Jeff Sumner News

This one act play with music was the surprise of my weekend. Not because of what I already knew about it, of course, based on press materials and previous word of mouth from friends who saw it at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, but because of something no one had thought to mention. That for all its rowdy comedy, bawdy innuendo and drunken delights, Michael Shaw Fisher has written, and performs, a piece that reveals Shakespeare's heart in moments of genuine vulnerability making it more than simply a passing fringe fancy. This one man 75-minute Elizabethan tavern musical could easily tour the country in every intimate venue, educational setting, pub or cabaret house smart enough to book it.

Due to high ticket demand, a second concert performance of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera has been set for Wednesday, February 5 at 8pm at Hollywood's legendary King King Club. The February 4 & 5 concerts will take place just a few days before the start of the 2014 Olympics, which is also the 20th anniversary of the lead pipe assault heard 'round the world and their subsequent skate-off at the 1994 Winter Olympics. With libretto by Elizabeth Searle and music by Michael Teoli, the concert version of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera will be choreographed and directed by NAACP and Ovation Award-winner Janet Roston. Produced by Los Angeles Rock Opera Company in association with HarborSide Films, proceeds from the two evenings will go to support Celebration Theatre. [For more info about Celebration, see page 2 of this release.]

A one-night-only concert performance of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera has been set for Tuesday, February 4 at 8pm at Hollywood's legendary King King Club. The concert will take place just a few days before the start of the 2014 Olympics, which is also the 20th anniversary of the lead pipe assault heard 'round the world and their subsequent skate-off at the 1994 Winter Olympics. The librettist is Elizabeth Searle and music by Michael Teoli, the concert version of Tonya & Nancy: The Rock Opera will be choreographed and directed by NAACP and Ovation Award-winner Janet Roston. Proceeds from the evening will go to support Celebration Theatre.

Duo Multicultural Arts Center (DMAC) is pleased to present PRIDE @ DMAC, running June 16-22, 2013. As an official partner for NYC Pride, DMAC will showcase a diverse range of works, including paintings by contemporary artist SethRuggles Hiler, performative exhibitions by Michelangelo Alasa', and dance by the burgeoning MADboots dance co.

Goodbye gray skies, hello blue - HAPPY DAYS - A New Musical launches its national tour at La Mirada Theatre in October 2008. Based on the hit Paramount Pictures' television series, HAPPY DAYS - A New Musical reintroduces one of America's best-loved families, the Cunninghams, and the days of 1959 Milwaukee. This time capsule is complete with familiar friends: Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph, Joanie and Chachi, Pinky Tuscadero and of course, the king of cool: Arthur 'The Fonz' Fonzarelli. Arnold's, the famed drive-in malt shop, is in danger of demolition, so the gang teams up to save it with a dance contest and TV-worthy wrestling match. Complete with varsity sweaters, hula hoops and jukebox sock-hoppin', HAPPY DAYS - A New Musical brings back the nostalgia of the '50s in a perfect family entertainment.