Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Harry Warren: The Tin Pan Alley Years
Harry Warren won three Oscars in a career in which he became Hollywood’s most successful songwriter, with his songs featured on the soundtracks of over 1100 films.
Written by and starring Warren’s granddaughter, Julia Riva, the show tells the story of how he got his start in the music business and features some of his classic hits including “I found a Million Dollar Baby,” “I Love My Baby,” “Home in Pasadena,” “This Heart of Mine,” “You’re My Everything,” “Cheerful Little Earful,” “Would You Like to Take a Walk?,” “Finding the Long Way Home,” and many more.
Harry Warren: The Tin Pan Alley Years is produced and directed by Lani Ridley Pedrini and presented one night only - November 7th - by Theaters of Vision Productions and Sierra Madre Playhouse.
Sierra Madre Playhouse is located at 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Plenty of free parking behind theatre. For tickets call 626-355-4318 or go to www.sierramadreplayhouse.org/.
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Labels: sierra madre playhouse
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Review: The Many Charms of I Only Have Eyes For You
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| L-R: Constantine Rousouli, Nikki Bohne, Jared Gertner, Kayla Parker and Justin Michael Wilcox. All photos by Michael Lamont |
Lovers of the era of Busby Berkeley movie musicals are getting a double whammy of Golden Age goodness this month with a pair of musicals playing only two blocks from each other in Hollywood. I Only Have Eyes For You is already running at the mid-sized Ricardo Montalban Theatre on Vine and, very shortly, 42nd Street will open at the much larger Hollywood Pantages. Both are inescapably linked by their subject matter.
The latter is a Tony Award-winning musical based on the 1933 Warner Bros. film that made Ruby Keeler a star, featuring songs by lyricist Al Dubin and composer Harry Warren. The former tells the story of Dubin’s troubled personal and professional life, and includes the back story to 42nd Street among its significant events. The two musicals even share five songs written by Dubin and Warren: “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” “We’re in the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway” and both title songs – “42nd Street” and “I Only Have Eyes For You.”
But while 42nd Street has already established itself a winner, the newer I Only Have Eyes For You is still looking to make its mark. Among its charms are a first-rate cast, beautiful period costumes, bright witty choreography, and of course, those wonderful tunes. And with director/choreographer Kay Cole helming the production, every dance number is a gem.
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| Jared Gertner and Constantine Rousouli |
When Al (Jared Gertner) meets Harry Warren (Constantine Rousouli) over oysters in Grand Central Station, they seal the deal on their new partnership with a terrific song-and-dance number, “With Plenty of Money and You,” reminiscent of the old vaudeville buddy acts. A lingerie-clad sweetheart (Valerie Perri) and her three muscle men in turn-of-the-century bathing costumes (Julian DeGuzman, Karl Warden, and Justin Michael Wilcox) brilliantly play the comedy card (one of many in Cole’s dance specialties) during “Mechanical Man,” while Ruby (Kayla Parker) and Syd (DeGuzman) show off their skills in a classic tap “rehearsal” number “You’re Getting to be a Habit with Me.”
The most beautiful of the bunch is the opening of Act II which pairs Dubin’s long-suffering wife Helen (Nikki Bohne) singing “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” with two dancers (Kim Taylor and Warden) performing an exquisite pas de deux behind her. Even the scene changes offer up snippets of personality with dancing waiters and porters rolling on set pieces and tapping off into the wings. It’s a given that the big numbers like “42nd Street” and “Lullaby of Broadway” will provide even larger doses of pizzazz.
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| Karl Warden and Kim Taylor |
What is still not yet fully fleshed out is the connective tissue; the story between those classic songs and remarkable dance numbers. The framing device for this bio-musical is unclear, beginning initially with Helen telling the story but that idea is quickly abandoned. Subsequent vignettes offer the bullet points of Dubin’s life and the obsessions that tortured him, but bookwriters Jerry Leichtling and Arlene Sarner don’t always achieve a natural flow between the elements.
Sometimes it is a case of inserting the wrong song, as when Dubin returns after a 4-day bender only to find he’s been replaced as Warren’s writing partner by Johnny Mercer. They argue and, after Dubin leaves, Warren sings “Don’t Give Up the Ship” a song about not giving up on a friend…after it looks like he’s given up on his friend. At other times, the lead-in to, or transition out of, a song doesn’t serve the story, or a scene simply stops for the next number, as in the cut to the finale. Either way, crafting a book to go with a set of pre-existing songs is like putting together a puzzle. When the pieces fit, the picture is divine but you can always tell when the edges don’t line up.
Regardless of those challenges, the cast really delivers the goods. The role of Al Dubin appears tailor-made for Gertner who is sweet, charming, infuriating, and absolutely wonderful in the role. His eleven o’clock number “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is a film noir-inspired showstopper and Gertner delivers the dramatic turn beautifully. Bohne possesses a lovely soprano voice that adds depth to her winsome appeal and Rousouli is extremely likable as Dubin’s most significant professional relationship.
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| Julian DeGuzman and Kayla Parker |
The famous personalities that populate Dubin’s world are also brought to life by a group of dynamic entertainers. Kayla Parker is a breath of fresh air as Ruby Keeler, the tap dancing starlet who married Al Jolson, played by Justin Michael Wilcox. Jolson’s sound was unmistakable and Wilcox has his vocals down to a T. In fact, musical director Gerald Sternbach has achieved something rare with this production. The individual voices, and resulting overall character of the show’s sound, completely recreates the classic movie musical sound of the ’30s and ‘40s. It’s stylistically consistent with the genre throughout – from orchestra to vocals to sound design (Cricket Myers at her finest once again) – and that alone is a delight.
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| Elijah Rock and dancers |
There are also strong performances by Elijah Rock as charismatic jazz singer and bandleader Cab Calloway, Robert Pieranunzi as the great showman Busby Berkeley, and Valerie Perri, who has perfected the art of a Jewish mother’s guilt, as Dubin’s mother.
One other element of the production design bears special mention. Much like Sternbach has captured the sound of movies, so, too, has lighting designer Brandon Baruch captured the style of visual richness you can only find in film. At times, the stage would take on a glow that was absolutely sublime. One beautiful example is the way he lit Helen during the reprise of “September in the Rain.” The combination of her vintage red gown, a simple gold tablecloth and chairs, and a floor to ceiling blue curtain somehow all melted together under the lights to create a breathtaking effect. The gorgeous costumes are by Debra McGuire and stylish set pieces are by John Iacovelli.
In many ways the show feels like a vintage love letter to the Golden Age of film. It bridges the period before and after the stock market crash, from Broadway to Hollywood, vaudeville song and dance to Tinseltown talkies, and that makes for a wonderfully happy night at the theatre. There’s work to be done but still much to love.
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| Jared Gertner |
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| Nikki Bohne and Jared Gertner |
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| Nikki Bohne, Valerie Perri and Jared Gertner |
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| Act I Finale - 42nd Street |
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| Nikki Bohne |
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| The finale of I Only Have Eyes For You |
May 10 – June 12, 2016
Montalban Theatre
1615 Vine Street
Hollywood, CA
Tickets: 323-461-6999 or www.flavorus.com
Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm; Sundays at 3pm
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Labels: montalban theatre
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Review: For The Record: Scorsese - American Crime Requiem
All I can say is get ready to be blown away. This theatricalized cinematic hybrid entertainment-on-steroids comes at you with all the force of a loaded gun, if the stage was the barrel, the singers were the bullets, and the Scorsese signature plot twists were the triggers. It’s one showstopping sequence after another woven together with a modern sensibility that hits right on trend. |
| The cast of For The Record. All photos by Kevin Parry |
Your first holy-shit moment happens the moment you walk into the theater and see how Matt Steinbrenner and Kyle Courter have transformed the Wallis stage into a 4-level Vegas-style nightclub. A large round leather booth and table form the centerpiece of the main playing area with additional club seating for audience members flanking the 2 middle sections. Curved staircases on each side of the stage connect the tiers and create a sweeping visual that makes the club look like it is a hundred feet tall. They are also integrated beautifully, and with quite a measure of stylish surprise, into Dan Efros and Michael Berger’s lighting design.
I can imagine how detailed the light plot for this show must be to achieve so many wow moments in this Vegas showroom. It’s a given that Efros and Berger would excel at creating the excitement of a rock concert but what is even more fascinating is the way they use light to give the illusion of depth and warmth. The show looks luxe but it just as easily trades its burnished glow for the stark grit of a crime drama whenever it needs to.
Then For The Record: Scorsese’s creators (executive producer Shane Scheel, director Anderson Davis, and music supervisor/arranger Jesse Vargas) drop in an outrageously talented 7-piece band lead by Vargas and a ferocious cast that can quite literally blow the roof off with their powerhouse vocals. It’s a recipe for success right out of the box.
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| Zak Resnick and Jason Paige |
Like previous For The Record performances, the 2-act show focuses on the films of an iconic director such as Baz Luhrmann, Quentin Tarantino, or John Hughes and weaves together scenes from across their body of work into one story. This one nails Scorsese’s brilliance and also recognizes the way he used music to underscore his characters’ personalities and their pivotal scenes. The stage production brings together some of his most memorable creations like Sam Rothstein (John Lloyd Young) and Ginger (Carmen Cusack) from Casino, Karen (Pia Toscano) and Henry Hill (Zak Resnick) from Goodfellas, Iris (Lindsey Gort) and Travis Bickle (James Byous) from Taxi Driver, Jordan Belfort (Justin Mortelliti) from The Wolf of Wall Street, and Jason Paige who plays Frank, a composite of Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito from Goodfellas, Nicky Santoro from Casino and Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello from The Departed.
Rather than mimicking the original film characters, however, the actors use them as a point of departure, although Paige eerily channels his characters’ humor and brutality with chilling exactitude. The choice allows for adjustments to be made to fit the current cast. For example, Byous’s Travis seems younger and more innocent that De Niro’s but when he makes the change to haunted vigilante in his unforgettable revenge scene, it is no less believable.
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| Lindsey Gort with Erik Carlton on guitar |
As Iris, Gort takes Jodie Foster’s little girl prostitute and turns up the volume to create a sexier, more worldly, but equally as damaged young woman. She’s got that slit your wrists kind of voice that hits you in stomach when she sings. It’s full of pain, and tears, and dirty martinis. She’s a little bit baby doll and a little bit Janis Joplin rolled into one. Her bluesy version of B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone” with guitarist Erik Carlton backing her up is one of the most vulnerable scenes in the show.
Paige turns John Lennon’s “Well, Well, Well” into a grinding showstopper. There’s a whole world in that song and he wrings every ounce of desperation and defiance out of it. Cusack takes her long last walk of drunken, drugged-out shame to Al Dubin and Harry Warren’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and creates an indelible image stumbling through her final crazed moments. Equal parts torch singer and tortured country star, she also brings down the house with her version of Patsy Cline’s “Sweet Dreams” and a reprise of “I’m Sorry” sung earlier by Toscano, one of the best female vocalists to come out of American Idol.
Toscano’s voice is a perfect match for the ‘50s and ‘60s songs that represent the challenges of many of the wives in Scorsese’s films and her lush vocals resonate with emotion. She and Resnick also recreate the unique comedy in Karen and Henry Hill’s over-the-top marriage, which director Davis positions at just the right moments to break up the show’s more violent scenes. The production is well-calibrated and as an audience member you never feel overwhelmed.
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| L-R: Zak Resnick and Justin Mortelliti |
Mortelliti and Resnick’s party boy pace is fast and funny. Their hilarious Lemmon Quaalude scene mops up the stage and “My Way” is reinvented with a driving rock beat. Young functions as the anchor point for the ensemble. He takes his trademark Jersey Boys cool and adds intensity to standards like “Stardust” and “The ‘In’ Crowd.” Choreographers RJ Durell and Nick Florez stage a tango for Young and Cusack over the exchange of a twenty dollar bill (or a hundred, who knows?) that is slyly effective. You can see their savvy touches all over the production which add a level of showmanship to the performances that deepen their impact.
As a kind of everyman observer who pops up throughout the performance to comment or accompany the onstage action, B. Slade (Stacks) is the silver bullet that subtly connects the audience with the actors. By the time the show gets to his “House of the Rising Sun” epilogue, we’re primed for the incredible rage, halleluiah fever, angelic push, and righteous indignation he wrings out of the demanding finale. It’s the type of mega-spectacular number that is the only fitting way to end this kind of a major undertaking.
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| B. Slade |
For The Record has come a long way since its humble beginning six years ago in a small cabaret space in Los Feliz. Since then the company has expanded and brought shows to New York City, Las Vegas, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and soon to television in partnership with Dick Clark Productions. They have taken the theatre cabaret act to a whole new level, reinventing it, and positioning that new form in such a way that it will undoubtedly grow audiences across generations. That’s an exciting prospect for the future of the art form itself.
In addition to the actual performance, the Wallis has extended the Scorsese feel of the evening by adding a number of pre and post attractions for theatregoers. Come early for pasta from the Prince of Venice Food Truck and themed-cocktails at The Bar at The Wallis. Entertainers will roam the courtyard and films like Fellini’s 8½ and Rossellini’s Paisan will screen outdoors. You can also stay after the performance for a post-show hangout at The Bar and on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights enjoy music by For The Record artists and other performers.
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| John Lloyd Young |
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| Carmen Cusack |
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| James Byous |
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| Pia Toscano |
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| Dionne Gipson and Justin Mortelliti |
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| Carmen Cusack and John Lloyd Young |
FOR THE RECORD: SCORSESE – American Crime Requiem
September 21 – October 16, 2016
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets: ($25 - $129) 310-746-4000 or www.TheWallis.org/FTR
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Labels: the wallis
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
HFF: Bumpersticker: The Musical, a Sure-fire Fringe Favorite
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| L-R: Jahmaul Bakare, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Lamont Dozier, Jr., Anne Yatco, Nadia Ahern, and Zachary Ford |
Bumpersticker: The Musical conquers the Hollywood Fringe Festival with its terrific triple threat combination making it great for people who don’t like musicals and even better for those who do. It’s the right show in the right venue with the right cast, and a rousing good time from beginning to end.
The band, the vocals, and the blend all sound great (yes, it is loud so be prepared) under the musical direction of David O. He’s one of best of the best when it comes to local musical directors – in all musical styles – and this show is no exception.
The venue is Asylum at The Dragonfly, a nightclub where the music rocks, the bar stays open during the show, and the atmosphere is decidedly dark and fringy. It’s perfect for Gary Stockdale and Spencer Green’s homage to the aphorisms that define our lives, all printed on little sticky pieces of paper and proudly plastered on the cars we drive.
The lyric to the opening number says it all. “People know what you are by what you stick on your car,” and in the next 90 minutes you’ll meet 8 outstanding singer/actors playing a wide range of drivers (and a few assorted passengers) who come from all walks of life. Somewhere in there, you’re bound to see yourself.
Catchphrases like “My Other Car is a Porsche” and “My Kid Can Beat Up Your Honor Student” set up comic riffs on the insecurities and hopes of adults and parents everywhere. “I ♥ ____” sung by huggy bear Lamont Dozier, Jr. is a satisfying ode to the things we love but with a humorous twist. He’s got the market cornered on that smooth Motown sound and between this number and his R&B charmer “Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How” you’re gonna fall for that voice.
If by some reason you don’t, well you’d be crazy, but Jennifer Leigh Warren is coming up next with a big old dose of Gospel glory to the slogan “Honk if you Love Jesus.” There’s nothing like hearing her bring down the house, with a dashboard Jesus on the screen and a chorus of voices backing her up, revival style.
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| Zachary Ford |
Zachary Ford plays all the radio DJs who interact with the drivers and connects the various scenes with an almost schizophrenic intensity while stepping in and out of the action.
Trucker Bill’s (Eliot Hochberg) slogan “Gas, Grass or Ass, Nobody Rides for Free” turns into a challenge à la Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” when he picks up a pretty young thing (Lauren Rubin) who may seem shy at first but can bite off an armadillo’s ear, conquer quantum physics, and still look like the Mudflap Girl by the time the song’s done.
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| The cast of Bumpersticker: The Musical |
The show also pokes fun at current issues like immigration in a reggae version of “America is Full, Go Home” featuring Jahmaul Bakare, and freedom of speech, a hot button right now given the political landscape, in “America, Love it or Leave it.” “Free Speech is great unless someone’s feelings get hurt,” says Ford as patriotism and rebellion clash heads. The song eventually turns into a steamy dance duet with Ford and Lady Liberty (Lauren Rubin) in the vein of “Steam Heat.” It’s a great blend of jazzy 1950’s musical theatre and BDSM, thanks to director/choreographer Michele Spears. Spears is one of the founding members of the LA-based improv company Impro Theatre, and she stages the show with a delicious blend of smarts and sass.
In “Well Behaved Women Don’t Make History,” girl power and the ‘80s pop sound of Pat Benatar and Blondie’s Debbie Harry give a crazed assistant (Anne Yatco) the confidence to take control of her situation with some help from a friend (Nadia Ahern).
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| Eliot Hochberg |
Each of these little story songs is a complete look at a life or a belief and together they become a microcosm of the planet. All facets of the human condition are represented in Bumpersticker’s message. You’re in for some laughs, great singing, crazy characters, touching moments and a final reminder that will leave you encouraged about your fellow travelers.
Without a doubt, if you want to know what makes a person tick, just look at their bumper sticker.
BUMPERSTICKER THE MUSICAL
Through June 23, 2016
Asylum @ The Dragonfly (Main Stage)
6510 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Tickets: $15 at http://hff16.org/3687
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| The cast of Bumpersticker: The Musical |
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| Zachary Ford and Lauren Rubin |
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| Jahmaul Bakare, Eliot Hochberg, Anne Yatco, Nadia Ahern and Jennifer Leigh Warren |
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| Lauren Rubin and the cast of Bumpersticker: The Musical |
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Thursday, April 9, 2015
MUSICAL NEWS for Thursday, April 9, 2015
EXTENSION: Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group’s Bedlam Explosivo XXO Variety Hour has been extended and will continue performances Fridays at 11:00 pm through May 8. ZJU Theatre Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601. Tickets: $15 (818) 202-4120 or ZombieJoes.Tix.com.
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