Aric Martin News

SHE LOVES ME, the 1963 Broadway musical with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, was based on Miklos Laszlo's 1937 play, Parfumerie, a warm, gentle comedy that follows the tangled dating life of perfume shop employee Georg Horvath whose dating life goes awry when he discovers that the stranger he has fallen in love with through a secret correspondence is none other than Amalia Balash, a co-worker with whom he constantly bickers. This universal tale about mistaken identity and romantic love went on to become the inspiration for the classic films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime, and Nora Ephron's 1998 box office hit You've Got Mail in which Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan took their secret romance online through emails.

When Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theatre decided to present MARY POPPINS The Broadway Musical as the final production of their 2017-18 Mainstage season, the group had no idea how the old theater adage "The Show Must Go On" would prove the title character's belief that "anything can happen when you let it." You see, the original directing team deserted the production a month before it was due to open, with an incomplete cast in place and tickets already having been sold. How could the challenge be met on time? Let me assure you, thanks to its new directors Kristie Mattsson and Aric Martin, musical directors Andrew Lederman and Daniel Koh, choreographers Lauren Blair and Holly Weber, and producers Anne & Larry Gesling, Spencer Johnson, and Meredith Wright, I would never have known such an additional challenge had been in place given the incredible quality of the production I saw!

A very talented young cast succeeds in bringing Biblical truth, strong acting, and great music to the show GODSPELL. This is a great show for the entire family!

LITTLE WOMEN, THE MUSICAL with book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, is based on the beloved 1869 classic novel by Louisa May Alcott. It's a song-filled adaptation of the touching tale of young love, achieving dreams, and the power of family to overcome even the most difficult of life's challenges. No doubt almost every young woman read the novel at some point during their lives, devouring the tale of the March sisters adventures (budding author Jo, practical Meg, sweet Beth, and romantic Amy) who are coming of age during the Civil War under the care of their doting mother, whom they call Marmee, while their father is away fighting for the North. They gather together to read his too infrequent letters, each warmly cuddling together around their beloved mother like a safe cocoon in a world being torn apart by violence around them.

Before Peter had the last name Pan, he was a browbeaten 13-year old orphan shipped off with his two mates from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. The boys know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain's cabin, containing a precious, otherworldly cargo, given to a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training, who realizes that the trunk's precious cargo is starstuff, a celestial substance so powerful it must never fall into the wrong hands. During the journey, the ship is taken over by pirates - led by the fearsome Black Stache (who will later be known as Captain Hook in The Adventures of Peter Pan) - a villain determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own, making the journey quickly become a thrilling adventure. From marauding pirates and jungle tyrants to unwilling comrades and unlikely heroes, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER playfully explores the depths of greed and despair... and the bonds of friendship, duty and love.

Anne Gesling directs many shows, especially musicals, for the Morgan-Wixson. But this time she has outdone herself with the perfect casting of each actor in the entire THE ADDAMS FAMILY production, making the show a guaranteed hit. Along with her show producer Meredith Wright, musical director Daniel Koh and frequent collaborator, choreographer Lauren Blair, be prepared for a spectacular and gloriously fun time. Be sure to bring theatre lovers of all ages so you can celebrate the joy of laughter together.

Bialystock and Bloom! Those names should strike terror and hysteria in anyone familiar with Mel Brooks' classic cult comedy film. Now as a big Broadway musical, THE PRODUCERS once again sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor. The 2001 Tony Award Winning Best Musical based on Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, has been wowing audiences around the world, and now at the Morgan Wixson Theater in Santa Monica through August 2, 2014.

SPRING AWAKENING is the 2007 Tony Award winning rock musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind's 1891 expressionist play about the trials and tribulations as well as the exhilaration of the teen years, exploring the confusion and desperation that ensue when the onrushing tide of hormones meets the ignorance of children.

It's difficult to know where to start with my praise for this outrageously spectacular production. Starting with a remarkable cast able to transform themselves into what seemed to be hundreds of characters in a matter of seconds, every single element combined brilliantly to make the production shine from start to finish.

AVENUE Q, the zany, adult-themed spoof on Sesame Street, won the Tony "Triple Crown" for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book. Now onstage through April 6 at Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theatre, the show is part flesh, part felt and packed with lots of heart. With 2,534 performances, Avenue Q ranks 23rd on the list of longest running shows in Broadway history, and this production does the show proud.