Don Grigware News

From the producers of The Lion King and Aladdin, Frozen launches a North American tour, commencing in Schenectady, NY prior to an official opening at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. Heralded by The New Yorker as 'thrilling' and 'genuinely moving,' Frozen has emerged as the biggest hit musical of the last two Broadway seasons, breaking four house records at its New York home, the legendary St. James Theatre. For more information, including a list of currently announced cities, visit FrozenTheMusical.com/Tour.

Paul Rush is the artistic director of Sixty-six Theater Co. located inside the Strasberg Institute in Hollywood. In our second conversation Rush talks about his excitement for the company getting the rights to produce Lee Blessing's new play For the Loyal. The West Coast premiere opens November 21 at Sixty-Six. Tell our readers about your next production. Why are you so excited about getting the rights to this play?

After a successful first year playing in over 25 North American cities and recouping its investment in just 15 weeks, The Play That Goes Wrong continues across North America for the 2019-2020 season, playing over 35 new markets. For a complete list of tour stops, visit BroadwayGoesWrong.com.

Actress/dancer/singer Sandy Bainum proved once again on Sunday November 10 that she can do it all. It was the premiere of her new cabaret show Ever Blondeward at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. In the show she payed tribute to great celebrity blondes like Peggy Lee, Doris Day, Mitzi Gaynor, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Hutton, among others, who left their mark on the world as great entertainers. The sold out house were enchanted by Bainum, who is not only beautiful but a glorious singer and raconteur.

On Saturday November 9, iconic actress/singer Rita Moreno brought her one-woman show An Evening with Rita Moreno to the Broad stage in Santa Monica for one evening only. The sold out event was very exciting considering Moreno is 87 and still performing, with tremendous passion I might add. The voice is obviously not what it once was, but whose is. What is appealing to watch is how her body sways so gracefully to the rhythms, as she lovingly raises her arms and lets them move fluidly to convey the story.

Highways Performance Space & Gallery presents Film Maudit 2.0, its inaugural film festival dedicated to outré films, inspired by the legendary artist Jean Cocteau's 1949 Festival Du Film Maudit, which celebrated a group of films that were criminally overlooked and neglected at the time. The event will be held Thursday, November 14 - Sunday, November 17 at Highways Performance Space & Gallery at 1651 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 http://www.filmmaudit.org

Actor Burt Grinstead gained recognition in Los Angeles for his terrific performance in Deathtrap at LGBTQ and later in The Rope at Actors Co-op. He formed his own production company and produced and co-starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which he also adapted with his partner Anna Stromberg. They won top prize at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2018. Grinstead is currently preparing to open as Richard the Lionheart in The Lion in Winter at Laguna Playhouse this Sunday November 10. In our conversation he talks about the play in depth and lays bare his passion for the acting profession.

SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical/book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary & Des McAnuff/songs by Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, Paul Jabara and others/directed by Des McAnuff/choreography by Sergio Trujillo/music supervision by Ron Melrose/Hollywood Pantages Theatre/through November 24 The national tour of SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical currently onstage at the Hollyqwood Pantages, is a feast for the eyes and ears for every Donna Summer fan. Born in 1948 LaDonna Adrian Gaines who eventually became the Queen of Disco used to skip high school classes in Boston Massachusetts and take the bus to New York to audition. She landed her first professional gig in the rock musical Hair and performed it in Munich where she created a sensation. Her hit song 'I Feel Love' brought her back to the US...and the rest is history.

On Sunday November 3, Terron Brooks presented a concert and CD release party for his new album The Soul of Broadway - Impossible Dreams at the Montalban in Hollywood. In my book, the sold out evening proved to be a highlight of the 2019 season. Brooks, known for playing Eddie Kendricks in the Emmy-winning NBC miniseries The Temptations in 1998, has a spectacular singing voice, and as a life coach and inspirational speaker infused the concert with joy and optimism for his audience... which goes far beyond a regular concert event. Like many entertainers, Brooks rocketed to the top as an actor an

Armina LaManna is writer, director and also co-founder and artistic director of Imagine Project, L.A.'s only equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to young audiences. Its inaugural production opens on Nov. 7. Imagine Project presents its inaugural production, the World Premiere of The Tale of Turandot, a modern theatrical puppetry experience for elementary schoola?'aged children. Inspired by the centuries-old story, Armina LaManna wrote and will direct this family friendly production, which is geared toward children between the ages of four and twelve years old.  In our conversation LaManna talks in detail about the theatre company and the inaugural production. As a fan of children's theatre, I was amazed that there has not been am Equity company exclusively devoted to it. I grew up loving puppets and as a language teacher have used them in theatrical skits to tell my stories to students and teachers alike.

Joseph Leo Bwarie is one of the artistic directors of the nonprofit Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank, California. He is a Sherman Oaks native and a recording artist popular on Siriusly Sinatra on SiriusXM Radio. JLB is widely known for his record-breaking turn as Frankie Valli in the Tony Award-winning musical Jersey Boys (over 2,000 performances - Las Vegas, 1st National Tour and Broadway). Bwarie's career began at age nine, appearing in the television series Highway to Heaven and Mama's Family. He is a longtime member of Troubadour Theater Company (recent: co-director and 'Ziggy' in Little Drummer Bowie and 'Octavius' in Julius Weezer). A directorial highlight was serving as associate director alongside Garry Marshall for the world premiere of Billy & Ray and its New York premiere at the Vineyard Theatre. GMT directorial: A Funny Thing Happened a?? Forum starring Paul C. Vogt and Joey McIntyre, and The Root Beer Bandits: A Rootin' Tootin' Wild West Musicale - an original family musical he co-created with Lori Marshall and Rachael Lawrence. Bwarie is getting ready to open a live radio play at Actors Co-op Friday November 1. In our conversation, he talks in depth about this new production of Miracle on 34th Street.

Listening to Sylvia Brooks' album The Arrangement is a thrilling experience. Attending her live performance onstage is even more so. On Saturday October 26, Brooks brought her fascinating jazz/pop/Latin sounds to Feinstein's Upstairs at Vitello's for a sold out concert. What a pleasure to see this lovely woman dressed to the nines in an evening dress rarely worn by performers in today's circle and singing passionately with a 7 piece orchestra. Brooks poured her heart out and really had a grand time...meaning her enjoyment reached over the footlights and pulled her audience in, held on to them and never let go for 90 minutes. That in my book is a truly great performer, who leaves you begging for more.

Actor/singer/songwriter Terron Brooks is best known for his portrayal of Eddie Kendricks in the1998 NBC Emmy winning miniseries The Temptations. On Broadway he played Simba in The Lion King and Seaweed in Hairspray. Brooks is about to release a solo album entitled The Soul of Broadway - Impossible Dreams. I have heard some of the mastered tracks and his range and delivery are nothing short of amazing. The voice is pure velvet. On Sunday November 3, he will perform in concert at the Montalban in Hollywood, where the new CD will be available. In our conversation he talks passionately about the CD and the concert.

Tony nominee Adam Pascal stars as Professor Harold Hill in the first show of the 5-Star Theatricals 2019-2020 season, THE MUSIC MAN, featuring book, music and lyrics by Meredith Willson, musical direction by Brad Ellis, choreography by Peggy Hickey and directed by Larry Raben.

What do the 1950s have in common with 1912? Both were ages of innocence. When Meredith Willson wrote his story with Franklin Lacey about a con artist bamboozling an Iowa town in 1912, which formed the substance of his musical The Music Man (1957), the effect became like that of N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker. People were jubilant, ecstatic and welcomed Professor Harold Hill, as they craved a good old-fashioned love story coated with ironic excitement. He was a charmer, and they saw way past his bad side. Now in a spectacular new production at 5-Star Theatricals, this company headed by Tony nominee Adam Pascal, keeps the show fantastically rousing and musically. almost perfect yet grounding the love story within the realm of  kitchen.sink believability. With splendid director Larry Raben, divine choreographer Peggy Hickey and fab musical director Brad Ellis at the helm, a marvlous 40 member cast takes the The Music Man and offers a much needed take on the way life should be, whether it's 1912, 1955 or 2019.

Disney/Newsies/The Broadway Musical/book by Harvey Fierstein/music y Alan Menken/lyrics by Jack Feldman/directed & choreographed by Janet Renslow/Candlelight Pavilion, Claremont/through November 23 Based on fact, in 1899 droves of newsboys from every borough of New York City banned together and went on strike against Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other wealthy newspaper owners, in a crusade to save children from menial wages and physical abuse. This was a first, where uneducated street kids stood up to the big suits and won. In 1992 Disney created the movie Newsies that went on to become a popular hit. In 2012 Harvey Fierstein, Alan Menken and Jack Feldman came to Broadway with a musical show they created based on the film. Newsies is currently onstage at Candlelight Pavilion. This is a huge undertaking for Candlelight, and as with Titanic and other big shows of the past year, they have surpassed expectations to the A+ level. From the top the 28

Michael Ventre studied at the University of Southern California both in Journalism and at the graduate school of Cinema. He also studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles. As s journalist, he has contributied to such publications as MSNBC.com, Variety, American Way (American Airlines) magazine, Los Angeles Confidential magazine, Los Angeles Times magazine, Produced by (Producers Guild) magazine and many others. Ventre has been working for a few years on a new musical with arresting political references called Letters to Benito. In our conversation he

Filipe Valle Costa is the founder and co-artistic director of the Saudade Theatre, the first and only Portuguese theatre in Los Angeles to translate Portuguese playwrights into English. The company will soon open My Favorite Suicide on October 18. Filipe, tell our readers about Saudade Theatre. Most importantly, as the first and only Portuguese theatre in the US, how has it made a difference for the Portuguese and our American culture? FVC: Well, that is the key right there. Saudade Theatre is the first and only Portuguese theatre company in the US, and as such, it's our mission to develop original and thought-provoking work grounded in the Portuguese experience. I never wanted Saudade to be a 'museum' theatre company. In other words, it is not our goal to grow a company that merely presents an American audience with a Portuguese story, or our history straight from the history books. As Portuguese immigrants having

Knot Free Productions Presents/In Trousers/book, music & lyrics by William Finn/directed by Ryan O'Connor/Lounge Theatre, Hollywood/musical director: Jake Anthony/through November 3 When I saw Stephen Sondheim's Company on Broadway in the early 1970s, I was overwhelmed by the speed at which the ensemble said their lines, sang their songs and just moved across the stage. I knew I was in the presence of genius, but I had to really listen and focus in order to keep up with them and understand what was happening. William Finn's In Trousers, composed in 1979 and revised in 1985 for off-Broadway and... so rarely produced, is akin to Company in this way. It moves with the speed of light, and the four actors never let down for a second. Later Finn composed March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, put together as Falsettos. These two along with In Trousers have often been referred t

The National Tour of Anastasia had its official opening night in Schenectady, New York last week! The production stars Lila Coogan as Anya, Stephen Brower as Dmitry, Jason Michael Evans as Gleb, Joy Franz as Dowager Empress, Tari Kelly as Countess Lily, Edward Staudenmayer as Vlad and Victoria Amelia Bingham as Little Anastasia. The ensemble includes Brianna Abruzzo, Ronnie S. Bowman Jr., Alison Ewing, Peter Garza, Jeremiah Ginn, Brett-Marco Glauser, Lucy Horton, Mary Illes, Fred Inkley, Kourtney Keitt, Beth Stafford Laird, Mark Mackillop, Kenneth Michael Murray, Taylor Quick, Claire Rathbun, Michael McCorry Rose, Matt Rosell, Sareen Tchekmedyian, and Addison Mackynzie Valentino.