The annual “haunting” of Theatre 29 opens for a Twentynine Palms Pioneer Days weekend unveiling. For the ninth year in a row, Producer Eric Ross, who honed his skills at Knott’s Scary Farm, and Directors Frances Wright and Charles Harvey have created another Halloween Masterpiece, “Asylum”.

The Theatre 29 Halloween Haunt has become legendary in the entire Morongo Basin for its ever-shifting moods and skillful vignettes. This years spectacular effort is performed by a large and talented cast of over 40 performers.

In this years scenario, adventurous souls will be self guided, as they explore the depths of an asylum for the criminally insane that was shut down in the early 1900’s for doing unauthorized experiments. Unknown to authorities, some of the inmates and the more dedicated staff never left! Later, the asylum was used for illegal toxic waste dumping which has affected some of the more illustrious guests.

Intrepid visitors will start their experience by going through a sewer, then into a wooded area & graveyard, before “breaking” into the asylum itself, then through reception areas, patient & treatment rooms.

Director Wright said, “I am grateful to have been involved with this year’s incarnation and I am looking forward to scaring those brave enough to face the abandoned Asylum and the trapped souls still lurking within. She also said , I am thankful to have the support staff and a very cohesive cast this year as well.”

If you have the nerve to face the abandoned asylum and all the patients still lurking, tickets will be available through pre-sale at select locations for $5.00 each or at the door for $7.00 each for individuals, and for groups of 4 or more $5.00 each at the door with tours launching every 10-15 minutes. Season ticket holders get their first tour included with their purchase

“Asylum” will come to “life” beginning October 19, ending Halloween night. Performances of this seasonal scare fest will begin at 7:00 PM and end at 10:00 PM Friday and Saturday nights October 19, 20, 26, 27. Monday & Tuesday performances will be at 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM October 29 & 30. Halloween Night, October 31st will be from 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM.

Theatre 29, the location of the “Asylum” is at 73637 Sullivan Road in the City of Twentynine Palms. For further information go to the theatre website at www.theatre29.org, visit us on Facebook or contact the Theatre 29 Box Office at (760) 361-4151

2013 Theatre 29 Season tickets, for seven full live theater productions, including next years “Haunt” are now on sale at www.theatre29,org or by calling the Theatre 29 Box Office at 760-361-4151.

Eve Ensler, playwright and author of the popular play “The Vagina Monologues”, had better watch out if she wants to retain her “favorite playwright status” with females around the globe.  The Hollywood husband and wife writing team of Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser, have written an extremely funny and tightly crafted, gender-bending, comedy entitled “Under My Skin”, currently rocking the house at the venerable Pasadena Playhouse.  And it’s closing the gap fast.

We’ve all heard the old saying “…before you criticize anything or anyone, you need to walk a mile in their sandals or shoes.”  Well, “Under My Skin” is a screwball comedy that proves that the old adage has merit.  The hilarious comedy, seamlessly and creatively directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge is chock full of clever directorial touches.  Of course, it helps when one has a high-energy cast of very talented actors who know their way around a farce production when they find themselves cast in one.

This satisfying and enjoyable comedy is blessed with a cast that blends the solid and seasoned performance of older actors like the delightful Hal Linden as Samuel Dent.  Linden never met a punch line he didn’t enrich with his exquisite timing and stage business.

When it comes to carrying the plot part and being the romantic lead who also gets the girl and the laughs, Matt Walton as Harrison Badish, made a believer out of me with his acceptance that the plot situation, as wacky as it is, is totally believable.  Erin Cardillo as Melody Dent, a single, out of work mom from Staten Island, is perky, cute, bright, and is a perfect match for Badish, the cocky CEO of a leading healthcare provider.  Think Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock from “Two Weeks Notice”, and you sort of get the idea.

The yarn involves celestial interventions and other tricks by the playwrights who invent a power failure in Badish’s Headquarters building with the result being that when the power comes back on, Melody and Harrison have switched bodies and the fun begins.

Offering solid comic support is: Yvette Cason as Angel (like from above), Megan Sikora as Nanette, Melody’s best friend, Monette Magrath asVictoria, the sexy fiancée of Harrison.

Tim Bagley’s performance as Dr. Hurtz, is practically worth the price of admission alone. The pelvic examination scene, between Harrison and Dr. Hurtz, brings down the house amid howls of laughter from practically every member of the female audience (males simply can’t relate for the obvious of reasons). Young Danielle Soibelman, as the precocious Casey Dent, Melody’s daughter, completes the ensemble.

“Under My Skin” is a wonderful example of how much fun it can be when presented with a top-rate ensemble performing their stuff.  One cannot say enough about the contribution and personal vision that director Milgrom Dodge brings to this production.  According to the productions notes, when Milgrom Dodge was asked by the playwrights to direct their play she hesitated for about two seconds.  “…I responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!” Not just because the play made me laugh out loud when I read it (I did), or because Rob and Pru are responsible for some of the best television I ever saw (they are), or because I love hanging out with them (I do), but because this is a play whose characters live in the zany world of a screwball comedy while hitting poignant notes that are honest and timely when you least expect them.”  Words of high praise indeed and I’m happy to report the comedy payoff is right on the money.

The creative team led by Milgrom Dodge’s superb and wacky personal vision is matched by the sensational-looking scenic design by John Iacovelli.  His New York City skyline sparkles at night and shines during the day creating both broad vistas and rich intimate interiors, thanks to a splendid lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg, which is ably supported by Philip G. Allen’s sound design and costumes designed by Kate Bergh.

“Under My Skin” is a terrific show that will tickle the funny bones of all that see it.  It plays at the Pasadena Playhouse through October 7, 2012, but I expect it will be heading East to New York in the near future.

Since her breakthrough play “Intimate Apparel” in 2003 (seen at the Mark Taper Forum in 2004), and her Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Ruined” in 2009, playwright Lynn Nottage now makes a 180-degree turn in subject matter with an interesting and provocative serio-comedy entitled “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”.  It just opened at the prestigious Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.

“Vera Stark”, cleverly directed by Jo Bonney tells the story of how actors of color  barely managed to survive inside the Hollywood studio system of the 1930’s and 40’s.  If one was an actor of color, despite one’s talent level, you were relegated to playing servant and maid roles if female.  If male, you might fare slightly better by portraying railroad porters, handymen and chauffeurs.  Bonney presents her cast and the complicated story of “Vera Stark” in a most unusual way for a straight stage play.  She blends techniques from three different mediums: those of stage, screen, and TV, covering three different time periods beginning with 1933, then 1973, and finally 2003; ending up with a hybrid production that I’m not sure really works to the story’s advantage.

We meet a very beautiful, and obviously talented Vera Stark (Sanaa Lathan), a maid to Hollywood actress Gloria Mitchell (Amanda Detmer).   As the play opens the two women are seen rehearsing a scene from a movie being filmed in the play within a play.  Lathan and Detmer compliment one another throughout the play in their scenes as actors with smooth and confident performances,

Vera is part of a small group of aspiring actors who share digs in Hollywood as they wait and hope for that “big break”.   For me, the play really begins here, in 1933, at the actors’ small apartment.  Here we get the hopes, dreams, and career strategies, as well as  their priorities laid out.

Playing both Lottie and Carmen Levy-Green is the terrific and sassy Kimberly Hebert Gregory, who scores by playing her two roles with nuanced comedy timing.  Merle Dandridge sexily and seductively passes herself off as Brazilian actress Anna Mae, and later on plays the character Afua Assata Ejobo a panelist at a 2003 conference, discussing the career of Vera Stark and whatever became of her.

The character of Leroy Barksdale, a chauffeur to a studio film director is nicely assayed by Kevin T. Carroll in Act I and Carroll plays Herb Forrester, an academic and moderator, in Act II.  He leads a panel discussion concerning the breakthrough rise and alcoholic fall of Vera Stark as a Hollywood star actress.

Spencer Garrett neatly handles the dual roles of Frederick Slasvick and TV Host Brad Donovan.   The characters of Maximillion Von Oster, the movie director of “The Belle of New Orleans” (the movie seen in the play-within- a-play that makes Vera a new Hollywood star) and the role of Peter Rhys-Davies, are both performed by Mather Zickel.  If the synopsis sounds complicated, it’s because it is complicated and convoluted as well.  But, the performances never suffer the fate of the unusual script-structure approach of Nottage in the telling of a story that needed to be told.

The production nicely fits into the Gil Cates Theatre, thanks to a very clever set design by Neil Patel.  Patel has designed three different sets with imagination and flair that give the cast the necessary space they need to work their magic.  Lighting designer Jeff Croiter paints the stage in varying degrees of light, which dramatically shows off the costumes designed by ESosa to their maximum effect.  The projection designer Shawn Sagady has judiciously employed a series of movie and projection designs that enrich and are so necessary in helping to tell the story of the title character.

“By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” plays at the Geffen Playhouse through October 28, 2012. For tickets and information call the box office at 310-208-5454.

PALM SPRINGS – The online auction being held in conjunction with the photography show Barbie™ Does Palm Springs at Savage Gallery, 870 Research Drive, Palm Springs, that will run from October 20 to 31, 2012, is now live.

The auction features several one-of-a-kind items, including the “PS…I Love You Barbie® and Ken®” Dolls, designed and donated by Palm Spring resident and Mattel Designer Jim Holmes, especially for this show, along with three single-edition photographs by Henke featuring PS…I Love You Barbie® and Ken® at iconic Palm Springs settings. Online charity auction site, Charitybuzz.com, opened the online auction yesterday, October 10th, and bidding will continue through the show ending on October 31st. To place bids on any of these items or for more information about the auction, go to www.Charitybuzz.com/BarbieDoesPalmSprings.

Barbie™ Does Palm Springs features 40 limited-edition prints of Barbie® (and Ken®) dolls at Palm Springs locations by local photographer Steven Henke, and will open with an Opening Night Reception on Saturday, October 20, from 7-10 PM, where 100% of all proceeds will go to benefit The LGBT Community Center of the Desert. The public is cordially invited to attend.

For further information about the show, go towww.BarbieDoesPalmSprings.com.

About The Center: The mission of The LGBT Community Center of the Desert is to enrich the lives of the LGBT community.  A thriving, community-based organization, the Center provides a safe and supportive environment for members to enjoy health, wellness, educational and social programs, where people of all ages and backgrounds are welcome.  The Center advances its mission through senior programming, a clinical counseling and internship program, a weekly food bank, youth suicide prevention and support, extensive social and recreational offerings, a David Bohnett cyber center, a growing volunteer program and periodic special events in the community. For more information, go to www.thecenterps.org, emailinfo@thecenterps.org, or like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/thecenterps.

About Charitybuzz: A leader in cause marketing, Charitybuzz aligns nonprofits with international brands and celebrity icons to raise funds through innovative online auctions. Featuring pop culture experiences, VIP events, luxury travel, fine art, couture fashion, coveted internships, upscale merchandise and more, Charitybuzz brings its online community of socially conscious bidders exclusive opportunities to do good and live well.  Since launching, Charitybuzz has raised more than $60 million for charities around the globe. To learn more, please visit www.Charitybuzz.com, email info@charitybuzz.com, like us on facebook at www.facebook.com/charitybuzz or follow us on twitter atwww.twitter.com/charitybuzz.