Ahmanson Theatre News

The beloved Broadway tradition continued yesterday as Sardi's added a caricature of Tony Award-nominee Alex Brightman to its legendary walls. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the special celebration and you can check out photos below!

On May 4, the 2016 Tony nominees flocked to the Paramount Hotel, where they met with the press for the first time since getting the big news. BroadwayWorld will be bringing you coverage from the epic day over the next week, but for now, check out photos of Best Performance by an Actor in Leading Role in a Musical nominee for School of Rock, Alex Brightman, as captured by Walter McBride!

Lookingglass Theatre Company continues its 28th Season with Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure, written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas, and co-directed by Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks and Krissy Vanderwarker. Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure runs June 1 - August 14, 2016 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.  

Center Theatre Group will host a special event featuring a screening of "Grey Gardens," the 1975 classic documentary, followed by a conversation with Betty Buckley, Rachel York and Michael Wilson - the stars and director of the upcoming Ahmanson Theatre production of the Tony Award-nominated "Grey Gardens" The Musical.

Grey Gardens/Ahmanson Theatre/July 6 - August 14, 2016 Based on the 1975 documentary of the same name, the story recounts the fall from uppercrust society of mother and daughter Edith Bouvier Beale, eccentric cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who lived in poverty in East Hampton, New York. This is the long-awaited west coast premiere of the Tony winning musical, and it will star Rachel York as 'Little Edie' and Betty Buckley as 'Big Edie'. www.centertheatregroup.org Beautiful - The Carole King Musical/Pantages Theatre/June 22 - July 17, 2

Alex Brightman has had one hell of a year. In a matter of months, the SCHOOL OF ROCK leading man has gone from relative-unknown Broadway performer to a bona fide star and Tony nominee for best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. How does he keep his performances rockstar-quality ? Find out below!

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 2016-2017 season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Award-winning Los Angeles writer-performers Richard Montoya ('Chavez Ravine' and 'Water & Power') and Roger Guenveur Smith ('Rodney King' and 'The Watts Tower Project') take part in a DouglasPlus: Conversations event, 'Excavating Venice of America,' today Wednesday, June 1 at 8 p.m., at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre.

In honor of NYC Pride 2016, 92Y presents a one-night-only performance of The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, the award-winning play written and performed by James Lecesne, directed by Tony Speciale, with original music by Spring Awakening's Tony Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik. The play has scenic design by Jo Winiarski, lighting design by Matt Richards, sound design by Christian Frederickson, projection design by Aaron Rhyne, original animation & photography by Matthew Sandager, and costumes by Paul Marlow.

The divisive world of Washington D.C. politics moves to center stage of the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts when Anthony Giardina's searing political comic drama THE CITY OF CONVERSATION opens for a limited run in May.

As the head of the class at School of Rock, Alex Brightman creates a rock concert every night for the audience at the Winter Garden Theatre. His take on Dewey Finn (or Mr. Schneebly) has earned him his first Tony nomination for Best Performance by and Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and he doesn't quite know how to properly celebrate. Find out what we mean below!

The divisive world of Washington D.C. politics moves to center stage of the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts when Anthony Giardina's searing political comic drama THE CITY OF CONVERSATION opens for a limited run this month.

Stars of stage and screen will illuminate the night sky when the Pasadena Symphony and POPS presents its annual free Music Under the Stars concert tonight, May 14 at Pasadena City Hall's Centennial Square.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT invite you to journey "Under The Sea" as it presents the fifth and final show of its 2015-2016 season, THE LITTLE MERMAID, music by Alan Menkcn, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater, book by Doug Wright, musical direction by Colin R. Freeman, choreography by John MacInnis and directed by Glenn Casale. 

Award-winning Los Angeles writer-performers Richard Montoya ("Chavez Ravine" and "Water & Power") and Roger Guenveur Smith ("Rodney King" and "The Watts Tower Project") will take part in a DouglasPlus: Conversations event, "Excavating Venice of America," on Wednesday, June 1 at 8 p.m., at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre.         

Abingdon Theatre Company, in association with The Muse Project, will present STET, a new play inspired by true events, written by Kim Davies and developed by Kim Davies, Jocelyn Kuritsky and Artistic Director Tony Speciale. A limited Off-Broadway engagement will begin previews on June 11, as part of Abingdon's 2015-2016 Season, with an official press opening scheduled for June 23. Tickets are now on sale through July 3. Tony Speciale is set to direct the world-premiere production, which marks his inaugural programming as Artistic Director.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic performs its final concert of the season, Dream of Now, Dream of Then: Lisa Vroman Brings Broadway to Las Vegas on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center.  The performance will feature sixteen Broadway selections with arrangements sung by esteemed vocalist, Lisa Vroman.  

Samuel Beckett's classic ENDGAME opened last night, May 1, 2016, at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre. Directed by Alan Mandell, performances for 'Endgame' will continue through May 22. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Every director has their bucket list of plays they wish to direct or perhaps even appear in someday. Director Alan Mandell has long been enamored with the work of Samuel Beckett and has toured with original productions of Waiting for Godot and Endgame directed by Beckett. With his 80-year career in theatre and innate understanding of the absurdist's work, Mandell has now directed Endgame at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, starring in the production with Barry McGovern. This is the second Beckett play in which the two actors have appeared together, the first being Waiting for Godot in 2012 at the Mark Taper Forum. And their stage camaraderie is a wonder to behold.