BELLE HOP Lauren Kennedy in Good Ol' Girls (photo: Carol Rosegg).

INSIDE INK

By John Rowell

YOU GO, ‘GIRLS’

Prepare to be knocked out by the arrival of some smooth, sexy, trash-talking, fun-loving, rip-roaring Southern gals in the new musical Good Ol’ Girls, which has just hit town at The Black Box Theatre at The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre on West 46th Street. A bonanza of talent has gone into the making of this charmer: two of North Carolina’s most acclaimed fiction writers, Jill McCorkle and Lee Smith, authored the stories that form the book (the adaptation is by Paul Ferguson) and Nashville hit-makers Matraca Berg and Marshall Chapman are the songwriters, with Randal Myler directing a cast that includes such proven vets as Sally Mayes, Teri Ralston, Lauren Kennedy, Liza Vann and Gina Stewart. Let’s call it a musical about love, loss and laughter, which celebrates childhood through old age... with big hair and bigger hearts. These are my people, and I’m there! I just hope they’ll be selling barbeque, Brunswick stew and Pabst Blue Ribbon in the lobby. For more info, visit www.goodoldgirls.com.

 

‘LIFE’ LESSONS

Another new musical, quite different in tone, opens next week (Feb. 25) at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre on West 63rd Street. It’s called Signs of Life, and it’s described as an exploration of life in the Jewish artists’ ghetto created by the Nazis in the Czech town of Terzin during World War II. Hitler’s propaganda machine called it “A City for the Jews,” and it was populated by prominent artists, composers, scientists and scholars of Europe. Hidden from the watchful eyes of their captors, the artists created secret pictures and writings, which were concealed and smuggled out to alert the world to what was really happening. A true story of love, defiance and the power of art, Signs of Life is written by Peter Ullian (book), Len Schiff (lyrics) and Joel Derfner (music), and Jeremy Dobrish is the director. Amas Musical Theatre and Snap-Two Productions are the co-producers. For more info on the show, visit www.amasmusical.org.

 

LEADING LADIES

It’s always a great opportunity to get to hear the movers and shakers in the theater talk about what they do and how they do it. And in the case of the next Drama Desk Panel Discussion, the first of the 2009-10 theater season, it will be ladies only, on the subject of Women At Work: Directing and Writing for the Theater. The panel discussion takes place on Feb. 25 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the BMI offices on West 57th Street, and scheduled to be on the dais that evening are the writers Christina Anderson, Annie Baker (author of my favorite play of the season, Circle Mirror Transformation) and Sheila Callaghan, as well as the directors Karen Carpenter, Pam McKinnon and Susan H. Schulman. Reservations are a must, and will be taken first-come, first-served at PJRJS@aol.com. 

 

STEPS ALONG THE WAY

They are legends in the worlds of dance and musical theater, and legendary status most certainly fits people who have reached the age of 90 are still out there practicing their art and not letting anything slow them down. I’m talking about Marge Champion and Donald Saddler, who were last seen together in the 2001 revival of Follies, an appearance that capped two extraordinarily successful and separate careers as dancers, teachers and choreographers. Now this fascinating pair of friends and artists are the subject of a new film, Keep Dancing, by Douglas Blair Tumbaugh and Greg Vander Veer, which will receive a special screening at Queens College Le Frack Concert Hall on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. For anyone interested in the dance, the theater and how to live an incredible, gutsy life into old age, it’s a must. For tickets and info, visit http://kupferbergcenter.org/keep_dancing.htm.

 

WE’LL HAVE NUN OF THAT

I mean to say, we’ll have all of that, especially given that the author in question is Charles Busch, and I’d go see anything he puts on stage or screen. La Busch’s latest is called The Divine Sister, which finds our fearless actor/playwright/drag diva paying outrageous comic homage to nearly every Hollywood film involving nuns. Evoking such movies as The Song of Bernadette, The Bells of St. Mary’s, The Singing Nun and Agnes of God, The Divine Sister tells the story of St. Veronica’s indomitable Mother Superior (Mr. Busch, of course) who is determined to build a new school for her Pittsburgh convent. Trials and tribulations along the way, naturally. But she has divinity on her side — in all its forms. Performances take place in a limited engagement at Theater for the New City now through March 7. Carl Andress directs. For more info, call 212-352-3101.