IN `PAGLIACCI,' VAN NUYS ACTOR BUSILY JUGGLING CAREERS.Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Staff Writer Actor-juggler James Kirk Ridgley once landed a part in an ice-skating revue revue, a stage presentation that originated in the early 19th cent. as a light, satirical commentary on current events. It was rapidly developed, particularly in England and the United States, into an amorphous musical entertainment, retaining a small amount of without knowing how to ice skate. Now, he can be seen in the L.A. Opera's production of ``Pagliacci,'' which has its last performance at 2 p.m. Sunday. And guess what - he can't sing. ``Here I don't sing and I end up in an opera,'' Ridgley said. ``There must be a bigger plan to all this.'' Ridgley, a Van Nuys resident, appears in director Franco Zeffirelli's updated version of the Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggiero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857- August 9, 1919) was an Italian opera composer. Biography The son of a judge, Leoncavallo was educated at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in his native city, Naples (the date 1858, given for his birth in older histories of opera standard as a juggling clown perched atop a unicycle, one of 150 supporting characters. ``The production looks great,'' the 30-year-old Ridgley said. ``Some people in the cast complained about last-minute changes, but the end result is so much better.'' Ridgley's goal is to become a writer-director, and he has directed at the Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. Theater in the Park and the Westchester Playhouse. He won a directing award at Los Angeles Valley College LAVC redirects here. For the software library, see libavcodec. The university is adjacent to Grant High School. Often called "Valley College" or simply "Valley" by those who frequent the campus, it opened its doors to the public on September 12, 1949, at which time the campus was . ``I'm waiting for the next thing to come along,'' he said. ``I'm hoping to get into the film industry as a writer, yet I keep getting work in film sound production.'' Ridgley also has a comedy juggling act with his actress wife, Susan, whom he met while appearing in that ice-skating revue in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. in 1988. Meanwhile, he's enjoying his bit part in ``Pagliacci,'' which has starred the renowned tenor Placido Domingo Noun 1. Placido Domingo - Spanish operatic tenor noted for performances in operas by Verdi and Puccini (born in 1941) Domingo (Vladimir Bogachov, however, fills Domingo's role at Sunday's performance). The story concerns a comic actor who kills his young wife after a play within a play re-enacts the story of her infidelity. ``The people I work with are a lot more down to earth than you might think,'' Ridgley said. ``There are no divas in this opera.'' |
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