Bruce Kimmel News

'S Wonderful/Sandy Sings Ira Gershwin/Sandy Bainum at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal/musical director: Lanny Meyers/director: Bruce Kimmel/Sunday June 22

Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal presents KRITZERLAND GOES OFF-BROADWAY!

Sterling's Upstairs - housed at popular LA hot spot The Federal in North Hollywood's NoHo Arts District - has not only been described by the Los Angeles Times as "LA's cabaret destination;" but was just cited by LA Weekly as one of Los Angeles's top five supper clubs, With an arsenal of similar accolades from LA based media, Sterling's Upstairs celebrates its eight-year anniversary this month with Broadway performers Maura Hanlon Smith (June 9), Sandy Bainum (June 22) and Bernard Dotson (June 29-June 30). Kritzerland Records' Nobody Does it Better... The songs of Dorothy Fields kicked off the month-long celebration on June 1st featuring Tara Browne, Cynthia Ferrer, Zachary Ford, Kim Huber, Jenna Lea Rosen, Sami Staitman, Sarah Staitman, Robert Yacko and Special Guest... Broadway's Kerry O'Malley.

The 46th Kritzerland show on Sunday, June 1 featured one of the most influential female lyricists of all time, the great Dorothy Fields. In a time when Tin Pan Alley was almost exclusively a male-dominated club, Dorothy Fields rose to the top, first writing hit after hit with Jimmy McHugh, and later becoming one of the first female lyricists on Broadway and in film. Fields created some of the cleverest and most beautiful lyrics ever written, and was a master of the craft who forged the way for so many other talented female lyricists. There was no one like Dorothy Fields.

Back in the 50s, the era that was innocence personified, Broadway musicals were written to entertain first. Of course, Stephen Sondheim and other more serious composers were beginning to change the face of the American musical with the goal to enlighten, but shows like Li'l Abner, with book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, lyrics by Johnny Mercer & music by Gene De Paul and based on Al Capp's 1934 comic strip, showed us the wild hillbilly lifestyle to make us laugh rather than think. Underneath the surface, to be sure, there is political satire and an uplifting message about appreciating the worth of that lesser known patch of American culture, kind of like what 60sTV audiences found in The Beverly Hillbillies.

On the first Sunday of each month, Bruce Kimmel's Kritzerland Records' presents a supper club musical cabaret at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in NoHo. Sunday, April 6, 2014, the group celebrated its two-year anniversary with THESE APRIL FOOLISH THINGS with not only foolish songs but ones having to do with Spring or the month of April in general.

Musical Theatre West presents the third production of their 61st season, the West Coast Premiere of S'WONDERFUL: The New Gershwin Musical, created and directed by Ray Roderick, musicaldirection by Bret Simmons with choreography by Charlie Williams. S'WONDERFUL will preview today, April 4, open on Saturday, April 5 and perform for three weeks only through Sunday, April 20 at The Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, located at 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach on the campus of California State University, Long Beach.

For our 44th Kritzerland show we celebrate the most foolish day and month of the year - April Fools Day. Yes, it's all things April and all things foolish, as well as some things that aren't so foolish. And not only are we celebrating the April Fools, we're celebrating the second anniversary of Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal - in April of 2012 we were the first show in Michael Sterling's new home at The Federal, and we've been there every month since. We have a potpourri of fun planned for our April 6th show, including lots of comedy, some beautiful April-themed songs, and an amazing cast. You'll hear songs you know and songs you don't know, including the world premiere of a brand new Richard M. Sherman song, written with Kritzerland's Bruce Kimmel. And playing it will be Richard M. Sherman, our very special guest star - and as if that and our great cast wasn't enough, we have another guest star, too, the beautiful and superlative Andrea Marcovicci. So, don't be too foolish and wait too long to make your reservations - our last seven shows have been early sellouts. Come and join us to celebrate all the wonderful foolish things we've got planned and to wish Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal a happy anniversary as the best cabaret room in the city enters its third year.

Musical Theatre West presents the third production of their 61st season, the West Coast Premiere of S'WONDERFUL: The New Gershwin Musical, created and directed by Ray Roderick, musicaldirection by Bret Simmons with choreography by Charlie Williams. S'WONDERFUL will preview on Friday, April 4, open on Saturday, April 5 and perform for three weeks only through Sunday, April 20 at The Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, located at 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach on the campus of California State University, Long Beach.

Jennifer Kranz, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles majoring in Theatre and minoring in Musical Theatre, emerged victorious Sunday, February 16th as LA's Next Great Stage Star® 2014 produced and presented by Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed concert supper club in the greater Los Angeles area.

On the first Sunday of each month at Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, dinner cabaret nights are presented to packed houses. Due to the Oscars, this month's event was held on Monday, March 3, saluting THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWTUNE: A TRIBUTE TO HAROLD PRINCE whose career has spanned over sixty years and who, as producer and/or director is responsible for some of the greatest musical theater triumphs of all time.

Jennifer Kranz, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles majoring in Theatre and minoring in Musical Theatre, emerged victorious Sunday, February 16th as LA's Next Great Stage Star® 2014 produced and presented by Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed concert supper club in the greater Los Angeles area.

And the winner of the 8th annual LA'S NEXT GREAT STAGE STAR talent competition is Jennifer Kranz, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles majoring in Theatre and minoring in Musical Theatre. On Sunday, Feb 16th, Ms. Kranz and 19 other talented young professionals sang their hearts out for the coveted prize. As winner, Ms. Kranz awarded a cash prize of $1000; an upcoming paid headlining concert engagement at Sterling's Upstairs; a vocal demo recording session from Tom Griep's Audition Trax; a photo session with Isaac James Creative; and is already in the process of scheduling meetings to be signed and represented by one of the lucrative competition's Equity Agent/Judges as the first step toward a professional career in musical theatre, television and film. Scroll down for photos from the competition!

Just in time for our Oscar indulgence, Bruce Kimmel joined the bandwagon of Oscar tantalizers by presenting his monthy Kritzerland show, this month entitled Kritzerland Goes to the Movies, at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal in tribute to Academy Award worthy music: songs that won an Oscar, songs that were nominated and those that were not but should have been. Monday February 3 was a fun evening with fantastic Shelly Markham at the piano as musical director and six stellar performers including John Sloman, Shannon Warne, Dennis Kyle, Lisa Livesay, Emma Degerstedt and young songstress Brennley Brown. Also on hand for our pleasure were special guest star composer and three-time Academy Award winner Richard Sherman and actress/song stylist Andrea Marcovicci.

Co-Producers Juliana Hansen and Jonathan White will presented a one-night-only benefit performance, ONE STARRY NIGHT: Hollywood and Broadway Come Together to Fight ALS, on Monday, January 13, 2014, hosted by The Pasadena Playhouse. Scroll down for photos from the concert!

Make way everybody, we've got some new kids in town and they're out to take over musical theatre one song at a time. Of course, I'm referring to Kritzerland's latest cabaret show at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal. On Sunday, January 5th, Bruce Kimmel's New Kids in Town! featured nine terrific up-and-coming young people ranging in age from 9 to 18.

LA's Next Great Stage Star® 2014 sings in the New Year beginning Sunday, January 5 at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed concert supper club in the greater Los Angeles area.

Co-Producers Juliana Hansen and Jonathan White will present a one night only benefit performance, ONE STARRY NIGHT: Hollywood and Broadway Come Together to Fight ALS, on Monday, January 13, 2014 at 8pm, hosted by The Pasadena Playhouse. Joining the cast of ONE STARRY NIGHT will be Richard M. Sherman (two-time Academy Award-winner for Best Song and Best Score of Mary Poppins, who is being portrayed by Jason Schwartzman in the just-released Disney film Saving Mr. Banks), Kerry O'Malley, Amy Paffrath, Barry Pearl, Drew Seeley, Daniel Tatar, and Bruce Vilanch.

On Sunday, December 1 Kritzerland Records presented its 40th show and annual Christmas presentation entitled A Kritzerland Christmas III at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal with special guest star Terri White. It was a beautiful evening of mostly familiar Christmas music with a few lesser known but still great tunes. This is the whole point of Kritzerland to spotlight those songs that somehow got away without becoming hits. On hand as well as dynamic Terri White were songsters Dan Callaway, Robert Yacko, Ashley Fox Linton, Lisa Livesay, Jenna Lea Rosen, Sarah Staitman, Kelsey Scott and nine year-old Hadley Belle Miller, under the super musical direction of Richard Allan.

Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed, award-winning supper club of its kind in the greater Los Angeles area, has set Sunday, December 15, 2013 as auditions for the 8th consecutive year of LA's Next Great Stage Star®, it was announced today by Executive Producer Michael Sterling of Michael Sterling & Associates in Los Angeles, CA. "Our annual auditions in search of 10 men and 10 women between within the ages of 18 and 28, is highly anticipated by the hierarchy of those in the business of presenting Los Angeles Broadway musical theatre. We couldn't be more grateful to our professional colleagues and select corporate entities for their consistent support of Stage Star since its inception eight years ago."