Willard Manus (born September 28, 1930) is a Los Angeles-based novelist, playwright, and journalist. His original play “Dietrich” just enjoyed a limited Off Broadway engagement at the famed Triad Theatre to packed houses and excellent reviews.

Accompanied by pianist Russell Daisey and starring Cindy Marinangel, “Dietrich” is a based on a true story. Set in May 1960, the play takes place when Marlene Dietrich returned to the Berlin stage for the first time since fleeing the Hitler regime in the 1930’s.

Inside her dressing room at the Tatiana Palast Theater, Dietrich weighs whether to go through with the live performance despite threats on her life by Nazi sympathizers who resent her for having spent much of World War II entertaining American soldiers on the front lines. To them, Dietrich is a turncoat; a traitor who deserves to be shot and killed on stage.

Willard Manus is a playwright, journalist and novelist. He is a member of the playwrights/director’s unit of The Actors Studio. His most recent plays are “Joe and Marilyn: A Love Story,” “Frank and Ava” (now a motion picture) and “Who Killed Comrade Rabbit?” His best known book is Mott the Hoople (1966), the novel from which the British 1970s hard rock band derived their name. Manus was born in New York. He is the author of This Way to Paradise: Dancing on the Tables, a memoir of life in Lindos, Rhodes, Greece, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Additionally he has had a dozen other books published, most recently a young adult novel, A Dog Called Leka, which deals with a young lad sailing the Aegean islands in the company of an exceptional dog. More than two dozen of his plays have been produced in Los Angeles, regionally and in Europe. He has been a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association since 1981.

Cindy Marinangel (Marlene Dietrich) is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio and a graduate of the Chicago Second City Conservatory. Marinangel was recently seen in “Beverly Hills Christmas,” a holiday film starring actor Dean Cain that airs seasonally on UPtv. She is a voice over talent, an avid ballroom dancer, animal advocate and producer of film, theatre and dance shows.

Russell Daisey is an internationally acclaimed pianist, singer and songwriter. He performed at The First Hiroshima International Peace Summit (on stage with the Dalai Lama); the Palais des Congres in Paris; before President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; as well as Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Ellie Wiesel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Betty Williams.

For bookings reviews and inquiries:
https://www.dietrichplay.com/

Works Written by Willard Manus:

Journalism
· Columns

Southern California Correspondent for Playbill On-Line (1995-2000).

Monthly columnist (theatre, opera, books, movies, jazz & blues) What’s Up Magazine &, Lively-Arts.com , Total Theater, The Outlook, Daily News, North-East Newspapers, Pasadena Star News, and many others

Books
· Novels

Love Under Aegean Skies – Amazon E-Book

Mott the Hoople, McGraw-Hill Co & Pinnacle Books – Amazon E-Book

· Fiction

The Fighting Men, Panjandrum Books – Amazon E-Book

The Fixers, Ace Books – E-Book

Connubial Bliss, Panjandrum Books – Amazon E-Book

The Pigskin Rabbi, Breakaway Books – Amazon E-Book

· Children’s

The Island Kids, Anglo-Hellenic Publishing Co (Picture Book)

· Young adult

The Proud Rebel, Ridge Press/Teenage Book Club

Sea Treasure, Doubleday

Mystery of the Flooded Mine, Doubleday

A Dog Called Leka, Viveca Smith Publishing Co – Amazon E-Book

· Non-fiction

This Way to Paradise–Dancing on the Tables, Lycabettus Press

Plays (premiered)
Actual Productions: Bon Appetit (Los Angeles, 1984, director Bert Rosario)

Diamonds (Los Angeles, 1985, director Richmond Shepard)

Hemingway–On the Edge (Los Angeles, 1993, director Lonny Chapman)

In My Father’s House (Los Angeles, 2000, director Jerome Guardino)

Junk Food (Los Angeles, 1981, director Rick Edelstein)

MM at 58 (Los Angeles, 1989, director Gary Guidinger)

The Bleachers

The Deepest Hunger (Los Angeles, 1984, director Lonny Chapman)

The Electronic Lincoln (Los Angeles, 1992, director Susan Deitz)

Their Finest Hour–Churchill and Murrow (Woodstock, director Nicola Sheara)

The Kendo Master (Los Angeles, 1981, director Sab Shimono)

The Last Laugh (Los Angeles, 1999, director John Lant)

The Love Boutique (Los Angeles, 1989, director Walter Olkiewicz)

The Penis Monologues (Los Angeles, 2002, director Louis Fantasia)

The Yard

Man in the Sun

Porkchops

The Call (Los Angeles, 2006, director Gregory Crafts)

Reap the Whirlwind (Los Angeles, 2000, director Doug Lowry)

Walt-Sweet Bird of Freedom (Los Angeles, 1984, director Lonny Chapman)

Central Avenue–The Musical (Los Angeles, 2007, director Louis Fantasia).

“In My Father’s House”

“Berlin Cowboys”

“Bird Lives”

“Prez, the Lester Young Story”

Frank & Ava”

Joe & Marilyn, a Love Story”

“The Life and Loves of Marlene Dietrich:

The Wicked, Wicked, Mae West”

and other plays…..

Television
Boys Will Be Boys, Fox TV.

Secrets of Midland Heights, CBS-TV.

Shannon, CBS-TV.

Too Close For Comfort, ABC-TV.

Translations
Leka de hond (A dog called Leka), translated by Gerrit Brand, Uitgeverij Nobelman, 2012.

With Artistic Regards,

Cindy Marinangel

DietrichPlay.com
CindyMarinangel.com
EternalWaltzFilm.net

“Marinangel’s excellent performance made me catch myself many times thinking that I was watching the ‘real’ Marlene.”
— Petra Schuermann (Germanworldonline.com)

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Top Tips For Having A Safe Playdate

With my kids off from school this week I feel like an air traffic controller, navigating the massive logistics of multiple playdates for my son and daughter. When it’s their best friends it’s comfortable – we know their likes, dislikes and attention spans. But what if it’s a new friend? How well do you know the other family?

While we teach our kids appropriate playdate etiquette, we also need to be assertive with the other parent in communicating what is and isn’t acceptable to you. Whether you’re the host or sending your child to another family’s home, read on for some tips on how to ensure a safe and successful playdate!

Meet in person. If this is an afterschool playdate and you’ve never met the parents, drive your child over to the home rather than taking the bus together. Or, if the playdate is at your house, insist on the child being dropped off so you have a chance to meet the mom.

Who’s In Charge? Determine who will be present during the playdate – is it the mom, a nanny or an older sibling? How comfortable would you feel having a teenage sibling in charge? Do you feel certain that they are capable of handling an emergency? If the mom is there will she be there the entire time or will a babysitter or someone else be taking over? Make sure you have a cell phone number for both the mom and any other caregiver.

Find out about allergies. Be sure to find out if the child has any allergies so you can plan accordingly. If your child is visiting a friend’s home and is younger than 5 years of age, make sure you explain to the parent what foods you consider choking hazards and don’t allow.

Get a picture/take a picture. If your child will be visiting a mall, amusement park or some other public venue, provide the mother with a recent photo of your child in case he gets lost. Likewise, if you are taking another child somewhere, ask for a recent photo to keep with you.

Bring the right equipment. If the play date includes bicycles, scooters or some sort of riding toy, bring along your child’s helmet which has been fit specifically for him.

Are there dogs in the home? Even the friendliest dog can bite if a child goes near their food or pulls on their tail. Find out if there are pets in the home and where they are kept. Explain your concern and ask if the animal might be kept away during the play date.

Ask if there is a gun in the home. Your child might never have seen or touched a gun but if one is in sight you don’t know what he or she might do. If there is a gun at a friend’s home you might consider moving the play date to your house.

Bring along the car seat or booster seat. If your child will be traveling in another car during the play date, install his car seat yourself. Over 80% of car seats are installed improperly.

Every parent has different rules and ideas so make sure you clearly communicate your beliefs and help your child have a safe and fun play date.

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