Cary Ginell - Page 6

'Bandstand' is a show that fell through the cracks, never sustaining the kind of buzz it deserved on Broadway. But a national tour is different from the Great White Way, and the producers of 'Bandstand,' which won a Tony Award two years ago for Best Choreography, is playing to ecstatic audiences in America's heartland. Its story of a group of musicians who return from World War II to form a band, is one of poignancy and real-life struggle. Trumpet player Scott Bell, who is making his debut performance as an actor, talks about getting used to his new acting muscles as well as sharing his stellar musicianship with audiences across the country.

An interview with Josey Montana McCoy (Huck Finn) and David Aron Damane (Jim), stars of Rubicon Theatre Company's current production of 'Big River.' The immersive, atmospheric production has been critically acclaimed by press and audiences alike and has been extended for an additional week, until November 17.

In Part 2 of our interview, Kirby & Beverly Ward talk about how they decided to stage 'Big River' in the round at the Rubicon Theatre Company. The result is a production of intimacy and atmospheric beauty.

An innovative immersive production, in which orchestra musicians step on stage to perform with the cast and an in-the-round configuration, highlights Rubicon Theatre Company's evocative, atmospheric production of 'Big River.' With a score by country music's Roger Miller, 'Big River' won 7 Tonys in 1985. The cast features Broadway veterans Josey Montana McCoy, David Aron Damane, and, in a special appearance, Renn Woods as Alice.

An interview with Beverly and Kirby Ward, producers and directors of the new production of 'Big River' at the Rubicon Theatre Company.

Trent Mills is one of those versatile young actors who can do it all - a 'five-tool' player who can act, sing, dance, do drama, and comedy and do it all well. Mills is starring as Marcellus Washburn in 5-Star Theatricals' production of 'The Music Man,' which plays through Oct. 27 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. We talked with Mills about the art of physical comedy and his fresh, new approach to his character.

In 5-Star Theatricals' production of 'The Music Man,' Antonia Vivino and Adam Winer take on the roles of River City teens Zaneeta Shinn (the mayor's 'oldest girl') and Tommy Djilas (the 'wild kid from the wrong side of town'). We interviewed them about their characters' back story and the energetic dancing paces they are put through by choreographer Peggy Hickey.

In Part 2 of our interview with Adam Pascal, Adam talks about two traumatic Broadway experiences: going on with 'Rent' right after the sudden death of Jonathan Larson and having to do 'Aida' two days after the 9/11 tragedies.

Anna Kotula shines as poet Emily Dickinson in William Luce's Tony-winning play, 'The Belle of Amherst.' Kotula plays Dickinson as a young girl and celebrated recluse in a performance that brings alive one of the most brilliant poets in American history. Produced by the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura.

Mariah Tobin and Dakota Heer play Corie and Paul Bratter, two newlyweds who are moving into a fifth floor Manhattan walkup, only to find the apartment has no furniture, no bathtub, and a gaping hole in the skylight. And it's February. Neil Simon's 1966 classic never had better players in Tobin and Heer, whose chemistry lights up the theater in this wonderful production.

Actress Anna Kotula reprises her sold-out performance as Emily Dickinson in William Luce's 'The Belle of Amherst' in a new production staged on August 31 at the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura. The show features a champagne reception in which Dickinson's famous 'black cake' recipe will be served to guests.

Patrick Ortiz, who plays Bernardo in 5-Star Theatricals' production of 'West Side Story,' comes into the show with experience, having played Chino in the Broadway revival and a Shark gang member on the national tour.

Led by stars Brandon Keith Rogers (Tony) and Giselle Torres (Maria), 5-Star Theatricals' production of 'West Side Story' features scintillating new choreography by Karl Warden, including some stunningly visual interpretations of the story. Dynamic performances all around, this is a MUST-SEE production! Plays through August 4 at the Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks.

Girl-next-door makes good! Calabasas High School graduate Sami Staitman, who is entering her sophomore year as a musical theatre student at Pace University in New York, has already landed her first Off-Broadway starring role in the theatre-themed musical, 'The Green Book,' which opens September 27. We caught up with Sami during her summer 'break' (Sami never takes time off from acting!)

'The Book of Mormon' came a-callin' to Thousand Oaks with its national tour - a fast-moving, crude but hilarious satire of those white-shirted, clean-cut missionaries. The clever score was written by the creators of 'South Park.' Audiences flocked to see the performance at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in a sold-out run.

An interview with director Larry Raben, who is utilizing new choreography (Karl Warden), ethnic-accurate casting, and a more athletic approach to the look of 'West Side Story' to bring it into the 21st century. 60 years after its debut, the Bernstein/Sondheim classic still packs relevant punch in today's gun and immigrant-conscious society.

Concepts of madness and racial prejudice cross paths in this tense trialogue drama by English playwright Joe Penhall about an incarcerated patient in a London psychiatric hospital and the tensions between his two doctors as to whether he should be released.

'Vanities' traces the lives of three Texas high school cheerleaders, as their personalities diverge in five-year increments, ending in 1974.

'Avenue Q' uses 'Sesame Street' as a framework to deliver hilarious lessons on friendship and identity, with actors/puppeteers manipulating Muppet-like characters.