An unlikely onstage pairing turned golden this summer for the Geffen Playhouse. Theatre legend Uta Hagen starred as a reclusive Florida retiree opposite the ingenious David Hyde Pierce in Richard Alfieri's Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks. The engagement, which began in May, was extended several times, finally closing on Aug. 19. Hagen and Pierce proved a powerfully dynamic duo on the intimate Geffen stage, developing a rapport that maximized the impact of Alfieri's simple, often predictable tale of a fast friendship, failing health, and unpredictable future.
The two-character play, directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, follows the surprise personal discoveries that surface when a disillusioned dance instructor (Mr. Pierce) endeavors to teach everything from the foxtrot to the tango to the much older retiree (Ms. Hagen). In local interviews, David Hyde Pierce, best known as the hilarious Emmy Award-winning Niles on TV's "Frasier," recollected immersing himself in Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting while a theatre student at Yale University. Together, they offered a series of wonderful lessons that will soon transfer from the cozy Westwood venue near UCLA to a New York theatre, and then on to the regional theatres of the world, no doubt.
A different set of dancing queens is still lighting up the Old Globe Theatre stage in San Diego as Stuart Ross and Mark Hampton's The Boswell Sisters celebrates the swinging musical pioneers of the 1920s and 1930s. With over a dozen major hits, including "Stormy Weather" and "Alexander's Ragtime Band," the Boswells catapulted from New Orleans and developed a legion of fans through radio, motion pictures, and concert appearances. New York Times critic Stephen Holden asserts, "There's hardly a contemporary vocal group that isn't indebted to the Boswell Sisters." Stuart Ross, best known for Forever Plaid, directs, and Amy Pietz, Elizabeth Ward Land, and Michelle Duffy star in The Globe Theatres' production, running through Sept. 1.
The Globe Theatres were full this summer with a sparkling production of Hugh Leonard's heartwarming Da in the Cassius Carter Centre Stage (closed Aug. 25) and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night featuring Harry Groener as Feste and Paxton Whitehead as Malvolio in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre (closed Aug. 11). The Globe Theatres' Artistic Director Jack O'Brien, recently returned from New York and two Tony Award nominations for his work on The Full Monty and The Invention of Love, was at the helm of Twelfth Night. Richard Seer directed Da and Jonathan McMurtry played Da.
Too Darn Hot for Outdoor Theatre
Avoiding outdoor theatres and the warm ocean breezes of mid-summer in Los Angeles, Rex Smith and Rachel York have sailed into the always cool Shubert Theatre in Century City for an eight-week run of Kiss Me, Kate, Aug. 22-Oct. 13. Mr. Smith and Ms. York were teamed together in The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway and are directed by Michael Blakemore, who won the Tony Award for his direction in New York.
Down the coast in Laguna Beach, the West Coast premiere of Wonderful World, directed by Andrew Barnicle, just vacated the Laguna Playhouse (closed Aug. 26). Richard Dresser's new comedy debuted in March at the Humana Festival in Louisville and followed Laguna's smashing production of Dresser's Gun-Shy in 2000. The Southern California premiere of Rebecca Gilman's Spinning into Butter is set for Sept. 8-Oct. 7 and the U.S. premiere of Moving On, the new revue of Stephen Sondheim songs devised and directed by David Kernan, follows from Nov. 3-Dec. 2. The Laguna Playhouse has transformed its audience over the past decade by developing a rather stodgy community theatre into a high quality professional theatre focusing on new plays, musical revues, and an occasional hard-hitting drama. Kudos to Artistic Director Andrew Barnicle and Executive Director Richard Stein!
Finally, a rare production of Do I Hear a Waltz? (the Stephen Sondheim/Richard Rodgers/Arthur Laurents musical based on Laurents' play, The Time of the Cuckoo) recently delighted audiences and critics at the Pasadena Playhouse (closed Aug. 19). Directed by TV's "Frasier" and "Wings" creator, David Lee, the bittersweet musical featured Alyson Reed, best known as Cassie in the film version of A Chorus Line; Carol Lawrence, the original Maria in West Side Story on Broadway; and Anthony Crivello, Tony Award winner for Kiss of the Spider Woman. The 2001-2002 season at the Pasadena Playhouse is definitely on the blue side, as David Hare's The Blue Room (March 8-April 14) and the West Coast premiere of Charles Randolph Wright's Blue (Aug. 9-Sept. 15, 2002) define an ambitious season.