Davis Gaines News

Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF's building may be closed but that hasn't stopped its creative reinvention of how the show must go on. Each week, actors from past productions are featured in 'throwback' videos on the company's Facebook page. Actors are submitting their own fresh takes of their previous performances from living rooms and backyards following stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series of videos are a peek into the life of an actor while the country is on lockdown and a celebration of the undaunted spirit of the artist.

In this episode, Ben and Daniel discuss the 1982 concert 'Showstoppers: The Best of Broadway.' The evening is hosted by Tom Bosley and features Broadway favorites such as Ethel Merman, Barry Bostwick, Susan Browning, Len Cariou, Nell Carter, Diahann Carroll, Carole Demas, David Haskell, Glynis Johns, Donna McKechnie, Robert Morse, Pamela Myers, Stephen Nathan, Jerry Orbach, Anthony Perkins, Debbie Reynolds, Alexis Smith, and Ray Walston.

He's been called 'a breathtaking concert artist' ('The New York Post') with a 'quietly charming sense of humor.' ('The Orange County Register'). On January 15 and 16 at 7 p.m., Davis Gaines brings both qualities to the Carpenter Center's stage for two nights of storytelling and song. 'An Evening with Davis Gaines' is part of the theater's Cabaret series where patrons are seated directly on the Carpenter Center stage for an up-close cabaret experience.

Two Variety show on consecutive nights in Midtown Manhattan are still taking NYC by storm every week, and it's all due to the hosts who created them

Cal State Fullerton's production of a?oePicnica?? by William Inge and directed by Eve Himmelheber runs from November 15 a?" December 8, 2019 in the Young Theatre on campus. A small Kansas town in the 1950s is the setting for this bittersweet melodrama. On a sweltering Labor Day morning, the women of a quiet, working-class neighborhood are preparing for the annual picnic when charming young drifter Hal Carter hops off of a freight train and into their lives. Hearts are broken and lives are changed, as Hal's dangerous energy challenges the restrictive mid twentieth-century American values of this sleepy community.

Musical Theatre West (MTW) opens its 67th season with the West Coast regional theatre premiere of the 10-time Tony nominated musical Something Rotten! at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center October 18 a?" November 3.  From the co-director of The Book of Mormon and the producer of Avenue Q comes a no-holds-a?oeBarda?? deliciously loopy celebration of the greatest English playwright and the greatest American art form.   Music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Wayne Kirkpatrick and Golden Globe and Tony Award nominee Karey Kirkpatrick and book by Tony Award nominees Karey Kirkpatrick and best-selling author John O'Farrell.

Award winning Book Writer/Lyricist, Stephen Cole, announces the Debut of two Musical theater creations, 'Merman's Apprentice' written with David Evans; and 'Casper the Friendly Musical, ' written with Matthew Martin Ward. 

The Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center unveils the 2019-20 season featuring a captivating collection of music, dance, comedy, speakers and family shows across five different performance series

The Executive Director of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Megan Kline Crockett, unveils the 2019-20 season featuring a captivating collection of music, dance, comedy, speakers and family shows across five different performance series: Wit & Wisdom, Dance, WOW!, Sunday Afternoon Concert, and Cabaret. Located on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, the Carpenter Center launches its 25th anniversary season on Saturday, September 21, 2019. New series subscriptions are on sale now with single tickets on sale starting May 21, 2019. The Carpenter Center showcases a dazzling array of talent every year, enriching the Cal State Long Beach campus and the Southern California community, says Executive Director Megan Kline Crockett. We're inviting back some of our favorite performers for our 2019-2020 season as well as welcoming extraordinary artists new to our stage who reflect the broad cultural landscape of Southern California. As we begin our 25th anniversary season, we renew our commitment to celebrate wonder, diversity, and exceptional artistic achievement today and for the next 25 years. Find all the upcoming events from the new season below, along with artist links and date information.

The Ojai Playwrights Conference is announcing the company of performers and playwrights for their annual Gala Benefit, a farm-to-stable celebration to be held on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at Aspen Grove Ranch, a stunning private ranch in upper Ojai. 

As I'm going through all my Gypsy CDs (yes, to ensure I have them all either on my hard drive or accessible in the cloud, before throwing them out), I'm finding myself weirdly most drawn to Tyne Daly's recording, from her Tony-winning performance in the 1989 revival. The thing is I know Tyne Daly, I mean I know her work. She's been a familiar and distinctive presence on stage and screen for as long as I can remember and I even have a few musical theater recordings featuring her singing, but hers is not a singing voice I live with on a LITERALLY daily basis like, say, Ethel Merman's, Angela Lansbury's, Bette Midler's, Bernadette Peters's or Patti LuPone's. So to me, Tyne Daly's Rose is a unique sound that I can only identify with Tyne Daly's Rose and, therefore, a character. For today, that's the Gypsy I most feel like listening to.

Actress/singer par excellence Rebecca Spencer has delighted audiences on Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde and played Madame Giry in Phantom in Las Vegas. Since 2014 when she moved to Los Angeles, she has performed her exquisite cabaret and done at least 3 shows for Musical Theatre West (MTW) in Long Beach: The Music Man, S'Wonderful, and Mary Poppins. She will open March 30th in their new production of Catch Me If You Can. Spencer took time out of a busy rehearsal schedule to talk about her role in the show and about her illustrious theatrical career thus far.

Lauded Broadway and recording artist Telly Leung will be bringing this cabaret show SING HAPPY for one-night-only to Vitello's March 18, 2019. SING HAPPY will include songs from Telly's various musical roles, tunes from his vocal idols, and some simply for personal significance.

The Delray Beach Playhouse announces an exciting, special engagement for one night only on March 2nd, LAURA HODOS & SHELLEY KEELOR SING THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK COLLECTION with Music Director, Caryl Fantel.

After more than a decade at the Garden Theatre, Rob Winn Anderson will retire as Artistic Director at the end of the 2018-2019 season. A national search for Anderson's successor will begin in February 2019.

The Delray Beach Playhouse announces an exciting, special engagement for one night only on March 2nd, LAURA HODOS & SHELLEY KEELOR SING THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK COLLECTION with Music Director, Caryl Fantel.

Oliver!/book. lyrics and music by Lionel Bart/ based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist//directed by James A. Rocco/choreographed by Hector Guerrero/musical director: Ryan O'Connell/MTW (Musical Theatre West)/The Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Long Beach/through February 24 Oliver! is a devilishly fine musical by Lionel Bart who wrote the book, music and lyrics without collaboration. It's an uplifting story of an abused orphan who learns how to survive in 19th century London with the help of acquaintances from both sides of the track. Currently onstage via MTW at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach, the musical boasts a superb cast headed by Davis Gaines as Fagin and 15 delightful and talented child actors.

Michael Childers' star-studded musical production of One Night Only Broadway Showstoppers will be presented on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 @ 6:30pm, at the McCallum Theatre. This year's show benefits Barbara Sinatra Children's Center. In SHOWSTOPPERS, twenty celebrated performers will come together for an evening of all your favorite songs from the greatest musicals. One Night Only will be directed by famed Broadway choreographer and director Larry Fuller, with music direction by Christopher Marlowe.

Consider yourself at home at Musical Theatre West's (MTW) production of Lionel Bart's Tony Award-winning musical Oliver! at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center February 8-24. Tickets are on sale now at www.musical.org, by calling (562) 856-1999, or at the MTW Box Office. Tickets start at $20.