Josh Adamson News

It used to be, in days gone by, that hit Broadway shows would be made into movies; now, it's the reverse. With a dearth of ideas for Broadway musicals, the trend lately has been to turn to the big screen and revamp a popular film for the stage, adding song and dance. Such was the case with 9 to 5 and later Legally Blonde engendering quite a bit of success. Those two had female stars at the core, so it's high time a male got some attention. Voila! Catch Me If You Can has a quirky real-life story about an anti-hero Frank Abagnale Jr. (Jacob Haren) who in the 60s was called the Johnny Appleseed of fraud. The outstanding creative team of book writer Terrence McNally and musical wizards Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman took an old idea and created an entertainingly fresh showcase around it. The resultant Catch Me If You Can which received several Tony Award nominations in 2012 - one win for Norbert Leo Butz as Best Featured Actor playing Agent Carl Hanratty - is now playing in its West Coast regional premiere in Vista at the Moonlight Amphitheatre with Josh Adamson essaying Hanratty.

Moonlight Stage Productions' 34th summer season comes to a triumphant close with the Southern California Regional Premiere of the Tony Award-nominated musical CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, based on the hit film of the same name that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Performances are September 10 to 27.

Moonlight Stage Productions' 34th summer season comes to a triumphant close with the Southern California Regional Premiere of the Tony Award-nominated musical CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, based on the hit film of the same name that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Performances are tonight, September 10 to 27.

Moonlight Stage Productions' 34th summer season comes to a triumphant close with the Southern California Regional Premiere of the Tony Award-nominated musical CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, based on the hit film of the same name that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Performances are September 10 to 27.

The Best in LA Theatre for 2013

Aladdin and His Winter Wish/written by Kris Lythgoe/directed by Bonnie Lythgoe/Pasadena Playhouse/through December 29 For a few years the prolific Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, first at the El Portal in NoHo and now at the Pasadena Playhouse with a British style panto. A panto is an interactive entertainment that starts with a very contemporary retelling of a fairy tale such as Snow White, Cinderella, or in this case Aladdin and turns it into a fun imaginative show with music that will appeal to both children and their parents. There's usually an actor in drag (outrageous Bruce Vilanch as the Widow Twankey, Aladdin's mother), a villain (Josh Adamson as Abanazar) and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and HISS loudly at the villains. Actors such as Adamson tease the audience with a Mel Brooks-like phrase 'It's fun to be evil!' after which kids and adults boo and boo some more and even raise up props such as swords and other toy weapons in defense of their favorite hero. It's all in amusement, of course, and this year's Aladdin and His Winter Wish is by far the best show to date with a superlative cast, great special effects, some spectacular dancing and singing and an overall jolly good script by Kris Lythgoe that flows along without the slightest snag.

La Miranda Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present the second production in its 2013-1014 season of shows, the Tony & Pulitzer Prize Award-winning play, RABBIT HOLE, written by David Lindsay-Abaire and directed by Michael Matthews. RABBIT HOLE had a press opening on Saturday, October 26 and runs through Sunday, November 17, 2013 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Check out the opening night photos below!

Woo-Hoo! Thanks to OC's 3-D Theatricals, Southern California wasn't deprived of a revival of FUNNY GIRL after all. And, gosh, to top it off, they've even managed to find a Fanny Brice audiences can genuinely admire: Broadway and MAD TV alum Nicole Parker. This admirable new production of the classic Jule Styne/Bob Merrill musical plays the Plummer Auditorium through September 22 then moves to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for performances on September 27-29.

Actress Nicole Parker is onstage two more weekends as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl in Fullerton, through September 22 and in Redondo through September 29.

The Pasadena Playhouse and Lythgoe Family Productions (LFP), announced today the principal casting for ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH, starring Ben Vereen (Broadway's Pippin and Jesus Christ Superstar) as “The Genie,” Jordan Fisher as “Aladdin” (Disney's Teen Beach Movie), Ashley Argota as “The Princess” (Nickelodeon's True Jackson VP) and Richard Karn (“Home Improvement”) as “The Sultan.”

3-D Theatriclas presents Funny Girl Sept 6 - Sept 22, 2013 at the Plummer Auditorium, and Sept 27 - Sept 29, 2013 at Redondo Beach. Funny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway, film star and comedienne Fanny Briceand her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. Its original title was My Man.

Funny Girl/book by Isobel Lennart; music by Jule Styne & lyrics by Bob Merrill/directed by Michael Matthews/3D Theatricals/through September 22 at Plummer Auditorium, Fullerton/September 27-29 at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Redondo Beach

Funny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway, film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. Its original title was My Man. Check out the photos from opening night below!

Do you have holiday burn out? Don't we all! Even though the holidays are at an end, here I am still talking about the holiday-themed song I recently released, 'Just in Time For Christmas' with lyrics by David Zippel and music by David Friedman. So bare with me. You can't imagine all of the obstacles that were in my way since the idea was hatched in September. But recording this single was a true labor of love and I could not have done without a few exceptionally talented friends. So in keeping with the holiday spirit, I'd like to tell you who they are and what they did to bring this recording and video to all of you.

San Diego Musical Theatre has announced that Broadway star, Eric Kunze (Les Mirserables, Miss Saigon, Damn Yankees) will now play the title role of Joseph in the first production of its 2011-2012 season of shows, the San Diego premiere of the Megamix version of, the seven-time Tony nominated musical, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice, musical direction by Don LeMaster, choreography by Johnny Dean Harvey & Chad Everett Allen and directed by Ron Kellum (who starred on Broadway in JOSEPH).

San Diego Musical Theatre will present the first production of its 2011-2012 season of shows, the San Diego premiere of the MegaMix version of, the seven-time Tony nominated musical, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice, musical direction by Don LeMaster, choreography by Johnny Dean Harvey & Chad Everett Allen and directed by Ron Kellum (who starred on Broadway in JOSEPH). JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT will preview on Friday, September 23, 2011 and will open on Saturday, September 24 and run through Sunday, October 9 at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, 79 Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego.

San Diego Musical Theatre has announced that Broadway star, Eric Kunze (Les Mirserables, Miss Saigon, Damn Yankees) will now play the title role of Joseph in the first production of its 2011-2012 season of shows, the San Diego premiere of the Megamix version of, the seven-time Tony nominated musical, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice, musical direction by Don LeMaster, choreography by Johnny Dean Harvey & Chad Everett Allen and directed by Ron Kellum (who starred on Broadway in JOSEPH).