Little Me Photos - Off-Broadway

Getting on the phone with Albert Poland totally swept me away and into the world we love for a glorious 45 minutes...

This Spotlight focuses on Jon Lawrence Rivera, co-founder of Playwrights' Arena with Steve Tyler in 1992 during the LA Riots. At the time, and for at least two decades, we were the only theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights to be enjoyed by adventurous minds. I first discovered Playwrights' Arena when their 2017 production of Bloodletting was selected to be presented during Center Theatre Group's 2018 Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Holy hit! Broadway by the Bay continues their 2019 season with SISTER ACT - the exciting and joyful musical adaptation of the beloved 1992 hit film starring Whoopi Goldberg.

In 10th Grade, I was in the chorus of a production of Oklahoma! in the auditorium of my synagogue and it was the best theatrical experience I've ever had. I remember getting home from the closing night cast party and crying myself to sleep. I could cry now putting on the movie or listening to 'The Farmer and the Cowman,' or maybe most of all, if I sing a little bit of the introduction to the title song.

For those of us around in the days before the internet took over the shopping world, we can certainly remember the glorious gatherings we attended which were hosted by family or friends in order to sell the newly-invented hard plastic and practically indestructible storage items forever known as Tupperware. Perhaps, like me, you remember how much fun it was to make popsicles out of whatever liquid you wanted by using the Tupperware Popsicle Maker. But even better, how much fun it was at the hosted parties where you could chat and gossip while learning how to use each item properly, then decide on what you wanted and order it. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, or those who want to go back to those fun days, rush over to the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City to be a part of DIXIE'S TUPPERWARE PARTY, the hilarious off-Broadway one-woman comedy written by Kris Andersson starring Dixie Longate which took the theater world by storm and garnered a prestigious Drama Desk Award nomination.

Zhong-Jing Fang was promoted to soloist at the American Ballet Theatre in 2018, the first Chinese ballerina to be promoted to soloist since Yan Chen in 1993. Almost ten years ago, she tore her posterior tibial tendon in her right foot during a rehearsal. Doctors told her that the chances of her returning to the stage were extremely slim.

Complete with bison, barn and Broadway hits, Hackmatack Playhouse will open its 2018 summer season  Friday, June 15, with an hysterically funny farce based in 1934 Cleveland.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller about love both lost and found. Set amidst the cornfields of Iowa in 1965, this passionate musical follows the unexpected affair of a devoted Italian-born housewife and a roving National Geographic photographer set over four sensual, heart-stirring days. Brilliantly adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), it captured the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical Score. The Bridges of Madison County, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director and founder Robert Kelley will be presented April 4 - 29, 2018 (opening night: April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller about love both lost and found. Set amidst the cornfields of Iowa in 1965, this passionate musical follows the unexpected affair of a devoted Italian-born housewife and a roving National Geographic photographer set over four sensual, heart-stirring days. Brilliantly adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), it captured the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical Score. The Bridges of Madison County, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director and founder Robert Kelley will be presented April 4 - 29, 2018 (opening night: April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

"Kiss Me, Kate," Cole Porter's dazzling musical that jumbles theatre-folk backstage romances with Shakespeare, is the Tryon Little Theater's next offering, to play the Tryon Fine Arts Center February 15-18.

Rehearsal images have been released from the Tabard Theatre's Christmas production of The Little Match Girl, based on the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The musical that launched the Christmas single Mistletoe and Wine, will be directed by the original show's composer, Keith Strachan.

'City of Angels,' a version of which is now on stage at Beck Center, opened on Broadway in December of 1989 and ran through January, 1992, in a healthy run of almost 900 performances. Lakewood's Dee Hoty, a three-time Tony nominee, played a leading role in the Great White Way run.

The tale of Aladdin is one most of us know from the Disney telling of the story in the famous animated film of 1992. Growing up, Aladdin was my favorite Disney film, so, when I was given the opportunity to review ALADDIN AND THE MAGIC LAMP at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, I jumped at the chance!   I quickly realized however that the show is not based on the version from the film, but instead on the Middle Eastern folktale 'The Arabian Nights' - which, was unexpected but a great surprise! The premise of the story is still the same, there are just a few slight variations (for example, there are two genies instead of one!). So, if you plan on seeing the show be prepared for some things to be a little different than what you remember. 

'So here I am, a preacher's son, playing the preacher!' smiles David Ruprecht. The renowned star of television, film, and stage muses about his latest gig playing the Reverend Shaw Moore in Maine State Music Theatre's production of Footloose, which runs from August 6-23. Ruprecht's affinities for the part and this production are numerous. It is, first of all, directed and choreographed by his wife, Patti Colombo, an experience he says he finds 'very interesting because I never have worked with her as a director before, only once long ago as a choreographer.' Then there is the role of the charismatic and troubled Texas preacher who forbids dancing to the townsfolk of Bomont. 'My dad was a preacher [a Lutheran minister] in Florida, where I grew up, and he was very, very charismatic. Naturally, he wanted his son to become a preacher, too. I had all the talents, but not the calling, so I did the next best thing and became an actor. After all, both actors and preachers put on costumes and speak to large groups or people, and both have a little wine after the show,' he jokes mischievously.

Lea Salonga, the singing voice of Jasmine in the iconic ALADDIN film took a magic carpet ride to Broadway for a night to visit Aladdin himself - Adam Jacobs! Salonga provided the singing voice of two official Disney Princesses: Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), and Fa Mulan in Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2004). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work with The Walt Disney Company. Most recently, she's toured with IL DIVO.

The 5th Avenue Theatre began previews for Aladdin, a new stage musical adapted from Disney's 1992 animated feature film on July 7, 2011, in anticipation of a July 21, 2011 opening. Aladdin, featuring the Academy Award®-winning score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, will run through July 31, 2011. The first official production photos have been released and appear below!

The 5th Avenue Theatre just began previews of Aladdin, a new stage musical adapted from Disney's 1992 animated feature film. Aladdin, featuring the Academy Award®-winning score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, began performances on July 7 and runs until July 31, 2011. Official opening is July, 21. Check out photos of the cast with writers/directors of the movie, Ron Clements and John Musker below!

Maine State Music Theatre continues its 2009 season with the award winning 'Crazy for You.' Winner of three Tony Awards (including Best Musical in 1992), two Drama Desk Awards and three Laurence Olivier Awards, the show dazzles audiences with spectacular dance numbers and catchy, toe-tapping songs.

Their music became the soundtrack for the Twentieth Century and saw America through some of her darkest days of the Great Depression and the tumultuous years of World War II. George and Ira Gershwin, the song-writing brothers penned such standards as 'They Can't Take That Away from Me,' 'Embraceable You,' and 'I Got Rhythm.'