Don Grigware - Page 54

The Bridges of Madison County was a hit film in 1995 for Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. The 2014 Broadway musical version with a gorgeous operatic score by Jason Robert Brown and stellar book by Marsha Norman is now playing at the Ahmanson downtown through January 17. When you look closely, there's so much to praise that it makes no sense whatsoever that the show closed early on Broadway and won only one Tony for Brown's music. It should have played on and on and walked away with a slew of awards.

For the last few years the uber talented Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, first at the El Portal in NoHo and now 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, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or in this case Peter Pan and turns it into a fun imaginative show with music that will appeal to both children and their parents. There's usually an actor in drag - none here, and a villain (John O'Hurley as Captain Hook) ... and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and HISS loudly at the villains. O'Hurley merely needs to turn on that magnificent voice to seize control of the audience, after which kids and adults boo and boo some more. It's all in amusement, of course, and this year's Peter Pan and Tinker Bell A Pirate's Christmas is all good fun with an excellent cast, some fine pop singing and fast-paced dancing... and, first and foremost, a pleasant script by Kris Lythgoe. I feel that some elements of the traditional Peter Pan telling should have been left in tact. For whatever reason, Lythgoe made some less appealing changes.

Where are you from? I was born in the Isle of Man, which is an island in between England and Ireland. I've kind of lived in a couple of places in the UK, but I basically grew up in a place called Guernsey which is a Channel Island. It has a lot of history - being occupied by the Nazis during WWII.  It was a great place to grow up. It was great for me as a creative because it's a small island but has a large population. They really support creativity there. If you want to do it, there's some great venues you can explore. Were your parents supportive of you?

There's no finer Christmas entertainment than an original story about home and family that has lots of humor, music and more than enough touches of magic...and of course, several kids and, to top it all off, Santa and Mrs. Claus. That's pretty much it in a nutshell with Home For Christmas, 2015's holiday show currently onstage at Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont through December 27. It's a whole lot of imaginative fun that you cannot afford to miss.

1996's mega hit British farce Cash on Delivery is an exceedingly hilarious romp through an unemployed man's out-of-control experiences with social security fraud. Written by Michael Cooney, son of well-known British actor/playwright Ray Cooney, the play builds an affecting series of misunderstandings, mistaken identities and all-out silliness that prevail when Eric Swan (Jim Mahoney) attempts to fraudulently kill off the people - out of guilt - whose government checks he has been collecting illegally. Now onstage at the El Portal, Ray Cooney has directed evenly and with dynamite pacing, guaranteeing fool-proof laughter with a terrific cast, through December 20 only.

The legendary song and dance man, Tony Award-winning triple-threat Ben Vereen will be performing his solo cabaret act Steppin' Out with Ben Vereen at Catalina Jazz Club on December 18 and 19. In our talk, he comments about the show and shares memories from many of the shows he's done during his illustrious career.

Actor/writer Jason Lott and writer Helen Murray Pafumi collaborated on writing Wonderful Life currently onstage at the Malibu Playhouse. I caught up with both of them to see how all of this got started and what they feel they have accomplished with their Christmas play. What motivated both of you to adapt It's a Wonderful Life? JL: Honestly, it was all Helen's idea. She wanted to do a one-person holiday show at her theatre, but wasn't finding the right script. She approached me about doing the show (whatever it might turn out to be) and mentioned that she was planning to adapt It's A Wonderful Life. I asked if she'd mind if I co-wrote it with her and she was gracious enough to say 'Yes.' You could make the argument that I only asked to co-write because I knew it would be easier to memorize that way, but that's only half-true (because, honestly, it is easier for me to memorize something I've written). The other side is that I only knew a little bit about It's A Wonderful Life. I knew it was an 'American classic' and I knew that I loved Jimmy Stewart's work in other movies, but the embarrassing fact is that I'd only seen bits and pieces over the years. I'd never watched the whole thing in one sitting. Once I did, though, I fell in love with the movie and absolutely wanted to help bring that story to the stage.

The 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life was based on the short story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, published in 1945. Now there is a stage adaptation, a solo show in which actor/co-writer Jason Lott portrays George Bailey and all the characters who surround him in Bedford Falls, New York. Nominated for a Helen Hayes Award in Washington D C, Lott is an actor who can play both men and women exceedingly well by simply switching his voice to a higher or lower register. In Wonderful Life he intones, just to take one example, Mary Hatch and George Bailey on the phone talking to Sam Wainwright, as the two realize for the first time that they are falling in love with each other. It's a heart-tingling moment for fans of the movie... and also for those unfamiliar with the scene, for Lott proves an uncanny ability to capture the image of innocence and raw emotion of that special moment.

One of my very favorite Christmas stories of all time is A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote about his boyhood growing up with his eccentric cousin Sook Faulk. Geraldine Page played Sook in a 1966 telefilm, and it was later remade for television in the 80s with Patty Duke. It is the Page version that stays with me, having left a lasting impression of the woman, the era and its fierce impact on humanity. Playwright Duane Poole has fashioned a retelling of the story with music by Larry Grossman and lyrics by Carol Hall in a new musical version of A Christmas Memory, now onstage at the Sierra Madre Playhouse through December 27. On this intimate stage with the orchestra in full view behind the actors, the flavor of the original story is well preserved by Alison Eliel Kalmus' fine direction and with a terrific ensemble.

Actor John O'Hurley will costar at the Pasadena Playhouse in the Lythgoe Family's Panto of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell A Pirates Christmas opening December 9. He chats with us about the show and his varied career on stage, film and TV.

World renown British actor/playwright Ray Cooney will be performing the zany farce Cash on Delivery, written by his son Michael Cooney, on the mainstage of the El Portal in Noho December 3-20.  Cooney performed Out of Order at the El Portal in 2001, and was a tremendous hit. In our conversation Cooney, who was bestowed the honor of OBE (Order of the British Empire) by the Queen, and wife Linda talk about the play, and among other topics, theatre and its importance in our world right now. Linda is a landscape painter and former actress, and her work will be exhibited in the El Portal lobby during the run of the play and on to January 1, 2016.

Jazz singer par excellence Lyn Stanley never ceases to amaze. A mere two years ago in 2013 she debuted her very first album Lost in Romance, which became an overnight sensation worldwide. Last year she premiered her second Potions From the 50s and now in 2015 we are more than thrilled to have her third CD Interludes, which I predict will be her biggest hit to date. Over 5,000 customers have already pre-ordered the album, so Stanley is well on her way to becoming a jazz superstar. She is already at the top of the market in Japan. It is no wonder, as not only does she possess a deep and rich velvety smooth voice but the CDs are fabulously produced. She is backed by a magnificent orchestra, sings splendid arrangements and...the CD itself is packaged divinely. There are beautiful black and white photos with just a touch of red showing up here and there. Lyn Stanley and Interludes are a class act.

As art imitates life, dysfunctional family make up the majority of characters onstage nowadays. Life crises consistently prove that no one is perfect. Thank heavens! If they were, there'd be no conflicts, and in the theatre, no drama. In Tom Baum's new world premiere play Front Door Open, the matriarch of the dysfunctional brood (Joanna Miles) is suffering from agoraphobia, The disease strikes 1 in 50 Americans, whereby its victims do not leave the house. Due to deep, inexplicable emotional issues, they lock themselves in. Now at the Greenway Court Theatre in Hollywood, Front Door Open boasts a superb four person cast headed by pros Miles and David Selby and helmed by prolific television director Asaad Kelada. As absorbing as the play may be, it is not without its flaws, however. In many ways, the relationships may remind you of On Golden Pond, but it is not nearly as well-honed or humorous.

Actress Joanna Miles, who won two Emmy Awards in 1973 for playing Laura in TV's The Glass Menagerie, will co-star with David Selby in a world premiere drama Front Door Open at the Greenway Court Theatre in LA opening November 13. In our talk, Miles discusses the play, her costar David Selby as well as highlights from her career.

Ron House's original El Grande de Coca Cola was a huge hit and ran for 3 years off-Broadway. It's about the five-member Hernandez family, an in.your.face incompetent troupe of Mexican cabaret performers who have spent many many years performing in run-down over.the.border clubs. Now House returns with his latest version of the show, an ultra-satirical El Grande Circus de Coca Cola which sold out houses at the Skylight Theatre in Hollywood last summer. It has just reopened at the Colony in Burbank with the same cast headed by Marcelo Tubert as padre Pepe Hernandez. The family may be worthless performers but their Hispanic pride and ambition are unstoppable and drive them across the border into Burbank with the hope of full-out Hollywoodland success. It's lunacy with about a laugh every second, and under Alan Shearman's well-honed direction, the riotous troupe are bound to bring Colony audiences much pre-holiday joy through December 13.

Joseph Kesselring's dark comedy farce Arsenic and Old Lace dates back to 1941 and was made into one hilarious film starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra in 1944. Nevertheless, the comedy is timeless, so it stills holds up quite deliciously in 2015. One never tires of murder especially when it's played out in a spooky old Brooklyn mansion adjacent to a cemetery...and most of the Brewster family who inhabit it are most definitely certifiable. Elderly Abby Brewster (Mannette Antil) and her sister Martha (Sylvia Alloway) dispose of over the hill lodgers all alone in the world - to bring them peace and eternal happiness. They offer homemade Eldeberry wine laced with arsenic and think they're doing the old codgers a favor. It seems perfectly harmless to them. In fact, they already have 11 bodies buried in the cellar and are about to embark on a funeral service for number 12 who is resting comfortably in the windowseat of their living room. It helps when their nephew Teddy (Jim Barkley) - who thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt - carries out their orders and buries the bodies, convinced that he's digging locks of the Panama Canal. When brother Mortimer (Jordan Byers) - a drama critic for a local paper - discovers the body by accident, he automatically assumes it's Teddy who has killed the man, never dreaming that his sweet aunts are responsible. The biggest problem for the family arises when Teddy's and Mortimer's brother Jonathan arrives on the scene. Jonathan (Brian Middleton) disappeared years ago, leaving a long trail of crimin

On December 12 singer Frank Sinatra Jr. will perform a 100th Birthday Celebration of his father Frank Sinatra's music at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills at 9 pm. In our talk he describes the concert in detail. He also talks about his mentors and what music he prefers to listen to nowadays. When and how did this celebration concert come about? When Frank Sinatra died back in 1998 I engineered a celebrational show which I intended to run for eighteen months to two years, to celebrate his life and his career. The show at that time was called Sinatra Sings Sinatra. As it turned out, the audiences and the people who hired our program wanted very much to keep Sinatra Sings Sinatra going long after two years had passed. By now we were getting close to going into the 21st century, and it has been so ever since. Now we come to December the 12th forthcoming here which will have been his 100th birthday. OK! Two years ago I discussed with my family and the people that we work with the importance of organizing a special series of events to commemorate his 100th year. I was wondering whether or not  this was a little bit of overkill at the time, but I have been told such things happen for people like Duke Wayne, Bing Crosby and people of that situation that they have these big festivals, recapitulations, tributes, you name it. In 2013 I started writing a show for the end of 2015. That show debuted in May this year.

On Friday October 23 at the E-Spot Lounge upstairs at Vitello's, jazz, soul, R&B singer Aaron Akins delivered his striking Into the Cole show in honor of the music of legendary Nat King Cole. It is so rich to hear someone that can replicate with such class the smooth, distinctive, unforgettable sound of Nat King Cole. I came early and was seated during sound check. Akins was so nice, asking if we could hear everything OK. This is a performer who cares about his audience. Like Cole himself, he is there to sing for you. Even during the actual set, he asked the sound/light man several times to dim the lights onstage so he could see beyond the footlights. 'I like to see my audience!' A really warm, engaging performer!

Called by many the perfect musical, My Fair Lady based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion has perhaps the wittiest and showiest debate between the sexes. Shaw despised marriage and loved to magnify human frailty, both female and male. And with Lerner and Loewe to create the book, music and lyrics, the result is a creation with music and story that flow together in ideal harmony. Even when it's at its abrasive best, it's funny; even when Professor Henry Higgins (Martin Kildare) is obnoxious, selfish and self-centered to the hilt, we cannot help but laugh with him...and love him. Despite what a man says about a woman, he cannot live without her, and vice versa. We were born to live in  a love/hate relationship, to be at each other's throats and in the next second, rolling around in the hay. It's all a part of life and Shaw, and Lerner and Loewe displayed the ups and downs of romantic living better than anyone else...period. Now in an absolutely loverly production at MTW, Long Beach, the show plays through November 8 only.

Ask musical actors/actresses for their choice of favorite Broadway musical of all time and they most often concur, West Side Story. Why? It has phenomenal music by Leonard Bernstein, with concise poetic lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a tight and gripping book by Arthur Laurents, and brilliant choreography established in 1957 by Jerome Robbins. It is one of the most powerful love stories ever, next to Romeo and Juliet. With all these elements complementing one another, from the first downbeat of the orchestra and the appearance of the Jets creeping in one by one on a half-lit stage, the show pulls you in and doesn't let go of you for its two and a half hours ... and its message and images of love linger long after.