Josh Epstein News

There's just one final week to submit votes for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Vote today to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

We're heading into the final week of voting for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Vote today to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The people have spoken nominations are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

There's just a few weeks left to make your voice heard and submit your votes for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The people have spoken nominations are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

It's December! Voting is now underway for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! Now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized. Check out the first set of stats below.

Voting is NOW OPEN and the first votes are in for the 2019 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The nominees are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatres and performers are recognized!

For playwright Adam Bock's endearing new gay romantic comedy THE CANADIANS---now having its infectiously giddy World Premiere production at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through October 20, 2019---the typical blueprint for the usual girl-meets-boy trope gets a fresh, heady spin and an inspired recast that elevates it higher that your average rom com. Sweet and endearing without having to be too sanitized for a mainstream audience, the play, overall, is simply a winning play that both straight and queer audiences can equally cheer for. Don't be surprised if even you shed a tear or two for its touching, absolutely satisfying climax.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Pasadena Playhouse's Little Shop of Horrors which is now on stage through through October 20!

At its core, the original production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (and the movie adaptation it spawned) unabashedly celebrated its campy outlandishness. But unlike the original source material which was filled to the brim with sassy sight gags, cartoonish mannerisms, and pulp thrills, this new, gloriously reimagined production---now on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse through October 20, 2019 helmed by director Mike Donahue---feels much more grounded in reality and feels much more guided by the emotions of its characters, rather than have them just play second banana to the monstrous plant of excess vying for all the attention. With this pivoted focus, this incredible new production also now requires a cast of performers that can truly showcase that change---and, wow, did they ever find them in this brilliant ensemble!

Pasadena Playhouse's Little Shop of Horrors is now on stage through through October 20! Last night, George Salazar (Seymour) and Mj Rodriguez (Audrey) appeared on The Late Late Show where they performed Suddenly Seymour.

BroadwayWorld has an exclusive first look at Pasadena Playhouse's Little Shop of Horrors which is now on stage through through October 20!

George Salazar, who will soon take the stage in Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour, has some history with this show!

Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theater of California, has completed casting for Little Shop of Horrors which comes to the Playhouse September 17 through October 20; the press opening is September 25.

In the video below hear George Salazar, Seymour in Pasadena Playhouse's upcoming production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, sing the cult classic 'Grow for Me' accompanied by Emily Marshall (Music Director of BE MORE CHILL). 

Today, South Coast Repertory Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Paula Tomei announced the 13 creative dream teams for the 2019-20 season, the first programmed by Ivers. The roughly 100 individuals are among the theatre industry's finest, most creative and versatile talents.

Digital arts journal Stage Raw announces the nominees for its fifth annual Stage Raw Theater Awards, to be held Monday night September 9, 2019, at Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday August 7, 2019. The Stage Raw Theater Awards honor the finest work performed on Los Angeles area stages of 99-seats or fewer, and are selected by a jury of Stage Raw critics. This year's awards celebrate work performed between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.

Pasadena Playhouse announces preliminary casting for Little Shop of Horrors which comes to the Playhouse September 17 through October 20; the press opening is September 25.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director, Lawrence Edelson announced today updated casting and additional events to be featured as part of the company's 2019 Summer Festival, beginning May 25th, 2019 and running through July 14th, 2019.  In addition to the three previously announced productions of The Daughter of the Regiment, the world premiere of Ellen West, and Hansel and Gretel, Opera Saratoga will present a new series of master classes; a community symposium on

To close out its 55th season, Orange County's Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory is mounting David Henry Hwang's intriguing and mysterious play M. BUTTERFLY, using the playwright's much more layered and riveting 2017 Broadway revival as its source material. Marked assuredly by powerful, gripping performances, this admirable OC staging---directed with clarifying precision by Desdemona Chiang that continues through June 8 in Costa Mesa---keeps you at the edge of your seat, as it unpacks a story filled with wobbly uncertainties and vague declarations. A beautifully complex production that echoes sentiments of gender conformity/fluidity crossed with geopolitical issues that still resonate in today's ever-changing world, M. BUTTERFLY---particularly with this strong new update instituted by the original playwright himself---is definitely worth seeing.

Today, JR JR have released their fantastic new single “Low” from the forthcoming double album Invocations / Conversations, due out May 31st on Love Is EZ records. “There are plenty of smarts on the band's new double album” writes Billboard of the upcoming release, and the breezy but danceable melodies that counter relatable lyrics about feeling driftless found on “Low” are no exception. “'Low' is a song written in Los Angeles,” explains JR JR's Josh Epstein, “and is about a fictional musician character. It describes a typical day in the life—going out and networking until it becomes almost robotic. The character is caught in the cycle of monotony and this is the appeal for some meaning. The quest that Neil Young wrote about so long ago, that still goes on today.” This June, the band will play a series of shows in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Ann Arbor. Upcoming dates are listed below.