Live and Learn Photos - Broadway

For the past several summers, I have attended the Festival of Arts and The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. But this year, I also decided to also visit two other art festivals along Laguna Canyon Road rather than spend any time cruising the town as I had done before. The full-day of exploring all the artistic delights on display this year at all three locations left me dazzled by all the talent on display, while wishing I had lot of extra income to purchase and bring home many of the awe-inspiring items that caught my fancy. But the real highlight of the day was viewing the abundance of 'local color' on display in this summer's 'Under the Sun' themed Pageant of the Masters.

Pickerington Community Theatre presents ANNIE. Annie will be performed at the Heritage Theatre (100 North East Street, Pickerington, OH 43147). Performances run July 14 thru July 23rd.  Shows are 8:00 PM on Friday and Saturday nights and 2:00 PM on Sundays. Tickets to Annie may be reserved by calling our box office at 614-508-0036 or you can purchase tickets online at pctshows.com.

It's the time of year to reflect on the past and enjoy familiar stories that warm our hearts. In otherwords, 'tis the season for ANNIE. That spunky waif has been part of our American culture for more than 130 years. She was first penned into existence by poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1885. His poem, 'Little Orphant Annie',was inspired by Mary Alice 'Allie' Smith, an orphaned child who came to live in the Riley home.

With its emphasis on improvisation, stock characters, and a genial carnival atmosphere, the Commedia dell' arte (dating back as early as the 16th century) has never had much appeal to me; I generally find the productions thumb-twiddling after a while. I certainly had my reservations about Playhouse on the Square's current production, ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS, adapted by British playwright Richard Bean from a 1743 play by Venetian Carlo Goldoni. However, as much as I cringe at the thought of a play written in this tradition, at the opposite end I am very much a fan of British humor at its silliest - from the 1930's and 40's comedies of Will Hay (who, at least in a number of films, utilized his own kind of stock company) to the sketches of Benny Hill and Rowan Atkinson's delightful MR. BEAN (and wasn't there a group called MONTY PYTHON?) That said, Mr. Bean's sublimely silly little take on the Goldoni play, removed in time and place to early 1960's Brighton, has a plot that bounces from corner to corner of the proscenium like a ping pong ball on Ritalin.

The Pasadena Playhouse (Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director and Stephen Eich, Executive Director) presents a one-night-only live broadcast of the 10th anniversary presentation of George Gershwin ALONE, created by and starring Hershey Felder. This special event will be broadcast live on 98.7 WFMT in Chicago and syndicated globally by the WFMT Radio Network at 7:00 pm PDT on Monday, May 2, 2011. The local Los Angeles area broadcast will be carried on KMZT (K-Mozart) 1260 AM.

Robert Goulet, and Chicago's Michelle DeJean and Gabriela Garcia were on hand to make the announcement.