good evening! here’s a first look at cutie T.R. knight in his first project since leaving the cast of grey’s anatomy – mr. knight is starring in the musical parade at downtown los angeles’ mark taper forum! now i love musicals as you all know and i can honestly say this one definitely lands a spot in my top five of all-time – i saw it twice back in NYC in 1998 where it had a short run (85 performances) at lincoln center yet it did manage to garner nine tony award nominations – and won two – for best book & score! (this particular production is based on london’s 2007 donmar warehouse production) the material is quite serious – set in the deep south in 1913 – it’s based on the true story of jewish factory manager leo frank (originally hailing from brooklyn) he became the main suspect in the murder of a young girl named mary phagan who worked at the same pencil factory – the trial became a media sensation and brought strong anti-semitic feelings to the surface in atlanta – although his sentence was commuted due to problems with the trial – sadly he was eventually hanged by a lynch mob – his wife lucille frank stood by her husband and tried to help his case but alas she couldn’t save him in the end (the case was never fully solved) it’s an intense story but the music written by jason robert brown (the book is by alfred uhry) is excellent – i know it by heart – there’s a bunch of amazing songs! since this coming sunday i’m going to see kylie minogue at the hollywood bowl – i’ll be missing opening night (total bummer) but i’ve got tickets to see the show the following sunday with my pal joey – i seriously cannot wait – i’ve been looking forward to this for months now! (i’m also super curious to see how mr. knight handles all the singing – there’s a lot of it – this is a total far cry from playing george o’malley) if you happen to be here in LA – this is one show not to be missed – trust me on this one people! (it’s playing until november 15th) popbytes over & out for tonight … xoxo
PHOTOS | CRAIG SCHWARTZ