Ed Krieger News

Funnylady MaryPat Donovan has been playing Sister for almost 20 years in her Late Nite Catechism, and it has spawned five sequels. The latest entitled Sister's Easter Catechism is full of silly, gossipy, laugh-out-loud anecdotes, mixing in popular secular issues with religion via totally clean humor... all of which will obviously mean more to you if you were brought up a catholic and understand the implications. All those rules and regulations were enough to turn a person off ... and its insistence on total commitment/abstinence... oy! Is Christmas or Easter the most important holiday?, queries Sister. Christmas is surely more alluring with Santa and all the presents; Easter - despite the bunny and copious candy - offers suffering, death and resurrection, making it less appealing but more symbolic of what Catholicism is all about. Christ's death and eventual Resurrection explain the reason for His renowned birth. It doesn't have to make total sense; nothing in Catholicism is necessarily logical. Now onstage at the Laguna Playhouse, MaryPat Donovan is once more a thoroughly engaging nun, who not only entertains but makes us think about our purpose in life.

It's the year of The Artist and a return to the era of silent film in all its glamor, glory and art. Yes indeed, it's fun to look back and appreciate the way things were. Now onstage at the Macha Theatre in WeHo Sharon Michaels' Whodonit Sidetracked takes us back to the early 50s and the Golden Era of movies when train travel still held appeal and excitement, and people were genuinely intrigued by movie stars and show biz. Set at Union Station in Los Angeles, Sidetracked pokes fun at those looking to stay forever young, at second-rate PIs, who became more popular than the intriguing clients they served and at Hollywood in general. With a fine cast, Sidetracked is a cleverly written and amusing entertainment.

Rolly is a typical kid whose boring summer vacation turns into a terrific adventure when he stumbles on the past and ends up in 10th Century France. There he encounters Princess Aurora, a feisty 12 year old girl who longs to be a knight and travel the world. Aurora's parents don't let her leave the castle walls because of a secret curse that was put on her when she was born. Despite all their protection, Aurora pricks her finger on a spindle and the curse comes to pass - she sleeps for a thousand years. Rolly, back in the present, finds the sleeping Aurora and wakes her up. The two friends are reunited and Aurora gets to discover the world outside the castle at last!

CoActive Content, Stacey Martino, Founder/Artistic Director, and American Latino Theatre Company, David Llauger-Meiselman, Artistic Director, will present a new co-production of the critically acclaimed play, 'The King of the Desert,' written by Stacey Martino, performed by René Rivera, and helmed by award-winning director, Sal Romeo, all Studio Lifetime Members of The Actors Studio.

CoActive Content, Stacey Martino, Founder/Artistic Director, and American Latino Theatre Company, David Llauger-Meiselman, Artistic Director, will present a new co-production of the critically acclaimed play, 'The King of the Desert,' written by Stacey Martino, performed by René Rivera, and helmed by award-winning director, Sal Romeo, all Studio Lifetime Members of The Actors Studio.

Reprise Theatre Company's production of the classic American musical 'Cabaret,' which opens the 2011-2012 Reprise season and plays September 13 to 25 (press opening September 14, 2011) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, includes a cast of new talents as well as Broadway and West End veterans - Zach Bandler as Ernst Ludwig, Lisa O'Hare as Sally Bowles, Jeff McLean as Cliff Bradshaw, Katrina Lenk as Fräulein Kost, Mary Gordon Murray as Fräulein Schneider, Robert Picardo as Herr Schultz and Bryce Ryness as the Master of Ceremonies.

The cast of Engaging Shaw features Rod Brogan (George Bernard Shaw), Natalie Gold (Beatrice Webb), Angela Pierce (Charlotte Payne-Townshend) and Michael Warner (Sidney Webb).

2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love, most known for her Phil Spector recordings of 'He's a Rebel' and '(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home,' plays Motormouth Maybelle and is one of four cast members performing roles they played in the Broadway company of HAIRSPRAY. She celebrated a birthday on July 26th, and her cast members were there to help her celebrate - check out photos below!

If you love ethnic comedies like My Big Fat Greek Wedding or more specifically comedies about Italians such as Buon Natale or Moonstruck, you will love Moose on the Loose, now getting a world premiere engagement at Theatre West. It boasts comedically keen direction and a cast as tightly knit as the Italian clan they are portraying. Adding to the appeal is the setting. These Italians live smack dab in the hinterlands of Canada, so if the Italian jokes aren't enough to whet your appetite, the Canadian jabs surely will. Politically correct? Hardly! Hysterically funny? You bet!

Music, passion, madness, and one woman's fight for her right to a career. The intense relationships between Robert Schumann, his wife Clara Schumann and the young Johannes Brahms come to theatrical life in a new romantic drama by playwright and renowned concert pianist, Israela Margalit. This U.S premiere follows a five-year, sold-out run throughout Russia and Ukraine.

Music, passion, madness, and one woman's fight for her right to a career. The intense relationships between Robert Schumann, his wife Clara Schumann and the young Johannes Brahms come to theatrical life in a new romantic drama by playwright and renowned concert pianist, Israela Margalit. This U.S premiere follows a five-year, sold-out run throughout Russia and Ukraine.

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week, or you're just in the mood for a recap of everything theatre, BroadwayWorld's ‘This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end of the week fix.

William Atherton, Matt Cavenaugh, Lisa O'Hare, Millicent Martin and Jason Graae are the acclaimed film, Broadway and West End stars who will lead the cast of Reprise Theatre Company's second production of the 2010-2011 season, 'Gigi', playing February 15 to February 27, 2011 (press opening February 16, 2011) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. The musical - with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe -- will be directed by veteran musical theatre director David Lee, with choreography by Peggy Hickey and musical direction by Steve Orich.

Gerald McCullouch CSI and Dan Via reprise the roles they created in the West Coast premiere of Via's Off Broadway hit play. When 'golden boy' Colin falls for a man half his age, his relationship with best friend Stew is put to the test. DADDY offers a provocative, humorous, and sometimes dark look at love, loyalty, and the consequences of living in a culture without marriage equality. 'Via has written a play that maps the human heart... McCullouch is a revelation!' - Show Business Weekly

Broadway Worlds brings you exclusive productions photos from the Fountain Theatre production of Athol Fugard's THE TRAIN DRIVER, starring Morlan Higgins and Aldolphus Ward.

Jason Alexander, Artistic Director of Reprise Theatre Company and Stephanie J. Block, Broadway star of '9 to 5: The Musical,' 'Wicked,' 'The Pirate Queen,' and 'The Boy From Oz,' will star in 'They're Playing Our Song,' the opening production of Reprise Theatre Company's 2010-2011 season, playing September 28 to October 10 (press opening September 29) at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.

On the weekend of August 6-8, the infamous 17,000-seat Hollywood Bowl plays host to a forcibly-scaled-up version of Jonathan Larson's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT, directed by none other than Neil Patrick Harris. Harris' challenge-besides honoring a beloved show as well as living up to his stunt casting choices-was to take a relatively-intimate rock musical about financially-strapped bohemians living in the less-than-luxurious Lower East Side enclave of New York City and expand it on the massive stage entrenched in the Hollywood Hills. The results-a mixed bag of technical gaffes, surprisingly excellent performances, and a few disappointments-prove to be admirably and genuinely entertaining overall.

RENT, written by Jonathan Larson, will be performed at the Hollywood Bowl for three performances only, Friday and Saturday August 6 and 7 at 8:30pm, and Sunday August 8 at 7:30pm. Neil Patrick Harris will direct the production, with musical direction by Tim Weil and choreography by Jamal Sims. The cast includes Skylar Astin, Wayne Brady, Vanessa Hudgens, Telly Leung, Collins Pennie, Nicole Scherzinger, Tracie Thoms, and Aaron Tveit.

The Katselas Theatre Company continues its 2010 Season with the World Premiere of 'The Jesus Hickey,' a modern day fable about the seduction of celebrity. Written and directed by Luke Yankee, the production stars acclaimed film/television/stage actor Harry Hamlin. Producing is Gary Grossman. The production premieres Saturday, June 12 at the Skylight Theatre in Hollywood.

Los Angeles Ovation Award nominee CISSY CONNER stars as Katharine Hepburn in TEA AT FIVE which will end its run May 2, 2010 at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Center in North Hollywood, CA, it was announced today by Producer Mary Todhunter of RBI Productions in Los Angeles.