David Engel News

More than one hundred solo performers, festival supporters, special guests, and members of the theatre community took part in the United Solo Closing Gala.

Coyote StageWorks, the Coachella Valley-based award-winning Actors' Equity professional theater company, will begin its 2016-2017 'Legendary Ladies' season on November 26, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. with a staged reading benefit gala performance of the beloved production 'Steel Magnolias,' by playwright Robert Harling. It will feature performances by well-known actresses Florence Henderson, Sally Struthers, Carole Cooke, Mo Gaffney, Yo Younger and Elaine Hayhurst and will be held at the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum. 

San Diego Musical Theatre is proud to announce the cast and creative teams for its two holiday productions this season. For the final year SDMT brings Irving Berlin's White Christmas to the historic Spreckels Theatre, with book by David Ives and Paul Blake, directed by Todd Nielsen. White Christmas runs November 25th- December 4th with press opening on Friday, November 25th. SDMT will also present the World Premiere of Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play directed by Colleen Kollar Smith, adapted by Lance Arthur Smith, with original music by Jon Lorenz. Miracle on 34th Street runs December 1st - 23rd at the Horton Grand Theatre, with press opening on Thursday, December 8th.

Coyote StageWorks, the Coachella Valley-based award-winning Actors' Equity professional theater company, announced its eighth season that will run throughout 2016-2017. Dubbed "Legendary Ladies," the schedule of performances will include the Company's signature one-night-only benefit and productions of two beloved stage plays, all presented at the Annenberg Theater, located inside the Palm Springs Art Museum. The season celebrates "Legendary Ladies" and will feature renown actresses Florence Henderson, Sally Struthers, Mo Gaffney, Loretta Swit and Gloria Loring in productions of 'Steel Magnolias," "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks," and "The Lady With All the Answers."

When the daylight ends and the moon ascends, find yourself at Moonlight Amphitheatre for 'The Addams Family - A New Musical Comedy.' The creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky family we all know and love storms onto the Moonlight stage Today, Sept. 14 through Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

When the daylight ends and the moon ascends, find yourself at Moonlight Amphitheatre for "The Addams Family - A New Musical Comedy."

When the daylight ends and the moon ascends, find yourself at Moonlight Amphitheatre for 'The Addams Family - A New Musical Comedy.' The creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky family we all know and love storms onto the Moonlight stage Wednesday, Sept. 14 through Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Watching Cabrillo Music Theatre's The Little Mermaid on the Fred Kavli stage is an enjoyable treat, almost like viewing the Disney film ... it's so alive and scintillating. All the color and splendor of the ocean is onstage, and that has a lot to say about this production's creative team. All the technical aspects of the show are working smoothly, in sync. Cabrillo may be assuredly proud of their production. The sad thing is it only plays a week more, until Sunday July 24.

When The Little Mermaid was released in 1989, it not only became one of the most popular Disney films to date, it was also the very first animated musical to use Broadway composers for its music - changing the direction of animated movies forever. Now Cabrillo Music Theatre brings this amazing story to life with The Little Mermaid, live on stage! This is not simply a children's show - it's a brand-new fully-developed Broadway musical, in the spirit of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mary Poppins, and Cabrillo Music Theatre's production will be the first in the region!

Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID opens today, July 15th, 2016, playing until Sunday, July 24th, 2016 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the stars in costume below!

Now Cabrillo Music Theatre brings this amazing story to life with THE LITTLE MERMAID, live on stage! This is not simply a children's show - it's a brand-new fully-developed Broadway musical, in the spirit of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LION KING, and MARY POPPINS, and Cabrillo Music Theatre's production will be the first in the region!

Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID opens on Friday, July 15th, 2016, playing until Sunday, July 24th, 2016 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the stars in costume below!

Larry Raben is an accomplished actor and director who has added his prodigious abilities to a multitude of productions around the world. In addition to acting in a command performance before Queen Elizabeth II in London and producing Sweet Charity in Argentina, Raben has also graced Cabrillo Music Theatre's stages in productions of Singin' in the Rain, The Producers, and, most recently, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Raben is directing Cabrillo's summer offering this year, Disney's The Little Mermaid, which will prove to be the final production overseen by Cabrillo's longtime artistic director, Lewis Wilkenfeld. We talked with Larry not only about his plans for the show, one of Cabrillo's most challenging and ambitious productions, but also about working with the indefatigable Wilkenfeld.

Totem Pole Playhouse, Pennsylvania's premiere summer theatre located in Caledonia State Park between Gettysburg and Chambersburg, PA, presents the return of one of the most successful musicals in playhouse's 66-year history, Forever Plaid, running from June 17 through July 3. This all-new production is directed and choreographed by Christine O'Grady, who choreographed Totem Pole's critically-acclaimed production, Shenandoah, last season and audience favorite, Godspell, the previous summer. Ms. O'Grady has cast four current students from the prestigious Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM), Louis Griffin, Derek Kastner, Stavros Koumbaros, and Gabe Wrobel as the 'Four Plaids' - a four-part close harmony singing group in the tradition of the Four Freshman, the Four Lads, the Four Aces, and the Hi-Lo's. The show features over 20 hit songs from the 1950s including such classics as: "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Heart and Soul," "Moments to Remember," "Perfidia," and "Love is a Many Splendored Thing." The show, which is being produced by Theatre A Go-Go, Inc., is sponsored by Edward Jones and Richards Orthopaedic Center. Franklin County Visitors Bureau serves as the sponsor for the 2016 season.

Today, May 31, season 2 of POWERS, the PlayStation(R) original series from Sony Pictures Television, premieres on PlayStation(R)Network in the United States and Canada. Co-created by acclaimed Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis and helmed by showrunner and respected genre writer Remi Aubuchon (Falling Skies), POWERS is the first scripted television series to air on Playstation Network.

Totem Pole Playhouse, Pennsylvania's premiere summer theater, located in Caledonia State Park between Gettysburg and Chambersburg, PA, has announced that the opening night performance of the first play in the theatre's four-show subscription series, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, will serve as a fundraiser for the Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance. CPAA is a charitable organization composed of individuals and animal rescue organizations and shelters working together to end the killing of cats and dogs as the means of controlling animal population.

Now Cabrillo Music Theatre brings this amazing story to life with THE LITTLE MERMAID, live on stage! This is not simply a children's show - it's a brand-new fully-developed Broadway musical, in the spirit of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LION KING, and MARY POPPINS, and Cabrillo Music Theatre's production will be the first in the region!

The destination for girls' night out in Southern California this month is definitely Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton. That's where 3-D Theatricals' revival of David Yazbek and Terrence McNally's THE FULL MONTY kicks into high gear for the next two weekends.

Based on the hit motion picture, 3-D Theatricals of Orange County, California puts its award-winning spin on The Full Monty... one of Broadway's most hilarious, yet truly touching family musicals April 15 - 17 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, CA; and April 22 - May 8, 2016 at the historic Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, CA.  Official "press" openings in Redondo Beach and Fullerton will be Saturday, April 16 and Saturday April 23, respectively. The production is directed by 3DT Executive Producer and Artistic Director T.J. Dawson,  with Choreography by Leslie Stevens; and  Musical Direction by Conductor Corey Hirsch.  Ryan Ruge serves as Assistant Director. Check out a first look at the opening night curtain call and cast party below!

Based on the hit motion picture, 3-D Theatricals of Orange County, California puts its award-winning spin on The Full Monty... one of Broadway's most hilarious, yet truly touching family musicals April 15 - 17 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, CA; and April 22 - May 8, 2016 at the historic Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, CA.  Official 'press' openings in Redondo Beach and Fullerton will be Saturday, April 16 and Saturday April 23, respectively. The production is directed by 3DT Executive Producer and Artistic Director T.J. Dawson,  with Choreography by Leslie Stevens; and  Musical Direction by Conductor Corey Hirsch.  Ryan Ruge serves as Assistant Director.