Chad Struts His Stuff

At Chad Kimball’s Sept. 14 solo gig, presented by Upright Cabaret, one enthusiastic member of the audience, Blank Theatre Company's producer-director Daniel Henning, shared great news with me. The Seattle-born Kimball, acclaimed veteran of several Broadway shows (including The Civil War, Good Vibrations, Lennon), has been cast in the West Coast premiere of Michael John LaChiusa’s musical Little Fish, opening Oct. 9 at Henning’s 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood. The fast-rising Kimball, who won the Back Stage Bistro Award for his New York cabaret debut, wowed the crowd at Mark’s Restaurant with his clever banter, buoyant personality, and stylish crooning of songs--including Stephen Schwartz’s “Lost in the Wilderness” and an enchanting tune from Little Fish. Kimball is probably most widely remembered locally for his hilarious portrayal of the sassy cow Milky White in the Into the Woods revival that played the Ahmanson in 2002 before moving to Broadway--from cow understudy to charismatic cow.  "Milky White" has evolved into a cream-of-the-crop actor-singer, a dynamic young entertainer, who’s a fortuitous addition to the  L.A. performing arena. For more on Kimball, visit www.chadkimball.com .Upright has a lot of dazzling talent coming up in engagements at Mark’s, including Ovations and Garland winner and Broadway luminary, Jennifer Leigh Warren (Sept. 20); the charismatic David Burnham, who starred in The Light in the Piazza (Sept. 22); Reprise’s award-winning musical director Gerald Sternbach (Sep. 28); the stellar team of Shoshana Bean and Jake Simpson (Sept. 30), and a star-studded encore night (Sept. 24) featuring some of the most popular Upright regulars. The group returns to its resident venue, La Boehme Restaurant on Oct. 12. For updated information on Upright, visit http://www.myspace.com/uprightcabaret

--Les Spindle