Hosted by Ms Marla Gibbs and Ms Florence LaRue, L.A.WOMEN’S THEATRE FESTIVAL
presented an evening of entertainment diversity to bring attention to
the good works of women in theatre. An air of casual serendipity
prevailed as raffle tickets were sold and a display of crafts greeted
the audience at The Greenway Court tonight.
Full
disclosure. This is not the type theatre that onstagelosangeles
usually reviews. An invitation came in from LA PR guy Phil Sokoloff
that mentioned the dancer/performer Juli Kim.
Juli
is from a Korean background. I have recently purchased a zither that
looked like one that Korean musicians were playing on Youtube. So.. I
contacted Juli to see if she could help me get information about my new
Korean zither: a gayaguem. Are you with me so far?
Juli
connected me with Korean masters of the gayaguem who told me that the
zither I have is NOT a gayaguem! But, Juli was so nice in our email
exchange that I wanted to see her performance and meet her in person.
Tonight's
program was hosted by two legends in the world of entertainment: Ms
Florence LaRue, formerly of The Fifth Dimension, who opened the show
with singing that raised the roof. Ms Marla Gibbs, best known for The
Jeffersons and her own series, 227 bantered with marginally written
information that both ladies were seeing for the first time.
Introductions were totally charming as they credited LAWTF for the good
work the organization does. Our patient audience took it all in with
good humor.
Following
Florence LaRue's opening number, my connection, Juli Kim, presented a
beautiful Korean dance accompanied by her son on cello and daughter on
piano.
Scene
changes by stage manager Ms Brandi Johnson and her crew were somewhat
tentative, but the entire time, the audience was totally engaged.
Amy
Milano's "Dancing With Crazies" began with an energetic dance routine
that led to a somewhat labored one woman presentation that chronicled
events in her life evolving into a tap dance routine!
We
skipped momentarily the scheduled intermission with an additional song
by gorgeous Florence LaRue who, after being a part of the Fifth
Dimension so long ago showed that she has only improved with age..
Then..
intermission and the hawking of more raffle tickets! Florence predicted
that she'd win something! AND.. she did! Hmmmmm....
After
intermission we were treated to an amazing display of rhythm with Juli
Kim and a five drum dance. Ms Kim exhibited the elegant calm of her
introductory dance enhanced by acrobatic percussion using five decorated
frame drums that came to life with her expert drumming.
The
beauty of this evening's diversity was the professional presentations
seasoned with our beautiful hostesses weathering through the required
dialogue. I was fortunate to reconnect with actress Dagmar Stansova
whose "Loose Underware" show I reviewed recently as part of the
Hollywood Fringe Festival. Her shared insights as the program
progressed pointed up the spontaneous quality of the evening.
With an onstage musical trio: Rahan Coleman: keyboard, Michael Saucier: bass and Quentin Denard on drums,
Ms Freda Payne paid tribute to her childhood idol, Ella Fitzgerald. Ms
Payne presented Fitzgerald's personal history with familiar tunes with
some scat mixed in.
Such
diverse entertainment was well received with my personal surprises
brought by Ms Kim. This was a one time only event, but should
opportunities to see Ms Kim perform, her bringing the Korean culture to
the western stage is truly impressive.
Finally!
I've learned that the zither that I have come into is probably NOT Korean, so if anyone knows anything about a Chinese zheng or guzheng, please contact me.
Thanks
to producer / LAWTF co-founder Adilah Barnes for a most unique evening
of theatre. For more information about the workshops and activities of
LAWTF go to http://www.lawtf.org/ and support these dedicated artists.
Michael Sheehan
onstagelosangeles
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