Joey Ruggiero

Garry Marshall Theatre is presenting the off Broadway musical The Spitfire Grill, one of the most popular recent musicals with over 600 productions worldwide including in Germany, South Korea, Japan, Australia and London.

The 1996 Film The Spitfire Grill was a big winner at Sundance and other festivals. It is a drama about a small New England town called Gillead where one restaurant The Spitfire Grill has been up and running for 40 years. Since then a musical was created by Fred Alley and James Valq and little is changed. Characters and most of the plotline are the same as in the movie, with the addition of music, of course. The Spitfire Grill is a small restaurant business for a small community. Its owner Hannah Ferguson (Sarah Saviano) cooks three meals a day and runs the place by herself.  Bold and stubborn as a mule, Hannah keeps a dark secret about a close relation. It takes a stranger to Gillead to uncover the secret, to cause further complication and ... to gradually set things right. Now onstage at the Garry Marshall Theatre through August 11, The Spitfire Grill  is a winning production that will entertain you and simultaneously tug at your heart strings.

Garry Marshall Theatre presents the off Broadway musical The Spitfire Grill, one of the most popular recent musicals with over 600 productions worldwide including in Germany, South Korea, Japan, Australia and London.

Garry Marshall Theatre presents the off Broadway musical The Spitfire Grill, one of the most popular recent musicals with over 600 productions worldwide including in Germany, South Korea, Japan, Australia and London.

Having seen the musical HAMILTON when it was in Los Angeles, like many others I learned more important details about the founding fathers while watching it than I felt I had ever learned in school. Lin-Manuel Miranda who created that uber-successful musical in 2015, has said that 1776 THE MUSICAL, written in 1969, during another time of political and social unrest in the United States, has 'one of the best books-if not the best-ever written for musical theatre.' And now I can say I certainly agree with him. In fact, The perfect way to prove the arts can teach valuable history lessons to its audiences is by encouraging everyone to see 1776 THE MUSICAL, presented by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo and impeccably directed & staged by Glenn Casale through Sunday, February 3, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts or at The Soraya at CSUN from Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT (celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary at the theatre) are thrilled to present the award-winning and revolutionary 1776 THE MUSICAL, with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo and directed & staged by Glenn Casale. 1776 THE MUSICAL will preview on Friday, January 11, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, January 12 at 8pm) and runs through Sunday, February 3, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.  

LaMirada and McCoy Rigby Entertainment will present the award-winning and revolutionary 1776 THE MUSICAL, with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo and directed & staged by Glenn Casale. 1776 THE MUSICAL will begin previews on Friday, January 11, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, January 12 at 8pm) and runs through Sunday, February 3, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

INTO THE WOODS may be one of the most popular musicals for those skilled in the art of presenting musical theater comedy. So much so that when Cupcake Studios held auditions for the 17 character roles in the show, over 1,000 people submitted online and in person to be in the show at the North Hollywood theater location. So it is no wonder each and every person in the show creates magic when they take the stage! Kudos to Michael Pettenato, the group's Artistic Director who directs and produces this musical extravaganza, for selecting the best of the best to bring such excellence in all aspects of the production.

Celebration, under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, is thrilled to announce that the first show in its 2017-2018 season, the critically acclaimed hit musical, The View UpStairs, book, music and lyrics by Max Vernon, choreography by Cate Caplin, musical direction by Jake Anthony and directed by Michael A. Shepperd is extending through Sunday, November 12 at Celebration Theatre @ the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave. in Los Angeles.

The west coast premiere of THE VIEW UPSTAIRS bursts with a high-energied hodge-podge of some great vocals, charming performances and wonderfully executed choreography. Playwright Max Vernon, through the eyes of a present-day electronically dependent fashion designer, retells the stories of victims of a fire by arson at the gay bar UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans back in June of 1973.

Celebration presents under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, the first show in its 2017-2018 season, the Off-Broadway hit musical, The View UpStairs, book, music and lyrics by Max Vernon, choreography by Cate Caplin, musical direction by Jake Anthony and directed by Michael A. Shepperd. The View UpStairs will begin previews on Thursday, September 15 at 8pm; will open on Friday, September 22 at 8pm and perform through Sunday, October 29 at Celebration Theatre @ the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave. in Los Angeles.

Celebration presents under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, the first show in its 2017-2018 season, the Off-Broadway hit musical, The View UpStairs, book, music and lyrics by Max Vernon, choreography by Cate Caplin, musical direction by Jake Anthony and directed by Michael A. Shepperd.

Celebration presents under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, the first show in its 2017-2018 season, the Off-Broadway hit musical, The View UpStairs, book, music and lyrics by Max Vernon, choreography by Cate Caplin, musical direction by Jake Anthony and directed by Michael A. Shepperd.

A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returned to the historic Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on Monday, August 21st with its fifteenth concert featuring emerging musical theatre artists. Co-hosts, Tony Award winner Marisa Jaret Winokur (HAIRSPRAY) and Ryan O'Connor ('BIG LITTLE LIES,' 'LADYWATCH' podcast), delighted the audience with context and humor between numbers. Gregory Nabours and the dynamic ALNM band (Eric McCann, Emily Rosenfield, and Greg Sadler) provided excellent backup to the singers performing the next generation of musical theatre songs. 

On Monday, August 21 at 8:30pm, A Little New Music will present its 15th concert collaboration with an eclectic array of artists performing original musical theatre songs at the historic Catalina Jazz Club. Those who attend A Little New Music will be some of the first to discover new pieces of musical theatre that could potentially become Broadway hits. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal!

Celebration presents under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, the first show in its 2017-2018 season, the Off-Broadway hit musical, The View UpStairs, book, music and lyrics by Max Vernon, choreography by Cate Caplin, musical direction by Jake Anthony and directed by Michael A. Shepperd.

S/HE & ME chronicles the unvarnished, complex, desperate, and often hilariously wacky story of Billings' life, centering on the transition from the young Scott to the show-stopping Alexandra. She carries the story forward through story and plenty of songs, all of which represent the various life lessons she has learned along with way about herself, from learning to deal with feeling like a girl in a boy's body, falling in love at 16 with the woman who becomes her wife, to now living her life as an openly transgender woman. I learned more in this one evening's entertainment than I ever have leading any articles on the subject, especially when the fiercely flamboyant star stripped down to reveal her body as well as her soul to the audience.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center has announced a limited engagement of S/He & Me: A Theatrical Cabaret, written and performed by Alexandra Billings, star of Amazon Prime's hit show Transparent.

CSULB University Players kicks off its spring semester with the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play Rent, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Joanne Gordon. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Broadway premiere, Rent opens March 3rd and runs through March 19th.

Transgender actress/singer Alexandra Billings has done quite remarkable work on LA stages over the last decade, as well as being one of the stars of the current amazon TV hit Transparent. She holds nothing back; her acting style is brutally honest. Now through next Sunday only October 11, you can see her new autobiographical cabaret play entitled S/he & Me: A Theatrical Cabaret.