Los Angeles Spotlight: November 2005

A cornucopia of can’t-miss musicals head the list of the month’s thankfully good theatrical offerings. The Ahmanson Theatre presents a pre-Broadway staging of the award-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone (opening November 18). Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, Georgia Engel, Danny Burstein, and Lenny Wolpe head the cast for this affectionate love letter to the great musicals of the 1920s, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicolaw, a 2005 Tony nominee for his choreography in Spamalot.

Equally exciting is the prospect of Colony Theatre’s presentation of Jerry Herman’s rarely revived Broadway musical, The Grand Tour (opening November 5). This production is being billed as a world premiere revision, with Herman on hand to oversee the changes, which include extensive book adjustments by co-author Mark Bramble. Jason Graae stars in this stirring tale set in Nazi-occupied French countryside during World War II, based on the play Jacobowsky and the Colonel by S.N. Behrmam.

Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre offers another potential musical blockbuster, the West Coast premiere of the intimate Off-Broadway rocker tick, tick…BOOM!, with book, music, and lyrics by the late Jonathan Larson (Rent). Scott Schwartz, who helmed the London and New York productions, directs stars Wilson Cruz, Natascia Diaz, and Andrew Samonsky in this heartfelt look at Larson’s relationship with his girlfriend and best friend, and his struggles as a young composer.

There are several other opportunities for musical lovers. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas comes to the Pantages Theater (opens November 28), with Broadway babies Brian d’Arcy James, Anasatasia Barzee, Jeffry Denman, and Meredith Patterson in the leads. Sierra Madre Playhouse gives us that perennial favorite The Sound of Music (opening November 25), while another evergreen Rodgers and Hammerstein opus, The King and I (opening November 5) kicks off the new season for Musical Theatre West at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. And that perennial dancing-feet spectacle 42nd Street is being presented by Theatre League at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (November 8-13), Long Beach Performing Arts Center (November 18-20), and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium (November 25-27).

Musical mirth abounds elsewhere: Hollywood’s Theatre of NOTE offers its fourth annual rendition of Bill Roben’s sardonic A Mulholland Christmas Carol (opening November 25), as the villainous real-life character of L.A. water baron William Mulholland steps into the shoes of Ebeneezer Scrooge. The country-western tuner Pump Boys and Dinettes (opening November 9) plays at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre. Last but not least is Dark Legends in Blood (opening November 6), an interactive comic mystery, with the audience helping determine whodunit, at BB King’s Club and Restaurant at Universal City.

Lest some people wonder where the drama is, their search can start with the Geffen Playhouse’s production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Jennifer Mudge, Jeremy Davidson, John Goodman, and Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker (opening November 16). Elsewhere, drama lovers can feast on Henrik Ibsen’s classic The Master Builder (opening November 4 at Glendale’s A Noise Within), The Cornernstone Theater will present the gritty Always Running (opening November 4 at Hollywood’s Ivar Theatre) by Luis Rodriguez, based on his explosive memoir, the national best-seller La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. The gay-focused Celebration Theatre will stage Christopher Shinn’s Four (opening November 4), set in 1996, which tells the story of a 16-year-old white boy who meets up with a closeted married black man who he met on the Internet.

For those seeking a few yucks, check out International Theatre City’s rendition of Brandon Thomas’ cross-dressing classic Charley’s Aunt (opening Nov. 4), and Dario Fo’s We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! (opening Nov. 4 at Hollywood’s Pan Andreas Theatre), which mixes elements of farce and socioeconomic revolution.

As the year-end holidays approach, there’s a lot of family fare on tap. The Kirk Douglas Theatre brings us Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Nilo Cruz’s A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings (opening Nov. 19), based on a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. about two children who meet a man who they believe is an angel. South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa offers Bunnicula (opening November 11), described as a rabbit tale of mystery and music. Santa Monica Playhouse’s musical matinee series gets an early start on the yuletide season with All About Santa (opening Nov. 5), Evelyn Rudie and Chris DeCarlo’s frolic about a mysterious visitor to the North Pole. Finally, The Orange County Performance Arts Center hosts Dora’s Pirate Adventure (opening November 2), a swashbuckling adventure with a plucky heroine.