Don Grigware - Page 38

Bullying remains the number one problem among high school students in today's world. In Jordan Tannahill's Late Company he explores a Canadian family whose gay son committed suicide due to the influences of bullying at the Toronto school he attended. Currently onstage at Theatre 40, in its American premiere, Late Company boasts superb direction from Bruce Gray and a dynamic cast of 5 actors.

Who says artistry seldom improves with age? I saw Robyn Spangler perform her first Linda Ronstadt show, after an extensive tour to promote her CD Why I Love Linda Ronstadt about five years ago. I had the following to say about her performance. 'Accessible, friendly with an aura of poise and self-confidence, Spangler ... fully engages and entertains her audience. I had such a good time, when the hour was over, I wanted to cry out for more...more Nelson Riddle, more Gilbert and Sullivan! Leaving an audience wanting more is a sign of a truly great cabaret artist, and Robyn Spangler fills the bill'.

Loosely patterned after 'an audition process', this 11th annual fully produced event is geared to discovering new talent between the ages of 18 and 32 for the musical theatre stage. This year once again the contest is generously sponsored/presented by Princess Cruises. As has become the standard, approximately 20 contestants compete for the title, a $2500 cash prize, a headlining engagement at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal during the New Year, professional representation in the business of  musical theatre, and other valuable prizes. To date, over a dozen former contestants have already made their Broadway and/or Off-Broadway debuts; while nearly another 100 have either starred in Broadway U.S. National Tours; Regional U.S. Musical Theatre productions; Las Vegas Hotel sit-downs of Broadway Musicals; on board in lavish production shows presented by some of the world's most prestigious cruise lines; or have starred on stages at numerous Southern California Theme Parks such as Disneyland's California Adventure and Lego Land. Internationally, Tokyo Disney is also host to Stage Star talent. 

Thomas Gibbons' rarely seen exploration of responsibility in reporting black culture and sensibility Bee-Luther-Hatchee is receiving an engrossing production at Sierra Madre Playhouse with meticulous direction from Saundra McClain and a superb cast of five,

Actress Salome Jens certainly needs no introduction. She has starred on Broadway, in film and on television over the years creating a mystique that is original and totally alluring. The very sound of her voice holds me captive. She will open at Group rep in NoHo on January 27 in the classic Witness for the Prosecution. I caught up with her during her busy schedule, and here's what she had to say about the play and the new production.

Think the zaniness of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and Brandon Thomas' Charlie's Aunt and then those crazy American stage musical parodies like Little Mary Sunshine and The Boy Friend, and you've nailed the nonstop comical antics of  I'm Just Wild About Harry adapted by Gary Lamb and William A. Reilly at Crown City Theatre in NoHo. With slick direction and choreography from Lisaun Whittingham and a superior cast, this musical is perfect holiday entertainment.

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

Actor/singer John Lloyd Young, best known for his Tony-winning portrayal of Frankie Valli in the original Broadway musical Jersey Boys and for his performance in the 2014 film, performs monthly at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Like all the other shows, his December 27th performance was sold out, with fans from around the globe coming out to hear his incredible voice and to purchase his solo CD My Turn. It is absolutely amazing to see how enthusiastically the fans respond to his first entrance onstage, and how they scream and stand up after many of the show's songs. He is revered and idolized almost as much as yesteryear's Elvis or Michael Jackson. And the ladies present...I am happy to say, are not that young. They are middle age and up, some in their 60s and 70s. These ladies whoop it up and jump to their feet and feel the music. Yeah!

Tell me about working with Cirque du Soleil. How long have you been with them? TORUK - The First Flight is my first Cirque du Soleil show. I started with the majority of artists in July of 2015. I actually first auditioned for Cirque du Soleil in 2001 and made it to their artist database in 2002. It was puppetry that finally got me to run away with the circus!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was immortalized in the 60s TV classic of the same name and is now full-blown in an onstage touring musical called Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical. It follows the film almost to the letter with a bevy of animal characters, elves and of course, Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. It was Mrs. Donner who gave birth to Rudolph, and to protect him from the world, his family covered up his nose... but to no avail. Now with its two-day stop at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Rudolph... is a delight for children with its sugar-coated, infectiously cute little story.

Looking for a different kind of entertainment this holiday season? Well, The MeshugaNutcracker!  may very well be the answer. It's a conglomeration of music from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet and an original book that incorporates eight stories of Jewish culture, making them simultaneously fun and enriching.

Amelie A New Musical, based on the 2001 French film Amelie, has a magical charm that reminds one of Matilda, at least in the beginning scenes. We meet the young Amelie (Savvy Crawford) who enters through a picture frame (see photo at left) and proceeds to tell her story, quite sad in fact, for she is saddled with a heart condition and difficult parents who keep her isolated and unhappy. Her mother meets a tragic, almost freakish demise and Amelie is brought up by her father who lives in a world of his own. As she matures, she realizes her lot in life will be to make other people happy. Now onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre through January 15, Amelie A New Musical has some wonderfully imaginative moments and a sparkling cast under the fast-paced direction of Pam MacKinnon.

A friend referred to The King and I as a war horse, an old chestnut, for it has surely surpassed time as an enduring musical classic, but upon seeing it again, one realizes just how potent, vibrant and topical a piece it truly is. Musicals of such depth and perspective with a keen eye to the future seem to be a thing of the past. Yes, it's a love story at the core, an unlikely one, but with many, many more levels. It entails issues of race, slavery, the urgency for a king of a tiny uncivilized kingdom to change his primitive, barbaric ways, and for his children to receive a truthful education as he embarks on assimilating 19th century Siam to western culture and civilization...and to repeat, it's a bigger-than-life love story that has become eternally revered not only for its music but for its intolerance of bigotry of any type. In this 2015 Broadway revival, currently onstage at the Hollywood Pantages Theater, nothing is lost; every gorgeous detail is present, and the story of Anna and The King is radiantly performed through January 21, 2017. In short, this production is a stunner.

On Friday December 9 and Saturday December 10 Chris Isaacson Presents brought us the incomparable R&B recording artist Melba Moore with her CD release party for 'Forever Moore' at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. Moore is no stranger to Broadway audiences who remember her Tony-winning portrayal in Purlie and a string of other hits including Hair, Ain't Misbehavin', Les Miserables and Chicago among many others. Once you have attended one of her live concerts, you are electrified and changed for good. Moore sings passionately from the very depths of her soul. She has been known for her p

The Troubadour Theater Company's Little Drummer Bowie was first presented at the Falcon in 2005, and with the fairly recent passing of iconic musician David Bowie, it seems the perfect time to bring it back. For many Bowie and rock are synonymous, just as director/founder Garry Marshall and the Falcon have been synonymous. Both Marshall and Bowie passed away in 2016. They brought music, love and laughter to the world through the arts, so The Troubadour Theater Company is paying tribute to both men with the revival of this production.

For the last few years the uber talented Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, at the Pasadena Playhouse with a British style panto. A panto is an interactive entertainment that starts with a very contemporary retelling of a fairy tale such as Snow White, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, or in this case Cinderella  and turns it into a fun imaginative show with music that will appeal to both children and their parents. There's usually an actor or two in drag, and a villain ... and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and HISS loudly at the villains. It's all in amusement, of course, and this year's A Cinderella Christmas is all good fun with a superb cast, some fine pop singing and fast-paced dancing... and, first and foremost, a funfilled script by Kris Lythgoe. To pull the younger audience into the proceedings, crowns and magic wands are on sale. The kids wave their wands on high to encourage the union of Prince Charming (Kenton Duty) and Cinders, short for Cinderella (Lauren Taylor). The delightful family show plays at the Pasadena Playhouse throughout the holiday season until January 8.

Karma Deki's Bhutanese film Kushuthara Pattern of Love has won tremendous praise throughout Asia and is currently preparing its American release. It has done very well on the international film festival circuit picking up many awards.  The film is stunning on many levels. First, it is a fascinating romance that develops between an American journalist/ photographer Charlie (Emrhys Cooper) and native weaver Chokimo (Kezang Wangmo). Set in the village of Kurtoe-Menjey in the Kingdom of Bhutan, the plot has Chokimo already in love with villager Bumpala. When Charlie and Chokimo meet for the first time, they experience a kind of deja vu. Their attraction goes very, very deep. It is an example of what the natives believe to be Karmic reincarnation. Charlie and Chokimo were somehow connected in many past lives.

On Sunday December 4 Irish tenor Dennis McNeil presented The Christmas Show at The Lounge of The Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach to an enthusiastic sellout crowd. This marked his 44th appearance in this venue, so he must be doing something right. He has a multitude of fans who keep coming back five or six times a year. A former opera singer, McNeil has sung for Presidents and in concert venues, including stadiums, around the world. He can adapt himself to any venue, and of course, in a room of this size that accommodates 100, he gets the chance to be up close, warm and personal and like most Irishmen, tell stories, some funny and a few... deliciously off-color. Throughout the 90-minute set, McNeil held his audience spellbound with his magnificent vocal range, a slew of Christmas songs - both pop and religious - and candid observations about the commercialism of Christmas. He was accompanied by skilled musical director Ed Martel, with whom he has had a long and fruitful association.

One thing is perfectly clear. Jane Wagner's perspective of the 80s, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is a brilliant piece of writing. When Lily Tomlin performed it in the 80s (the film version was released in 1991) as a one-woman play, portraying all twelve characters, the charm of the play was watching Tomlin's ingenious skill. She flawlessly slipped in and out of all the characters, female and male, without changing makeup, hair or clothes. It was a phenomenal performance. Now thirty years later, Wagner and Tomlin have adapted the work for a cast of 12 actors under the direction of Ken Sawyer, which opened in October and has been extended until December 11 only at the LGBT Center on the Ed Gould Plaza at McCadden Place, Hollywood.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica presents the World Premiere of Impro Theatre's 1966 Holiday Variety Extravaganza, from LA's Impro Theatre, the creators and performers of the wildly popular Jane Austen UnScripted. Impro Theatre's 1966 Holiday Variety Extravaganza is created especially for The Broad Stage. Over their history, the company has produced a bevy of mainstage shows including: Shakespeare UnScripted, Film Noir UnScripted, Twilight Zone UnScripted, Sondheim UnScripted, Dickens UnScripted, The Western UnScripted, Tennessee Williams UnScripted, Chekhov UnScripted, along with Fairytales UnScripted and Jane Austen UnScripted, which both previously ran at The Broad Stage. This new production marks the group's 10th anniversary.