructed a much more realistic account of Yankee Doodle Dandy, tryimg to avoid the traps of Hollywood glamor and tinsel, currently onstage at MTW Long Beach at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts through July 22 In spite of the fantastic cast and sturdy direction and scintillating choreography by James Rocco, it turns in a rather weak account of the father of the American musical comedy (1878-1942). Not that you shouldn't see it; go for the cast and the sheer entertainment value of the music alone that set the scene for Rodgers nd Hammerstein and others to follow.

If you are Brooklyn born, Howard Skora's latest play Damaged Furniture will be an instant reminder of what it was like growing up in a loud Brooklyn family. Constantly at odds with one another and in your face - father and son; mother and son; aunt and nephew; sister and brother - whatever the relationship, it doesn't matter. You're street smart, so you object, shout and yell. Based partly on his own life, Damaged Furniture is about Skora's dad running a family furniture company ... and how he forbad his son to become an actor. Skora's first critically acclaimed hit Miserable with an Ocean View was about his mother, who was ill, couldn't speak, but still dominated his life. When all is said and done, it's funny stuff even if you aren't from Brooklyn, because regardless of nationality -whether Italian or Jewish, we have all encountered parental, sibling and extended family interference. It's just a helluva lot noisier around Brooklynites.

Despite a bomb threat that caused the audience of the Saturday matinee to be evacuated from the Alex Theatre in Glendale and the performance to be cancelled, GMCLA persevered and went forward with the Saturday evening performance of their spectacular Pink Carpet.

Humans fear monsters, and monsters we are told are even more scared of humans. Monsters are not real but horror really does lie in the human experience. Ask the Blakes. Losing one's job, facing illness, the worst being dementia, is a part of their lives and many others in the decaying/disappearing American middle class. In Stephen Karam's riveting play, The Humans, the Blake family gather for Thanksgiving in daughter Brigid's latest dwelling, a Chinatown New York apartment, that she shares with boyfriend Richard, some year since the devastation of September 2001 The parents and grandmother have made the long trek from Scranton, Pennsylvania; they love their children that much and of course like to meddle in their lives. Currently onstage at the Ahmanson, the Tony winning play with the original Broadway cast and directed by Joe Mantello, engages our thought processes, and is simultaneously relatable and entertaining.

n 1998 when Jason Robert Brown won a Tony Award for the score of this unusually provocative musical Parade, the opulent Broadway production closed to critical acclaim, but due to excessive costs, the show remained inaccessible until the Donmar Warehouse resurrected it and produced a tight - minus the frills - mounting at the Mark Taper Forum in 2009. 3-D Theatricals, who are becoming increasingly known for their superlative skill with producing big musicals, have decided to put back many of the frills of the original and double the cast to its original size - 36, in order to enhance and give the musical the big, full-voiced chorus sound it deserves. And, in my mind, this bigger hybrid version surpasses the Taper's for its grande musical elegance and the presence of a perfectly cast lead actor in the role of Leo Frank, Jeff Skowron.

OMG! You mean, like, Elle Woods isn't from the San Fernando Valley, but from Malibu? Wow! And- she not only attended college locally but got into Harvard Law School? May seem a bit far-fetched or too hard to swallow, but it doesn't matter, because once you've seen Elle in action, she's irresistible: a cross between Goldie Hawn, Glinda from Wicked and a splash of Mary Poppins thrown in for good measure. You're gonna love her, guys, in this grande spanking, freshly blossomed pink rosebud of a show. If you liked Reese Witherspoon, you will adore perky, gorgeous Callandra Olivia and everyone else in the fantastically sugar-coated romp Legally Blonde The Musical currently onstage at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre.

A native of San Francisco, Doug Engalla first joined The Group Rep in 1997 as an Actor; while directing projects outside of the Company. In 2007, Doug's first full-length play as Director at the Group Rep was Arsenic and Old Lace, with Rumors being his seventh production as Director there. Other directorial projects included Harvey, A Nice Family Gathering, A Nice Family Christmas, Bless Me, Father (by late Playwright and Group Rep member, Craig Alpaugh); and four World Premieres in the Don't Hug Me musical comedy series by Phil Olson and Paul Olson. When did you first get interested in doing theatre or working on the stage?

Actress Laura Bell Bundy is about to reopen Reprise. She will be playing the role of Charity in Sweet Charity, set to open at the Freud Playhouse, UCLA on June 20. In our chat, Bundy talks about the joy that Charity exudes, the reason she cannot wait to play her. Laura, how exciting to be playing Charity and …being a part of the first show to open the new Reprise! What do you love most about the character of Charity? I love her childlike quality.  Children are open, excitable, playful, optimistic, hopeful, delicate, resilient … they haven't become jaded by life's trials yet… and despite the trials Charity goes through, she still keeps going back for more with her head up, and her heart open.  

As part of Hollywood Fringe 2018, the world premiere Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde bowed at LGBT in Hollywood on the smaller stage on June 9 for 10 performances. Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, this adaptation is written by Fringe veterans Burt Grinstead and Anna Stromberg who also perform the piece. Grinstead plays the dual main characters and Stromberg everyone else, including maids, professors, detectives, Sara, Jekyll's love interest and even small children. Set in London in 1865, the story takes a few twists and turns from the original, but still focuses on Jekyll's scientific study of good and evil. Grinstead and Strombeg lace their script with lots of dark humor and farce, making us question at first whether we are watching a comedy or a thriller. As the plot moves along, though, the joke lines become a naturally entertaining part of the proceedings. 

3-D Theatricals is currently reviving their Ovation winning production Parade at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. The production will end there on Sunday June 10 and next week move on to Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach opening June 15 and playing through June 24. Ovation winner Jeff Skowron talks about reviving his lead role in Parade. Jeff, what is it like doing this role again? I know as an actor you approach it fresh. What do you feel are the greatest challenges at this point in time?

This show is a classic in every sense of the word. Its sustained dark & forboding atmosphere of pre-Nazi Berlin and its celebrated Kander & Ebb score are but two glowing attributes. One, of course, cannot deny Bob Fosse's brilliant 1970 film, but, it was totally different from the Broadway show, as it became more of a showcase for Liza Minnelli's unique talent. And, the stage version has taken on a brand new look since the Roundabout Theatre revamped it in the 90s. This is not the original 60s Cabaret that had Joey Gray as MC onstage only for his musical numbers. Now the MC takes center stage and when he is not speaking or singing, lurks around, ecchanging glances with the other members of the ensemble.

When you are dealing with a phenomenal talent such as Billy Porter, expect the unexpected in his performancve onstage. His Tony and Grammy winning tour.de.force as Lola in Kinky Boots is living proof. In his latest touring cabaret/concert show entitled Billy Porter: The Soul of Richard Rodgers, Porter delivers some of his own compositions along with a bevy of show tunes from the collaboration of Rodgers and Hammerstein that truly affected him as he was growing up in Pittsburgh. What stands out is the soul of the man who wrote music that not only moved us but changed the world. Rodgers had that kind of power...and so does Porter. His divergent and unique appearance and vocal style express passion in spades. The 90-minute set is bold, dynamic and full of the rage about resisting the current adminstration and continuing to fight for gay rights in our country.

Soft Power/play and lyrics by David Henry Hwang/music & additionaal lyrics by Jeanine Tesori/directed by Leigh Silverman/choreographed by Sam Pinkleton/music supervisor - Chris Fenwick/Ahmanson Theatre/through June 10 When was the last time you listened to or watched the musical The King and I and really zeroed in on it from a cultural perspecive? In the world premiere play/musical Soft Power now onstage at the Ahmanson through June 10 The King and I is referenced throughout.

Bold and brassy? Yes. Loud and raucous? At times! But... Jackie Hoffman is terribly, terribly talented and self-deprecating. Let's add juicy and mirthful! In her one-woman show Memoircita!, which played three performances at LGBT's Renberg Theatre this past weekend, Hoffman doled out more dish than gay audiences could ever dream of ... about her unhappy life, checkered career, whacky view of the world, and of course not excluding working with the brilliant and condescending Jessica Lange on Feud: Bette and Joan on fxtv. Her diary Memoircita! was the highlight.

Director Richard Israel is returning to Actors Co-op to helm the musical Violet. At the Co-op he has previously directed Our Town, The Baker's Wife and 110 In The Shade (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award Winner for Outstanding Musical in an Intimate Venue), among others. Most recently, Richard was the Theatrical Coordinator for the multiple Emmy-award winning HBO series Big Little Lies, directing all of the Avenue Q sequences in the series. Regional theatre credits include West Side Story, Rent and Floyd Collins (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards for Direction and Outstanding Musical in a Large Venue) for McCoy-Rigby Ent.; Kiss Me Kate and Once Upon A Mattress for Cabrillo Music Theatre; the multiple Ovation award-nominated Having It All for the Laguna Playhouse; and Meet Me In St. Louis for MTW. Intimate theatre productions include Bronies The Musical, The Burnt Part Boys, The Full Monty, Avenue Q, Gypsy, Assassins, Big The Musical and the world premiere of Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins. As a resident director for the Musical Theatre Guild, he has directed Women On The Verge, Do I Hear A Waltz, Road Show, High Fidelity and many others. He is recipient of the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Career Achievement in Directing. Tell our readers about the musical Violet.

Playwright Jane Anderson was revered for the Baby Dance and is currently represented at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura with the Baby Dance: Mixed. In our conversation she tells us about the urgency of the updated, practically new play. Will you talk at length about the play and why the update at this time? I wrote the original Baby Dance in 1989 and the main theme of the play was about the class divide in America - white America, that is.  The adopting couple from Los Angles were affluent, educated and liberal. The birth couple were desperately poor, uneducated and living in a trailer park in the south. Both couples were white and the conflict between them was cultural and economic. Many years later, Jenny Sullivan, who directed the or

Actress/stand-up Jackie Hoffman took the world by storm with her electric performance as Mamacita in Feud: Bette & Joan last year on Fox TV. She has since played in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway and is now bringing her new one-woman show Memoircita! to the LGBT Center May 11-13. Hoffman took time from her busy schedule to give us the dope on what to look for in her new show. We all loved you as Mamacita in Feud: Bette and Joan. Was this a difficult characterization for you? If so, describe how?

You may know Ari Stidham best as genius Sylvester Dodd on CBS's 'Scorpion' fourth season just completed, or possibly as Ian Schonfeld from ABC Family's 'Huge'. Other TV credits include 'Insecure', 'Mick and Molly', and 'Glee'. You may also know his music which he releases as DRTV. Ari has also produced films that have premiered at Fangoria Fear Con ('Curse of the Siren') and Sundance ('Clara's Ghost'). Original plays include Theatricus Americanus (Pack) and Dick Duquesne Radio Plays (Open Space). As director, he is currently rehearsing Solo Must Die: A Musical Parody to play the Hudson Backstage Theatre beginning Friday May 4.

Here's the scoop for those newer generation theatre and movie fans who do not remember 1952's blockbuster hit film Singin' in the Rain. Directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green and costars Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds all contributed to making it the smash that it was... and still is...on cable like TCM. The zany lightweight hit transferred to the stage in the early 80s and showed the craziness that may have happened when the big movie studios were transitioning from silents to talkies in the late 20s. Now in a fun-filled revival at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, it's all brought back to vibrant theatrical life by skilled director DJ Gray and a delicious company of triple threats through June 2.