LA'S NEXT GREAT STAGE STAR Announces Audition Dates, 12/11-12

Studio City's Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's, the most critically acclaimed, award-winning supper club of its kind in the greater Los Angeles area, has set Saturday December 11 and Sunday, December 12 as audition dates for the fifth anniversary of LA's Next Great Stage Star, it was announced today by producers Michael Sterling and Tony Monsour of of Michael Sterling & Associates (www.msapr.net). As of Wednesday, December 1, potential contestants may call Michael Sterling & Associates at 818 623-7300,  Ext. 2 to schedule an audition  appointment. 

The annual competition, which began in 2006, will be presented at Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's as a series of six consecutive, early afternoon, Sunday matinees January 2 through February 6, 2011. 

LA's Next Great Stage Star is geared to discovering fresh, young talent for the theatre stage. As is the standard, eighteen (18) contestants will compete for the 2011 title, a $1000 cash prize, a paid headlining engagement at Sterling's Upstairs during the New Year, and other prizes. Contestants selected to compete in the competition are subject to a one time entry fee.

This year's competition will once again be judged by an elite panel of Los Angeles theatre industry professionals. 2011 Stage Star Judges include:

Michael Donovan - Michael Donovan Casting; Daniel Solis -  Disney  Entertainment    Casting;  musical Theatre Producer/Directors/Choreographers Dan Mojica (Disney's Beauty and The Beast National and International Tours); Robert Marra (Chess and Oklahoma/Musical Theatre of Los Angeles); Director/Composer/Writer Richard Hochberg (Scary Musical, The Musical - ASCAP Disney Workshop); Calvin Remsberg (Musical Theatre West's Sweeny Todd);  Tony Award winning Producer Peter Schneider (The Lion King; also Director of Sister Act, The Musical in Los Angeles and London); Producer David Elzer (The Marvelous Wonderettes, Life Could be a Dream); Artistic Producer/Director Ms. Rey O'Day - Performance Riverside at the Landis Performing Arts Center; Artistic Producer/Director Steven Glaudini -  Musical Theatre West; Equity Department Theatre Agents: Victoria Morris and Jodie Bowman - Kazarian/Spencer/Ruskin & Associates; Steven Dry - Schiowitz/Connor/Ankrum/Wolf; Dave Secor - Daniel Hoff Agency... and more.

Contestants will compete at each competition with no eliminations until the Finale on February 6, 2011. The Finale will determine the selection of one winner and four finalists. The winner will receive a $1000 cash prize and a lucrative, paid headlining engagement at Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's during 2011.  Prominent Los Angeles theatre director and writer Richard Hochberg (Scary Musical, The Musical) has been set to direct the winner's act at Sterling's Upstairs. The remaining four finalists will also receive paid headlining debuts at Sterling's.

Additionally, the winner of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2011 and its four finalists will audition for Lewis Wilkenfeld - Artistic Director of Cabrillo Music Theatre at the Fred Kavli Theatre in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. 

STERLING'S UPSTAIRS at Vitello's and LA's Next Great Stage Star is produced by Michael Sterling of Michael Sterling & Associates (MSA - www.msapr.net), the Studio City-based entertainment public relations company. Since 1980, Sterling has represented such stellar clients as Elizabeth Taylor, Lance Armstrong, Scott Hamilton, David Copperfield, Joan Collins, Alan Thicke, Carol Lawrence, David Brenner, Andy Gibb, and Robert Goulet. Aside from his celebrity clientele, Mr. Sterling has represented various national theatre and arena tours, Los Angeles theatre productions, Emmy Award-winning television specials, celebrity books, albums and CD's. Sterling is also a critically- acclaimed director of musical theatre in Los Angeles, and has produced various theatrical events and productions throughout southern California. In September, 2009, Mr. Sterling joined BroadwayWorld.com TV with colleague and former Broadway and Television star Dean Butler (Into the Woods and Little House on the Prairie, respectively,) to become the worldwide site's Los Angeles correspondents and co-hosts for television coverage of select Los Angeles theatre and theatrical events. In 2010, Mr. Sterling and actor/director Paul Stroili (Straight Up with a Twist and SeaGlass Theatre) also teamed up to co-host and co-produce the highly successful, weekly radio series State of the Arts on LATalkRAdio.com Network. Since its May 31 debut, State of the Arts has featured such in-studio guests as Carol Channing, Richard Chamberlain, Andrea McArdle, Mike Farrell, Jim Parrack, Florence Henderson, Carol Lawrence, Sally Struthers, Tab Hunter, John Lloyd Young, Donna McKechnie, Vicki Lewis, and many others...

Tony Monsour of Michael Sterling & Associates serves as Associate Talent Producer for both LA's Next Great Stage Star and Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's. Having been with MSA for 10 years, he is also a trained actor and singer with an impressive resume in television, film and musical theatre including co-starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Musical Direction for the competition will be provided by James Lent who received the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from Yale University, and has appeared in concert with symphony orchestras throughout the world.

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