Ahmanson Theatre News

Rehearsals for RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S Cinderella will begin Thursday, December 6 with preview performances starting January 25 prior to Opening Night on Sunday, March 3. (The previously announced opening date of February 24 turned out to be Oscar Night.) The box office at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway at 53rd St.) will open Monday, December 17 at 10 a.m.

The new musical Kinky Boots, from four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics), will begin preview performances on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 4, 2013. Check out a sneak peek promo for the show below!

MARC ACITO's new play with music or monological, HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE is set to premiere at THE HUB THEATRE on December 7, 2012. The production features ALEX BRIGHTMAN in a one man tour-de-force, and is directed by The Hub's Artistic Director, HELEN PAFUMI. Inspired by his own misspent youth, Acito describes the story as 'just true enough to be embarrassing to my family.' Published in 2004, Acito's novel How I Paid for College won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and was hailed as a New York Times 'Editors' Choice.'

Voting is now underway for the Los Angeles Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below

BWW TV's own Michael Sterling and Jerry Evans of the JLE Media Group, were on hand for the official November 28, 2012 red carpet opening of the new Broadway revival of "Anything Goes," Cole Porter's timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece now on stage at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre through January 6, 2013. Check out interviews with some red carpet arrivals below!

Anything Goes/original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and/Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse/new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman/music & lyrics by Cole Porter/directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall/Ahmanson Theatre/through January 6, 2013

In ANYTHING GOES, when the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set a course to true love...proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, an exotic disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail.

The new Broadway revival of "Anything Goes," Cole Porter's timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece, opens at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre on November 28, 2012 at 8 p.m., and continues through January 6, 2013. In the video below, the cast performs a part of the title number on 'Good Day LA.' Check out the performance below!

In a bi-coastal celebration of the season, internationally acclaimed soprano Lisa Vroman is performing with 150 members of the National Children's Chorus (NCC) and a chamber orchestra in two evening concerts themed "Candlelight" - tonight, November 29 in Los Angeles and Saturday, December 8 in New York.

The Second City scoured their address book to assemble a cast of seven luminary L.A.-based alumni for their hilarious take on the beloved Charles Dickens tale of hope and redemption. The world premiere of The Second City's "A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!" is written by Second City alums, Peter Gwinn (formerly of "The Colbert Report") and Bobby Mort (currently of "The Colbert Report"), and opens tonight, November 29, 2012, at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre. Previews began November 24 and performances will run through December 30.

Michael Weston joins Center Theatre Group's production of the Tony-nominated "Other Desert Cities" by Jon Robin Baitz. Weston joins the previously announced Jeannie Berlin, Robert Foxworth, Robin Weigert and JoBeth Williams. Robert Egan directs the West Coast premiere, which starts previews tonight November 28, 2012, opens December 9 and runs through January 6, 2013.

Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal has set Sunday, December 9 as auditions for the 7th consecutive year of LA's Next Great Stage Star®, it was announced today by producers Michael Sterling and Tony Monsour of Michael Sterling & Associates in Los Angeles, CA. www.msapr.net. For the second consecutive year - author, actress, concert headliner, and arts philanthropist Barbara Van Orden joins Sterling and Monsour by gifting LA's Next Great Stage Star® with the Barbara Van Orden Grant which provides invaluable assistance to production of the annual competition.

The new musical Kinky Boots, from four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics), will begin preview performances on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 4, 2013. In anticipation of the musical's big debut, a new Kinky Boots billboard just went up in Times Square. Click below to watch a time-lapse video of the installation!

Rachel York stars in "Anything Goes" with Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter, Original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton, and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse and New book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman, will play Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre, beginning previews tonight, November 27, opening on November 28 and running through January 6, 2013. The show is directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall.

Voting is now underway for the Los Angeles Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present the eighth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Sam Willmott. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, will be presented by David Hyde Pierce tonight, November 26th from 6-8pm at a by-invitation-only ceremony in the Penthouse Lobby of The American Airlines Theater.

There is a casting change in The Second City's "A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!" presented at the Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre. Ron West will join the cast to play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Joe Flaherty was originally announced in that role but needed to leave the production for personal reasons. The twisted telling of Charles Dickens' holiday classic will open November 29 and continue through December 30, 2012. Previews begin tonight, November 24.

The Blank Theatre's annual holiday production of "The Santaland Diaries" by David Sedaris, now in its fourth year, again stars Paolo Andino and is directed by Michael Matthews. "Santaland" began preview performances on Friday, November 16, and opening night is set for tonight, November 24 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood.