Don Grigware - Page 24

The Hunchback of Notre Dame/book by Peter Parnell/lyrics by Stephen Schwartz/music by Alan Menken/directed by Misti B. Wills/choreographed by Michelle Elkin/musical director: Dan Redfeld/5-Star Theatricals (formerly Cabrillo Music Theatre), Civic Arts Plaza, Thousand Oaks/through April 29 ONLY Victor Hugo's monumental romantic/gothic novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, published in 1831, centers in, around and on top of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The musical of the same name written by Peter Parnell, Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, a regional revival at 5 Star Theatricals in Thousand Oaks, presents the cathedral interior and exterior with the belltower and bells dominating the scene. This touring set represents the entire world of bellringer Quasimodo (Will North), who lives like a prisoner, confined within its walls.

Artistic director of Cabrillo Music Theatre Will North is doing double duty as he is playing Quasimodo in the next production The Hunchback of Notre Dame The Musical, set to open in Thousand Oaks Friday April 20. North sat down and talked about how much the role and musical mean to him.

Broadway had one of its greatest commercial hits and the longest running comedy-thriller with Ira Levin's Deathtrap in 1978, and it was later on film in 1982 with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. Like Sleuth  before it, Deathtrap makes a game out of murder with plot twists too numerable to mention, and adds just a small amount of comedy to make it all palatable. It's a play within a play, making it doubly intriguing to watch. Now on stage at Group rep, this new production of the classic is sturdy with fine direction from Jules Aaron and a top notch cast.

West Side Story/book by Arthur Laurents/music by Leonard Bernstein; lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/directed by Danny Michaels and Orlando Alexander/choreographed by Orlando Alexander/music director: Steven Applegate/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through May 26

One thing for sure about Joshua Harmon's Significant Other is that all of the characters like to talk, nonstop, and while talking about the mundane, like dating, possible mates and themselves, they manage to be funny and serious simultaneously. Jordan Berman (Will Von Vogt) is gay and desperately seeking a partner. He has his eyes set on Will (John Garet Stoker), with whom he works, and is nothing short of obsessive in his approach to asking him out. Will is distant, and it takes Jordan a lot of effort to get

South Pacific plays The Soraya (formerly VPAC) at CSUN this weekendApril 13-15 and then moves to La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts April 20. We sat down with multi-talented actress Jodi Kimura who is essaying the role of Bloody Maryin the production. As you will see, Kimura is really into this role. What is it about Bloody Mary that everyone loves? She is so brash, you listen... but end up really caring about her. Well, I can't really speak for

The Gershwins' Nice Work If You Can Get It is such a smooth entertainment and a joy to watch where and whenever it plays...if the director and cast are top notch and up to a myriad of challenges. You cannot pull off farcical material unless actors are atuned to split timing and can sing and dance up a storm. You must have triple threat performers. No problem at MTW, whose 'S'Wonderful' production keeps the audience consistently applauding for more. Dependably resourceful director Larry Raben, splendid choreographer Peggy Hickey and a stellar ensemble create real 'Fascinating Rhythm' through April 22.   

Let's make one thing perfectly clear from the start. If you are expecting a sequel to Phantom of the Opera in Love Never Dies, you may be let down. This new show that is making its American premiere in the tour across North America, after a dismal opening in London in 2010, has been rewritten and reworked many times over, and is based on Frederick Forsyth's The Phantom of Manhattan, not on Gaston Leroux's Le Phantome de l'Opera upon which the first Phantom was based. Even Lloyd Webber stated emphatically that it is not a sequel, but a different story with the same characters. If you open your imagination and find it in your heart to believe that the Phantom and Christine consummated their love for one another by having sex and producing a son, you will enjoy much of the show. If not, and you want this production to follow the original from 1986, it will most likely not suit you.

On Friday April 6 and Saturday April 7 actress/author/minister Adrienne Barbeau brought An Evening with Adrienne Barbeau: There Are Worse Things I Could Do to the Debbie Reynolds Mainstage Theatre of the El Portal in NoHo. Playwright Brian Christopher Williams, a good personal friend of Barbeau's, moderated the evening. For 95 minutes Barbeau and Williams sat in comfortable chairs onstage and talked about her life which began in California and then moved onto New York and back. Barbeau is still youthful and beautiful at 72 and has such warmth and honesty oozing from every pore that the audience hung on every word. The evening never lagged..The time moved too quickly and an enthusiastic Q and A followed with Barbeau still beaming.

ules Aaron has directed shows at GRT including The Paris Letter (a major critical success) and That Lovin' Feelin' (the Righteous Brothers musical that was extended and broke all house records).  Aaron is the winner of over 40 awards for direction around the country (including LA Drama Critics Award, Garland Award, Bay Area Critics Award, Philadelphia Critics Award, Utah Theatre Critics Award, etc.  He is bi-coastal, working frequently in fifteen California theatres including South Coast Repertory,  ICT, McCoy/Rigby, Pasadena Playhouse, Odyssey Theatre (most recently directed the acclaimed Two Fisted Love), TheatreWorks, Colony Theatre, Falcon Theatre and Theatre 40; In New York at The Public Theatre (personally developed plays with Joe Papp), Soho Rep, the Unit Theatre; regionally at the Humana Festival (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Philadelphia Theatre Co., Utah Shakespearean Theatre among many others. Aaron is currently in rehearsal for Deathtrap expected to open at Group rep Friday April 6.

Mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie never dreamed that her little play The Mousetrap that opened in 1952 would still be playing on London's West End, making it the longest running play in history. It's a favorite in high school and college drama programs and community theatre. I myself played Christopher Wren in the 70s in Massachusetts. It's popular because murder mystery fans love to sit on the edge of their seats as they try to figure out the identity of the culprit. Now in a strong production at Crown City Theatre in NoHo, The Mousetrap is alive - no pun intended - and captivating audiences through April and most likely beyond.

In 1993 Neil Simon penned his experiences as a young writer for Your Show of Shows on early 50s television in a play entitled Laughter on the 23rd Floor. At that time he was a novice learning from the likes of series star Sid Caesar and fellow-writers Mel Brooks, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, and Selma Diamond among others. The seven member team plus Caesar collaborated on sketch comedy that ran live weekly on NBC. Daily work was hellish with the crazies bringing their personal issues and divergent styles of expression every hour of every day to the writers' room. The sketch material was not only affected by their various personalities clouded by bold ethnic traits but also by the world around them that included the infamous attacks of McCarthyism. In the arts actors, writers, directors and other artists were endangered of being branded a communist and fired from their work. NBC found Your Show of Shows to be too sophisticated and thereby made cuts threatening the show's existence. It was cut back to an hour. In the play Sid Caesar is Max Prince (Pat Towne), an alcoholic and drug addicted tyrant who will stop at nothing to prove his point. He fights NBC; of course, to no avail. Laughter... plays the Garry Marshall Theatre through April 22, brilliantly directed b

Actor Alex Skuby was born in Neptune, New Jersey. He moved to Chicago in 1992 and was cast in various plays with several different theater companies. In 1998 Alex moved to LA and has been in television series, films and voice-overs. Some of his credits: 'Santa Clarita Diet,' 'Bones,' 'Last Man Standing.' 'CSI,' CBS's hit sitcom 'The King of Queens' (5 seasons recurring as 'Mr. Pruzan'), recently recurring on Freeform's drama series 'The Fosters' as Detective Joe Gray. We caught up with him in rehearsal for the new play Damaged Furniture opening Saturday March 24 and running Saturdays only at the Whitefire Theatre.

Mo Collins, a Minnesota native, moved to LA in '98 where she landed 'Mad TV,' giving birth to characters such as Lorraine, Stuart's Mother, Trina and more. Post 'Mad TV,' Mo built her credits with hit shows such as 'Parks and Recreation' as Joan Callamezzo, Gyna in '40 Year Old Virgin' and Susan on Netflix' 'Lady Dynamite' . Mo Collins garnered her first Emmy Nomination in 2017, for her work on the animated show 'F is for Family' on Netflix. She's about to open onstage at the Whitefire in Damaged Furniture.

What better way to celebrate the day after Saint Pat's March 18 than to attend a concert starring Irish tenor Dennis McNeil? He's half Irish; so am I, and that's more than good enough, for at this time of the year everyone has a bit of the blarney in them. Once a month McNeil sings a concert at the Lounge of the Hermosa Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa. This month he titled his show I'll Have Another and, true to form, on the small table next to his chair was a tall glass of Guinness. At the end of the 90 minute set, the glass was empty. Dean Martin could never get away with that on national television, but on stage, when you're the only star, you can do anything you want, and if anything the Guinness gave McNeil that extra lift to deliver a gloriously tuneful performance. Backed by wonderful musician Ed Martel on electric keyboard, McNeil was aglow the instant he hit the stage and never let down.

Annie Get Your Gun is a tried and true musical gem from the Golden Age. The music by Irving Berlin is the major highlight with a book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, updated by Peter Stone, about the life and times of Annie Oakley (Jamie Mills) focusing on her romance with sharpshooter Frank Butler (Brent Schindele through March 18/Johnny Fletcher from 3/23-4/14). Candlelight Pavilion's current production provides a fun-filled evening for audience who do go out humming the tunes. Oakley, so beautifully played on screen in 1957 by Betty Hutton, is an

If the laws are changed for convenience, who will object to money, favors or a higher position? When you think about it, the issue is timeless. In the 16th century, King Henry VIII (Ian Michaels) divorced his wife Catherine, who could not give him a son, and married Anne Boleyn. He was excomunicated from the Catholic Church by the Pope of Rome. The Anglican Church resulted and Henry's power became supreme in England. Spain, who had conducted the Inquisition, looked upon England with disdain. Anyone under Henry's command, who had signed an oath accepting the changes, stood to benefit in convenient ways. For example, Master Richard Rich (Mitchell Lam Hau) moved up the ladder and betrayed his mentor and friend Sir Thomas More (Bruce Ladd), who had offered him sound advice about becoming a teacher and staying honest. Under oath, Rich lied about More, who was accused of treaso

Thom Babbes credits at Actors Co-op include Summer and Smoke, Ah, Wilderness (Best Director/StageSceneLA), The Miracle Worker and Wait Until Dark.  He has directed workshop productions of new works, Dietrich (based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer) by John Martins III, The Real Real Thing by Frank Higgins and Washington Irvine's Sketchbook by Frank Higgins and Southhamton County (based on Nat Turner's slave rebellion) which Mr. Babbes wrote.  Other credits:  Sun City by Jim Geoghan at Stella Adler Theater, Hollywood.  A writer as well, Mr. Babbes recently adapted William Saroyan's novel The Human Comedy for the stage.  Screenplays include Deadly Dreams and Body Chemistry (Concorde New Horizons), The Audition - A Short Film (Co-Writer - Winner Best Screenplay & Best Comedy 2008 - 168 Hour Film Festival), X-treme Weekend - Short Film (Co-Writer, screened at multiple fests USA and Canada.)  Insurrection (Samuelson Prods.), Bleeding Writing and Arithmetic (Kings Road Ent.), The Substutute (Apollo Pictures), Island of Lonely Men (Sotela Pictures).

Focusing on one of the most devastatingly controversial periods in history after Pearl Harbor in the early 1940s, Allegiance portrays Japanese Americans, loyal to the US, who were forced out of their homes and relocated to centers akin to concentration camps. Treated like animals with little food, water or medications, somehow through the grace of strong will many of them toughed it out. Currently on stage at JACCC in its Los Angeles premiere, Allegiance has a fairly sturdy book and some fine uplifting music, but is not without its flaws.

So many fans know Del Shores as a prolific playwright and screenwriter, and film director and producer they forget he's also a character actor...and a damn good one. Currently onstage at the Celebration Theatre at the Lex, Shores' new one-man show Six Characters in Search of a Play is hysterically funny ...and ... it's all Shores. The audience gets a chance to see just what a versatile talent he is. Shores's sense of humor is flamboyant but sincere. His first big laugh comes with saying he's a thief, as the idea for the show comes from Pirandello...at least the title. Another big chuckle emanates when he professes to be a storyteller, quoting Mark Twain, 'Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.' What better than a few delicious lies to embellish the anecdotes! After all, he from the South and Southerners are prone ... to lie.