EMMA

Last night I attended the final dress rehearsal for TheatreWorks' 50th World Premiere: Emma. It is a charming chamber musical written by Paul Gordon and directed by Robert Kelley. This is one of the best new musicals I have ever seen TheatreWorks present (my all time favorite of course is Harold & Maude - but I am biased =+).

Photo credit: David Allen

The cast assembles is first-rate. Lianne Marie Dobbs is a terrific Emma but it is her supporting cast that I found to be even more terrific - Dani Marcus is wonderful as Hariet Smith - it is wonderful to see such a talented pretty girl in a character role - wonderful. My pal Suzanne Grodner steals the show as Miss Bates - always having to repeat things to her mother. It was the highlight of the evening. New York actor Timothy Gulan was a standout as Mr. Knightley and his rendition of the song "Emma" was gorgeous. That was by far my favorite song in the show. My pal Alison Ewing was also terrific as Mrs. Weston.

The chamber 4 piece-orchestra (seated in a balcony on stage) was led by the always brilliant Billy Liberatore - a Bay Area treasure. The costumes by the always astonishing Fumiko Bielefeldt were a delight to see. This is a wonderful show if you're in the mood for a comedy/romance musical - a rare thing to find. I hope it is a huge success for TheatreWorks. Check out Emma - it runs until September 16th.

I had a great evening with my friends Hilary & Tyler and it was great running into my friend Sean who was in the audience.