Ahmanson Theatre News

The Los Angeles Company of the Off-Broadway smash hit Silence! The Musical at the Hayworth Theatre ends its run today, December 9, 2012.

In a bi-coastal celebration of the season, internationally acclaimed soprano Lisa Vroman is performing with 150 members of the National Children's Chorus (NCC) and a chamber orchestra in two evening concerts themed "Candlelight" - Thursday, November 29 in Los Angeles and tonight, December 8 in New York.

In this week's edition of 'Around BWW: Regional Highlights of the Week', we take you around the country - and beyond - with the most-read theater stories for the week of December 3! Scroll below to see what made news in your area!

Marc Acito's new play with music or monological, HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE will premiere at THE HUB THEATRE this Friday, December 7, 2012. The production features Alex Brightman in a one man tour-de-force, and is directed by The Hub's Artistic Director, HELEN PAFUMI. Inspired by his own misspent youth, Acito describes the story as 'just true enough to be embarrassing to my family.' Published in 2004, Acito's novel How I Paid for College won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and was hailed as a New York Times 'Editors' Choice.' Get a first look at Brightman onstage in the photos below!

Enveloping the audience in a magnitude of musical splendors, the $3.1-million William J. Gillespie Concert Organ, played by world-renowned organist Todd Wilson, captures the beauty, range and colors of popular and traditional holiday music during Pacific Symphony's annual "Holiday Organ Spectacular."

Roundabout Theatre Company's (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) national tour of the 2011 Tony® Award-winning Anything Goes opened on Wednesday, November 28 in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre and continues through January 6, 2013. Tickets are available in person at the CTG box office, by phone (213) 628-2772 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org.

Center Theatre Group's production of the Tony Award-nominated "Other Desert Cities" by Jon Robin Baitz opens at the Mark Taper Forum on Sunday, December 9 at 7 p.m. The cast features Jeannie Berlin, Robert Foxworth, Robin Weigert, Michael Weston and JoBeth Williams. Robert Egan directs the West Coast premiere which has performances continuing through January 6, 2013. (Previews November 28 through December 8, 2012.) BroadwayWorld has a first look at the show below.

The Lake Worth Playhouse brings to life the hilariously unusual musical comedy, The Drowsy Chaperone. Reveling in the classic age of theatre, the show is a comedy wrapped in the musical exploits only live theatre can provide.

Rehearsals for RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S Cinderella will begin Thursday, December 6 with preview performances starting January 25 prior to Opening Night on Sunday, March 3. (The previously announced opening date of February 24 turned out to be Oscar Night.) The box office at the Broadway Theatre (1681 Broadway at 53rd St.) will open Monday, December 17 at 10 a.m.

The new musical Kinky Boots, from four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein (book) and Grammy Award-winning rock icon Cyndi Lauper (Music & Lyrics), will begin preview performances on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street) on Tuesday, March 5, 2013, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 4, 2013. Check out a sneak peek promo for the show below!

MARC ACITO's new play with music or monological, HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE is set to premiere at THE HUB THEATRE on December 7, 2012. The production features ALEX BRIGHTMAN in a one man tour-de-force, and is directed by The Hub's Artistic Director, HELEN PAFUMI. Inspired by his own misspent youth, Acito describes the story as 'just true enough to be embarrassing to my family.' Published in 2004, Acito's novel How I Paid for College won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and was hailed as a New York Times 'Editors' Choice.'

Voting is now underway for the Los Angeles Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below

BWW TV's own Michael Sterling and Jerry Evans of the JLE Media Group, were on hand for the official November 28, 2012 red carpet opening of the new Broadway revival of "Anything Goes," Cole Porter's timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece now on stage at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre through January 6, 2013. Check out interviews with some red carpet arrivals below!

Anything Goes/original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and/Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse/new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman/music & lyrics by Cole Porter/directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall/Ahmanson Theatre/through January 6, 2013

In ANYTHING GOES, when the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set a course to true love...proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, an exotic disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail.

The new Broadway revival of "Anything Goes," Cole Porter's timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece, opens at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre on November 28, 2012 at 8 p.m., and continues through January 6, 2013. In the video below, the cast performs a part of the title number on 'Good Day LA.' Check out the performance below!

In a bi-coastal celebration of the season, internationally acclaimed soprano Lisa Vroman is performing with 150 members of the National Children's Chorus (NCC) and a chamber orchestra in two evening concerts themed "Candlelight" - tonight, November 29 in Los Angeles and Saturday, December 8 in New York.

The Second City scoured their address book to assemble a cast of seven luminary L.A.-based alumni for their hilarious take on the beloved Charles Dickens tale of hope and redemption. The world premiere of The Second City's "A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!" is written by Second City alums, Peter Gwinn (formerly of "The Colbert Report") and Bobby Mort (currently of "The Colbert Report"), and opens tonight, November 29, 2012, at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre. Previews began November 24 and performances will run through December 30.

Michael Weston joins Center Theatre Group's production of the Tony-nominated "Other Desert Cities" by Jon Robin Baitz. Weston joins the previously announced Jeannie Berlin, Robert Foxworth, Robin Weigert and JoBeth Williams. Robert Egan directs the West Coast premiere, which starts previews tonight November 28, 2012, opens December 9 and runs through January 6, 2013.

Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal has set Sunday, December 9 as auditions for the 7th consecutive year of LA's Next Great Stage Star®, it was announced today by producers Michael Sterling and Tony Monsour of Michael Sterling & Associates in Los Angeles, CA. www.msapr.net. For the second consecutive year - author, actress, concert headliner, and arts philanthropist Barbara Van Orden joins Sterling and Monsour by gifting LA's Next Great Stage Star® with the Barbara Van Orden Grant which provides invaluable assistance to production of the annual competition.