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Stagefright

The fabulous Leslie Uggams just finished the run of the musical Stormy Weather at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. In the show, Uggams (now 65) portrays the legendary Lena Horne (who turns 92 this June). Later in the month Uggams will be on hand to present an award to Dionne Warwick at the Amas Musical Theatre Gala to be held in New York.

Leslie Uggams

Kelli Bocock Natale will direct Richard Lambert and Candice Kogut in Scottish playwright David Harrower’s Blackbird. The play depicts the meeting between a young woman and a middle-aged man with whom, 15 years earlier, at the age of 12, she had a sexual relationship. The production opens at the New Phoenix on April 2. The play ran in New York in 2007 starring Jeff Daniels and Alison Pill.

Up next for the Subversive Theatre Collective, the world premiere of Waterboarding Blues, written by Kurt Schneiderman. The play will run April 2-19 at the Manny Fried Playhouse located in the Great Arrow Building. The ensemble will feature Gordon Tashjian, Dennis Keefe, James Wild, Robert “Hodie” Hodas, Jessica Stuber, John Vines, and Travis Hedland.

Eve Ensler’s Any One of Us: Words from Prison will be presented as part of V-Day 2009 on March 27 and 28 at 7:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Elmwood Avenue. Directed by Kelly Beuth, the production will feature Amy Brown, Katie White, Shannon Bloomquist, Diane McNamara, Mary Nell Trautner, Dessarae Lenz and Bethany Sparacio. Tickets are $10, and may be purchased at the door. Proceeds will go to the Crisis Services Advocate Program.

Moliere’s The Learned Ladies is the next show at the Irish Classical Theatre Company. Directed by Fortunato Pezzimenti, the production will star Kate LoConti, Diane Curley, Tim Newell, Richard Wesp, Chris Standart, Robert Rutland, Kelli Bocock-Natale, and Josephine Hogan. The show runs April 24-May 24.

The musical Hell Hole Honeys, a take on the women in prison movies of the 1950s, opens April 23 at the Alleyway Theatre. Directed by Todd Warfield, with musical direction by Michael Hake, the production will star Kim Piazza, Stephanie Bax, Victoria Perez, Smirna Mercedes, Jasmine Ramos, Kerrykate Abel, Jeff Coyle, Casey Denton, and Pamela Rose Mangus. Choreography is by Matthew Clark.

Musicalfare’s hit production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story will return this summer and will run July 8-25. Directed by Lisa Ludwig, the production had a sold-out run last fall. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Holly’s tragic death at the age of 22 in an airplane crash. Musicalfare’s current season ends with Paul Maisano’s Badabing! Badaboom!, which now will also star Paschal Frisina.

The 24th Annual Friends of Niagara University Theatre Gala will be held on the NU campus on April 25. The gala begins with a 3pm matinee of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, which will be directed by Doug Zschiegner. After the show there will be a cocktail hour, silent and live auction, and dinner. Tickets are $150. Call 286-8480.

UB Department of Theatre & Dance will present the musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, April 1-5. The production will be directed and choreographed by Gary John LaRosa, with musical direction by Nathan Matthews. Opening night will be the department’s Spring Gala beginning at 6pm with dinner and entertainment. Tickets are $100. For information, e-mail thd-springgala@buffalo.edu.

On a sad note, actor Ron Silver died this week at the age of 62. I am lucky enough to have seen him in his three Broadway appearances: Hurlyburly (1984), Social Security (1986), and Speed the Plow (1988), for which he won a Tony Award. Those were the days before Artvoice and pictures with celebrities. Silver got his BA in 1967 from UB, and in 1988 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

The Theatre Alliance of Buffalo will hold the First (Annual) World’s Largest Cast Party on Saturday, March 21, at the Lafayette Tap Room (391 Washington Street). The party begins at 9pm. General admission is $10 or free with two ticket stubs from two different theaters. For more information, visit www.theatreallianceofbuffalo.com.