T.J. Dawson News

Based on the hit motion picture, 3-D Theatricals of Orange County, California puts its award-winning spin on The Full Monty... one of Broadway's most hilarious, yet truly touching family musicals April 15 - 17 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, CA; and April 22 - May 8, 2016 at the historic Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, CA.  Official "press" openings in Redondo Beach and Fullerton will be Saturday, April 16 and Saturday April 23, respectively. The production is directed by 3DT Executive Producer and Artistic Director T.J. Dawson,  with Choreography by Leslie Stevens; and  Musical Direction by Conductor Corey Hirsch.  Ryan Ruge serves as Assistant Director. Check out a first look at the opening night curtain call and cast party below!

Based on the hit motion picture, 3-D Theatricals of Orange County, California puts its award-winning spin on The Full Monty... one of Broadway's most hilarious, yet truly touching family musicals April 15 - 17 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, CA; and April 22 - May 8, 2016 at the historic Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, CA.  Official 'press' openings in Redondo Beach and Fullerton will be Saturday, April 16 and Saturday April 23, respectively. The production is directed by 3DT Executive Producer and Artistic Director T.J. Dawson,  with Choreography by Leslie Stevens; and  Musical Direction by Conductor Corey Hirsch.  Ryan Ruge serves as Assistant Director.

'Tale as old as time' nails the complex simplicity of Beauty and the Beast the quintessential story of true love, the most difficult to obtain and sustain.  Disney's adaptation of the fairy tale with its sweepingly imaginative spectacle won over even the hardest of hearts. The animated film was such a tremendous hit in 1991 that it was adapted for the stage in 1994 with new songs by Tim Rice added to the Academy Award-winning movie score by deceased Howard Ashman. It ran worldwide until 2007 and proves undoubtedly that fairy tales retain a popularity that never dies... and that the story  translates beautifully to the stage with vibrant actors recreating all the animated figures.. This new production by 3-D Theatricals of Beauty and the Beast, which closed Sunday at the Redondo Performing Arts Center, was every bit as joyful and elegant as the original. I cannot say enough about T. J. Dawson's fabulous direction and casting and Mela Hoyt-Heydon's spectacular costumes that were built completely from scratch by 3-D Theatricals.

Tale as old as time, true as it can be. Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the smash hit Broadway musical, opened at the Los Angeles Ovation Award- winning 3-D Theatricals Co. of Orange County, CA. Performances will be presented at both Fullerton's historic Plummer Auditorium, Feb 5 - 21; and the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center February 26 - 28, 2016. Official "press" openings in Fullerton and Redondo Beach will be Saturday, February 6 and Saturday, February 27 respectively. The production is directed by 3DT Executive Producer and Artistic Director T.J. Dawson, with Choreography by Billy Sprague, Jr. Julie Lamoureux serves as Musical Director and Conductor.  Check out the photos from opening night below!

There's a new musical theatre partnership on the West Coast. 3D Theatricals of Orange County and New Musicals Inc. of North Hollywood are proud to announce their new co-presented Concert Reading Series for New Musicals. The inaugural season will consist of readings of three new musicals, presented at the 3D Theatricals Rehearsal Hall in Anaheim and at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, from March through June of 2016.

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2015 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed. (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) No set, costume, or technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

Executive Producers Michael Sterling of Michael Sterling Publicity and Production (www.msapr.net). and Barbara Van Orden (www.barbaravanorden.com) have announced that vocal auditions for the 10 year Anniversary of LA's Next Great Stage Star® will be held Sunday, December 13, 2015.  'Our annual auditions in search of 10 men and 10 women between 18 and 32 years of age, is highly anticipated by the hierarchy of those associated with the business of presenting Broadway musical theatre in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California said Sterling.  'We couldn't be more grateful to our professional colleagues and select corporate entities for their consistent support of Stage Star since its inception,' added Van Orden 

Like many others during 1964-1966, I made sure to be home when "The Addams Family" TV show was broadcast. Carolyn Jones and John Astin were like no parents I knew and their family certainly lived the sort of off-kilter life totally different than any other family I had ever known. But it was their unwavering support of each other and their entire family that drew me to the series, so when I heard the glitzy-gloomy musical based on the characters was being brought to the stage by 3-D Theatricals, I excitedly made plans to see it and can happily report it was a spectacular and highly creative extravaganza with an awesomely talented cast.

Appropriately enough, the supposedly haunted Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton is currently playing host to the happy spooks of 3-D Theatricals' regional production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, which continues performances at this historic theater through October 25 before migrating south to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for shows October 31 - November 8. Filled with gleeful, cheese-tastic one-liners and catchy, cleverly written tunes from Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party, Big Fish), this seemingly underrated stage musical gem is a lively, highly-amusing little comedy that celebrates individual uniqueness while poking lots of giddy fun at fragile family dynamics, pointing out that even the most creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky beings among us face the same kinds of OMG-drama that so-called 'normals' do. As an added bonus, 3DT's production features a stellar cast led by TV's Bronson Pinchot as Gomez and Broadway vet Rachel York as Morticia.

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County presents the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County presents the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County will present the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Nominees for the 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on Thursday, September 24 on @ This Stage Magazine [ThisStage.la]. This year's Ovation Awards ceremony will take place Monday, November 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center. The curtain will rise at7:30pm.

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County will present the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Moonlight Stage Productions presents the fun-loving, fairy tale musical, 'Shrek: The Musical.' The production runs tonight, August 12, through August 29, 2015 under the stars at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, Calif. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below! 

VISTA, CA - July 15, 2015 - Moonlight Stage Productions presents the fun-loving, fairy tale musical, "Shrek: The Musical." The production runs August 12-29, 2015 under the stars at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, Calif. "Shrek: The Musical" is the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude, and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you've got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there's one on hand...and his name is Shrek. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Single tickets are priced $24 to $52. To purchase tickets or for more information, call (760) 724-2110 or visit http://www.moonlightstage.com.

From the masters of family entertainment, who brought you The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins, 3D Theatricals (3DT) of Orange County is pleased to present the first, major, fully-produced Southern California regional premiere of the Tony nominated TARZAN The Stage Musical based on the Disney Film at both Fullerton's historic Plummer Auditorium, now through July 26, and the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, August 1 - 9, 2015. Click below to go behind the scenes with the cast & creative team!

From the masters of family entertainment, who brought you The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins, 3D Theatricals (3DT) of Orange County is pleased to present the first, major, fully-produced Southern California regional premiere of the Tony nominated TARZAN®  The Stage Musical based on the Disney Film at both Fullerton's historic Plummer Auditorium July 11 - 26 and the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center August 1 - 9, 2015.  A Los Angeles Ovation Award-winning production company, 3D Theatricals was also the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre.   Check out a first look at opening night below!

3D Theatricals (3DT), recipient of the 2015 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's Joel Hirschhorn Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre during 2014, beckons all patrons of the arts to buckle up and hold on for a rip-roaring journey back into time by way of the acclaimed Broadway musical SIDE SHOW, based on the true life story of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. Side Show has been set for ten performances - exclusively at historic Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, CA, running April 25 - May 10. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night curtain call and festivities below!

The musical Side Show played Broadway in 1997 for 91 performances and was Tony nominated but never got the recognition it deserved. A revamped version went to Broadway in 2014, but it, too, closed early. Like Jason Robert Brown's Parade, another noteworthy Broadway miss, it's worth the attention, but its dark grotesque presentation of carnival freak shows is not the most appealing fare for commercial theatre audiences. Many are repelled by the sight of a man with three legs, a bearded lady, a half-man, half-woman or in the case of Daisy and Violet Hilton, by the appearance of twins who are conjoined. The girls hated the term Siamese twins, for they were not Siamese, and also if people asked them if they wanted to be normal. What is normal? Now in a revival production of the original - not the 2013 revamped production, which played La Jolla and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. before Broadway - by 3-D Theatricals at Plummer Auditorium, Fullerton, Side Show comes out as winning and memorable as when it first appeared.