LA STAGE INSIDER
Brian Bedford and Charlotte Parry Photo credit Joan Marcus
FYI…LA Theatre Works is partnering with NY’s Roundabout Theatre Co. and global HD live event broadcasters By Experience to bring Roundabout’s acclaimed Broadway staging of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, helmed by and starring Brian Bedford, directly to the LA area from the American Airlines Theatre on 42nd Street through HD transmission. Hosted by David Hyde Pierce, local venues include UCLA’s James Bridges Theater (June 2 & 5), Mann Theatre Hollywood (June 2 & 7), Downtown Independent (June 9) and La Mirada Theatre (June 26). An intermission special features a discussion by Wilde expert Michael Hackett and actor Alfred Molina…Tony nominees Ellen Greene (Little Shop of Horrors), Kevin Chamberlin (Addams Family, Seussical) and John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek) as well as Merle Dandridge (Tarzan, Spamalot) are among those slated to perform at the first annual May Day Cabaret to benefit Celebration Theatre on May 1 at Space 916 in West Hollywood. Meanwhile, Celebration extends its hit premiere tuner, Brian Pugach’s The Next Fairy Tale, through May 8…Tony winner Jerry Mitchell has been tabbed as helmer/choreographer of the Hollywood Bowl’s production of 2003 multi-Tony-winning tuner Hairspray Aug. 5-7. Lon Hoyt serves as musical director. Mitchell and Hoyt were the original Broadway choreographer and musical director, respectively…Katselas Theatre Company (KTC) is hosting the premiere one-hander, Mad Women, conceived, scripted and performed by John Fleck, helmed by Ric Montejano, opening May 6 at Skylight Theatre Skylab in Hollywood. Fleck, who describes the work as “an existential roller coaster ride through hell and back with two hysterical mad women,” first gained national attention in 1990 as one of the “NEA 4” performance artists labeled by government officials as too dirty to be funded…The Ovation-recommended premiere self-realization tuner Having it All, music by John Kavanaugh, book by David Goldsmith and Wendy Perelman, lyrics by Goldsmith, conceived by Perelman, with musical direction by Greg Nabours and helmed by Richard Israel, is extending through May 29 at NoHo Arts Center…
Kristina Poe photo credit LAByrinth Theatre Company
MORE SEASONING…Forward-thinking Elephant Theatre Company has announced its 15th season, launching May 20 with the West Coast premiere of 100 Saints You Should Know, “a compelling and heartbreaking journey in search for self in a discriminatory and alienating world,” by Kate Fodor. The production, which originally premiered 2007 Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, is helmed by Elephant co-artistic director Lindsay Allbaugh. Having its world premiere on Sep. 9, Love Sick, a graphic excursion through one woman’s dark and comic quest for revenge, scripted by Kristina Poe, is helmed by the other elephant co-artistic director David Fofi, continuing the Elephant’s bi-coastal partnership with NYC’s LAByrinth Theater Company. Closing out the year-long celebration of Tennessee Williams’100th birthday, the Elephant is offering his seldom produced tragicomedy Baby Doll, adapted by the playwright from his own one-act, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. Helmed by Joel Daavid, Baby Doll opens Nov. 11, a co-production of the Elephant Theatre and Double A Productions…The 19-week 2011 Ford Amphitheatre summer season is in place, stretching from June 10 through Oct. 8. Theater highlights include two Ford firsts: the spoken word musings of YouTube hit Thea Monyee (July 2) and the Ford’s debut Yiddish event, the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre of Montreal in the Tony-nominated Those Were the Days (Sep. 3 & 4)… Broadway/LA has added more dates to its 2011/12 season at the Pantages with return engagements of 2005 Tony winner Monty Python’s Spamalot (Feb. 28-Mar. 4) and Rock of Ages (Mar. 20-25)…
ROCK TUNER PREMIERES…Ovation winner Janet Rosten is helming and choreographing Push Play, “a live performance mix tape” of new works from Los Angeles Rock Opera Company (LAROC), premiering Apr. 29 at Highways performance space in Santa Monica. The four segments of the evening include: Pete Townshend’s 10-minute rock operetta, A Quick One While He’s Away, which Townshend calls “the father of Tommy;” Perseus at the Oki Dog, setting the classic Greek myth in 1980s LA, using music from the punk rock scene of the era; 15 Minutes of Shame, an abridged version of LAROC’s original work Shame, composed by Mark Governor, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter; and More Alive Than Dead, a work-in-progress by singer/composer Lisbeth Scott… Little Tokyo’s East West Players is continuing its 45th anniversary season with the premiere hip hop tuner Krunk Fu Battle Battle, wherein “young Norman Lee battles the baddest b-boy crew at Sunset Park High for respect, honor and the heart of sweet Cindy Chang,” opening May 18. Production is wrought by an array of creative providers including Qui Nguyen (book), Beau Sia (lyrics), Marc Macalintal (vocal music), Rynan Paguio and Jason Tyler Chong (dance music), Marc Macalintal (musical direction) and Jason Tyler Chong (choreography). At the helm is EWP Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang…On Apr. 15, Upland-based Grove Theatre offers the premiere rock opera Godspeed by Sam Oriti, featuring singer John Bisaha, based on the gospel account of Jesus Christ, billed as “a combination of live theater, rock concert and multi-media complete with on-stage rock band, operatic themes and digital integration”…
Barbara Bain
WANDERING…Cornerstone Theater Company continues its 25th anniversary season by heading to the southeast LA neighborhood of Watts to present the world premiere of The Unrequited (Between Two Worlds), in association with Watts Village Theater Company, opening May 4 at Youth Opportunities High School. Set in Watts during Depression-era 1930s, the work, scripted by Lynn Manning, helmed by Shishir Kurup, is based on The Dybbuk, the classic 1914 play by S. Ansky. The production marks a return for Cornerstone to the neighborhood, having presented a series of plays in Watts in the mid 1990s…The much traveled West Coast Ensemble is sojourning this spring to Egyptian Arena Stage in Hollywood, reviving that classic Broadway tuner Gypsy, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, musical direction by Johanna Kent, choreography by John Todd, helmed by aforementioned Israel, opening May 13. WCE promises, “This is a Gypsy you don’t want to miss – raw, bare and stripped”…San Pedro-based The Relevant Stage is not satisfied to mount its relationship-tuner I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music by Jimmy Roberts, helmed by Ray Buffer), in one space. TRS is taking it to three: the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton (Apr. 21); People’s Playhouse in San Pedro (Apr. 22-24): and dinner theater venue Skyroom@Fullerton Civic Light Opera July 7-14)…Finally, NoHo-based Three Roses Players is journeying to the Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica to stage Thicker Than Water, an evening of six one-acts that examine a wide range of family dynamics, scripted by LA-based playwright Dale Griffith Stamos, helmed by Three Roses artistic director Maggie Grant and Dan Berkowitz, premiering May 6. Participating thesps include noted film/TV vets Barbara Bain and DB Sweeney…
THE THING IS…“I actually didn’t even know about the show, Baby It’s You, when it was at the Pasadena Playhouse until it was about to close. That’s when I learned they were using my song in the show, ‘Rhythm of the Rain,’ which I wrote and recorded in 1963 as the founding member of the Cascades. Now the show is opening Apr. 27 on Broadway and my song is still in it. Of course, I am delighted. I wish the production company would invite me to New York to see it. I know the show is about Florence Greenberg, the woman who launched the career of the Shirelles. The Cascades and the Shirelles toured together a lot, so I guess that is the connection. ‘Rhythm of the Rain’ has had a great deal of success over the decades. It was the third best seller in the world in 1963 and was the ninth most performed song of the last century, according to BMI. To give you some perspective, Ray Charles’ ‘Georgia on My Mind’ was number 10. I am still amazed it is being used in this Broadway musical. Hopefully, it will add some pennies to my retirement fund. I would like to see Baby It’s You if I get the chance. I don’t know when. I’m still working at age 72. I’ve done four CDs since 2004. I’ve been touring, especially in Asia. Last May, I flew to Pittsburgh to tape a special for PBS. That aired just three weeks ago. I’m still out there.” — Singer/composer John Gummoe is performing at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Apr. 23 and the Orleans in Las Vegas on May 6…
Kathleen Freeman photo from "The Full Monty"
INSIDE LA STAGE HISTORY…During the months April through June, 2001, I was researching an article for LA Times Magazine, profiling the origins of small theater in LA. My starting point was the Circle Players (now the El Centro Theater) in Hollywood, formed by seven theater students from UCLA in 1945 (LA Stage INSIDER 8/25/10). I interviewed one of the original ensemble members William Schallert in May. He suggested, “If you really want to know about theater back in those days, you should talk to Kath.” He was referring to Kathleen Freeman, who at that moment was appearing on Broadway, at age 82, in The Full Monty. I didn’t think I had much of a chance getting to her but three days after my Schallert interview, I got a call. “Hi, this is Kathleen Freeman. So, you want to talk about the bad ol’ days of theater in LA?” For the over an hour, I was treated to a sublime history lesson of what it was like to be a young, ambitious actor in post-World War II Hollywood, believing live theater was her best outlet to be seen and heard. “I was not part of the original UCLA seven,” she recalled. “But once they got started, they needed more people. Jeepers! I was begging to get into it.” From 1945 to 1950 Freeman immersed herself in the company, from acting to sewing costumes to composing incidental music, etc. “I got my first TV job while performing as the wife in Ethan Frome (1947),” she recalls. “We were all pretty competitive to get on stage. In fact, when two of our company members, Eddie Robinson Jr. and Charlie Chaplin Jr., brought in this sweet young thing named Marilyn Monroe to join the company, the women all vetoed it. We weren’t stupid.” In 1950, Freeman and six other members of the Circle (Mabel Albertson, John Crawford, Paul Levitt, Larry Salters, Ben Strobach and Ted Thorpe) felt a need to “break away,” forming the Players Ring at 8351 Santa Monica Blvd. “We literally scratched that space out of the dirt. Boy, were we poor. But we persevered.” The Players Ring continued until 1965 and Freeman forged an enviable career in every aspect of the entertainment industry, performing in over 150 films as well as countless TV and stage appearances. Her last film role was a voice-over in the original Shrek film. (2001). “Now I’m in my first Broadway musical,” she laughed. “I love it. I’ve adopted all the boys in the show.” Freeman also ran an ongoing actors workshop in Studio City. In July, 2001, she took a two-week break from Monty to showcase her students’ work. On Aug. 18, Freeman had to withdraw from the show permanently due to illness. She died five days later of complications from lung cancer. In the meantime, the editorial staff at LA Times Magazine had evolved and my LA theater feature was no longer viable…
The Julio Martinez-hosted ARTS IN REVIEW, broadcast Fridays (2 to 2:30 pm) on KPFK (90.7FM), spotlights the best in live theater and cabaret in the Greater LA area. Upcoming on Apr. 15, a spotlight on Herbert Siguenza, starring in A Weekend With Pablo Picasso, having its West Coast premiere at LA Theatre Center…
