Tag: theatre-2011

But If You’re Smart, You’ll Learn Your Lessons Well

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When I was around 12, two musicals about the life of Jesus were dominating the airwaves: Godspell, a pop-rockish musical by Stephen Schwartz based on the parables of Matthew, and Jesus Christ Superstar, a rock-opera about the life of Jesus, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Of the two, I really preferred the music of Godspell—perhaps because it was more accessible and less heavily Christian (on the surface)—something that was important to this Jewish boy. However, I never actually saw Godspell on stage, although I did see the 1973 movie. That was remedied last night, when I saw the Knightsbridge Theatre theatre production of Godspell. This was a production of their KBT Teen Company, a teen and young-college acting company, and my daughter had a number of friends in the cast.

For those who haven’t seen Godspell before: it is not your typical musical; it is certainly not like JCS in formally telling the story of the life of Jesus. Although it does start with Jesus’s baptism by John, and end with the crucifiction, those serve more as framing devices. The heart of the first act of the musical is the telling of a series of parables of Jesus’ philosphy, drawn mostly from the Book of Matthew with a few from Luke (or so the synopsis says—being Jewish, I’m really not an expert on the source of the parables). Parables that are told include the story of the Pharisees and the tax gatherer praying in the temple, the story of a master and a servant who owes him a debt, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the story of a man who spent a lifetime acquiring the good things in life and then dies before he has the time to enjoy them, the parable of the sower of the seeds, the parable of the Prodigal Son. The second act focuses more on specific teachings and statements, such as imploring mankind to give up its temporal pursuits and to turn to God, the underlying commandments within Christianity, and who can enter heaven. The real focus of the second act is a buildup to the betrayal of Jesus and his death, followed by his ressurection. The musical has no specific location. Other than Jesus and John/Judas, there are no specific characters. The bulk of the cast is a group of young men and women, who have been portrayed variously from hippies to clowns. The goal is to have one, to learn the teachings of Jesus, and to leave the show with a those teachings running through your head. I’ll note that this was the first off-Broadway/Broadway show done by Stephen Schwartz, and was heavily based (at least in terms of words) on the Episcopal book of hymns.

The ultimate success of a production of Godspell depends on its director and its cast. The director needs to bring order from chaos: the structure as a collection of parables can lead to organized craziness with everyone everywhere, and the audience not knowing where to focus their attention. The cast must step up their performances: they need to sing well and project well, as well as inhabiting the playfulness of their characters. I’ll get to the Knightsbridge cast in a minute; for now, let’s focus on how this director handled this show. Let’s frame these comments by nothing that the primary director (Adam Diugolecki) was one of the teens, assisted by his mother (Vicki Conrad)—thus these could all be lessons that he will learn from experience. In my opinion (and admittedly, I haven’t yet seen a professional production to compare, although I would like to), the direction was not as strong as it could be. First, the director rearranged some of the parables. For example, I was expecting Day by Day to occur in the middle of the first act if not earlier; the director moved it to the end of the first act, shifting Light of the World to be the opening number of the second act. There were also points of too much side activity during some of the parables, which hurt the focus a bit. Most significantly, the director needed to exhort the cast to project more and be louder—there was no amplification, and at points you could not hear individual cast members singing (during solo numbers) over the music. I’ll note that acting and expression-wise, the director did a reasonably good job, although there was a little overplaying.

As for the cast: I went into this realizing that this was a teen cast—this means there will be will not be a uniform quality to the performances. Most of the cast gave a very strong effort, and some exhibited quite a bit of talent. Let’s focus on those folks, and then we’ll list the rest. In the lead as Jesus was Thomas Murphy O’Hara, a young man we know well from his work at Van Nuys High School. Thomas gave a very strong performance as Jesus in terms of acting, dancing, and movement; he captured the playful, loving aspects perfectly. Two areas that need work: his projection, when singing, so that the audience can actually hear his wonderful voice, and his pronounciation of the two Hebrew blessings he has to say. Also strong was Thomas’ sister, Shannon O’Hara, who is also a wonderful singer and dancer, as well as actor (and had one of the best bio lines: “I’d like to thank my brother, Jesus…”). Shannon was particularly strong in Light of the World. I was also very impressed with Quinlan Fitzgerald, who had a remarkably strong singing voice that she demonstrated in Day by Day, By My Side, and On the Willows. Christine Roux gave a strong performance in Turn Back Old Oh Man, although there is only so much “slutty vamp” a teen can do. I also liked Scott Bosley was strong in Light of the World with a good singing voice and good projection. Also good were Briget Fitzgerald in We Beseech Thee and Mackenzie Ward in Beautiful City.

There were some weak numbers, alas. One of my favorites, All for the Best, had good tap dancing but was spoiled by an inability to hear all the lyrics. Similar problems bedevilled Learn Your Lessons Well and We Beseech Thee. There were also some of the cast that seemed less than 100% there: at times you could see them playfully inhabiting their characters, but at other times they seemed distracted.

On the whole, however, the acting was reasonably good. Rounding out the cast were R. Benito Cardenas, Emily Abbot, Jeffrey Price, Tristan Price, Katie Buderwitz, Katie McDowell, Jessica Stone, and Lizzie McDowell.

Musical direction for the show was by Quinlan Fitzgerald, who coordinated a three-member band. This could have been stronger, especially in Alas for You. Dennis Poore was musical counsultant. Choreography was by Jean Delkhaste, Shannon O’Hara, Adam Diugolecki, and Christine Roux. The production was produced by Joseph P. Stachura, assisted by Rene Guerrero.

Turning to the technical: The lighting design was by JC Gafford and was reasonably good. There was no sound design credited—this was a problem as these kids would have been much better with a little amplification for those that needed it. Scenic design was by Adam Diugolecki (boy, was this young man stretched thin—directing, acting, choreographing, and scenic designing), and was suitably eclectic. Costumes were by Vicki Conrad and Debbie Buderwitz.

The last performance of “Godspell” at the Knightsbridge Theatre is July 3.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Tonight brings “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2—no, I’ve never seen it. Sunday sees us in the sun at a Drum Corps show: Western Corps Connection on July 3 in Riverside. The following weekend is open, as “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ did not work out datewise. A possibility is “Working” at the Ruby Theatre in Hollywood; it is their closing weekend. The weekend of Carmageddon brings “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed) and “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed). The wekeend of July 23 brings Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl) and “Shrek” (July 24, Pantages Theatre, ticketed). July closes with “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed). August brings “Doubt” at REP East on August 13, and “On Golden Pond” at the Colony Theatre on August 20, and possibly the last Summer Evening at the Huntington with the Quarteto Neuvo on August 27. September currently only has one weekend booked: “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at REP East on September 24; October shows “Shooting Star” at the Colony Theatre on October 1, “Annie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on October 22, and (hopefully) Bernadette Peters at VPAC on October 16. October will also hopefully bring “The Robber Bridegroom” at ICT. Of course, I expect to fill some of the weekends in August, September, and October with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

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An American Immigrant Story

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Glenn: If you think about it, Superman is the ultimate American illegal immigrant story: He leaves his family and everything he knows behind him, to make an arduous journey to a new homeland. Once there, he suceeds due to the special characteristics of his homeland, combined with hard work. But he lives a dual life: there is the All-American face he portrays, and his secret of being an illegal immigrant. His only weakness is when he is presented with relics of his homeland.

Vuthy: Yes, but Superman was white. If he had been an Asian baby left on the side of the road of the 1930s, the Kents would have turned him into Social Services, not kept him as their own.

Glenn: I guess you’re right.

The above is a (paraphrased) dialogue from the excellent play we saw this afternoon at the Colony Theatre: the West Coast premier of “Year Zero“, written by Michael Golamco. Year Zero tells the story of a first generation Cambodian family living in Long Beach in the spring of 2003 (Long Beach, if you are unaware, is home to one of the largest Cambodian communities outside of Cambodia). The mother, who escaped the Kmher Rouge through an arduous journey, has just died. Her daughter, Ra, has returned to the family apartment to pack up her belongings and arrange for the care of her younger brother, Vuthy, a sophmore at Lakewood High School. Vuthy is a lonely 16-year-old who loves hip hop and Dungeons & Dragons (in fact, he DMs a game during the show). Also involved with the family is Han, a member for the major Cambodian gang TRG, who has just been released from prison. Han was once close to Ra, but since Ra has gone off to UC Berkeley, they have drifted apart. Also involved in the story is Glenn, Ra’s Chinese boyfriend (the Chinese, at least according to the play, consider themselves above the Cambodians) who comes down unasked to help. Ra’s mother, it turns out, has never opened up to either Vuthy or Ra about the escape from Cambodia, but she has spoken about it to Han, who also escaped when he was little. The basic question of the story is what is going to happen to these people: Will Han return to the gang? Will Ra dump Glenn and go with Han? Will Vuthy stay in Long Beach, and likely get involved with the gang, or will he return to Berkeley with Ra and Glenn?

The artistic director, in her write-up introducing this play, wrote “Here was a traditional American immigrant story taht explored the timeless issues of cultural memory and assimilation, but in a community many of us know absolutely nothing about. More important (to me), I believed in these people, I cared about them.” That’s what makes this play a resounding success: the writing, the acting, and the directing made me care about this family. The people were ultimately good, and I wanted to know them and know what happened to them after the play ended. I also learned about that community and its customs, as well as what a dual life they led. Wonderful wonderful story.

The direction of this play was excellent. David Rose did a great job of making the actors come across as 100% realistic. One got the sense of watching people living their lives, not seeing actors on the stage. This made the story even more real.

The acting was also superb: all four actors were stupendous. Christine Corpuz (Ra) was the typical Asian girl: torn beween duty to family and a desire to be perfect. A delight to watch, and very realistic. David Huynh inhabited Vuthy, making him come across as the typically rebellous teenager, a nerd drawn to D&D and comic books, who is trying to be good. Tim Chiou was Han: a brawny gang member with a good inner heart, who was torn between his duties to the gang and Ra and Vuthy, whose mother had been a second mother to him. Lastly, as Glenn, Eymard Cabling portrayed the outsider who just wanted to make Ra happy, but even with an Asian background, couldn’t understand the nuances of Cambodian culture. There was actually a fifth character in the play: Ra and Vuthy’s mother: a stern first generation immigrant from Cambodia, who had faced unspeakable horror in her childhood and escaped for the vision of her children, who would broker nothing that would lead her children from the path to success.
[All actors are members of æ Actors Equity ]

The play was also very good technically, The set design by David Potts was very clever: the main set was a cluttered apartment with loads of figurines, but the back wall raised up to provide a small substage, which provided different locales such as a car or a Cambodian temple. The costumes by Anthony Tran captured 2003 and the characters very well: Glenn had a more upscale look; Vuthy had the typical D&D style T-shirts; Han was more menacing in gang-ish attire and tattoos; and Ra was a typical college girl. MacAndME did their usual excellent prop design. The sound design by Peter Bayne provided unobtrusive amplification, and created the scene excellently. The lighting by Colony regular Luke Moyer created the mood very well, although it did look like one Leiko was about to fail in the car scene. Leesa Freed was production stage manager.

“Year Zero” continues at the Colony Theatre until July 3. If you can, go see it. You’ll be pleasently surprised. Tickets are available from the Colony online box office. They are also available on Goldstar.

P.S.: They also made a casting announcement about their upcoming production of “On Golden Pond“: Hal Linden and Christina Pickles. I’m excited: Hal Linden was in the first professional stage production I ever saw: “The Rothschilds” at LA Civic Light Opera. I hope to be able to go up to him after the show and thank him for starting me on a lifetime of attending live theatre!

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: We have a short break from theatre while I do a college visit with my daughter (but who knows — we might go see “Always Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville). July starts with “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2 (ticketed); followed by Western Corps Connection on July 3 in Riverside. July should continue with “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ (July 8, Chance Theatre, pending ticketing); “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed); “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed); Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl); “Shrek” (July 24, Pantages Theatre, ticketed); and “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed). August brings “Doubt” at REP East on August 13, and “On Golden Pond” at the Colony Theatre on August 20, and possibly the last Summer Evening at the Huntington with the Quarteto Neuvo on August 27. September currently only has one weekend booked: “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at REP East on September 24; October shows “Shooting Star” at the Colony Theatre on October 1, “Annie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on October 22, and (hopefully) Bernadette Peters at VPAC on October 16. October will also hopefully bring “The Robber Bridegroom” at ICT. Of course, I expect to fill some of the weekends in August, September, and October with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

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A Magical Transformation

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For five years now, we’ve been involved with the performing arts program at our daughter’s middle school—she was a founding member of their performing arts program back in 7th grade (she’s now in 11th). Last night continued that involvement when we went over to Nobel to see their production of “Beauty and the Beast (Jr.)“. The “(Jr.)” (which wasn’t in their program but was mentioned in their listing on Broadwayworld.com (yup, they were listed)) refers to the licensed version from MTI. The “(Jr.)” version cut out a number of songs and their reprises (“No Matter What”, “Me”, “How Long Must This Go On”, “If I Can’t Love Her”, “Maison De Lune”), and probably removed what little suggestive dialogue there was. Essentially, the Jr. version appears to be the movie version plus “Home” and “Human Again”, as opposed to the full Broadway version. Nobel got a surprising amount of publicity for the show—in addition to the normal parent channels, Facebook, and Evite, I found mentions in the Daily News, BroadwayWorld, LA.com, OrangeCounty.com, and even the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council, plus they show up on MTI’s map of productions. Van Nuys High School could take a lesson from Nobel on how to publicize a show (as well as on how to fundraise, for Nobel was selling all sorts of stuff outside the show, as well as conducting a 50/50 raffle. They only thing they didn’t do was sell ads in the program!)

If you’re not familiar with the story, I’m surprised. You should read the Wikipedia page.

How did Nobel do with this production? Judging by the standard of Middle School productions (where the students are there for fun, and few have had professional training), they did reasonably well. The heart was there, the kids were having fun and trying their hardest, and that’s all you could wish for. The performances were reasonably good; the singing was hit-or-miss; and the movement was OK. There were some standout performances, to my eye. Rachel Denny, playing Belle, was a pretty good singer; her voice waivered at a few points due to amplification problems, but was reasonably strong and nice to listen to. Another strong singer was Danielle Geimer as Mrs. Potts—she essentially nailed her key song, “Beauty and the Beast“. As Lefou, Ethan Barker was an energetic and acrobatic actor (although his singing was weaker). Lastly, I was also impressed with Courtney Cohen as the Enchantress and Paige Nelson as the Enchanted Rose—neither had speaking lines but spoke through their ballet, which was beautiful.

Looking at some of the other leads. As the Beast/Prince, Bryce Edelberg did reasonably well, but he seemed to be over-blustering the beast, which hid the undercurrent of tenderness that needed to be there. Admittedly, that’s a hard-mixture for someone so young. Josh Zweig was good as Maurice, but the Jr. version eviscerated his role. As Gaston, Michael Dager needed a bit more pomposity and presence for his role; again, he did pretty good for a middle school student. It’s also hard for a middle school student to pull off the line “and every square inch of me’s covered with hair”. The other enchanted members of the Beast’s household were OK— Arthur Kazantsev‘s Lumiere had the right humor, Dylan Bellusci‘s Cogswell was appropriately stuck up, Taylor Pearl’s Babette was as much of a French Maid as a middle-school girl could be, Christian Laspada‘s Chip was suitably cute, and Jenny Tuell‘s Mme Grande Bouche attempted to be operatic.

No, I’m not going to list the remainder of the large cast. This was a middle school production. There were lots of kids, all of whom tried very hard, gave what they had, and made a lovely ensemble. I do feel for four of them though—Alice Kazantsev, Aria Doherty, Cassandra Cohen, and Cody Laspada, whose sole job was to play statues in the castle. It must have been hard to not even tap your feet.

Technically, the Nobel productions are improving. They used a fascinating fold-out set designed by Dennis Kull; this is the first time I’ve seen a set get applause! Lighting and Sound were designed by Brian Bengler (although I know Erin helped on the lighting design)—there were numerous mic problems last night (which could have been the kids not knowing how to work with the mics) and the lights were a bit too white (which I understand was a change from the original design, probably dictated by the producers). Costumes were by Larissa Kazantsev at Costume Creators and were remarkable for a middle school. Choreography was by Carolyn Doherty. The production was produced and directed by Fanny Araña and Jean Martallaro.

Let me highlight the hard work of those last two ladies: Fanny and Jean. They have taken this from a non-existant program in 2005 to a program presenting two plays a year. They have gone from simple poems and musicals they have hacked up themselves (their Wizard of Oz was a mix of the 1939 version and the 1977 stage version… and then some) to presenting professional-quality (in terms of technical) productions, with lots of middle school kids. They’ve done this in a Math/Science/Technology magnet, mind you, not a performing arts magnet, within LA Unified. They’ve done this with no budget from the school, running instead off of their boundless energy, parent donations, and the donations of those attending a show. In doing so, they have touched numerous students and given them a joy of the arts and joy in learning. This is what teachers should be, and they deserve the credit.

There are two more performances of “Beauty and the Beast” (Jr.) at Nobel Middle School. Today at 2:30pm, and today at 6:30pm. No tickets required; donations at the door. Nobel Middle School is in Northridge, at the corner of Tampa and Lassen. Exit Route 118 (Simi Freeway) at Tampa, and go South.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: June begins with “Year Zero” at the Colony Theatre on June 5, but most of June is lost to the college visit trip (but who knows — we might go see “Always Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville). July starts with “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2 (ticketed); followed by Western Corps Connection on July 3 in Riverside. July should continue with “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ (July 8, Chance Theatre, pending ticketing); “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed); “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed); Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl); “Shrek” (July 24, Pantages Theatre, ticketed); and “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed). August brings “Doubt” at REP East on August 13, and “On Golden Pond” at the Colony Theatre on August 20, and possibly the last Summer Evening at the Huntington with the Quarteto Neuvo on August 27. September currently only has one weekend booked: “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at REP East on September 24; October shows “Shooting Star” at the Colony Theatre on October 1, “Annie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on October 22, and (hopefully) Bernadette Peters at VPAC on October 16. October will also hopefully bring “The Robber Bridegroom” at ICT. Of course, I expect to fill some of the weekends in August, September, and October with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

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The Decadence Before a Fall

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This seems to be a Holocaust Spring in terms of theatre, for we’ve been seeing a number of productions related to Germany during WWII. The latest was REP East’s revival of the seminal Kander-Ebb musical “Caberet“, which we last saw in 2009 in a production done by the Aerospace Employee Association. The REP’s revival was very different, and—in typical REP fashion, which is never conventional—challenged the way you look at this musical and heightened what you got out of it.

Let’s start with what the musical is about. Here’s what I wrote back in 2009 as a synopsis of the musical:

Cabaret was Kander and Ebb’s second musical, and featured a book by Joe Masteroff based on John Van Druten’s play, “I Am A Camera”, which itself was adapted from the novel “Goodbye to Berlin” by Christopher Isherwood. The musical tells two intertwined stories taking place in 1931, just as the Nazis are rising in power: the first is a revue centered on the decadence of the seedy Kit Kat Club, the second is a story set in the real world in which the club existed. The basic plot concerns American writer Clifford Bradshaw and his visit to Berlin. After making a few friends and finding housing, Clifford visits the sleazy Kit Kat Club and meets an English singer, Sally Bowles. The writer and singer soon fall in love. Meanwhile, Clifford’s elderly landlord, Fraulein Schneider, gets engaged to a Jewish greengrocer, Herr Schultz – not an easy decision given the increasing influence of the Nazis. Soon, Clifford discovers that he has been inadvertently helping the Nazis by delivering packages to Paris for a German friend of his, Ernst Ludwig. Clifford ends up deciding to return to the United States but Sally, after aborting their baby, decides to remain in Berlin.

This story is told by intertwining scenes taking place in the Caberet that often echo what is happening in the real world, but in a more decadent or exaggerated sense. Thus, the “The Money Song” song echoes Cliff and Sally’s need for money; the title song “Cabaret” echoes how Sally views life. No where is this better seen than in the controversial song “If You Could See Here Through My Eyes” in the second act, where the emcee dances with a gorilla that he purports to love, ending with the “If you could see her through my eyes/she wouldn’t look Jewish at all.”

A musical like Caberet is a challenge for a theatre like the REP, which has a single black-box space with no fly space. In adapting the production for this space, they made a number of interesting decisions that made this production really unique. These decisions make themselves apparent even before you enter the auditorium, for the show begins in the lobby where the cast mingles, in costume, with the playgoers, and then starts to sing Wilkommen (into which they integrate the normal announcements about cell phones) to usher people into the auditorium. They also adapted some of the traditional dialogue and jokes in this song for their casting approach and orchestra (for many in the cast often play intruments (in fact, all of the band except for the piano and the percussion players).

The staging was unique, making extensive use of hand-held LED flashlights to give ominious lighting and a non-traditional look. The set design was bare-bones set design, primarily consisting of a large welded rotating cage with doors and a few simple props to suggest locations (as contrasted with the traditional painted backdrops of the AEA production). This work surprisingly well, especially for the final scene.

The biggest change made by the REP was to divide the MC role into three pieces, as some times doubling the emcee with three of the Kit-Kit club positions (Victor, Herman). This had the effect of changing the emcee from a single androgynous or slightly-gay character (think Joel Grey or Alan Cumming) to a family, as there was a Male Emcee, a Female Emcee, and even stranger, a Boy Emcee. This doesn’t mean there wasn’t gender-confusion: Each emcee at times dressed as the opposite sex (in fact, when the boy emcee came out, I wasn’t even sure it was a boy, given the hairstyle). There was even one point where each emcee was both sexes—in the number Two Ladies, each was wearing a costume that was half male (dress shirt, slack, black shoes) and half female (short skirt, sexy top, heels and hose). Throughout most of this show I was unsure about how this three-emcee thing was working, but I was sold in the final scene, where both the male emcee and Herr Schultz ended up inside, in the cage, in concentration camp clothing (with the appropriate symbols for homosexual and Jew), with the female emcee and the boy emcee, now in Nazi uniform, standing in front of them in a motherly pose. Chilling.

All three emcees were strong. The female emcee (and also playing alto sax and clarinet) was Rachel Brownæ (). She was particularly stunning (and chilling) in “I Don’t Care Much”, one of the few amplified songs I’ve ever seen the REP do. The male emcee (also playing Victor) was Malek Hannah () was also strong, particularly in Tomorrow Belongs To Me and the Entracte/Kick Lines. The boy emcee was JT Friedman, who perhaps was the most surprising of the three, given how adult his performance was (in fact, it was a little creepy to watch, knowing he was a teen, but then again, that was Berlin in the 1930s).

But Cabaret is not the story of the emcees, although it often seems that way. It is the story of the transformation of Germany from the decadant party atmosphere to the Nazi state, told through the eyes of the innocents—in particular, two couples: Clifford Bradshaw and Sally Bowles, and Herr Schultz and Fraulein Schneider. In this production, both were strong. Cliff, portrayed by Adam Joseph Reichæ (), came across as very straightlaced, although there were implications of his being either homosexual or bisexual. He was a strong singer, especially in Perfectly Marvelous and Don’t Go. Sally was played by Kristen Heitman (). Kristen was strong in the role, and that perhaps was the problem: she came off as too cute, and was too good of a singer (as was demonstrated in her performance of Cabaret). I was hoping for a little seedier Sally (who is supposed to be a seedy cabaret performer in a second or third rate cabaret); but having a strong Sally is a common casting problem, for it often doesn’t hurt the performance. Note that I’m not saying Kristen’s performance was bad in any way; rather, it was too good. Such a problem!

The secondary couple were portrayed by Chera Hollandæ () as Fraulein Schneider and Robert W. Lauræ () as Herr Schultz. Holland (who also played glockenspiel) was strong both in performance and voice (especially in What Would You Do?), although I wasn’t enamored of her makeup, which was required to make her appear the requisite age. Perhaps that was a first-row problem in a small theatre—you see the magic. Laur was an appropriately befuddled Schultz, which was the intent of the role.

The supporting cast was also strong I was particularly taken with April Audiaæ () Shannon Bouknight as Fraulein Kost: she had a look that was captivating, and was a very strong singer. Christopher Karl Johnson had the right look for Ernst Ludwig that lulled you into thinking he was good until you learned his real motives. Rounding out the supporting cast were the Kit-Kat boys and girls: Shannon Bouknight (Rosie / Kit Kat Girl), Richard Van Slykeæ () (Max / Officer / Sailor / Guard / Nazi… and played cello), Mark Amacker () (Bobby / Sailor / Guard / Nazi… and played trombone and blow accordian), Laura Biery (Lulu / Kit Kat Girl), Dawnmarie Ferrara () (New York / Kit Kat Girl), and Jillann Tarara (Frenchie / Kit Kat Girl… and played violin). Rounding out the orchestra were Cassandra Nickols on piano and Johnny Schwinn on percussion.
[æ denotes members of æ Actors Equity ]

The production was directed by Mark Kaplan, who was responsible for the interesting changes in the production, and bringing out the most in the acting ensemble. The music was under the direction of Cassandra Nickols. The choreography was by Melissa White ()—it was good, but needed a little more oopmph at times… something that made it more seedy or risque. Vicki Lightner was Production Stage Manager, and Johnny Schwinn was stage manager.

Turning to the technical: The set was designed by REP regular Jeff Hyde, and was distinctly different than any other set I’ve seen Jeff design. You can see a picture of it in the review of the show from The Signal, which I’m lifting and shrinking. I have no idea how they are going to get it out of there when the show closes; evidently, they spent hours welding it together. Costumes were by Vicki Lightner and Christopher Chase and were perhaps my one slight disappointment. In particular, for the Kit-Kat girls and boys, they were good but could have been better. I expected something seedier and sexier. As you can see from the picture, the costumes covered from bust to butt, and I would think a seedy cabaret would be showing more skin, with the girls and boys always about to fall out of the costumes. Perhaps that didn’t work with Santa Clarita sensitivities, or perhaps it was my expectations. Other than that (i.e., for the other characters) they were excellent. Sound design was by REP regular Steven “Nanook” Burkholder and was strong; I was particularly impressed with the sound for Cabaret and I Don’t Care Much, which was the first use of amplified singing I’ve seen at the REP. Lighting design was by REP regular Tim Christianson, who did a number of innovative lighting approachs. The stage was mostly static leikos and lighting bars with heavy use of red and yellow to create menace; there was also heavy use of hand-held LED flashlights, which were very effective. Cabaret was produced by O Michael Owston and Mikee Schwinn.

“Cabaret” continues at REP East until June 18, 2011. It is well worth seeing for its unique interpretation. Tickets are available through the REP Online Box office, and often through Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance. You can also find out about ticket bargains by friending REP East on Facebook.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: June begins with “Year Zero” at the Colony Theatre on June 5, but most of June is lost to the college visit trip (but who knows — we might go see “Always Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville). July starts with “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2 (ticketed); followed by Western Corps Connection on July 3 in Riverside. July should continue with “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ (July 8, Chance Theatre, pending ticketing); “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed); “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed); Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl); “Shrek” (July 23 or 24, Pantages Theatre, ticketed); and “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed). August brings “Doubt” at REP East on August 13, and “On Golden Pond” at the Colony Theatre on August 20, and possibly the last Summer Evening at the Huntington with the Quarteto Neuvo on August 27. September currently only has one weekend booked: “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at REP East on September 24; October shows “Shooting Star” at the Colony Theatre on October 1, “Annie” at Cabrillo Music Theatre on October 22, and (hopefully) Bernadette Peters at VPAC on October 16. October will also hopefully bring “The Robber Bridegroom” at ICT. Of course, I expect to fill some of the weekends in August, September, and October with productions that have yet to appear on the RADAR of Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

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Entertainment News Chum

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

A few entertainment related items (mostly theatre) from the lunchtime news reading:

  • Pasadena Playhouse. As you may recall, we’re long time Pasadena Playhouse subscribers, but the bankruptcy combined with a lackluster upcoming season have led us not to renew. So here’s more info on the lackluster season to come… it seems they decided on the musical. No, it isn’t The Nutty Professor or Peggy Sue Got Married as they indicated in their season brochure. The musical will be: “Sleepless in Seattle: The Musical“. The production will be directed by Joel Zwick and feature songs written by Michelle Citrin, Michael Garin and Josh Nelson. No casting, and it is supposedly faithful to the movie (which I have never seen). Color me underwhelmed.
  • Barney Sings. One of the first shows I ever saw on stage was “The Rothschilds” with Hal Linden. Mr. Linden has a beautiful voice, which one rarely hears. The LA Times recently had a nice article on Hal Linden, including a reference to a new CD he is releasing. Some of us oldsters may remember Mr. Linden from his role on Barney Miller—a role he got from his lead performance in The Rothschilds.
  • Corrupting the Kiddies. Hard to believe, but Avenue Q is coming to a high-school near you. Of course, the high school version is very sanitized. The school edition makes the following changes: (1) The language (both dialogue and lyrics) has been cleaned-up throughout, making the show closer to a PG-13; (2) The song “Internet is For Porn” has been replaced with “Social Life is Online”; (3) The songs “My Girl Friend Who Lives In Canada” and “Loud As The Hell You Want” are cut; (4) The videos throughout the show are all now done live using actors; (5) The scenes with the Bad Idea Bears have been trimmed and amended to now focus less on drinking; and (5) A few character names have been changed – Lucy T. Slut is now just Lucy, and Mrs. T. is now Mrs. Butz. Somehow, it seems too cleaned up for me.
  • Seeing the Light. One problem that is non-existant in live theatre is an inability to see the actors. That’s not true for movies, and Roger Ebert has a nice article on the growing dimness in theaters today. He’s not talking about the scripts or the actors, but the projectionists are not projecting the image at the proper brightness. Those of you who are regular theater-goers should read this, and speak up when you are not getting the image you pay for.
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And I Thought My Mother Was Bad….

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Last night, otaku_tetsuko joined us (nsshere wasn’t feeling well) as we ventured to Hollywood to see the West Coast Ensemble production of “Gypsy“. Yes, that “Gypsy“—the one that has numerous big name stars in it (Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone) and is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest musicals. West Coast Ensemble is doing a version of the show they are calling “Gypsy… stripped”, which is done in a very small production, directed by Richard Israel, in a 99-seat older theatre, with a five-piece orchestra. A very seedy-feeling production, bare-bones, that focuses on the acting.

Wait, you say you’ve never heard of the story of “Gypsy“? “Gypsy“, on its face, is the story of the creation of the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. In reality, it is the story of her stage mother, Rose Havok. You can find a detailed summary at Musicals.Net, but in short: The story starts in Seattle, where Rose is trying to get her kids, June and Rose, into a kiddy show. She succeeds, and this starts them on the road. They acquire an agent (Herbie) and supporting boys, and start on the vaudeville circuits. Slowly successful, they run into the death of vaudeville. Bookings start to get slower, and the children get older—at least in life, if not on stage. As the first act ends, June has gotten fed up, and one of the boys, Tulsa, has developed his own dance duo act. They elope, leaving Rose, Herbie, and Louise to regroup. In Act II, Rose is attempting to restart the act around Louise, but failing. They eventually end up as a children’s act at a burlesque theatre in Wichita. Here, Louise learns about the stripper’s life. When their gig ends, Herbie is about to marry Rose, when the theatre suddently needs a star stripper. Rose volunteers Louise, which is the last straw for Herbie. Louise goes on, timidly at first, to discover a career she loves and is good at. This leaves Rose unneeded, and as the musical ends, we learn why Rose did it all—not for the children, but for herself, living vicariously through her children’s success that she could never have.

Most versions of Gypsy are built around a star and a star’s performance, and people remember their Gypsy’s by the Mama Rose performer. Oh, I saw Merman. I saw Daly. I saw Peters. For this Gypsy, the Mama Rose actress (Jan Sheldrickæ) was not a big-name star. Her singing was not the calibur of a Peters or LuPone (although it was good); I’m not sure her voice will last out the run. But she was a strong actress… and it is the acting at close quarters that makes this show. Watching her face during performances such as “Roses Turn” you could see the determination and vulnerability of this woman—this was a woman you crossed at your own risk.

Faces. They are what made this production. I just loved watching the faces. My favorite was that of Stephanie Wallæ (). She was just such a great reactive performer. Watching her in “Little Lamb” or “If Mama Was Married” was a delight. She was timid; she was joyful; she was expressive. In “All I Need Is the Girl”, you could see her longing to dance with Tulsa. Perhaps her best faces and reactions were in “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, where her face showed such abject terror and horror as Rose became focused on Louise’s success. Similarly, her face during “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” was remarkable: going from shock to joy. Watching this young woman’s transformation into Gypsy was just great; you could just read the self confidence (although I was disappointed there wasn’t more of the older Gypsy — I seem to recall a bit more in the strip routine number). Although people claim Rose is the star of this show, I personally feel this show was made by Ms. Wall.

Another great face was Michael Matthysæ as Herbie. This is not a strong singing role (the original was Jack Klugman). Mr. Matthys’ strength, again, was in his acting and his face. You could see his love for Rose and the kids. You could see his horror as Rose turned in “Everythings Coming Up Roses”. You could see his disappointment as Rose pimped her daughter in Wichita. Very expressive actor.

A few other “faces” that I want to particularly mention. The first “face” that I found fascinating was that of Caitlin Williams as young Louise. She seemed so lost on the stage when contrasted with her sister (played by Kaleigh Ryan). She seemed off in the dance numbers, a bit lost with the words, but I got the impression that was the actress acting—she was doing a wonderful job of showing Louise as the introverted one who was not comfortable on stage. I also enjoyed the face of Kaylie Swanson as the older June, especially during the “If Mama Was Married” sequence where her personality shone through. As Tulsa, Eric Allen Smith was a remarkable dancer and a delight in “All I Need Is The Girl”. A fourth worthy face was Sara J. Stuckey () as Tessie Tura (she also had a few other small roles). As Tessie, you could she how she enjoyed burlesque for what it was, and how she enjoyed interacting with Mama Rose’s girls.

Rounding out the cast were: L. J. Benet () (performer boy / singer / newsboy); Kelly Jean Clairæ () (Mazeppa / Miss Cratchitt); Quintan Craig (Yonkers); Glory Curda (Balloon Girl); Major Curdaæ (Boy Scout / Newsboy); Saylor Curda (Twirling Girl); Amy Lawrenceæ () (Marjorie); Larry Ledermanæ () (George / Rose’s Father / Mr. Kringelein / Cigar); Dan Pachecoæ (Angie); Tony Pandolfoæ (Uncle Jocko / Mr. Weber / Mr. Goldstone / Pasty); Zack Salas () (L.A. / Bourgeron); Katie Scarlett (Agnes / Showgirl); Jessica Schatzæ () (Electra / Renee / Stage Mother); Ann Villella () (Geraldine / Showgirl); and Petey Yarosh () (Newsboy).
[æ denotes members of æ Actors Equity ]

Technically, the production was bare bones. The set, designed by Stephen Gifford, was primarily a bare stage with vaudeville stage cards and simple props. The costumes, by Zale Morris (assisted by Cat J. Scanlan as associate and Daniel Kingsland as assistant), were appropriately period and seedy (although Tessie’s was a big more risque than I expected). Wigs were by Anthony Gagliardi. The sound by Rebecca Kessin was seemingly unamplified. The lighting by Lisa D. Katz was relatively static and unadored with lots of blues and pinks, with a single follow spot. Stage management was by Nicholas Acciani, assisted by Lindsay Capacio.

The production was directed with Richard Israel, with musical directon by Johanna Kent. The orchestra was uncredited and unseen, but sounded like five pieces. This was a mistake—they deserved credit. Choreography was by John Todd, who did an effective job with movement and dance.

The West Coast Ensemble webpage does not show a closing date for “Gypsy“. It is being performed at the Theatre of the Arts Arena Stage, which is behind the Egyptian Theatre on Las Palmas in Hollywood. Tickets are available through West Coast Ensemble, as well as through Goldstar or LA Stage Alliance.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: The last weekend of May brings “Cabaret” at REP East on May 28. June begins with “Year Zero” at the Colony Theatre on June 5, but most of June is lost to the college visit trip (but who knows — we might go see “Always Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville). July should hopefully start with “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2; pending hottix ticketed, followed by Western Corps Connection on July 3 in Riverside. July should continue with “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ (July 8, Chance Theatre, pending ticketing); “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed); “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed); Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl); “Shrek” (July 23 or 24, Pantages Theatre, pending ticketing); and “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed). August will bring “Doubt” at REP East on August 13, and “On Golden Pond” at the Colony Theatre on August 20. The remainder of August is currently open.

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Hershey One Note

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Last night, we went to see our penultimate (i.e., next to last) production at the Pasadena Playhouse, George Gershwin: Alone (GGA). “George Gershwin: Alone” is part of a four musical series called “The Composer Sonata”. It consists of three movements and a coda: “Beethoven: As I Knew Him“, “Monsieur Chopin“, “George Gershwin: Alone“, and “Maestro: The Art of Leonard Bernstein“. All of these shows feature a book by Hershey Felder, with music by the indicated artists.

“George Gershwin: Alone” purports to be a one-man show that tells the life story of George Gershwin. Although in some sense a jukebox musical, it doesn’t have the typical larger cast, nor does it have reenactments of scenes in the life of the group. If I was to try to come up with a close comparison, it would be the one-woman show on Ethel Merman done by Klea Blackhurst. In other words, the show is structured as a single performer (Hershey Felder, in this case) telling the target’s life story, punctuated with the songs from that story. But unlike Blackhurst’s show, which discusses the life of Merman in detail, Felder’s presentation on Gershwin was superficial, concentrating most heavily on the music, not the man, and on the post-Rhapsody period. About the only mention of the extensive Broadway career of Gershwin was the singular mention of Merman and “I’ve Got Rhythm”—and this seemed to be done primarily to get a joke comparing Merman and Jolson (who introduced Gershwin’s first famous song, “Swanee”). Although the production did cover the highlights of Gershwin’s career (popular songs, Broadway, Rhapsody, the Concerto, Porgy and Bess, and his Hollywood work), it never gave the sense of why the Gershwin’s were one of the most popular composing teams of the 1920s and 1930s, and why they had such an impact on American music. In particular, it never gave mention of Gershwin’s targeted political nature, evidenced in shows such as “Strick Up The Band”, “Of Thee I Sing”, and “Let Them Eat Cake”. It scratched the surface of what Gershwin was and the music he gave the world. On the up-side, Felder does a good job of telling the story he tells, and seems to know Gershwin’s life intimantly. He is a virtuoso at playing Gershwin’s music, especially “Rhapsody in Blue”, which takes up the last 10 minutes of the formal show.

The best part of the show was not the formal show itself, but the aftershow. In the tradition of Gershwin, Felder hosts a party at the theatre immediately after the bows. This includes crowding the audience (virtually) around the piano and singing along (“Embrace me, you sweet embracable you…”). It also includes having the audience suggest songs from the Gershwin catalog to sing (in our case, it included “Someone to Watch Over Me”, “It Ain’t Necessarily So”, and “Summertime” — he nixed “Strike Up the Band” because he didn’t have the music (only for the UCLA version), and “Lady Be Good” because it was in a register too difficult for the audience to sing. He also sang a humerous song that Gershwin and Berlin wrote. He also used this time to talk about his new show, “An American Story” about the surgeon who treated Lincoln, and how merch (including advance copies of the CD of that show) would be available in the patio, with proceeds going to the Playhouse.

The show did not give the feeling of a Pasadena Playhouse production. It seemed more like “FDR“, a imported show that was brought into the Playhouse to help fill out the season’s slots after the bankruptcy. Hopefully the next show, “Twist“, won’t have that feeling.

“George Gershwin: Alone” was directed by Joel Zwick. The scenic design by Yael Pardess was simple: a grand piano, a table stacked with music, a chair and a light, and some pictures of sheet music. The lighting design by Michael T. Gilliam, assisted by Margaret Hartmann, was relatively basic (c’mon, what was being lit was a piano!). Matt Marsden was Production Manager and Technical Director. Gigi Garcia was the Production Stage Manager, assisted by Nate Genung. I should note that much of this production team were not Playhouse regulars, but were staff from Eight-Eight Entertainment (I’d link, but Google thinks the site is compromised), the production company for “George Gershwin: Alone“—this served to highlight the sense of this being an imported production.

The last performance of “George Gershwin: Alone” is tonight, Sunday, May 8, 2011.

The Pasadena Playhouse has announced their next season. Suprisingly, for a theatre coming out of bankruptcy, they didn’t do this heavily during the show. There was no announcement during the show of the program; there was no insert in the program; there was no full-page ad on the season. Instead, there was a heavily textual 1/3rd page column on the last page of the program-specific material. So I’ll be similarly low-key: you can find a full description in this post. It consists of “South Street” (September 2011), “Pastoral” (November 2011″, “Art” (January 2012), “The Heiress” (April 2012), and a summer musical, which will either be “Peggy Sue Got Married” or “The Nutty Professor”. We’re not subscribing; we may go to particular individual shows.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Next weekend sees us at Van Nuys High School for the “Collabor8 Dance Festival”, which is always excellent. The third weekend in May brings us to “Gypsy… Stripped” at West Coast Ensemble (specifically at the Theatre of Arts Arena Stage in Hollywood) The last weekend of May brings “Cabaret” at REP East on May 28. June begins with “Year Zero” at the Colony Theatre on June 5, but most of June is lost to the college visit trip (but who knows — we might go see “Always Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville). July should hopefully start with “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2 (pending hottix), and continue with “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ (July 8, Chance Theatre, pending ticketing); “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed); “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed); Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl, pending ticketing); “Shrek” (July 23 or 24, Pantages Theatre, pending ticketing); and “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed). August will bring “Doubt” at REP East on August 13, and “On Golden Pond” at the Colony Theatre on August 20. The remainder of August is currently open.

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A Mixed Jukebox

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Jukebox musicals are tricky things. You can’t depend on the quality of the book to save you; if there is a book, it’s skimpy at best and shoehorned at worse. Hopefully, the music itself provides a theme, but usually you have to depend on the casting or staging to save you. Sometimes it can work spectacularly, as in “Ain’t Misbehavin”. Sometimes it doesn’t. Alas, for “The All Night Strut”, which we saw last night at The Colony Theatre in Burbank, the pieces didn’t come together.

“The All Night Strut” is a celebration of the music of the 1930s and 1940s: Harlem, wartime music, and post-war music. Although the website descriptions purport that there is a unifying theme, the show is really just a collection of songs that attempt to evoke memories. There is no underlying story, and there are no characters (although the four singers, according to MTI at least, have distinct “personalities”: “A party girl”, “A down-home girl with lots of soul”, “A romantic balladeer”, and “A consummate storyteller”). So this isn’t a jukebox musical with a storyline in the sense of shows like “All Shook Up” or “Marvelous Wonderettes”. It also doesn’t celebrate the songs of a particular artist and attempt to tell that artist’s story, as “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, “Jersey Boys”, or “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” did. It is perhaps closest to “Sophisticated Ladies” in era and style, but it does not make each song into a vignette; it is more of a choreographed concert. Concerts depend on the choice of the music, and the music in this show was chosen to evoke memories, as opposed to a specific theme or style (such as “Bubblin’ Brown Sugar” did for Harlem). The show was packed with songs: 16 in Act I, and 13 in Act II. They included, to give you an idea of the range, “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, “Minnie the Moocher”, “Rosie the Riveter”, “I’ll Be Seeing You”, “Juke Box Saturday Night”, “Operator”, “As Time Goes By”, and “Lullaby of Broadway”, with dates ranging from 1928 to 1959, not presented in any particular date order, except for the WWII medly. “The All Night Strut” was concieved by Fran Charnas

Sometimes, a show like this can be saved by its casting and direction. I still remember the strength of the cast for “Ain’t Misbehavin’” or “Sophisticated Ladies”: pure talent. The story for “The All Night Strut” was mixed. The strongest was Jennifer Shelton () in the Alto/”A down-home girl with lots of soul” slot: she was a great singer and truly enjoyed entertaining. I was particularly impressed with her on “Operator”, a gospel-themed number. Also strong was Scotch Ellis Loring () in the Baritone/”A consummate storyteller” slot: He interacted well and sang great. The other two actors struck me as off in some way—not that they were bad, not that they were not enjoyable—but something was missing. In the Soprano/”A party girl” slot, Jayme Lake () didn’t quite seem to have the right vocal tone in some numbers, and came off as too choreographed. I wanted to see more of her personality come through, and I didn’t get the feeling that I was seeing it. In the Tenor/”A romantic balladeer” slot was Michael Dotson (). Michael was perhaps the weakest, coming across as wooden and a little too boyish. On some numbers he was vocally perfect; on others it seemed the wrong voice for the song. I should note that there is a distinct possibility that my problems may not have been the cast: it may have been the direction and choreography by Murphy Cross () and Paul Kreppel (), for I got the distinct feeling during the show that every movement and gesture was choreographed, meaning there may have been too much direction/choreography for this show, which suppressed the actors personality. In a concert-type show like this, you need the actor’s personality (or some at least what should appear to be the actor’s personality) to shine through.
[All actors are members of æ Actors Equity ]

Musically, the show was great but could have been spectacular. Musical direction was by Dean Mora (), who runs his own big band and played the piano on stage. Mora had a great personality that shown through; the audience would have enjoyed just listening to him and his trio for two hours! The other members of his trio were Jim Garafalo on bass and Ray Frisby () on drums. What would have made it spectacular? Even more of a big-band sound… meaning some brass and perhaps a saxaphone. That’s not to say the trio wasn’t great: it was the trio (and Jennifer Shelton) that provided the energy for this show. There was a reason the audience stayed after the lights went up to hear the band finish the playoff, and to give the band a rousing round of applause.

Technically, the show also didn’t “wow” as past Colony shows have. The scenic design by Stephen Gifford was a multilevel squarish platform that didn’t evoke a particular location or period; combine that with minimal props (as usual, from MacAndME), and its easy to see how any sense of time or period for these songs wasn’t there. The lighting design by Luke Moyer was odd: lots of flashing leikos (as opposed to moving lights), and some moving mirror lights to provide the primary spots proved more distracting; I found myself at times looking at the lights instead of the stage. The sound by Rebecca Kessin was mostly clear and crisp, although there were a few microphone blurbles, and I found myself wishing for the days where you didn’t see the ubiquitous microphone taped to the face. Casting was by Patricia Cullen, and Leesa Freed was the Production Stage Manager. Colony Theatre is under the artistic direction of Barbara Beckley.

“The All Night Strut” continues at The Colony Theatre () until May 1, 2011. You can purchase tickets through the Colony Website. There will also be a special night of Dean Mora’s Big Band Music on April 27.

In an era where theatres seem to be contracting their seasons (for example, the Pasadena Playhouse has one show less than in previous years, although the bankruptcy could be the reason) or going under entirely, the Colony has expanded their season to six shows. The 2011-2012 season consists of YEAR ZERO (June 1 – July 3, 2011); ON GOLDEN POND (July 27 – August 28, 2011); SHOOTING STAR (September 14 – October 16, 2011); TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT (November 9 – December 18, 2011); OLD WICKED SONGS (February 1 – March 4, 2012) and DAMES AT SEA (April 11 – May 13, 2012). Looks to be an interesting season.

Upcoming Theatre, Concerts, and Dance: Next weekend brings another concert: (this is a concert heavy year, it seems): Brian Stokes Mitchell at the new Valley Performing Arts Center. May starts with our penultimate Pasadena Playhouse production, “George Gershwin Alone“, on May 7. The weekend of May 12-14 will bring the “Collabor8 Dance Festival” at Van Nuys High School, which is always excellent. The third weekend in May is currently open, but I expect that to change. The last weekend of May brings “Cabaret” at REP East on May 28. June begins with “Year Zero” at the Colony Theatre on June 5, but most of June is lost to the college visit trip (but who knows — we might go see “Always Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville). July should hopefully start with “Les Miserables” at the Ahmanson on July 2 (pending hottix), and continue with “Jerry Springer: The Opera“ (July 8, Chance Theatre, pending ticketing); “Twist: A New Musical” (July 16, Pasadena Playhouse, ticketed); “Jewtopia” (July 17, REP East, ticketed); Dolly Parton (July 23, Hollywood Bowl, pending ticketing); “Shrek” (July 23 or 24, Pantages Theatre, pending ticketing); and “The Sound of Music” (July 30, Cabrillo Music Theatre, ticketed).

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