Michael Quintos - Page 5

For SCR's impressive, must-see local revival, the show gets a hyper-hybrid treatment that combines nostalgic elements inspired by the original but infused with 21st-century sass and sensibilities. Alongside its visual splendor, the show also features a superb ensemble cast, resulting in a blissfully-raucous, infectiously smile-inducing production.

As silly and nostalgic as one might expect, the stage musical adaptation of MRS. DOUBTFIRE—based on the beloved 1993 hit film—has finally arrived to say 'hellooooo' to audiences at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, where its national tour stop featuring Tony nominee Rob McClure continues through October 6, 2024.

Now having its So. California Regional premiere production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts thru Oct. 13, 2024, this funny, endearing, and ultimately empowering show is easily, hands-down, this critic's favorite iteration of this musical—in no small part thanks to Desi Oakley's return to the title role and its Sara Bareilles songbook.

Blessed with jawdroppingly gorgeous vocals, Tony Award winner Joaquina Kalukango—accompanied by music director Michael Orland—wows in her West Coast solo concert debut at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa to kick off their 2024-2025 Cabaret Series.

Aimed at offering a more progressive framework that tweaks the infamous story, this admirable revised version reflects a purposefully modern approach to the classic story, attempting to balance the original's charm and whimsy with contemporary sensibilities. This brand new national tour continues at Segerstrom Center for the Arts thru August 18.

Filled with incredible showstoppers, many familiar theatrical staples, and some exquisite singing from an all-star cast of theater vets, this well-curated “greatest hits” concert honoring Boublil and Schonberg was a fitting, glorious celebration of the creative partnership responsible for two of the biggest musical hits in theatrical history.

Originally created by PigPen Theatre Co., this engaging, creatively quirky play with music requires audiences to concentrate intently to follow the outrageous tale that involves expansive world-building and a seemingly endless cavalcade of eccentric characters. The family-friendly fantasy continues at Mission San Juan Capistrano thru August 11.

Filled with high-energy singing and dancing that explodes out of an inspirational story based on real events, MTW's new production of this Disney stage musical is a guaranteed fun time, thanks to a terrific ensemble, and memorable music from Alan Menken and Jack Feldman. The show continues at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center thru July 28, 2024.

For its opening night of its 2024 season, the Hollywood Bowl presented a musical celebration of composer Henry Mancini’s 100th Birthday with a concert featuring the Hollywood Bowl orchestra—under the direction of principal conductor Thomas Wilkins and welcomed special guest artists Michael Bublé, Dave Koz, Monica Mancini, and Cynthia Erivo.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts' mesmerizing, visually-stunning 2016 production of Disney's stage adaptation of THE LITTLE MERMAID has returned for a limited engagement continuing through June 23, 2024. Filled with colorful costumes and sets and soaring mermaids, this spectacular show will enchant both new and repeat audiences alike.

This 2022 revival of the 1964 musical is quite enjoyable, not because of its new changes (via director Michael Mayer and Harvey Fierstein's new book) but thanks mostly to its lead star McCrimmon, who is reason enough to see this touring iteration. The show continues at Segerstrom Center for the Arts (with co-star Melissa Manchester) through June 9.

To close out their 2023-2024 Series, Segerstrom Center welcomed theater aficionado Seth Rudetsky to serve as an interviewer/pianist for Tony Award winner Lillias White for three shows May 16-18, 2024 in one of the most incredibly wonderful, fan-favoring shows that the OC arts campus has ever hosted at the intimate Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa, CA.

Having its OC Premiere at Chance Theater in Anaheim, CA through May 31, ALMA—the touching, poignant, and very timely play written by Benjamin Benne—delves dramatically into the complex, sometimes contentious, but achingly relatable relationship between a struggling single immigrant mother and her smart but stubborn American-born teenage daughter.

Matt Doyle—the 2022 Tony Award winner for his gender-bent role of Jaime in the Broadway revival of COMPANY—made his Segerstrom Center for the Arts Cabaret Series debut over a three-night engagement that began on May 2, 2024 with an incredible set that showcased his amazing vocal talents and his charming, witty ability for personal storytelling.

For the 3rd Annual OCTG Theatre Awards—held at the Samueli Theatre in Costa Mesa on May 13, 2024—lauded productions of RIDE THE CYCLONE, A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, CLYBOURNE PARK, YELLOW FACE, AND THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME earned the most wins.

Eleanor Burgess’ brilliant, thoughtful, and often bitingly funny GALILEE, 34—currently having its impressive world premiere production at South Coast Repertory through May 12, 2024—is a humorously insightful, beautifully-performed new play that offers an unreliably revisionist examination of supposed events following Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

A brand-new, reimagined regional iteration of the Tony-winning 2005 musical JERSEY BOYS now at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts is exceeding all expectations. Featuring a superb ensemble cast performing The Four Seasons' greatest hits, this spectacular, high-energy, crowd-pleasing production continues through May 12, 2024.

Based on Craig Lucas' 1988 play and 1992 film adaptation of the same name, PRELUDE TO A KISS - THE MUSICAL is an admirable first attempt of a new musical that is, clearly, still a work-in-progress. In its current state, this genuinely charming but disjointed musical could use a sharp refocus and some more magical and narrative clarity.

Adapted from the 1988 Tim Burton cult classic, BEETLEJUICE - THE MUSICAL is an over-the-top, chaotic, and wildly unhinged reimagining that amps up the kooky-ness of its source material a thousand-fold. Mostly funny and entertaining despite its tonal shifts and forced outlandishness, the show elicits lots of laughs thanks to its title character.

More like one elongated impromptu jam session than a typical musical, Musical Theatre West's new production of MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET doesn't involve a complex storyline, but instead focuses on imagining what it must have been like to be in the room where music history happened. The resulting concert-like jukebox musical is a rollicking good time.