Ahmanson Theatre News

Minneapolis Musical Theatre's (MMT) Leap of Faith makes its area premiere April 29-May 22, 2016, at Hennepin Theatre Trust's New Century Theatre. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 10, 2015. To purchase and for more information, call 612.455.9501, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or buy in person (no service fees) at the New Century Theatre (615 Hennepin Ave., street level, City Center).

BroadwayWorld has learned that Dave Thomas Brown, recently of Heathers: The Musical at New World Stages, leads a cast that also includes Wayne Duvall (O Brother Where Art Thou?, Leatherheads), Matt McGrath (Cabaret, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Keith Nobbs (Lombardi, 'The Black Donnellys') and Afton C. Williamson ('Nashville,' 'Homeland') will star in Matthew Lopez's The Legend of Georgia McBride, the first production of MCC's 2015-16 Main Stage Season.

Announcing the stellar cast of THE PORCINI TEST, will be ready to open at The Promenade Playhouse on July 17th.

Rehearsals have started for "Girlfriend" at the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre. Featuring a book by Todd Almond and music and lyrics by Matthew Sweet, the rock musical about first love will begin previews on July 12 with the opening slated for July 19. Performances will continue through August 9. To prepare for the Los Angeles run, scroll down for a peek at the Actors Theatre of Louisville production!

Des Moines Performing Arts, in partnership with the Des Moines Symphony, is hosting a special guest with Iowa ties at the state's largest single-day concert event. Tonight, July 2, 2015 at the Des Moines Symphony's 22nd annual free Yankee Doodle Pops concert on the Iowa State Capitol's West Terrace, three-time Tony Award®-winning composer JASON ROBERT BROWN will conduct the orchestra in selections from Broadway's THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, for which he wrote the music, lyrics and orchestrations. The musical, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, is famously set in Iowa and will launch its national tour at the Des Moines Civic Center November 28 - December 5.

Des Moines Performing Arts, in partnership with the Des Moines Symphony, is hosting a special guest with Iowa ties at the state's largest single-day concert event. On Thursday, July 2, 2015 at the Des Moines Symphony's 22nd annual free Yankee Doodle Pops concert on the Iowa State Capitol's West Terrace, three-time Tony Award®-winning composer JASON ROBERT BROWN will conduct the orchestra in selections from Broadway's THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, for which he wrote the music, lyrics and orchestrations. The musical, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, is famously set in Iowa and will launch its national tour at the Des Moines Civic Center November 28 - December 5.

David Mirvish's chamber-sized revival of TITANIC, starring Ben Heppner, the greatest opera tenor of his generation, closes today, June 21, 2015.

Happy Birthday, Danny Burstein! On Broadway, Burstein's appearances have included A Little Hotel on the Side (1992), Yakov in The Seagull (1992-93), in Saint Joan and Three Men on a Horse (both in 1993), Paul in Company (1995), 1st Officer William Murdoch in Titanic (1997-99), Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006-07), Luther Billis in South Pacific (2008-10), and Taxi Driver in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010-11). He played the role of Buddy Plummer in the Kennedy Center production of Follies, which went on to play Broadway's Marquis Theatre and LA's Ahmanson Theatre. He is currently starring in the Roundabout revival of Cabaret, for which he earned a 2014 Tony nomination.

The national tour of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, has announced its initial itinerary, launching in Des Moines, IA at the Des Moines Civic Center, with performances beginning Saturday, November 28th and an official opening on Tuesday, December 1st. Based on one of the most romantic stories ever written, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY will travel to more than 15 cities in its first season, with additional cities to be announced. Scroll down for a look back at where it all began!

Lovers of dance-theatre and visual arts will be wowed by the much-anticipated return to The Music Center of Russia's leading contemporary ballet company as Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center presents Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg with Rodin.

David Hyde Pierce, winner of four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier, and multiple Emmy Award winner David Lee, Frasier's co-creator and executive producer, will reunite to discuss what goes into making a hit television show. At this onstage conversation event co-produced with Gimlet Media's Alex Blumberg (formally of This American Life and Planet Money), Pierce and Lee talk about what worked, what didn't work, and how to develop a memorable character. A part of Lincoln Center's Masters on Masters series, the conversation will be held tonight at 7:30pm, at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage.

David Hyde Pierce, winner of four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier, and multiple Emmy Award winner David Lee, Frasier's co-creator and executive producer, will reunite to discuss what goes into making a hit television show. At this onstage conversation event co-produced with Gimlet Media's Alex Blumberg (formally of This American Life and Planet Money), Pierce and Lee talk about what worked, what didn't work, and how to develop a memorable character. A part of Lincoln Center's Masters on Masters series, the conversation will be held tonight at 7:30pm, at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Frieda and Roy Furman Stage. BroadwayWorld will be bringing you a livestream of the conversation, and you can tune in at 7:30pm to watch the full event!

Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical has finally arrived at the Ahmanson Theatre, and it is a sumptuous treat for the eyes, ears and mind. Imagination runs amok in choreography, staging and in reproducing a feast of visual pleasures via ultra riveting set pieces - with scrabble-like words and phrases jutting out on all sides - and vibrant costumes. And to get a bevy of child actors to essay these little 'maggots' in such a dynamically professional manner for two and a half hours is no minor feat. It's like the song claims: it's a 'miracle!'

Center Theatre Group launched the First National Tour of Roald Dahl's 'Matilda The Musical' last night, Sunday, June 7 at 4 p.m. at the Ahmanson Theatre. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Companyand The Dodgers, 'Matilda The Musical' continues performances in Los Angeles through July 12, 2015. BroadwayWorld brings you a look back at the big night below!

Anxiously awaiting Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming's Tony Award Opening Number? Trying to see all of the Best Play and Best Musical nominations before Sunday? Well don't worry BroadwayWorld has rounded up some of the biggest stories from this week from Broadway and beyond with BroadwayWorld's 'This Week in Pictures.'

Center Theatre Group launches the First National Tour of Roald Dahl's 'Matilda The Musical' this Sunday, June 7 at 4 p.m. at the Ahmanson Theatre. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers, 'Matilda The Musical' continues performances in Los Angeles through July 12, 2015.BroadwayWorld has a first look at the tour cast in action below!

George Street Playhouse and Artistic Director David Saint are pleased to present Tony and Emmy Award winners DAVID HYDE PIERCE and DEBRA MONK in A.R. Gurney's classic love story, Love Letters, on the New Brunswick stage for one night only tonight, June 3 at 8pm. The modern classic two-hander will be helmed by GSP Artistic Director DAVID SAINT.

Let's first get this very necessary accolade out of the way: South Coast Repertory's brand new production of Rick Elice's PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is, hands down, one of the most enjoyable, most thrilling, and most engagingly imaginative plays I have seen all season---a fitting capper to the Tony Award-winning Orange County theater's 51st year. This delightfully revised production---which continues performances in Costa Mesa through June 7---re-calibrates the play's hyperactive mixture of mirth and mayhem by further emphasizing its seemingly 'bare-bones' storytelling devices, resulting in one entertaining night of theater that both kids and adults will find endearingly beguiling. Motivated by imagination, I seriously cannot recall the last time I laughed this boisterously and had this much unabashed joy from sitting through a play in quite some time.

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, are thrilled to announce the first show of its 2015-2016 - 25th Anniversary Season, the World Premiere of HOMEFREE, written by Lisa Loomer and directed by Ovation Award-winner Michael Matthews. HOMEFREE will open on Friday, September 18 at 8pm and run through Sunday, November 8th at the Road Theatre Company's second home, the Road on Magnolia, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.

There's a fascinating mix of familiar and not- so-familiar plays and musicals that will grace Los Angeles stages this summer. LA editors Don Grigware, Ellen Dostal, Shari Barrett and Gil Kaan have chosen their favorites in the list below. Enjoy!