“The Secret of 50, Fatherhood and Facebook” is written and performed by Vince Cefalú.

It’s no secret that traditional roles for men and women have shattered into a million pieces recently. Daddy doesn’t have just one job, he has multiple interests, and Mommy’s got a career of her own. In fact, many families these days have to check their e-mail just to keep track of each other.

It’s into this world of schedule-juggling that actor, writer, husband, father, former stand-up comic and now solo performer Vince Cefalú enters with “The Secret of 50, Fatherhood and Facebook,” a series of wry monologues about the fractured nature of modern life, written from the perspective of a slightly baffled, but very amused former 20-something who now finds himself on the down slope of 50 with marriage and a 3 1/2 year-old son.

“I’d always wanted to do a solo show, but I knew I didn’t want to do somebody else’s material,” says Cefalú. Then one midnight he stumbled into his bathroom and began writing a piece about his father. “And it came out in verse, for some reason!” Cefalú laughs.

From there, he continued to obey his muse until he’d collected about a dozen observational pieces. A friend, director Lori Tubert, encouraged him to write more until an entire one-man show had taken shape.

Cefalú fires his wit at multiple targets, including the phenomenon of The Secret, the best-seller from a few years back, and the Facebook craze. “At first I couldn’t believe all the hype about Facebook,” says Cefalú, “And I shrugged it off. As it turned out, I wound up using Facebook to promote my show!”

Vince Cefalu’s “The Secret of 50, Fatherhood and Facebook” performs on Friday and Saturday nights, September 3rd through October 9th at 8:00 p.m. at the Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks 91423. Tickets are $20.00. They can be purchased online at: www.theatermania.com or by calling: 866-811-4111. To RSVP or for more information, call: 818-207-2640.

Samson Koletkar (rear), Joe Nguyen and Dhaya Lakshminarayanan.

Quiz time: Which of these descriptors do not belong with the others? Indian. Vietnamese. Jewish. Stand-up comic? Your answer: None of the above. At least, that’s the case with the Mahatma Moses Comedy tour, which will be making its first foray into Southern California after selling out shows in the San Francisco Bay area.

The tour is the brainchild of Samson Koletkar, “the world’s only Indian-Jewish stand-up comedian.” His tour-mates are Joe Nguyen, a Vietnamese Jew born in Georgia, and Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, a petite “venture capitalist turned stand-up comedienne,” whose last name just took me five minutes to type correctly.

Koletkar arrived in the United States in 2000 with the dot-com boom, and while he toiled as a software consultant, his long-held dreams of becoming a stand-up comic flowered.

“There was no stand-up comedy in India when I was growing up,” he says, “but my family was always very funny. I enjoyed writing plays, and I always found a way to make them funny.”

Koletkar started working open-mic nights and traditional comedy clubs around the Bay Area in 2006. Finding that there wasn’t a niche for the kind of mixed-ethnicity, clean humor he preferred was the inspiration for putting his own tour together. “People never know what they’re going to have to listen to in typical comedy clubs. That’s why we take what we like to call the smarter approach to comedy. The result is a show that appeals to all ages, and all varieties of people.”

The “Mahatma Moses Comedy Tour” will appear at Forum Theatre at El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, California 91601 on Saturday, September 4 at 5:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Recommended for ages 18+. Tickets are $12-$20. Information and reservations are available at www.Mahatma-Moses.com or by calling 415-676-1371.

“My mission in life is to return love to the world,” says the reborn King. “People will get to hear some new music, some old music, some classics, and some songs that get wrapped around the classic Elvis style with a modern-day beat.”

Helping Elrus mount his attack are the Sweet Icings, backup singers and dancers with a lot more eye appeal than the Jordannaires. Hosted by “Big Mike,” the evening also promises special surprises with comic guests Eddie Barojas, Henrietta Komras, and Bethany Dwyer, along with Froy and Matt from truTV’s Operation Repo.

Elrus Pearsley was born at the exact moment Elvis Presley died, so his sequins get a little ruffled when he’s compared to an Elvis ‘impersonator.’ “There’s nothing wrong with impersonators, but I’m the real deal, and that’s the difference. Come on out and see for yourself, baby. Ah, thank you very much.” 

Elrus Pearsley’s “Taking It To the People” show performs at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, 1000 Universal Studios Blvd. #2222, on Monday, August 16th at 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $15, and parking is $3.00. Online Tickets are half price with coupon code “Elrus”. For more tickets and information, go to www.thejonlovitzcomedyclub.com or call 818-824-6545.

René Rivera as Pablo in the World Premiere of The King of the Desert (El Rey del Desierto)

Dreams are like flowers growing up through the cracks of a sidewalk – once they’ve taken root, they’re hard to kill even in the harshest environments. For a young boy growing up in a barrio near San Antonio, Texas, becoming a successful actor might have seemed like a lottery shot. But from early on, René Rivera knew he had to find a way to express himself.

His parents were second-generation Mexican-Americans with an unhappy marriage. “There was a lot of bickering and fighting,” says Rivera, “And that lack of communication and affection filtered down to us kids.” He loved reading and writing poetry, but when he walked into his high school drama teacher’s office, he didn’t even know what acting was. “I just told him I wanted to do what they do in the movies,” Rivera laughs.

Rivera found his calling on stage and his dreams took off, through the prestigious Julliard School, and on to Broadway and into the movies. The story of that journey comes to the stage in a one-man show called The King of The Desert (El Rey del Desierto), written by his wife, Stacey Martino, and directed by Valentino Ferreira. All three are members of the venerable Actors Studio. His parents are proud of their son’s success over the years, and eventually they even become “gentle friends” with each other, as Rivera lovingly puts it.

The play opens on Cinco de Mayo, but more than just a tribute to his ethnic roots, “It’s a tribute to parents everywhere.”

The King of the Desert (El Rey del Desierto) opens at The Chaplin Stage at the El Centro Theatre; 804 N. El Centro Avenue (between Gower Street and Vine Street, just north of Melrose Avenue); Hollywood, CA 90038 on Wednesday, May 5th. Thereafter, performances will be given on Thursdays and Fridays, May 6 – June 11, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. Ten percent of the proceeds from the run of the show will benefit The National Latino Children’s Institute headquartered in San Antonio, TX. Tickets are $15.00 each for General Admission. Tickets for Students, Seniors and Guild Members are $10 each. For reservations and further information please call the Box Office at 323-960-5774 or buy online at www.plays411.com/kingofthedesert.

Hal Holbrook appears as Mark Twain in “Mark Twain Tonight!”

It’s true on a number of levels to say that Hal Holbrook’s one-man show “Mark Twain Tonight!” is the performance of a lifetime. Not only because Holbrook has distilled a lifetime’s worth of Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ writing and humorous commentary into a single evening, but the fact that Holbrook has been doing the show for longer than most people have been alive.
Holbrook first put on Twain’s iconic white suit and wry demeanor in 1954. In the years that followed, the work earned the actor a Tony Award, took him around the world and earned him a reputation as a national treasure. His film career has spanned more than four decades and almost 40 films, including his Oscar-nominated role in 2007’s “Into the Wild,” but “Mark Twain Tonight!” has remained a constant throughout the years. Along the way, Holbrook has so immersed himself in the author’s writings that he’s been able to constantly refresh the show, making Twain’s satirical observations on 19th century life adaptable and relevant even to today’s fast-moving world.
April 21, 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death, but thanks to Holbrook, the man hailed as “the father of American literature” is vividly brought back to life. Holbrook is one of the last great American character actors performing as one of America’s greatest characters, and his appearance at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza – his only one in the Los Angeles area on this tour – is perhaps a last chance to see two American legends at the same time.

“Mark Twain Tonight!” performs Friday, March 19, at 8 p.m. at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza  (2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. in Thousand Oaks). Single tickets are $29 to $69 with group discounts available. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster or the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Box Office.

Taylor Dayne

Taylor Dayne is the kind of performer who just loves to play. She’s sold out huge venues during a career that includes three Grammy nominations for unstoppable earworms like “Love Will Lead You Back” and “Tell It To My Heart,” but she’s also willing to drop in and do a gig that just plain looks like fun. That’s how she finds herself heading into a three-night stand at the Upright Cabaret, an intimate and unconventional venue in Hollywood.
“I went there with a bunch of friends once on a spontaneous night, and I was instantly struck by what a great place it was” said the singer. It also represents some interesting challenges. The pre-recorded tracks and flashy dance moves of her earlier career will be scaled down to simpler interpretations of her favorite songs. More importantly, though, she’ll have a chance to share the stories and memories behind some of her biggest hits. “I was a little girl singing into a hairbrush the first time I heard Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love,” she recalls. “But in 1994, I was performing at the opening of Barney’s in New York, and I had the chance to sing it with Barry himself.” The startled shoppers probably weren’t ready for that, she laughs, “because we rocked that place!”
Dayne’s future plans also include a summer run in an intimate setting in Vegas, followed by a Showtime reality series. Her gig at the Upright Cabaret, though, will see the world-famous pop star transform herself into a storyteller and chanteuse.

 “Taylor  Dayne: Up Close and Upright!” March 19-21, at 10 p.m. (8 p.m. Sunday) at Upright Cabaret, 1714 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles.  Tickets: $30 advance online (www.uprightcabaret.com/events) or $35 at the door (if available). Dinner reservations are made online at time of ticket purchase. Online ticket buyers receive first priority in seating. Table food/drink minimums apply.

Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Sheryl Lee Ralph is not content to just use her voice to sing. The film, TV and Tony-nominated Broadway actress has been an untiring advocate for AIDS/HIV awareness for decades now. Although she’s kept busy over the years with co-starring roles alongside heavyweights like Denzel Washington, Robert DeNiro and Eddie Murphy while at the same time raising two children, she still makes time for a cause she fiercely believes in. “It began when I saw friends of mine dying of this disease while I was in the original cast of ‘Dreamgirls’” she says. “Eventually, the rate of infection in women began matching that in men. And this from a disease that is 100% preventable!”
She found that she was simply unable to sit back and watch as the disease slipped from the front pages and those afflicted with it were seemingly forgotten. In 1990, Ralph founded the DIVA/ AIDS foundation, a non-profit devoted to helping raise awareness and easing the suffering of people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly women and children. This weekend, she has a special treat lined up: she’ll be doing a one-night only cabaret show, “With Love on Valentine’s Day,” as a benefit for the foundation at the Upright Cabaret in Hollywood. This will be a rare chance to get up close to her warm, magnetic personality as she dishes out a selection of her favorite love songs for an intimate audience. “Expect good food, great music and great stories!” she says.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s “With Love On Valentine’s Day” will be held Sunday, February 14th at 8 p.m. at Upright Cabaret (1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046). Tickets are $25 and are available online at www.UprightCabaret.com/Events or at the door (if available).

(L-R): Joshusa Schell, Brick Patrick and Brad Schmidt.

There simply aren’t any scaly, fire-breathing, flesh-and-blood dragons left for an Englishman to slay. To prove oneself a hero, then, a champion capable of taking a stand against an implacable, terrifying foe, is nearly impossible in this modern world. Except, that is, in the world of soul-crushing middle-class British desperation created by Steven Berkoff in his play “West.”
The play is rendered in verse, which Berkoff uses to great effect–adding dashes of Shakespeare throughout to create stark, vivid imagery. Here the dragon takes two forms: The literal one which must be faced by Knight in Shining Armor Mike (Brad Schmidt), a London gang leader, who is the notoriously savage leader of a rival gang (Joshua Schell) who has challenged him to a one-on-one, winner-take-all fistfight to settle the matter of a murdered comrade. Far more pernicious, though, is the dragon of hopelessness that permeates Mike’s existence: From the pointless aggression of his gang buddies, to his forlorn girlfriend (Annie Burgstede), to the long-vanished love of his weak, obstreperous father, there is simply no better place for him to vent his rage than against a brutal, potentially lethal, enemy.
Where the production passes into brilliance is in the deft, agile way that director Bruce Cooper stages the play with nothing more than a handful of chairs and his actor’s gifts. The climactic fight, choreographed by Joe Sofranko, is so effective that you can almost hear noses being crushed and see blood fly. Although Venice’s Electric Lodge Theatre can be tricky to find, this is a production to seek out and be awed by.

“West” performs Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm through February 6th at the Electric Lodge Theatre (1416 Electric Ave., Venice, CA 90291). Tickets are $15 for students and $20 general admission. For reservations, call (310) 823-0710 or go to www.hellion-pictures.com/west.

Diane Namm.

Unlike Charles Dickens’ iconic humbugger Scrooge, Diane Namm is a woman who can sleep well on Christmas Eve knowing she’s gone more than the extra mile to serve her fellow man—especially the children. The native New Yorker, filmmaker, playwright and author of 55 children’s books and young adult novels, is bringing “Mrs. Scrooge,” her adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” to the Edgemar Center for the Arts and the Write/Act Theatre.
“Our goal is for every child in Los Angeles to be able to see live theatre and walk away loving it,” Namm says. With her West of Broadway Theatre Company, she has adapted numerous classic works, turned them into interactive theatre and brought them to young audiences who otherwise might never have been exposed to them. The effects have sometimes been amazing. She tells the story of a group of special needs students at Fremont High School who had been struggling to finish “12 Angry Men” before graduation. Namm brought them to her production at The Los Angeles Theatre Centre and, for two hours, they sat spellbound. The following week, when their teacher had to leave the classroom for a few moments, the teacher came back to find that the students had rearranged their chairs like the jury room in the play, and were vigorously debating the verdict.
“Mrs. Scrooge” promises to engage and delight young audiences with a chance to decide the outcome of Dickens’ classic tale, and even participate in a snowball fight with teen angels.

“Mrs. Scrooge” performs Saturdays at 3 pm and Sundays at 2 pm December 6–20 at the Edgemar Center for the Arts (2437 Main St. in Santa Monica). Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12. The show is also available to school groups during weekdays at Write/Act Theater (6128 Yucca St. in Hollywood). To learn more or for group tickets, go to www.westofbroadway.org or e-mail westofbroadway@gmail.com.

Robbie Jensen

Here in Southern California, you’re probably never more than a mantra away from someone who’s paid good money for a seminar, books, or even an entire course offered by the latest self-help guru du jour claiming to be able to steer the wandering herds of miserable, clueless folks onto a path towards riches, wellness, and happiness – on approved credit, that is.  The self-help industry is ripe for parody and Robbie Jensen, the alter ego of actor/writer Tony Matthews, with help from co-writer Matt Schofield and director Craig Woolson, jumps gleefully into the mix with both feet firmly planted in his mouth.  The one-man show, “Robbie Jensen: The Twelve Steps of Christmas” is now playing at the NoHo Arts Center.
Broken into four segments over the course of a year, Jensen goes from dynamic, relentlessly self-promoting Life Coaching Journeyman to something a bit closer to the bottom of the heap once he finds out that his “perfect marriage” is on shaky ground.  Comparisons to Stephen Colbert are apt in that they both satirize the same sort of blissfully pompous, self-serving egomaniac.  However, while Colbert almost never breaks character, Matthews and Co. let Jensen fall into a morass of “where did I go wrong?” self-therapy in the fourth segment which, unfortunately, tends to blunt the sharp edge of satire that the first segment so deftly establishes.  Nevertheless, Matthews delivers a witty show, bringing audience members onstage as examples and leading group chants to help his followers – “Robbie Rousers,” as they’re known – achieve their own “Superlative LivesTM”