Cheryl Baxter News

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green and songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. The fresh new production will be directed & choreographed by Spencer Liff (Emmy nominee for TV's 'So You Think You Can Dance' and Broadway's Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Falsettos), associate director is Cynthia Ferrer (original 'Kathy Selden' in the first National Tour of Singin' in the Rain) with musical direction by Keith Harrison. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN will preview on Friday, April 19, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, April 20 at 8pm) and run through Sunday, May 12, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Preceding, it will perform Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14 at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya), 18111 Nordhoff Street, in Northridge.

On Wednesday, March 22nd, I sat down to watch my first production of EVITA, ever, at the Century II Concert Hall. Grimly aware of my myriad prejudices, chief among them being the fact that I had listened to the original Broadway cast recording with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin ad infinitum ad nauseum since its eagerly awaited release back in 1979. It was the second rock musical concept piece written by Webber and Rice, and was directed by Harold Prince, and garnered 11 Tony nominations. The show has lived in my head all these years, every minute choreographed and staged. Since I was a poor working actor back in Buffalo, NY, I knew I was never going to get to NYC to see this show unless some fairy godmother intervened. Which was sadly not the case. Since I was a working class girl in a working class town, cutting my musical theatre teeth in the Meatloaf era (late 70s, early 80s), I liked my musicals with a certain amount of grit and truth, and have bemoaned the sanitization of my favorites, including Grease. It was with these heavy expectations and much trepidation that I sat down to watch Evita.

'Evita' is a hybrid rock & opera musical interpretation of the life journey of actress turned 'spiritual leader of Argentina' Eva Peron (Yael Reich). Her saturation of power, extraordinary wealth, and status grows heavier. Bringing with it heartache and self-discovery.

We are pleased to announce the winners for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and voted on by you - the local theatergoers!

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

The infectious spirit of living life to its fullest is the message in 'Zorba,' the 1968 musical that starred Herschel Bernardi. Musical Theatre Guild's staged concert version of the musical starred Michael Kostroff in an exuberant display of hedonism that is welcomed after the tragic Borderline shooting in Thousand Oaks and subsequent fires in Southern California communities.

Produced and Presented by Cheryl Baxter-Ratliff and Allen Walls, in association with Break The Floor and held at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA, there was an overwhelming turnout within the Dance Community to this event. There were reportedly 1,400 people attending. It was a spectacular evening! The all -inclusive 8th Annual WORLD CHOREOGRAPHY AWARDS. Because this is the 8th Annual Awards Ceremony, I feel a change has evolved regarding categories up for Awards. Wider acceptance of all forms of Dance, Interpretive Movement, new forms of technology and genres not considered previously. All-Inclusive is a modern term, but it's great to see that the WCA is embracing and incorporating so many more possibilities that qualify for our consideration.

A CELEBRATION OF LIFE The Los Angeles Memorial/Tribute for Alan Johnson at The Performing Arts Center October 14, 2018 Alan Johnson was truly a man of many talents. On Sunday, October 14th, 2018, friends, all of whom are either dancers, choreographers, directors or actors, or all combined, that have had the honor to work with or befriend him, gathered at The Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, CA, owned by Joe Malone and Nanci Hammond Malone, two superb dancers/teachers that donated their facility for this event, to honor, reminisce and celebrate Alan's wondrous life and career.

The 8th Annual World Choreography Awards (WCA) will be held on October 23 at The Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. The Choreography Awards, produced and directed by Allen Walls and Cheryl Baxter-Ratliff, are a global awards show celebrating and honoring the best in media choreography. The WCA recognizes choreographic achievement in 8 categories: Motion Picture, Music Video, Commercials, Television Episodic, Television Award Show/Specials, Digital Content, Digital Content Independent and Television Reality Show/Competition.

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will continue their 23rd Anniversary season with Kander and Ebb's haunting musical ZORBA. The one-night-only concert will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 7:00 PM.

The 8th Annual World Choreography Awards (WCA) will be held on October 23 at The Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. The Choreography Awards, produced and directed by Allen Walls and Cheryl Baxter-Ratliff, are a global awards show celebrating and honoring the best in media choreography. The WCA recognizes choreographic achievement in 8 categories: Motion Picture, Music Video, Commercials, Television Episodic, Television Award Show/Specials, Digital Content, Digital Content Independent and Television Reality Show/Competition.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ANNIE, and More!

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Susan Egan reprising her Broadway performance of Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at 5-Star Theatricals in California! Check out the video below!

Disney's Classic Film and subsequent Broadway Musical are not easy to recreate and to do justice to as well, both to the animated film version and the original stage production. Five Star Theatricals has opened this past weekend at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza/Kavli Theatre with a most lavish, charming and authentic version! I had the opportunity to speak with the Choreographer, Cheryl Baxter, of this delightful musical, and learned what it takes to be able to tackle this type of exciting but daunting project. I was not at all surprised to learn that it takes a careers'-worth of experience and dedication to be at this level.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast/book by Linda Woolverton/music by Alan Menken; lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice/originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions/directed by Yvette Lawrence/choreographed by Cheryl Baxter/musical director: Dan Redfeld/5-Star Theatricals at the Kavli Theatre of  Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza/through July 29 only Without question, 'Tale as old as time' fits the message of Beauty and the Beast, a story of true love, the most difficult to encounter. And once it's found, will it endure? Disney's adaptation of the fairy tale with its sweepingly imaginative spectacle won over even the hardest of hearts. The ani

Triple threat performer Susan Egan is no stranger to theatre audiences. She originated Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and is now reviving it 20 years later for 5 Star Theatricals. She took time out of her busy rehearsal schedule to discuss the role and explain why it means so very much to her and her career.