The life of the reunion
Few theatrical effects are harder to bring off than genuine immediacy. This quality saturates Julian Fleisher and Martha Plimpton’s “Together Again! (For the Third Time),” now intoxicating late-night audiences at the Actors’ Gang.
Singer-composer Fleisher has been a Manhattan nightclub supernova for some time; stage and screen star Plimpton has been a cultural axiom since she was 8. This barely explains the disarming authenticity of “Together Again!” Plimpton greets friends on the sidewalk like an arriving ticket-holder instead of one of the headliners. Inside the theater, jazz players tune up against the Ultralounge-flavored house music and rock-tour bustle. Fleisher hovers everywhere, especially in the bar set up at the entrance.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. July 31, 2004 For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday July 31, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction
“Together Again!” -- A review of “Together Again! (For the Third Time)” in Friday’s Calendar section gave an incorrect phone number for reservations at Actors’ Gang Theatre. The number is (323) 465-0566.
“Drink up, people. You’re gonna need it,” Plimpton remarks, repairing her lipstick from her “dressing room” stage right. Strolling through, tuning his guitar, Fleisher notes familiar faces in a crowd that suggests a New Hollywood boite. This deliberately chaotic prelude slides into an insouciant opening theme song medley, done as a tribute to a recently deceased show-biz fixture.
From here to the last encore, “Together Again!” forms a peripatetic cabaret, turning on a clutch of standards, Fleisher’s new songs, a surprise guest (actress Kathleen Wilhoite at the reviewed performance) and unique vitality. Fleisher and Plimpton make an irresistible team, with unerring chemistry, obvious regard and fabulous voices, her delicate belt a perfect fit with his soaring instrument.
They and a top-flight band -- bassist Peter Marshall, guitarist Terry Carter, pianist Bill Fulton, drummer Brett Borges and extraordinary vibraphonist Nick Mancini -- exude a magical rapport, devoid of fakery. That the Gang’s main stage registers as cozy as the originally scheduled El Centro studio venue testifies to director Robert Egan’s unseen hand in maintaining this triumph of intimate spontaneity.
*
‘Together Again! (For the Third Time)’
Where: Actors’ Gang Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood
When: 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays
Ends: Aug. 7
Price: $12
Contact: (323) 465-0556
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
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