Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "forever plaid"

"Forbidden Broadway" + Cosmo Cabaret Cast = Hiliarity

2012-02-02T00:17:23Z

Cosmopolitan Cabaret opened with the September 2008 to September 2009 run of “Forever Plaid,” which remains the biggest success as a show. “Forbidden Broadway,” which opened Friday night, may just rival “Plaid.”

There are lots of similarities. Both have talented creators, lots of hysterically funny scenes, songs, costuming, props and more.

"Forbidden Broadway" creator and continuing writer, Garrard Alessandrini, aims his sharp pen at mostly easy targets but in incredibly funny ways. You may never have seen “Annie,” “Les Miserables” or “Lion King,” but are still very aware of them and lots of other Broadway shows through popular culture.

Both have four very talented actors, who understand and are so good at delivering the material. There are two men in “Forbidden Broadway,” Mark Ginsburg and Jerry Lee, and two women, Jessica Reiner-Harris and Melissa Wolfklain, all credited as “cast.”

New York transplant Ginsburg, debuting with California Musical Theatre and the Cosmo Cabaret does a Jean Valjean performed by an actor overtaxed by the wrong key among the many roles for which he received long ovations.

Lee, who has been doing great things (“In Trousers,” “Musical of Musicals...,” “They’re Playing our Song”) since his return to his hometown after graduating from Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts a couple of years ago.

I started to say “New to Sacramento,” but Reiner-Harris is a hometown actor who has been quite busy acting, it’s just that she has been acting elsewhere. Her daring-to-take-on-the-diva Streisand is one of the priceless moments in the production. Reiner-Harris is one of those great discoveries for her home town theater scene.

Back for a third time at Cosmo Cabaret is Wolfklain (“A Grand Night for Singing,” “Suds”). The lights will go up on Wolfklain as Annie, an over-the-hill Annie, and the audience begins to chuckle at just the first sight of her character. They end in fits of laughter by the end of the song. Wolfklain definitely charms with her third Cosmo Cabaret production.

In a “West Side Story” spoof, Reiner-Harris and Wolfklain do Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno as dueling stage version Anita verses film version Anita which had both the characters and the audience yelling AYE! AYE! AYE!

Musical director Graham Sobelman (“Graham-A-Rama”) brings out great musical performances and also performs the lively piano score.

The characters would not be complete without the very character-defining costume creation for each character by Alvin Colt, working with the hair, wig and makeup designs of Christine Conklin.

Colt, who had an astounding career in costume design starting in the 1940’s, has spent 15 years designing for “Forbidden Broadway,” receiving a Drama Desk award in 2005 while in his late eighties. The pictures speak for themselves in regard to Colt’s designs.

The same thing can be said for Conklin’s hair wig, and makeup design. This is also her third production at Cosmo (“Suds,” “Bingo”), while also designing for Music Circus (“Camelot,” “Oliver!” and “I Do! I Do!”).

With all those costumes and costume changes someone is needed to keep them in order and get the actors changed - often in record time - and that would be Gabriella Nance as costume coordinator and head dresser. Nance costumed “Plaid” as well.

Three long-time Cosmo Cabaret associates complete the experience of “Forbidden Broadway.” Michael Peters has created a minimal budget-friendly single set, yet it fits so well with the whole humor of the look of an Off-Broadway production. His design is assisted by fellow longtime Cosmo Cabaret associate Sally Slocum’s lighting. Robert Sereno continues to engineer the great sound of Cosmo Cabaret productions.

Pulling all this together is director William Selby. Sacramento Press contributor Barry Wisdom has an excellent interview with Selby in his preview of “Forbidden Broadway.”

“Forbidden” has something else in common with “Plaid” in that both have several creative folks that have long histories with their respective productions. Selby has been an award winning actor, assistant director and now director, of numerous productions of “Forbidden.” His sense of timing, especially critical with this humor, is great.

With “Forbidden Broadway,” everything - the songs, music, costuming and acting - is geared to make the audience laugh. The Cosmopolitan Cabaret production of the Off-Broadway phenomenon hits on all levels and should become a Sacramento phenomenon.

Reiner-Harris says it all in her bio.

“(She) wants to thank the ridiculously fun cast and crew for making her laugh until she cries and snorts.”

With opening night’s audience giving loud ovations for scene after scene, I would say the audience felt the same way.

“Forbidden Broadway” Cosmopolitan Cabaret California Musical Theatre
Through March 18th, 2012
Information and Tickets

Vicki Lewis Triumphs in “Funny Girl”

2010-08-12T05:38:59Z

“Funny Girl” is a star maker. It made a star out of Barbara Streisand first on Broadway, then in film. Vicki Lewis most certainly shines as Fanny Brice the title “Funny Girl” in this the latest Music Circus production of the show.

Everything in the play centers on the character of Fanny Brice. Brice herself was one of the biggest stars of her time. From 1910 through the 1930s on stage, screen and radio, Brice was wildly popular and influential.

Legendary Broadway producer David Merrick worked with lyricist Jule Styne and equally well-known composer Bob Merrill to turn what had started as a screenplay into a Broadway musical.

Having seen Streisand in her first role on Broadway in “I Can Get It For You Wholesale,” Styne hired her for the leading role.

“Funny Girl” opened on Broadway on March 26, 1964. In 1968, “Funny Girl” was released as a film winning Streisand an Oscar for best actress. Both the musical and film were major critical and financial successes, and Streisand is a major star to this day.

This is the Music Circus’ fourth production of “Funny Girl.” The Music Circus applies its magic to what is now nearly a half-century-old play to not just make it alive, but to really make it shine.

The Music Circus magic is the very high production values it uses with everything involved in its productions, starting with casting.

Lewis spoke of pushing hard for the role of Fanny Brice and her lifelong desire to appear in “Funny Girl” in an interview with Dixie Reed published Aug. 6 in The Sacramento Bee. Music Circus artistic director and “Funny Girl” director Glenn Casale was impressed with her audition and wisely cast Lewis in the lead.

From her opening number, “I’m the Greatest Star,” to he finale of “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” Lewis’ powerful, gorgeous voice brought ovations from the audience. Her Fanny Brice was funny, warm and very accessible. She totally fit in the role of a star.

Don’t let my praise of Lewis overshadow the rest of the cast. Everyone’s performance rises to the level of the star.

Michael Paternostro plays Fannie’s first big supporter, mentor and fellow professional Eddie Ryan. Paternostro is a fine dancer and singer and has several numbers in the show to display his talent.

Veteran Broadway actor Brad Little, best-known for “Phantom of the Opera,” is cast well as Nicky Arnstein, having the right looks and bearing. Sadly, the role does not allow Little to fully exhibit his incredible vocal talent. Oh yes, he does know how to wear a cape well.

Alex Korey as Mrs. Brice and Helen Geller (Mrs. Strakosh), Jennie Scott (Mrs. Meeker) and Kim Arnett (Mrs. O’Malley) do a good job adding a lot of humor to the production.

Ron Wisniski in his third of four Music Circus roles this season is Florenz (not Florence) Ziegfeld Jr. His Ziegfeld is just the right balance of domineering and loving. As a great veteran character actor, Wisniski has made a wonderful contribution to the Music Circus, appearing in five productions in previous years.

A special mention is due to J.D. Daw, who appears as the Ziegfeld Tenor and several incidental roles.

Daw played the role of Jinx beloved by Sacramento audiences in the Cosmopolitan Cabaret’s inaugural one-year production of “Forever Plaid.” Daw gets to show off his great voice in “His Love Makes Me Beautiful,” Fannie’s first big production number with the Follies.

Glenn Casale’s direction and Bob Richard’s choreography make excellent use of all these talented actors. Their expertise at using the Wells Fargo Pavilion to best advantage also shows. They also make great use of Stephen Gifford’s scenic design, lighting design by Pamila Z. Gray and Robert Sereno’s sound design.

The period costumes by Marcy Froehlich and hair, wig and makeup design by Judi Lewin are great fun. The wig Judy Lewin created for Lewis adds much to the sense of her character.

Music direction by Dennis Castellano and the always-excellent Music Circus Orchestra beautifully support this very talented group of singers and dancers.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Music Circus can take a relatively old musical that is so strongly associated with an iconic lead performance and revision and recreate it to be so powerful and new for a contemporary audience.

Photos: 1. Vicki Lewis as Fanny Brice 2.Michael Paternostro as Eddie Ryan 3. Vicki Lewis as Fanny Brice and Brad Little as Nick Arnstein 4. Michael Paternostro as Eddie Ryan and Vicki Lewis as Fanny Brice 5. Vicki Lewis as Fanny Brice and Brad Little as Nick Arnstein, 6. Vicki Lewis as Fanny Brice

All photos by Charr Crail courtsey California Musical Theatre

Cosmopolitan Cabaret announces 2010 season

2009-11-25T03:44:12Z

On Monday, Cosmopolitan Cabaret announced its 2010 season, the cabaret's first scheduled season with a full lineup of shows. Nov. 30, California Musical Theatre, which runs the Cosmopolitan Cabaret as well as the Music Circus and Broadway Sacramento, will begin selling tickets for the three shows making up the season.

The 2010 season will begin Jan. 26 with My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, followed by a murder-mystery non-musical play called Shear Madness and end with Suds, an upbeat love story with a 1960s top-40 soundtrack.

Last September, the cabaret began its first show, Forever Plaid, as an open-ended run. It ended after a year, earlier than had been hoped. But it lasted 387 performances and drew 46,000 people before closing as the longest-running, professional-equity theatre production in Sacramento history.

"We were hoping it was going to run for five years and be a smash hit," said Christopher Bower, CMT's director of marketing. "But we didn't really have a certain date in mind (to close), we were just going to see how it went."

Last spring, CMT management decided to move to a normal cabaret season with several productions per year.

"We got hit pretty hard with the economy going down the tubes right after we opened, but it started to get its legs and we decided last spring that it might be better to go with a season format," Bower said.

As CMT executive producer Richard Lewis saw ticket sales dwindling, he decided to close Forever Plaid, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee. On Sept. 22, CMT opened Late Night Catechism: 'Til Death Do Us Part, a one-woman show which ended Nov. 22.

The production featured a minimalist set, with Emmy-Award winning actress Nonie Newton-Breen playing a nun who offers humorous lessons on various Catholic sacraments.

She will reprise her role as a nun for six weeks beginning Tuesday, Nov. 24 in Sister's Christmas Catechism, followed by a one-week encore show of 'Til Death beginning Jan. 5, 2010. Both shows have improvised material with heavy audience interaction.

Bower said that there is much to be learned from the first year, and the CMT won't know if the cabaret is a success until having completed several more seasons. He also said Forever Plaid was so funny and well done, once the word got out, people started buying tickets quickly.

"Artistically, the show itself got great reviews and great audience response," Bower added. "Financially, (the year) had its ups and downs but it's a learning process. We didn't really know what to expect, we'd never run a cabaret-style theatre before."

Cosmopolitan Cabaret is located on the corner of 10th and K streets.

The following is the Cosmopolitan Cabaret's 2010 season schedule and plot summaries, taken from www.californiamusicaltheatre.com:

My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra

Jan. 26 - May 9 (previews Jan. 26 – 28, opening night, Friday, Jan. 29).

The four-person musical review celebrates the music of this icon of cool: a singer whose style, voice and attitude defined much of 20th century music. Two dynamic couples perform 58 songs made famous by the Chairman of the Board, including "Strangers in the Night," "I’ve Got You Under My Skin" and “New York, New York.”

Shear Madness

May 25 - Sept. 5 (previews May 25 – 30, opening night, Tuesday, June 1).

Taking place in a beauty salon, this uproarious whodunit includes colorful characters, spontaneity and topical humor. And the audience gets to solve the crime! "Shear Madness" has had long-running engagements around the country including Chicago, San Francisco, Washington D.C. (9,000 performances and counting) and the original Boston production which opened in 1980 and is still going strong.

Suds

Sept. 21 - Jan. 9, 2011 (previews Sept. 21 – 23, opening night, Friday, Sept. 24)

Suds is a delightful musical about a teenage girl and the guardian angels who come to teach her about finding true love. This bubbly musical set in a laundromat features hits from the '60s including "Where the Boys Are," "These Boots Are Made for Walkin’," "Respect," "I Feel Good" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret."

Subscriptions are available for purchase beginning Monday, Nov. 30, at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H St., Sacramento, or by calling (916) 557-1999.

Subscription tickets are discounted more than 20 percent off the price of the tickets sold separately. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evening performances and Thursday matinee performances are $79 for the three-show package. Friday and Saturday evenings and Saturday and Sunday matinee packages are only $89. Subscriptions for premium tables on the first tier are $89 and $99 respectively. Discounts are available for groups from 12 to 199 by calling (916) 557-1198.

Single-show tickets for each of the productions will go on sale at a later date.