The Price Opens! (LAArtsOnline.com)

The Price runs at The Mark Taper Forum February 11- March 22

The Price Opens!

By Ken Werther

When discussing legendary American playwright Arthur Miller, the first words that come up are Death of a Salesman, the watershed, historic winner of the 1949 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama that introduced the American everyman Willy Loman to the world. Almost 20 years later, The Price opened on Broadway and New York Times critic Clive Barnes called it “…one of the most engrossing plays that Miller has ever written.” The Price has been revived on Broadway three times since its Broadway debut and it was adapted for television in 1971 and nominated for four Emmy Awards (winning two).

The Mark Taper Forum is reviving The Price, a play that has been described as a poignant story about the cost of choices made over a lifetime. Even with its impressive production and award history, this beautiful play is one of Arthur Miller’s lesser known. I’ve read but have never seen it and I am truly thrilled that I can be there on opening night to finally take it in. Directed by Tony Award-winner Garry Hynes, the Taper cast will feature actors with combined accolades and awards too numerous to count; you really can’t do much better than Kate Burton, John Bedford Lloyd, Alan Mandell and Sam Robards.

I’ve been going to the theatre since I was a very little boy and sometimes I still get amazed by how many classic American plays have escaped me. Thanks Mark Taper Forum and here I come!

The Price plays at Mark Taper Forum, located at 135 N. Grand Ave, from February 11 to March 22.

Special Gal (LAArtsOnline.com)

Patti Lupone performs at The Wallis

Special Gal!

By Ken Werther

Three Sisters, The Robber Bridegroom, Evita, Les Misérables, The Cradle Will Rock, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, Master Class, Sweeney Todd, Company, Gypsy, Noises Off, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown… this is Patti LuPone! And that’s just onstage. And not even a complete list. She is a two-time Tony Award-winner; a two-time Grammy Award-winner; and in 2006, LuPone was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. One would think there couldn’t be much more to say about this American entertainment icon’s prolific career. But one would be wrong.

There is also television (Life Goes On, The Song Spinner, Frasier, Touched by an Angel, Will & Grace, Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, Glee, American Horror Story, Girls). There are also movies (Witness, Driving Miss Daisy, State and Main, Parker). And all of these lists are just a sampling. In 2007, she starred alongside Audra McDonald in the Los Angeles Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. LuPone has been compared to international chanteuses like Lotte Lenya, Marlene Dietrich, and Edith Piaf.

And now, LuPone brings her new concert Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda… played that part to the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills for only two performances. I’ve had the privilege of experiencing this legend-in-her-own-time performer in action and I can sum it up in one word: Go!

Patti LuPone plays the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills, on February 12 and 13.

Wickedly Good! (LAArtsOnline.com)

Cast members of Wicked on Opening Night at the Pantages Theatre

WICKEDLY GOOD!

By KEN WERTHER
Photo By PAIGE PETRONE

Wicked (full title: Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is the winner of over 100 international awards, including three Tony’s; six Drama Desk Awards; and a Grammy. This blockbuster musical celebrated its 10th anniversary on Broadway in 2013 and is currently the 11th longest-running show in Broadway history having played over 4,650 performances. With various national and international tours currently running around the world, there seems to be no end in sight.

The story of Wicked is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz. Its plot begins before and continues after Dorothy’s arrival in Oz from Kansas and includes several references to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum’s novel on which the movie is based. Since its 2003 debut, Wicked has broken box office records around the world, currently holding weekly-gross-takings records in Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis and London.

The engagement currently running at the Pantages Theatre is its fourth in LA. I first saw Wicked here in June 2005. I practically had to promise my first born to snag a ticket and haven’t been able to get another seat since. For a taste of the relentless excitement this show generates, go to watch here and marvel at the original Broadway cast performing the act one finale. And then, head to the Pantages for tickets. You might want to bring along your first-born.

Wicked plays at the Pantages Theatre, located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, through March 15.