How special is the Ahmanson’s 30 anniversary production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’”? We have local resident, Armelia McQueen, on board. She was a member of the original cast, on the cast of the 1988 revival and still standing to do it again. Read my interview with her at Examiner.com. I, on the other hand, am often misbehaving.
-
Recent Comments
-
I think the arts are something worth writing about, but it seems there is less and less space for reviews of art exhibits, theater and independent films. I've been writing with no kill fee and never know what will be published when. Yet I think that Pasadena is a place that is full of things worth seeing, worth hearing and worth writing about.
I've been wondering what will happen if all the newspapers die. Maybe the future is blogs. We'll save some trees and still be informed.
So if you feel I have something worth saying, worth keeping online, give me a donation, a tip or spare change.
Maybe I'll be able to afford getting Kumori a collie girlfriend.
Ahmanson’s “Frost/Nixon” Captivating
March 13, 2009 — Jana J. MonjiPeter Morgan’s script keeps you rooting for the underdog David Frost (Alan Cox) in his face to face duel with Richard Nixon. Sometimes it does pay off to take a gamble and yet we still feel the humanity of Nixon as played by Stacy Keach. Well-worth seeing.
Minsky’s Brings Back Burlesque in Brilliant Production
February 8, 2009 — Jana J. MonjiIf you can spare $20 or more, then get tickets now for the Ahmanson’s brilliant production of Minsky’s, a world premiere. The book is by Bob Martin who brought us The Drowsy Chaperone, music is by Charles Strouse who did Bye Bye Birdie and lyrics are by Susan Birkenhead who got a Tony nomination for Jelly’s Last Jam. Like Chaperone this is a tribute to old musicals like 42nd Street with its tap dancing numbers or Guys and Dollswhere the bad girls aren’t that bad and the good girls need a little bad in them. A politician (George Wendt) and his daughter (Katharine Leonard) want to close down the burlesque hall, Minsky’s. Minsky (Christopher Fitzgerald) falls in love with the daughter and pretends to be someone else. Of course, there’s a happy ending, women in skimpy costumes and a lot of bad jokes, but this musical is so lovingly crafted as a tribute to yesteryear you don’t mind the predictability.
Come on Get Happy! Catch The Drowsy Chaperone
July 17, 2008 — Jana J. MonjiIndymac, high gas prices and the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are enough to make anyone want to cry.
This may or may not be a recession or a Great Depression, but perhaps we, like the people in the 1920s and 1930s need a little bit of frivolity like the 1934’s 42nd Street.
Well, you can rent that DVD or you can catch the last few dates of The Drowsy Chaperone which ends its brief run at the Ahmanson on Sunday.
Although this came into town before it went to Broadway, this production is tighter–it seems from my dimmed memory some lines have been cut and something now only intimated– and given the atmosphere of the times, a much needed breath of giddy laughter.
Last Chance: A Chorus Line at the Ahmanson (Ends 6 July)
July 3, 2008 — Jana J. MonjiThere are so many hummable tunes in the musical, A Chorus Line and the 1985 movie which starred Michael Douglas just doesn’t do the stage version justice. Go see if before it closes.
This 1975 musical won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama — unusual for a musical — and nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. Marvin Hamlisch composed the music and Edward Kleban supplied the lyrics while James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante wrote the book, which was based on taped workshops with Broadway dancers, some of whom would later appear in the original cast.
This cast includes Michael Gruber who was in the last cast of the original run, but, of course, in another role.
Love dance? Love musicals? Love dancers? What’s not to love (besides the price of tickets)? If you’re lucky, there may be some hottix left.
Easy to get to via the Gold Line, but best if you go for a matinee because the walk back to the nearest Metro station is dark and there is more creeping in the shadows than stray cats!
Go! Hop on the Gold Line and See The Drowsy Chaperone
July 3, 2008 — Jana J. MonjiIf you didn’t see it when it played at the Ahmanson in 2005 before it hit Broadway, here’s a second chance to see The Drowsy Chaperone, a lighthearted look at musicals and the people who love them.
The man in the chair (Jonathan Crombie) is listening to a record (yes…one of those funny, flat, shiny black things) of a 1928 old musical, called The Drowsy Chaperone. As he listens the characters come out and his apartment becomes the stage within a stage. As he supplies commentary and gossip about the stars, we see an old-style musical about a pampered Broadway starlet who wants to give up show business to get married, her producer who sets out to sabotage the nuptials, her chaperone, the debonair groom, the dizzy chorine, the Latin lover and a pair of gangsters who double as pastry chefs.
Opening on Wednesday, July 9, 2008, (preview performance on Tuesday, July 8), the play is directed and choreographed by Tony Award® nominee Casey Nicholaw (Spamalot), with music and lyrics by Tony Award® winners Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and book by Tony Award® winners Bob Martin and Don McKellar. The Drowsy Chaperone ends Sunday, July 20.
If you’re taking the Gold Line, for an extra $1.25 both ways or a $5 day pass, you can get off at the Red Line station that’s just one stop over or walk. At night, though, it’s a very deserted walk back so I suggest a matinee if you’re riding the Gold Line.
