For those who have lived in Los Angeles as long as I have, you probably know that before it was Rockwell the restaurant was called Vermont. And before that it was Sarno’s Caffe Dell’Opera.

From Sarno’s through to Rockwell, entertainment has been a key component of the business plan. Alberto Sarno created a space for fans of opera and singers hoping for a career in opera would come together for food, drink and performance.

Vermont was originally just a restaurant. Until they opened Barre at Vermont and For the Record shows began in what was a very tight shoebox space. When the For the Record series exploded, changes were made, walls came down and Rockwell Table and Stage was born.

What great shows they had on that stage! Rockwell became the cabaret venue this city has always deserved.

Broadway and cabaret stars such as Laura Benanti (She Loves Me), David Burnham (The Light in the Piazza), Charles Busch (Die! Mommie Die!), Sutton Foster (Anything Goes), Aaron Lazar (A Little Night Music), Frances Ruffelle (Les Misérables), The Skivvies and Terri White (Finian’s Rainbow) are just some of the artists I saw there.

I remember being at one event and Lin-Manuel Miranda got up on stage and performed a song from a little project he was working on called the Hamilton Mix-Tape. This was well before the musical ever opened at The Public Theater.

Jeff Goldblum held court there on a regular basis with the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Recording artist Spencer Day was often a resident artist.

Musicals with their eyes on Broadway had try-out runs at Rockwell. New composers and new musicals had a monthly opportunity to be heard.

For the Record celebrated the works of Paul Thomas Anderson, The Cohen Brothers, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino (who saw the show several times) and more. The performances were regularly extended, often sold-out and audiences loved every second of them.

Many of the participants in the For the Record series have gone on to Broadway. Amongst them are Joanna A. Jones (Hamilton), Derek Klena (a Tony Award nominee this year for his performance in Jagged Little Pill), Ruby Lewis (Cirque du Soleil: Paramour), Kristolyn Lloyd (original cast of Dear Evan Hansen), Nicole Parker (The People in the Picture) and Jessica Kennan Wynn (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical).

Performers also branched out into other art forms: Jason Paige is best known to audiences as the voice of the English version of the theme song to Pokémon. Ty Taylor and his band Vintage Trouble have toured the world and have opened for The Rolling Stones. (By the way, Taylor made one hell of a Frank ‘n’ Furter in a concert performance of The Rocky Horror Show at Barre at Vermont.)

After For the Record moved on to greener pastures, the Unauthorized Musical Parody of series took over with comedic takes on films like The Devil Wears Prada (featuring Drew Droege as Miranda Priestly) and Clueless.

Since the stage was placed next to the big windows that looked out to Vermont, I always took particular pleasure in watching passersby check out what was going on on stage.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I also produced a concert there in 2013 celebrating the work of lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg. He’s best known for writing the lyrics for the songs in The Wizard of Oz.

I guess what I’m trying to say is for many of us – both performers and audiences – Rockwell Table and Stage was home. There was absolutely a family that was created there; a family of singers, actors, waiters, bartenders, owners, patrons, producers and directors.

During the pandemic I’ve missed all the many nights I’d spend seeing live performances. And I’ve missed the exceedingly talented people who became my friends through Rockwell Table and Stage.

It’s sad when a venue you loved is no more. I’m sure many residents of Los Angeles said the same thing when Sarno’s closed. That space was reborn and reborn again after that happened.

One can only hope that another enterprising entrepreneur will set his or her sights on the now empty space in Los Feliz with dreams of creating their own home for performers. I’m sure if they put their ears up to the facade the many musical memories that filled Rockwell will still be echoing.

In the meantime, thank you Rockwell Table and Stage for being my home for so many great evenings. You will be missed.

Photo: Rockwell Table and Stage (Courtesy their Facebook page)

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When we spoke by phone she was in London. It was a very frank conversation that I feel reflects not just who she is, but also what she tries to do with her shows.

When you put together your shows, what are you hoping audiences will understand about who you are as a person and a performer?

I think they need to understand I’m very honest. I don’t really hold anything back when I perform. The stories I tell everyone says, “you’re very brave.” I don’t feel brave, but I feel normal.

Why do they say you are brave?

I’ve gotten to this stage in my life where, it’s not that I don’t care, but I don’t care what people think about me. Instead of that being a bad thing, it’s a good thing. They get to know me and I do an unusual show and say what I want.

When I read reviews and/or comments about your show, it strikes me that you like to upend the idea of what a cabaret show is. In fact, you don’t consider it a cabaret show. Why?

When I first did a one-woman show, I wanted to do a cabaret show and everyone was saying it was cabaret. I looked into the word “cabaret” and it means a small room. I had a few bad reviews where I didn’t talk about myself and about the songs, but I don’t want it to be what you’d expect. I want to entertain, but I want to do what I want to do. Creatively I don’t think I’d be satisfied if I said, “Oh, I sang this in Les Misérables.” I don’t know that there’s a word for it. Perhaps “theatrebaret.”

What do you enjoy most about the freedom of both defining what your show is and creating it?

That’s the right word – freedom. I have the freedom. When I first started doing my own show I could do any key I wanted. What I discovered after 15 years is I love to write and create. I’ve become a creator and for me creating every single day just makes me happy. Doing my own show really makes me much happier than doing something someone else has given me. Not that I don’t want challenges, but I have to admit this is my most favorite thing to do.

There were huge gaps between when you were in New York in the 1980s and now that you have returned. How has your relationship with the city changed?

I always thought it was a lonely city. It was a challenge for me coming back three years ago. It was lonely at first again. But I challenged myself because New York has been really kind to me. I haven’t felt that kindness in London compared to the States. I felt I had to come back to New York because I hadn’t finished. I was pregnant with my daughter and I had to leave the show. Now after spending three years in New York, I suddenly feel the loneliness is gone. New York is now a special place where I feel so at home I can’t imagine leaving. My show is a little bit about it.

In 2017 you played “Queenie” in a production of Michael John LaChiusa‘s The Wild Party in London.  You told the Belfast Telegraph that you related to the role becasuse “Life doesn’t always go the way you want it to go, but you have to embrace and enjoy what you have.” Has life gone the way you wanted it to and do you enjoy it?

Now it is. My life hasn’t gone the way I really wanted it. But I don’t want to moan too much about that because I’ve had a great interesting life. As a career it hasn’t always gone the way I had hoped. Hence me moving to New York really. I’ve been doing these one-woman shows every month [at The Green Room 42] and they have been a showcase. It’s going well.

It should be noted that Ruffelle is working with Alan Cumming on a “play merged with a concert” – her words – for next year. She’s also hoping that there might be life in the production of The Wild Party from London – which she also produced.

In The Wild Party, Queenie has an epiphany in “This Is What It Is” when she gets to the lyric, “This is what it is to know the day and meet the sun.” What’s the most important epiphany you’ve had and how did that realization allows you to be who you are today?

Funny you should say that line. Because that’s the title I have of my film script right now. That line is so poignant to me. I don’t know. I have had a great time. I’ve got great kids. As long as I love and I’m kind and truthful…every day I get up and I appreciate what I’ve got. Epiphany? I’m not quite sure. I don’t think I suddenly come out with something in my head. I think the freedom I have has made me happier and a kinder person. I’m really enjoying my time and I think that’s all you can do.

Main photo by J.R. Rost/Photos courtesy of Fortune Creative and her website.

Update:  This post has been updated to include a better video more aligned to the material performed in her show.

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Don’t expect a standard cabaret show. That isn’t what she does. She assembles songs and stories around a given narrative. If you are expecting a review of her career and the songs that go with those shows, you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re looking for strong singing and a an equal strong story, Live(s) in New York is for you.

We will have an interview with Ruffelle soon. Be sure to check back here to read what she has to say about her approach to these performances.

On October 20th she will continue her residency at The Green Room 42 in New York.

For tickets at Rockwell Table and Stage go here.

For tickets at The Green Room 42 go here.

Photo of Frances Ruffelle by JR Rost

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Based at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Musical Theatre Guild celebrates musicals that didn’t succeed as much as other musicals have. They focus on shows and scores that just haven’t found their way into the popular repertoire.

During their 25 years, Musical Theatre Guild as performed such shows as Sugar, State Fair, Sweet Smell of Success, Triumph of Love, A Catered Affair, A New Brain and Once Upon a Mattress.  Their very first show in 1996 was Say It With Music.

What’s interesting in combing through their production archives is that many of the shows that they have performed later found new life or were rediscovered. Falsettos, which will open soon at the Ahmanson Theatre (and previously played on Broadway in 2016-2017), was performed by MTG in 1998. On the Twentieth Century, a musical they performed in 1998, had a Broadway revival in 2015.

Musical Theatre Guild is the only organization in town that gives audiences a chance to hear songs and see shows thery’ll likely never hear anywhere else.  Will there every be a Broadway revival  of a show like Redhead? Irma La Douce? Fanny?

In May, MTG will present Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George on May 5th at the Alex Theatre.

The cast for this celebration will include  Eydie Alyson, Eileen Barnett, Teri Bibb, Matthew Braver, Jill Marie Burke, Melissa Lyons Caldretti, Bryan Chesters, Will Collyer, Melissa Fahn, Joshua Finkel, Tal Fox, Anthony Gruppuso, Pamela Hamill, Barbara Carlton Heart, Kristi Holden, Paul Keith, Damon Kirsche, Carol Kline, Marsha Kramer, Ashley Fox Linton, Kevin McMahon, Glenn Rosenblum, Alyssa Simmons, Shannon Warne, Susan Watson, and Robert Yacko –  actors and singers who have lengthy Broadway and National Tour experience.  What they may lack in name value, they more than make up for in talent and passion. A passion for musicals that don’t have helicopters, animal costumes or jukeboxes as their inspiration.

MTG: Rewind is directed by Joshua Finkel.

For tickets for MTG: Rewind go here.

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This means that you’ll get The Man That Got Away and Evergreen and Shallow all rolled up together. Blake McIver is the creator and director of A Star Is Born³. He also takes on the role Kris Kristofferson played in the 70s version. Tal Fox, who produces with Emerson Collins, plays the Streisand character.

For the 1950s version of the story, the roles played by Judy Garland and James Mason are played here by Mary Lane Haskell and Gil Darnell. And for last year’s version, Briana Cuoco and Zach Zaggoria take on the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper roles.

jackbenny serves as the band for the show. Jack Lipson is the musical director.

The show started as a one-off performance, but the response was so strong they added two more performances. Tonight’s show is the last announced performance, but producer Collins told me they are hoping to find additional dates.

If the idea of a mash-up of Judy, Barbra and Gaga sounds like nirvana, this show is for you.

For tickets to A Star Is Born³ go here.

All photos by Abel Armas.

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The ensemble for this performance includes Barrett Foa (who recently appeared in Reprise 2.0’s production of Sweet Charity), Danny Gurwin (Broadway’s Urinetown and Little Women), Willis White (In the Heights and Hairspray!), Lindsay Pearce (Spring Awakening), Kristi Holden (The Phantom of the Opera), Kelly Dorney (Nice Work If You Can Get It) and Michele Maika (Les Misérables.) Ellis is the master of ceremonies and the music director. Dianne Fraser produces.

Whatever definition is used for “Classic Broadway,” the line-up, combined with Ellis’ assured knowledge of this music, means it will no doubt be an entertaining evening.

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Antonio Sanchez performs his Birdman score – Royce Hall/UCLA

February 16

Though his remarkable score for the Oscar-winning film Birdman was ruled ineligible for an Oscar nomination (due to the amount of source music also used in the film), it stood out as a remarkable and unique composition.  Antonio Sanchez, the man who wrote and performed the score, will be playing the score live while the film is projected. Unlike most live music to film presentations that are currently in vogue, his performance is not a note-for-note replication. As it is more jazz-like in construct, it will be his improvisation on what he did for the film. If you want to see what Sanchez has to say about the score now and how he tackles these live concerts, check out my interview with him here.  Also, he is performing with his band, Migration, on Saturday night at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. They will be performing his Meridian Suite album in its entirety.

Salonen: Wing on Wing – Walt Disney Concert Hall

February 16-18

Fresh off last week’s four concerts featuring Esa-Pekka Salonen’s three concerti (for cello, piano and violin, respectively), is another round of concerts. These three  performances include Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (performed by Vilde Frang), Mozart’s The Impresario and Salonen’s Wing on Wing. It was for the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall that Salonen composed the work. Frank Gehry’s architecture inspired the work and celebrated the realization of the concert hall.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Celebration Theatre

Opens February 17

In 2016, Celebration Theatre did what seemed outright impossible. They put on a production of one of the biggest, splashiest musicals Broadway had ever seen, The Boy From Oz, in their small theatre in Hollywood. It was a smash success, was highly-acclaimed and won several awards.  If at first you do succeed, try it again. And they are – with another big splashy musical (so big it played the Palace Theatre on Broadway): Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Based on the film of the same name, the show tells the story of two drag queens and a transgender colleague on a road trip across Australia. There is a secret reason for the road trip that threatens the relationship the three share. Amongst the songs featured in the show are such disco classics (no, that’s not an oxymoron) as “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” “I Will Survive,” “Shake Your Groove Thing” and “Hot Stuff.”

The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Jurassic Park – Rockwell Table & Stage

Now playing

When the UMPO series did musical parodies of films like The Devil Wears Prada and Home Alone, it was pretty easy to visualize what they might do. With their new show, poking fun at Stephen Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, I just wonder how many dinosaurs get songs and what they would be? Of course, the characters played by Jeff Goldblum (who makes regular appearances at Rockwell), Laura Dern and Sir Richard Attenborough at the ones most likely to break into song. But wouldn’t you love to hear a T-Rex do “Children of the Revolution” or “Bang a Gong?”

The New Colossus – The Actors’ Gang

Now playing

In light of the tragedy that occurred this week in Florida, perhaps there’s no better time to be asking the question, “Who are we as a nation?” The Actors’ Gang Ensemble and Tim Robbins put together The New Colossus, to ask that question, but as it pertains to immigration. By telling the stories of their own ancestors in a variety of languages, eras and with the incorporation of poetry, music and movement, this show not only asks the question above, but also reminds us that we are, and have always been, a nation of immigrants.

The post The 5 Events You Must See: This Weekend in LA (Feb 16-18) appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Between Riverside and Crazy – LA Theatre Works at James Bridges Theatre/UCLA

November 17-19

In 2015, playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this play. The Pulitzer committee called this play “a nuanced, beautifully written play about a retired police offer faced with eviction that uses dark comedy to confront questions of life and death.” This weekend that acclaimed work will be performed by LA Theatre Works at UCLA. These performances of this play will serve as recording sessions for radio broadcasts that will be distributed later. LATW performances, which do not include sets or costumes, celebrate the written word. Between Riverside and Crazy is directed by Diane Rodriguez.

THE UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY OF BRIDESMAIDS – Rockwell Table and Stage

November 17-18

This weekend marks the final performances of this parody of the hit comedy Bridesmaids. The Unauthorized Musical Parody series is a regular and popular part of the programming at Rockwell Table and Stage. The show’s creators take the original script for the film, twist and turn it a bit and add popular songs to help tell the same story told in the film – all designed to make you crack up. Right after Thanksgiving will be their parody of Home Alone.

STEVE TYRELL – Catalina Bar & Grill

November 17-19

If you listen to KJZZ 88.1 FM, you known Steve Tyrell not just as a singer, but also the DJ who makes your evening commutes a little easier to manage. He is a regular fixture at the Café Carlyle in New York. This weekend he brings his song stylings to Catalina Bar & Grill for three performances of standards sung his way.

Photo Credit:  Julie Soefer

NOON TO MIDNIGHT: A DAY OF NEW MUSIC – Walt Disney Concert Hall

November 18

Paired with the final two performances of War of the Worlds at Walt Disney Concert Hall, this all-day music festival takes full advantage of the many rooms and spaces at Frank Gehry’s building to showcase new music. The list of performers is extensive and includes LA Signal Lab, wild UP, USC Percussion Group, red fish blue fish, Jacaranda Music and more. There are 16 world premieres and also music by composers Steve Reich, John Adams, Andrew Norman and David Lang. The best part of this 12-hour event is that it is only $10 for as many hours as you can handle. Ticketholders for War of the Worlds can join for free.

VERDI CHORUS – First United Methodist Church, Santa Monica

November 18-19

If you are a fan of opera you are well aware of Verdi’s choruses. But are you also aware that this year marks the 35th anniversary season of The Verdi Chorus? The Santa Monica-based group hones in on dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus. This concert, “Love’s Passions and Potions,” features music from Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco and Un Ballo in Maschera, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Massenet’s Manon and more. This unique combination of amateur and professional singers began in 1983 at the Verdi Restaurant in Santa Monica.

LAST CHANCE: This weekend marks your last chance to see Bright Star at the Ahmanson Theatre. You might think that a blue-grass musical isn’t your thing (frankly, I wasn’t sure it was mine), but if you love watching someone give a thoroughly convincing and moving performance, I urge you to see Carmen Cusack in her Tony-nominated role as Alice Murphy. Bright Star was written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell.

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Well before Lin-Manuel Miranda’s show was produced, he stopped by Rockwell (which was then called Vermont and Barre at Vermont) and performed a couple songs from a show called Hamilton Mix Tape. You won’t hear any songs from the show, you probably won’t see him, but you’ll certainly hear a wide mix of songs from the 90s ranging from Nirvana to Backstreet Boys on this new mix tape. I just hope they’ll leave Britney alone.

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One of Broadway’s go-to tenors, he’s making his Los Angeles cabaret debut Monday at Rockwell Table and Stage in Los Feliz. This will also make the debut of his new solo show, Aaron Lazar: From Broadway to Hollywood. Lazar, who relocated from New York to Los Angeles to raise a family and take a stab at television and film, spoke with me after a rehearsal for this show.

“Hollywood became this place of mystique when I decided to change career paths from medical school to theatre,” Lazar reveals. “You had to decide between Los Angeles and New York. My showcase was in New York and I stayed there. LA became this place I wanted to move to and I finally have. I never wanted to look back and say I wish I had tried LA. That was part one. Having a family was part two. The quality of life out here is so amazing. Plus pushing a stroller up and down stairs to make a subway is crazy.”

The show he is debuting at Rockwell is his second solo show. The first, “Look for Me in the Songs,” he said was the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. So how challenging is doing his sophomore show? “That’s a great question,” he says. “It’s certainly been challenging, but not nearly as difficult. The show is running about 75 minutes. There are 30 songs…16 full songs and pieces of 14 others. We’ll see what we learn from it. There is no place better to see what works and doesn’t than starting in smaller rooms. It’s scary, but that’s where all artists live.”

The overlap between the two shows is minimal, though stories and references to the man he calls his major influence, Stephen Sondheim, will be part of it. “I had been writing him since I was 19,” Lazar offers. “I’ve been corresponding with him for years and years. He writes you back. To get cast in the only ever revival of [A Little Night Music] and to get to work with Steve and go to his house and to get to know him – It doesn’t get better than that.”

When The Light in the Piazza was broadcast on PBS, Lazar was in the very demanding role of Fabrizio, the young Italian who falls in love with an American girl. “That was the pinnacle,” he says. “There is no need to overstate it. It’s like everything stopped. It’s one of those undeniable works of genius. I miss it.”

Whether he misses his time on the track throwing discus, he does find parallels between the discipline of the sport and the discipline of doing this show. “I think I settled on the throwing events in track because they were these very individual pursuits, it’s you against yourself. And I think a career as an artist is a lot the same thing. It’s you against your own demons. As an actor you have very little control. Your reps get you opportunities and you hopefully book the jobs. When you are between jobs, how do you define yourself? Cabaret takes you out of a character and puts you face to face with yourself and what you have to say and who you are. The faster you can get in touch with your authenticity and share that, the happier you are going to be as an artist.”

Main Photo Courtesy of Scott Mauro Entertainment

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