Don Grigware - Page 66

As my eyes panned across the Geffen Playhouse stage before the opening of Conor McPherson's The Night Alive, I could not help but notice the large poster of the film The Great Escape on the wall of Takeshi Kata's set of the dingy Edwardian house in Phoenix Park, Dublin that is the home of Maurice, nephew Tommy and sometimes business partner Doc. Would it tell something about the characters' plight or condition? After all, this is contemporary Dublin, Ireland. There's poverty, isolation and about as much unhappiness as one would find anywhere else in the world in this day and age, maybe more.

Enter Laughing - The Musical/book by Joseph Stein/music & lyrics by Stan Daniels/directed by Stuart Ross/Lovelace Studio Theater of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills/through March 1

Whereas contemporary parents struggle to keep their children away from drugs and alcohol, Kelly Carlin spent her girlhood trying to keep her parents clean and sober, Growing up with George Carlin and his wife Brenda was not the easiest task, as young Kelly figuratively spent many useless years on a street corner trying to find herself, who she truly was and what she wanted to do with her life. In a one-woman odyssey of self-discovery Carlin manages to get us to truly like her and still keep alive and in the center spotlight the sheer genius of her dad, comic icon George Carlin. My only qualm is that the show now onstage at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank could be trimmed down a tad, but overall it is engaging entertainment. A Carlin Home Companion will soon be a book published by St. Martin's Press and you can catch Kelly and her family portrait onstage through March 1.

Remember when English-born pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold George Dorsey) became a huge international sensation in the 60s after his number one hit 'Release Me' followed by 'There Goes My Everything'? His handsome looks and laid-back style made him ever so popular with female fans. Well, he's still singing with a new album of duets called ENGELBERT CALLING, and he will be appearing for one night only at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills February 20. With so many duet albums on the market today, why did you decide to do one as well?

On Sunday, February 8 LA's Next Great Stage Star 2015 came to an exciting conclusion at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. After an amazing 90-minute program in which the 20 contestants gave 150% to their uptempo songs from Broadway shows, fourteen contestants were eliminated and the top six* finalists selected. After a brief intermission, the announcement was made and each of the six then proceeded to perform a second number after which the distinguished panel of 15 judges made the final decision. Musical director par excellence James Lent accompanied at the piano throughout the three hour show.

It all started simply enough when Dick Cavett invited author/critic Mary McCarthy on his PBS talk show on January 25, 1980. What resulted from a completely unplanned remark was one of the biggest literary feuds in history. McCarthy, when asked by Cavett to mention questionable authors at the time, is quoted as responding about the dishonesty of Lillian Hellman 'Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'. Hellman just happened to be watching the TV program and proceeded to sue McCarthy, Cavett and the network for over a million dollars.

The Ahmanson Theatre welcomes back Dame Edna for the third time with Dame Edna's Glorious Goodbye The Farewell Tour. Things will never be quite the same thanks to Barry Humphries. He's Edna's manager and has exploited the lady's mind, body and spirit so much through the years that they are practically joined at the hip. Humphries makes an appearance at the end of the show, so with both personalities onstage, it's well worth your time to drop in for a visit. Edna spreads her good will abundantly and American audiences adore her, at least the majority, who also just happen to share a fondness for her son Kenny.

Author/actor/TV talk show host Dick Cavett will star at Theatre 40 in the controversial play Hellman v. McCarthy beginning February 6. Cavett is best known for his TV talk shows from the 70s to present time on CBS, ABC, PBS, USA Network and currently on TCM hosting reruns of his classic 70s interviews. He is known for his laid-back conversational style with such celebrities as Groucho Marx, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Jack Benny and Mel Brooks among many others. He is a three-time Emmy Award winner. He also currently writes a blog published by the New York Times.

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. At Welk Resort, Escondido, Joshua Carr has staged generously yet simply, the result of which is a truly stellar production of the story of Anna and The King performed through April 5

Versatile actress Tanna Frederick, who played the quintessential Lizzie in The Rainmaker a couple of seasons back, is now performing in another Henry Jaglom production, his world premiere play The Train to Zakopane again at Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. In our chat she talks about the challenges of playing Katia and other projects for stage and film.

On Sunday evening January 18 the beautiful songstress Nita Whitaker brought her inimitable style and warmth to Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in a new show entitled All That Matters. Backed by musical director Nelson Kole at the piano and a three-piece combo, Whitaker spoke of the value of love and sang about it via a precious collection of songs both old and new. On hand were her two daughters Elyse and Skye LaFontaine, who joined their mother in a few of her original compositions.

One of the first - if not the first jukebox musicals, The Buddy Holly Story is short on plot and high on the unique rock and roll music of Buddy Holly. This is my second time seeing the show - I first saw it on its American tour in 1999. The music I grew up with in the 50s is so appealing, that I sing along to every tune and move and groove in my seat from start to finish. If you are of that nature - and it seemed that many in the audience on opening weekend fit the bill - then you will have a really good time at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre through February 22. Remember, it's enjoyable fare with no need to think, just set your mind to the relax mode!

Loosely patterned after 'an audition process', this 9th annual fully produced event is geared to discovering new talent between the ages of 18 and 32 for the musical theatre stage.

Just how amazing is the music made by Pink Martini? Well, judging from their recent appearance on New Year's Eve December 31 at Walt Disney Concert Hall - and this was not their first NYE appearance in this venue - pretty awesome! How many other orchestras do you know that play such a mix of genres; classical, jazz and pop...and in so many different languages within the same program? Pink Martini is unique in that respect and they know how to rivet and hold an audience spellbound for 100 minutes.

Akin to a Las Vegas show, We 3 Kings works dynamically as a showcase for its 3 artists: Luca Ellis, Shawn Klush and Brandon Michael Jones, especially for Jones, currently considered the premiere tribute artist of Michael Jackson. Now onstage at the El Portal in NoHo through New Year's Eve, it's enjoyable fare for those of us who grew up with and lived through the music of all three. Frank Sinatra (Luca Ellis) was the King of Swing of the 40s on up, Elvis Presley (Shawn Klush) the King of Rock and Roll in the 50s and Michael Jackson (Jones) the King of Pop commencing in the 60s as the tiniest member of The Jackson 5 (Jacquez Shanigan).

The Best in LA Theatre for 2014 (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories)

On Monday December 22 the terribly amusing song stylist Cortes Alexander presented his annual Swell Noel to an uber packed house at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Alexander has such frenetic energy and charm that, and I've said this before, you just want to wrap him up. What a joyous Christmas present...and with his two glorious backup singers, the Swell Girls Melissa Bailey and Julie Gar

On Monday, December 15 exciting singer Laura Dickinson brought her CD release party One For My Baby to Upstairs at Vitello's. It was a packed house and Dickinson, needless to say, blew the roof off the joint with her dynamic delivery, oozing charm and warmth from every pore. Not only is she beautiful, but oh so terribly engaging as she grabs hold of you and won't let go. Her special guest Mel Collins, who opened the show, called her 'masterful'; I'll go a step further and add 'captivating and spellbinding'. She's a singer to be reckoned with!

Noel Coward wrote in a song, 'If love were all, I should be lonely', declaring the impossibility of romantic love. He continued this theme onstage in Private Lives, and on screen in Brief Encounter and once again in his most produced play internationally Blithe Spirit, now onstage in a sterling production at the Ahmanson through January 18, and starring the one and only Angela Lansbury.