There's been a lot of lively reader discussion on my Beehive "Twelfth Night" review thread, so if you want to experience some spirited back-and-forth between local theater types, click away. This Woodward Shakespeare Festival production has two weekends left in its run, and it's been interesting to read what people have to write about the show as the run progresses. Some folks are positive:

I liked this show. I was also there on opening night and there were technical issues, but I thought the acting was good and it was a pleasant evening. All of Woodward's shows have a mixed bag of experienced and inexperienced actors, and Donald picking on the younger men was a tad unfair, but I thought most of the cast knew what they were doing and were having a good time.

Others disagree:

I saw "Twelfth Night" on Thursday last and was disappointed. Not with the new venue--it was lush and inviting and much cooler than the concrete of the amphitheater. I was not disappointed with the acting, sound, or lights, but in the obvious lack of structure or direction. Mr. Thorson calls "Twelfth Night" Shakespeare's most romantic play. I saw no hint of romance. There was little chemistry between any of the actors in the quadrangle (Olivia/Orsino/"Cesario"/Sebastian). I would have liked the director to have taken more time to develop those relationships.

ON THE JUMP: More on "Twelfth Night," a new executive director for the Warnor's Center is named, a Good Company Players veteran stars in a national tour, and is anyone out there as addicted to "Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods" as I?

Back to "Twelfth Night": In another take on things, a Fresno newcomer thinks the criticism is too much:

dang, y'all are harsh on this show. i saw it last night and it had some problems, but for community theatre in 110 degree heat i thought they did pretty well. i felt great chemistry between orsino and viola but i guess if they dont rip each others clothes off folks dont get it. i've just moved to fresno from austin and i don't get the bitchiness of the theatre folk here.

Finally, I am 100% in agreement with the reader who thinks that the walk back to your car after the performance was downright scary. I understand that the lighting inside the theater space has gotten better since opening night; how about the lighting outside?

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ON TO THE WEST COAST: Good Company Players veteran and Roosevelt School for the Performing Arts graduate Andrea Chamberlain has the big, fat juicy lead role of Janet Van de Graaf in the national tour of "The Drowsy Chaperone," and for a limited time, she's (relatively) close to Fresno theater audiences. Chamberlain, who understudied Sutton Foster in the role on Broadway, got offered the part all her own for the national tour. She's playing right now at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center in Los Angeles through July 20, and from there she heads up to San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre for a July 22-Aug. 17 run. She'll also be in Sacramento Oct. 1-12. God knows it must be a bear to step into a role so defined by its well-known star -- the LA Times theater critic kept wanting Sutton Foster, it seems, but other critics have found Chamberlain delightful. I'm planning an interview of my own soon with Chamberlain so we can relive some Fresno memories and tell us all about what it's like to be on a national tour. In the meantime, here's a YouTube look:

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BIG PLANS FOR WARNOR'S? One of the glorious old spaces in Fresno to perform is the Warnor's Theater downtown. It's a grand place to see a live performance, and when I got to see Audra McDonald perform there in a triumphant hometown concert, the setting made it that much more special. Looks like there are some big plans starting to unfold, according to the theater:

The Warnor's Center for the Performing Arts has hired veteran arts producer Ann Vermel as its first Executive Director. Vermel will head up a program that proposes to restore the historic building, revitalize a block in the heart of downtown Fresno and present a broad range of performing arts for Fresno audiences. The project will impact the emerging Cultural Arts District on Fulton Street and make a destination for the North end of the Fulton Mall. Board president Sally Caglia made the announcement at the monthly meeting of the Fresno Coalition for the Arts, Science and History.

Vermel brings a diverse background in arts management and support to the Warnor's. Beginning her career as an actress-singer, she performed on and off Broadway and in regional theaters, produced and directed 55 plays and musicals before leaving the stage to become a producer and arts manager. She has held executive management positions with the Pickle Family Circus, the Hartford (Connecticut) Stage Company, the Globe of America on the Queen Mary, the California Shakespeare Festival in Visalia, the Oberlin Dance Company and the San Francisco Opera. She was Executive Director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts from 1972 to 1977. In addition, she has initiated and operated successful fund raising programs for the University of California Berkeley Libraries, Menlo and De Anza Colleges, and ran her own arts development consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area for 12 years. Vermel has an MFA in Theatre Arts from Fresno State College and an Arts Administration certificate from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. She returned to Fresno, where she recently served as acting Chief Operating Officer at the United Way, in 2002.

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ELLE WITH IT: I am completely caught up in MTV's reality show "Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods," which is putting a group of young women through the paces so that producers can cast the next Elle Woods in the show on Broadway. (Laura Bell Bundy, who originated the role, leaves the show on July 20.) From Playbill.com comes word that the new Elle will get her own single:

Ghostlight Records, the theatre label which recorded the 2007 original Broadway cast recording, will release the single version of "So Much Better" to coincide with the finale of the ongoing MTV reality competition that concludes July 21. The winner of the pre-taped series was determined in March and is currently in rehearsals to make her debut as Elle Woods in the July 23 evening performance at the Palace Theatre.

It's kind of weird to think that the winner has been rehearsing for weeks with the cast. Often reality-show winners have to keep mum between the end of filming and the broadcast of the show, but in this case think of all the people who have to agree to keep their mouths shut. (And Broadway actors love to gossip.) I really like this show because there is actually something at stake beyond pretending to fall in love with Tila Tequila, say. Most reality series give a "title" to the winner or maybe some money, but in this case the prize impacts not only the winner but everyone involved in a hit Broadway musical.

My money is on Autumn, by the way. I think she's the one to beat.