Cary Ginell - Page 3

What did our critic think of PROMISES, PROMISES at Lonny Chapman Theatre? Excellent leads and good singing highlight this attractive show.

Cary Ginell's insightful new book, 'Carefully Taught' looks at 40 musicals, both on Broadway and off, that deal with events and personages in American history. A fun read, educational and highly entertaining. Shows include '1776,' 'Hamilton,' 'Shenandoah,' 'Parade,' 'Hair,' 'Assassins,' and many more.

With TV star Teri Hatcher ('Desperate Housewives,' 'Lois & Clark') leading the way, 5-Star Theatricals' production of 'The Addams Family' is a gag-filled laughfest, with great tunes, a cemetery full of puns, and even a wardrobe malfunction. It's real, and it's spectacular!

Jonalyn Saxer grew up in Oak Park dreaming of becoming a star on Broadway. After making her debut in 'Bullets Over Broadway,' Saxer has continued from one show to the next, shining with her superb dancing abilities and versatile singing and acting. This July, she returns to her home town to play the key role of Katherine Plumber in 5-Stat Theatricals' production of 'Newsies.'

American Theatre Guild's current national tour of the venerable Pulitzer-Prize winning 'South Pacific' cleans up some potentially objectionable language and characterizations to retain its essential love story and message of racial tolerance.

Guy Noland is currently in a second career as an actor and having the time of his life. During his early years, Guy found himself looking like 'a million other' young stage actors, but the 9/11 tragedy sent his career in a new direction as he became an award-winning documentary director for the Salvation Army's media department.

Christopher J. Thume blows the roof off the building with a bravura performance as drag queen Lola in 'Kinky Boots,' the 2013 Tony Award winning musical.

Anna Kotula reprises her one-woman show as poet Emily Dickinson in 'The Belle of Amherst,' playing from March 3 - 13 at the Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard

Matt Faucher has a knack for playing Nicks. After performing on Broadway and on the national tour of 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,' Matt is now doing the same thing with a different Nick - the Four Seasons' Nick Massi. Cary Ginell does an exclusive interview with Matt about this unique and important show, which plays for one night in Thousand Oaks on Thursday, February 24.

Read a behind-the-scenes look at Broadway's master parodist, Gerard Alessandrini, who dismembers 'Hamilton' with his 2016 spoof 'Spamilton.' The show plays at the Scherr Forum in Thousand Oaks from March 1 - 6. 'I laughed my brains out!' said Lin-Manuel Miranda when he saw this show. You will too.

It's always nice when we see a show that has never been performed in Ventura County so we were looking forward to seeing 5-Star Theatricals' Something Rotten!, the 2015 sendup of Shakespeare that answers the question: 'What if Shakespeare had a rival?' As you will read in our upcoming review in The Acorn, we were not disappointed. Something Rotten! is a riotous romp with a twisted premise, as brother Nick and Nigel Bottom attempt to upstage (literally) theatre superstar Willie Shakespeare with their next production: the first musical. Due to the faulty efforts of a befuddled Nostradamus, the Bottom Brothers set out to produce their musical, titled Omelette. Recently, we visited with two stars from 5-Star's production: Justin Michael Wilcox, who plays Nick Bottom, and Aleks Pevec, who plays the strutting Shakespeare.

'Always...Patsy Cline' brings to life Cline's rich catalog of songs, impeccably portrayed by Michele McRae, with Kathleen Silverman as her friend, Houston housewife Louise Seger.

See what our critic thought of the national tour of 'The Band's Visit' - an inspiring musical about the healing power of music and its ability to show common ground between two historically opposing cultures. The show stars Janet Dacal as the vulnerable cafe owner Dina and Sasson Gabay as Tewfiq, the orchestra leader who has been traumatized by a past tragedy.

5-Star Theatricals returns to the stage with a new production of its postponed musical 'Mamma Mia!' starring Kim Huber and Eric Martsolf.

Of all elements of society hit by the pandemic, the one that got hit the hardest was the performing arts. Many theatre companies were forced to close their doors while those that managed to survive were crippled by 16 months of inactivity and decimated budgets. Young Artists Ensemble has not only been a growth culture for local talent for 40 years, it has never shied away from a challenge and while other companies were subsisting on shows with small casts, YAE was determined to stage the Student Edition of 'Les Miserables,' the larger-than-life 1985 Broadway masterpiece, for its annual teen summer musical.

John Guerra's new play brings Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' up to date with its sensitive portrayal of two families - one white and one Latino - in modern-day Fillmore, California.

Four Frenetic Feminists Fight Fate In France - Lauren Gunderson's hilarious black comedy groups four French Revolutionaries on their way to the guillotine.

Director David Krassner brings a deep theatrical resume to his new role as drama director at Agoura High School, which is currently staging 'Rent,' which made its debut nearly a quarter century ago.

Margaret Edson's Pulitzer-Price winning play 'Wit' focusers on Dr. Vivian Bearing, a 50-year-old professor of English who is dying from ovarian cancer. The play examines the dispassionate way cancer patients are treated, with Sindy McKay-Swerdlove delivering a startling and emotional performance as Dr. Bearing.

A typical mismatched wedding between a Jewish bride and a Catholic groom gets turned on its ear when a shocking revelation stuns the wedding party. This unfairly neglected 2015 musical gets new life with a winning performance (in a staged reading) by Musical Theatre Guild at the Alex Theater in Glendale.