Costa Mesa Interviews - Page 4

This week, the fabulous frocks and fierce fun of the first national tour of the hit stage musical PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT returns to Southern California for a one-week limited engagement at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, October 22 - 27. Before the colorful caravan parks itse...

Costa Mesa is about to get a huge dollop of Cole Porter's winsome musical magic this week when ANYTHING GOES, Roundabout Theatre Company's Tony Award-winning 2011 Revival, finally docks at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County for a limited one-week engagement, September 24-29. The sho...

BroadwayWorld's Alan Aronshtam sat down for an interview with THE WIZARD OF OZ's Wicked Witch, Jacquelyn Piro Donovan!...

For several weeks now, Southern California has been basking in the soulful glow of talented actress Ta'Rea Campbell who plays diva-turned-nun-on-the-run Deloris Van Cartier in the first national tour of SISTER ACT - THE MUSICAL, the fun and hilarious stage adaptation of the hit 1992 motion picture o...

This summer, musical theater actor Kyle Kleiboeker---who traveled the country in the touring companies of the hit musicals THE WEDDING SINGER, HAIRSPRAY and RENT---will be seen in the new USA Network reality competition series 'Summer Camp' beginning Thursday, July 11. Currently living in New York, ...

If you're one of the many people who have already caught a glimpse of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: THE MUSICAL, the Broadway stage adaptation of Frank Abagnale, Jr.'s real-life adventures that has been touring the country since October of last year, then you would have no doubt sat up and took notice of the...

Before stage and screen comedy legend Lily Tomlin takes the stage for 'An Evening of Classic Lily Tomlin' at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 22, the two-time Tony Award winner spoke candidly with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos about her influences, her work in the thea...

Tony Award-winning stage and screen star Betty Buckley---who has been called 'The Voice of Broadway'---will be headlining a series of concerts as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Cabaret Series from May 16 - 18 at the Samueli Theater. Called 'Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway,' the show will feat...

After spending time on Broadway and on tour, triple-threat actress Jillian Mueller can now be seen dancing up a (ha ha) storm in the National Tour production of FLASHDANCE, in which she plays leading lady Alex Owens---yes, the sexy steel mill worker who moonlights as a maniac, maniac, on the floor. ...

Each night---and sometimes even twice in a single day---actress Janet Dickinson gets to pretend to be a sassy, chain-smoking Brit in charge of a bunch of rowdy, screech-happy pre-teens at a community center ballet class in the current national tour production of BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL, now playin...

Veteran Las Vegas performer Steve Connolly stars as the legendary Elvis Presley in the stage production SPIRIT OF THE KING, which premiered March 6 for an open-ended engagement in the Cascade Lounge of the Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs. Dubbed "The hardest working KING in show biz," Steve Connol...

Actor Cliffton Hall, who currently plays the role of Fiyero in the long-running First National Tour production of the blockbuster hit WICKED continues to have a very healthy, enviable career on the stage. Before Hall once again departs the role after WICKED's 4-Week Engagement in Costa Mesa's Segers...

The incredible Elaine Page brings her one woman concert to the McCallum Theatre tonight for a one-night-only, intimate look into her life and her career, singing the songs and recreating the magical moments from her many hit shows on Broadway and the West End. I had the opportunity to catch up with...

Tony Award-winning stage and screen legend Ben Vereen is this year's Special Guest Star at ACADEMY AFFAIR 2013, the Annual Benefit and Community Awards Gala presented by MenAlive, the Orange County Gay Men's Chorus. The event takes place at the posh Center Club, located at the Garden Level of the Se...

After several years of being 'green' as Elphaba in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Broadway productions of the hit musical WICKED, singer/actress Teal Wicks can now be seen touring the country in the new Broadway-bound revival of JEKYLL & HYDE: THE MUSICAL, in which she co-stars with Tony nominee...

As a kid growing up in the Philippines, I remember being completely enamored by the incredibly talented Lea Salonga, one of my native country's premier superstars. Much to my delight, this Tony Award-winning international star agreed to answer a series of silly, rapid-fire questions from me before h...

Sara Gettelfinger, who plays Morticia Addams in THE ADDAMS FAMILY stage musical (the first national tour ends on December 30 at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts) agreed to answer a few silly, rapid-fire questions from BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos before the show bids a final, ...

Making its way back to Southern California, the national touring company of the Tony Award-winning musical MEMPHIS will be spreading its tuneful message of rock and soul at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts for a two-week engagement starting November 6. Right in the center is phenomenal triple-thre...

An accomplished, world renowned jazz vocalist with a clear affinity for musical theater, Jane Monheit is set to appear in Costa Mesa on October 5 for a one-night-only concert alongside fellow jazz star John Pizzarelli as part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' 2012-2013 Cabaret series. Recently,...

Now traveling the country playing real-life legend Johnny Cash ('The Man in Black') for the first national tour of the Tony Award-winning MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET--finally landing in Southern California at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa from April 24 through May 6--actor Derek Keelin...

Now back in Los Angeles where it all began, the five-time Tony Award nominated 80's musical ROCK OF AGES is once again rockin' the stage of the Pantages Theatre for a strictly limited one-week engagement through March 25. Right before the show's L.A. return, BroadwayWorld subjected ROCK OF AGES' lea...

Now back in Los Angeles where it all began, the five-time Tony Award nominated 80's musical ROCK OF AGES is once again rockin' the stage of the Pantages Theatre for a strictly limited one-week engagement through March 25. Right before the show's L.A. return, BroadwayWorld subjected ROCK OF AGES' lea...

Singer/actress Lindsay Heather Pearce--who as a finalist on THE GLEE PROJECT won a two-episode arc as the bubbly 'Harmony' on GLEE this season--can currently be seen filling the shoes of a different kind of teen: an angst-y, late-19th Century teenager in the L.A. intimate theater premiere of the Ton...

Legendary Emmy and Tony Award winning comedienne Andrea Martin brings her hilarious new one-woman show Final Days…Everything Must Go! to the McCallum Theatre for one night only, February 24 at 8:00 pm.. From "SCTV" on television to Young Frankenstein on Broadway to My Big Fat Greek Wedding on screen...

Broadway is certainly full of them: those amazing performers dubbed as 'triple threats'--those singer/dancer/actor-types that are just brimming with an abundance of extraordinary talent. David Elder rightly belongs in this revered group, and has proven the label quite a lot over the years, working s...

Now starring as the title role in the NETworks produced 2nd National Tour of SHREK THE MUSICAL, recent University of the Arts grad Lukas Poost recently chatted with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos to talk about his past influences and his greeny-fied alter ego in the relaunched tour (which ...

Ali Ewoldt, the standout star of the on-going national tour of the latest Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY, wanted to really follow her dreams. Though always drawn to musical theater all her life, she decided to graduate from Yale with a degree in Psychology, thinking it was a 'safer' bet than to...

Triple-threat Nicolas Dromard seems to be on a roll. Already a burgeoning performer since his days as a toddler in his native Ontario, Canada, the charming actor-singer-dancer is currently wowing audiences across the country playing Bert in the National Tour of MARY POPPINS. The stage version of the...

Singer/actress Nikki Blonsky truly embodies that notion of overnight success. Plucked from obscurity at age 17, then-newcomer Blonsky beat out hundreds of young girls from a nationwide open casting call to land the coveted lead role in the big-screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical HAIRSPRAY....

You wouldn't know it from his youthful looks, but actor Ethan Le Phong has been a longtime global chameleon for quite some time. His past roles have taken him from Germany to New York, from London to Los Angeles. And for almost a year now, he has been spicing things up as Pepper in the 2nd National ...

Back in Season 3 of the Fox talent search juggernaut American Idol, then 16-year-old Diana DeGarmo narrowly missed the coveted title, walking away as the first runner up. Fast forward to 2011 and the now 23-year-old is currently starring as the iconic Doralee Rhodes in the national touring company o...

Each night, actor Patrick Lewallen gets to live out his rock star fantasy. Currently traveling the country as the scene-stealing narrator Lonny in the First National Tour of ROCK OF AGES, this Kansas City native is busy putting audiences into a head-banging frenzy, as they sing along to a bevy of gu...

Josh Lamon is truly living his dream. A self-admitted theater geek, Josh has spent the past few years making a name for himself on the boards, most recently in the Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Originally from San Diego, Josh can currently be seen as crowd favorite Ma...

Arguably one of Broadway's most beloved, sought-after talents, Tony Award winner Sutton Foster is returning to Southern California this week to make her Orange County Performing Arts Center debut for a series of intimate concerts. Performing at the Samueli Theater from January 6 through January 9, F...

American-born singer/actress Carmen Cusack has certainly had a lot of experience playing extraordinary women. Besides turns as Christine on PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and Fantine in LES MISERABLES (both in England), she took on the role of Elphaba in the US National Tour of WICKED. Now she's wowing more a...

Before returning to the O.C. for a series of concerts accompanied by her band Supreme Music Program, Megan Mullally spoke with BroadwayWorld's Michael Lawrence Quintos about her band's return to OCPAC, her early stage career, and her memorable role as Karen Walker in the hit sitcom Will & Grace....

Former JERSEY BOYS star Erich Bergen is certainly one busy guy. In support of his first soon-to-be released solo CD The Vegas Sessions, Bergen will be debuting his new club act at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, September 15. On top of that, he is currently in rehearsals for the ...

This past year has certainly been a fun one for Cory English, the scene-stealing actor who portrays the lovably-humpbacked sidekick Igor (pronounced EYE-GOHR, mind you) in the first national tour of Mel Brooks' YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Recently, while en route with his family to Costa Mesa-where the show...

On the surface, taking over the lead role of Usnavi in the National Tour of IN THE HEIGHTS-now performing at the Orange County Performing Arts Center through August 15-seems like a daunting task to tackle, especially after observing first-hand the man who created the role reprising it for six weeks ...

One of Orange County, California's newest theater companies, 3D Theatricals, will present HELLO, DOLLY! from July 9 through August 1 at the gorgeous O.C. Pavilion Theatre in the Arts District of downtown Santa Ana. Starring as the matchmaker Dolly Levi will be Broadway veteran (and Los Angeles-area ...