The Los Angeles theatre scene is buzzing with the fine work of two of TV's former favorite actors. Megan Mullally (Karen from "Will & Grace") and T.R. Knight (George from "Grey's Anatomy") have been appearing in limited runs of two shows, "The Receptionist" and "Parade" respectively. And for "Angelenos" and fans who have come from all over the country to see them up close, it has been a fun and surprising experience to watch two of their favorites step outside of the territory most familiar to them on TV.

Mullally enjoyed a successful eight-season run on "Will & Grace" for which she won two Emmy Awards. Post hit-show, high profile work quickly called on her. She launched into her own talk show but it faded fast as it didn't connect with audiences. She then returned to Broadway as the bride of Frankenstein in Mel Brooks' musical adaptation of "Young Frankenstein." The show didn't match the same phenomenal success as Brooks' first adaptation, "The Producers." Megan left "Frankenstein" before its official closing to co-star in (the short-lived) half-hour comedy "In the Motherhood" earlier this year. And now, with a block of free time, she's back on the stage - the small LA stage - transforming herself into the office receptionist, Beverly, who puts through everyone's calls and seems to know their professional and personal business. The role came to her after she saw a production at LA's Odyssey Theatre directed by Bart DiLorenzo who is also the founding artistic director of the Evidence Room, an LA theatre company. Even while doing "Will & Grace," she stayed closely associated with the theatre scene at the Evidence Room as an actress and assistant director, and also starred in one of its productions ("The Berlin Circle"). Earlier this year, DiLorenzo presented her with the script to "The Receptionist" and she was up for the challenge. In the 99-seat Equity waiver show, Mullally is hardly recognizable in the role with Beverly's big-framed glasses, frosted wig and slight New England accent. Mullally still manages to find the humor in this dark comedy with tragic consequences and it allows her to dive deeper into character work - creating them from the bottom up, including costume and make-up - to support great storytelling. Fans are surprised and maybe even disappointed to see traces of her character work as Karen Walker, but not Karen they love and miss! Fortunately for them, Mullally has secured the rights from NBC to produce a musical comedy based on the character. Once it's written, tt will mostly like workshop in Los Angeles before taking Mullally back to Broadway.

Part 2 will appear next week.