Joan Almedilla News

Goodspeed Musicals continues its commitment to innovative, thought-provoking new works with inspiring new musical Passing Through, based on the book Walking to Listen by Andrew Frosthoefel.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature Hugh Jackman's DEAR EVAN HANSEN Solo, Lea Michele's THE LITTLE MERMAID, SPONGEBOB on Tour and More!

The new comedy musical Supportive White Parents, a 2019 Fringe Scholarship recipient, will play five performances in the Festival at the Broadwater Black Box, it was announced today. With book and lyrics by Joy Regullano, music by The Sam & Tony Show, music direction by Tony Gonzalez, choreography by Ally Vega, and under the direction of Frank Caeti, the running schedule will be Sunday 6/9 at 5:30pm; Sunday 6/16 at 9:30pm; Wednesday 6/26 at 10pm; Friday 6/28 at 5pm; Sunday 6/30 at 11am. Running time will be 30 minutes.

East West Players' Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai sharply directs his en pointe cast in a crowd-rousing production of non-stop Abba hits, the most joyous MAMMA MIA! Choreographer Preston Mui has created intricate, very FUN dance routines, deftly executed by all. Joan Almedilla as Donna Sheridan and Grace Yoo as her daughter Sophie - take this production to another celestial level.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest-running professional theater of color and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, is pleased to announce the cast and creative team for award-winning Broadway musical Mamma Mia! With music and lyrics by Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus, and book by Catherine Johnson, Mamma Mia! is directed by East West Players' Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai, musical direction by Marc Macalintal, and choreography by Preston Mui. Mamma Mia! begins performances on May 9th and runs through June 9, 2019, with opening night on May 16, 2019.

As with each passing season, 2018 proved to be another exceptional year for theater not only in Souther California in general but also in Orange County---my home base. This year, the OC finally welcomed the debut of what has become this century's most awarded and most renowned stage musical ever about the Founding Father etched regally on the 10 dollar bill. Meanwhile, So. Cal. enjoyed a powerful surge of new stage works that explored Asian-American experiences, a positive step forward in the presentation of diverse voices we seldom hear from on the stage. A pair of touring musicals---both opening in the O.C. in early 2019---made such an impact in their Los Angeles engagements for me personally that I had to include them in my list, even though I have not 'officially' reviewed the productions for print. With that said, here is my 'Best of 2018' from Orange County and adjacent locales nearby---a mixture of outstanding shows and brilliant performances that made a lasting, memorable imprint in my theatergoing experience this year.

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

America's Got Talent's Jeffrey Li made his musical theater debut in the developmental reading of Lainie Sakakura (producer/book) and Paul Fujimoto's (music/lyrics) CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, a musical adaptation of The New York Times Best Selling novel, HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford at The Playroom Theater in New York on September 17.

A book detailing the histories of Filipino American theater groups and artists is now available. Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater History includes information on Tony Award winners such as Lea Salonga (Actress in a Musical for Miss Saigon), Clint Ramos (Costume Design for Eclipsed), Lena Hall (Featured Actress in a Musical for Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and Robert Lopez (Music for Avenue Q and Book of Mormon).

There's no escaping it - this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has not aged well. Bartlett Sher's brilliant production of THE KING AND I has arrived in Toronto at Mirvish's Princess of Wales Theatre. While the cast does an exceptional job revitalizing the work, they can't escape the problematic cultural themes that form the structure of this beloved musical. 

With sets, colors, and costumes setting the tone, THE KING AND I playing at the San Diego Civic Theatre through July 1st is a richly hued journey into the exotic.

BWW Review of The King and I at Popejoy Hall

Ambassador Theatre Group and NETworks Presentations LLC announce that the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE KING AND I will make its Albuquerque premiere at Popejoy Hall for 6 performances June 20 - 24, 2018 as part of the Popejoy Presents and Haverland Carter Broadway in New Mexico series. To purchase tickets, visitunmtickets.com, popejoypresents.com, call 505-925-5858, or visit the UNM Ticket Offices at the UNM Bookstore and Dreamstyle Arena (The Pit). Ticket prices start at $45.

The national tour of the 2015 Tony Award-winning revival of THE KING AND I, now brightening the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester, is a perfectly respectable production. The timeless and soaring Rodgers and Hammerstein score is beautifully sung and impeccably played by the 16-piece orchestra, and design elements (especially Catherine Zuber's elegant period costumes) effectively juxtapose the traditions of 1860s Siam against the encroaching modernization of the. But something is off balance in this Bartlett Sher directed re-visioning. The women, not the King, rule.

Like the steamboat that chugs into the harbor in its opening scene, THE KING AND I keeps arriving right on time, taking a whole new passenger's list of people to an exotic land. Some of the passengers arrive at the boat's port of call, the Ohio Theatre (located on 39 East State Street in downtown Columbus) for the first time; others have made the journey time and time again.

Between the classic score, phenomenal talent, lavish costumes, and stunning sets, Rogers and Hammerstein's The King and I is most certainly "something wonderful".