Last evening, I attended the premiere of a new musical revue. If you live in or near Los Angeles — and especially if you grew up in or near Los Angeles — you're going to want to go see this. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and while that's not a prerequisite to enjoy this show, it sure helps.
It's called L.A. Now and Then and basically, it's songs and sketches about Los Angeles, mostly past and a little bit present. There are segments about disco, the old wrestling matches down at the Olympic Auditorium, partying on the Sunset Strip in the sixties, kid show hosts on L.A. television, The Black Dahlia, the 1962 Dodgers, Walt Disney, Helms Bakery trucks and more.
The show was conceived and directed by Bruce Kimmel, who wrote much of the material with contributions by Michele Brourman, Grant Geissman, Paul Gordon, Karen Gottlieb, Shelly Markham, Wayne Moore, Adryan Russ, Doug Haverty, David Wechter, Bruce Vilanch and the Sherman Brothers (Richard and Robert).
I'll tell you more about the show in a minute but first, let me tell you about the venue and the cast. This production was assembled under the auspices of the Los Angeles City College Theater Academy and it's on the L.A. City College campus in an intimate theater there. This is the same place where Bruce Kimmel staged that superb production of Li'l Abner that I raved about here.
A few of the cast members are experienced pros like Robert Yacko, who I've seen for years in theater and on TV, or past graduates of the L.A. City College theater department. Most of them are current students there — and there's a nice touch of irony that, for example, the three ladies singing about Helms Trucks were born well after the last one had disappeared from L.A. streets.
I'm going to list the entire cast here because (a) they deserve it and (b) at least one or two of these folks are going to go on to notable careers and someday, someone will Google their names in connection with some movie or TV show and they'll be directed to this site.
Here they are, alphabetically: Apri Audia, Jenny Bacon, Sarah Barnett, Paolo Fregoso, Alexis Jackson, Bedijou Jean, Prisca Kim, Michael MacRae, Kole Martin, Shawna Merkley, Lamont Oakley, Kasper Svendsen, Elle Willgues and I've already mentioned Robert Yacko. Most are current students. Here's a short video of them in action…
I'm a bit hesitant to single performers out because, being a lousy reporter, I'm not completely certain which name to put with which performer in some cases.
Still, I'm pretty sure Kole Martin was the guy who did the great physical comedy as a Travolta wanna-be who longs for disco to return and who also scored as an effeminate wrestler in the Olympic Auditorium sketch. I think Alexis Jackson was the stunning lady who did the great dance moves throughout and especially in a musical salute to shows like Shindig and Hullabaloo.
I'm confident in stating that Michael MacRae was the Uber driver in a very funny sketch written by Bruce Vilanch. (The character drives for Uber but is also a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association so he's also one of the tiny handful of people who vote for the Golden Globe Awards.) April Audia, Sarah Barnett and Elle Willgues were surely the ladies who sang so well about the Helms trucks and April delivered a touching, slightly outraged monologue about the demise of the old Pan-Pacific Auditorium.
Other folks were great too but I'm not as certain of their names.
Oh — and I'll mention one particularly wonderful moment. There's a song in Act One called "The Whimsy Works," performed expertly by Mr. Yacko. It's about Walt Disney and it was written for this show by one of Walt's two favorite songsmiths, Richard M. Sherman. The tune is great and I hope there will soon be some other place where you can hear it…and as it was performed, there were projections of photos from the Disney lot back in Walt's day. One was of the Sherman Brothers back then and when it came on, the audience broke into loving applause not just because of the sweet sentiment but because they knew that Mr. Sherman was with us in the audience. (He sure seemed to have a good time and not just during the two songs he worked on.)
But let's get down to the crucial question: How can you see this show? Well, you may have to hustle. The next performance starts in about an hour and a half but there's an 8 PM show tonight. Then there are two shows on Thursday, one next Friday, two next Saturday and then I think that's it. The tickets are real cheap and you may still be able to get a pair on this page. If they're sold out there, try this one.
If you can see it, try to see it as it will make you feel good twice. You'll enjoy it and then, one of these days, you'll see some new star on the screen and you'll be able to boast to your friends, "Hey, I saw him [or her] in a play they were in back in May of 2016!"