John Richard Petersen News

Musical Theatre West at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, CA opened its 61st season with Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, a musical comedy from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award winning smash hit The Producers. The production, with music and lyrics by Brooks and a book by Thomas Meehan, marks the regional theater premiere of this hilariously tuneful show based on the 1974 smash hit film Young Frankenstein which was a wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelleyclassic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Check out the opening night shows below!

When Happy Days premiered in 2006 at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank it had the subtitle A Family Musical; now it's changed to A New Musical. For obvious reasons, I liked the original version better. We grew to love the Cunninghams on TV as a family and the Falcon depicted their home; in this new production at Cabrillo, the only part of the home on display is the kitchen. This is not to say that the production is not worth seeing, though, for it has a great cast - and the music and dancing and corny comic setups are terribly enjoyable backed by Susan Morgenstern's consistently even pacing as director.

When Happy Days premiered in 2006 at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank it had the subtitle A Family Musical; now it's changed to A New Musical. For obvious reasons, I liked the original version better. We grew to love the Cunninghams on TV as a family and the Falcon depicted their home; in this new production at Cabrillo, the only part of the home on display is the kitchen. This is not to say that the production is not worth seeing, though, for it has a great cast - and the music and dancing and corny comic setups are terribly enjoyable backed by Susan Morgenstern's consistently even pacing as director.

Paul Garman, Producing Executive Director, and Steven Glaudini, Producing Artistic Director of Musical Theatre West, are proud to announce the cast of its production of 1776. 1776 will run July 9-25, 2010 at the beautiful Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

History buffs aside, most people would probably cringe at the thought of sitting through what could be-on the surface-a boring, classroom-like history lesson disguised as a stage musical that runs more than two and a half hours long.But yet, almost immediately, those fearful first impressions wonderfully faded away as soon as the curtain rose to reveal a stage full of men, of varying shapes and sizes, dressed in impeccable 18th-Century period garb.What could have been a long, excruciating theatrical exercise, is instead a riveting, edge-of-your-seat drama with plenty of heart and soul and a generous amount of genuinely comical moments. Musical Theatre West's production of '1776' (with performances running through July 25) is unquestionably brilliant, intensely affecting, and deeply moving-from its rousing beginning to its glorious end.

You say you want a REVOLUTION? Musical Theatre West kicks off the summer and the celebration of the birth of our great nation with its upcoming production of 1776.

You say you want a REVOLUTION? Musical Theatre West kicks off the summer and the celebration of the birth of our great nation with its upcoming production of 1776.

Musical Theatre West is proud to announce the cast of its upcoming production of 1776, running July 9-25, 2010 at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

Paul Garman, Producing Executive Director, and Steven Glaudini, Producing Artistic Director of Musical Theatre West, are proud to announce the cast of its production of 1776. 1776 will run July 9-25, 2010 at the beautiful Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts presents Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott, Directed by Jules Aaron Rolling Hills Estates, California: Jules Aaron directs this Broadway hit mystery drama by Frederick Knott, a masterfully constructed thriller moving from one moment of suspense to another as it builds toward an electrifying, breath-stopping final scene

Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts presents Wait Until Dark by Frederick Knott, Directed by Jules Aaron Rolling Hills Estates, California: Jules Aaron directs this Broadway hit mystery drama by Frederick Knott, a masterfully constructed thriller moving from one moment of suspense to another as it builds toward an electrifying, breath-stopping final scene

BroadwayWorld.com's New and Updated Who's Who Entries for the Week of 12/31/2006. Updates include: Anthony Wayne, Dirk Weiler, John Richard Petersen, Soara-Joye Ross, Larry Hamilton.