John Iacovelli News

On hiatus from the AMC smash hit Mad Men, Vincent Kartheiser comes to the Bay Area to lead a vibrant cast in San Jose Rep's world premiere of the Jonathan Marc Feldman drama The Death of the Novel, directed by Rick Lombardo.The cast also includes Vaishnavi Sharma (Sheba), Patrick Jones, Zarah Mahler and Amy Pietz. Pietz is well-known to TV audiences for her roles in The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Burn Notice, Nip/Tuck, The Closer and Private Practice.

The Pasadena Playhouse, in association with W.I.T. Productions, announced today the full casting, featuring Hal Linden, and creative team for UNDER MY SKIN. Single tickets are also now on sale to the public and rehearsals begin tomorrow, August 14. This World Premiere engagement of UNDER MY SKIN is written by the award-winning team of Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser and will be directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. Performances will begin September 11 through October 7, with an official press opening on Wednesday, September 19, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. at The Pasadena Playhouse.

The red carpet premiere of Loving the Silent Tears: A New Musical will be held on October 27 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The Pasadena Playhouse (Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director and Charles Dillingham, Interim Executive Director) announced that its 2011 - 2012 season has concluded, with the closing performance of August Wilson's JITNEY.

Something truly magical is happening right now in the city of La Mirada: almost 22 years after earning a Tony nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for playing this very same role, the ever-so vigorous Cathy Rigby looks about as spunky and acrobatic as she's ever been in this brand-new production of PETER PAN. The family-friendly musical continues at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through 24 before launching into another multi-city national tour.

Mc Coy Rigby Entertainment & Fox Operator Bill Malone of FX Arts, in association with Nederlander Presentations, Albert Nocciolino, Larry Payton, Michael Filerman and Heni Koenigsberg, bring audiences in Riverside the final production of the 2011-2012 season with the ultimate musical theatre experience for the entire family, Cathy Rigby and Brent Barrett starring in PETER PAN, a musical production of the play by Sir James Barrie, with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, music by Moose Charlap, additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and additional music by Jule Styne, beginning June 29.

Cathy Rigby is Peter Pan. Yes, indeed! I have seen Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan as well, but Rigby adds so much more to the character simply because of her physicality. A gymnast can do physical feats and tricks that an ordinary actor cannot. So if Peter Pan can turn sommersaults in mid-air or literally climb the walls of the Darling children's bedroom, if she is played by Cathy Rigby, there is no wonder. Oh, but that is so wrong, for Peter Pan is filled with wonderment, and Rigby, apart from all the physical stuff she adds, is a total joy to behold whether she is flying or not. She and the show are pure magic. Now onstage through June 24 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, Peter Pan will never grow up, thank heavens!

Upon seeing The Heiress, based on Henry James' novel Washington Square, one is transported to a distant world. If middle-class values existed, they were certainly not recognized by the inhabitants of 1850 Washington Square, where members of the elitist branch of society insisted on being surrounded by only wealth and privilege. When poor Morris Townsend (Steve Coombs) asks for the hand in marriage of plain, rich Catherine Sloper (Heather Tom), he is branded a fortune hunter and shunned by her uncontrollably cruel father Dr. Austin Sloper (Richard Chamberlain). Now in a most stunning revival at the Pasadena Playhouse under the elaborate direction of Damaso Rodriguez, a stellar cast deliver the goods and bring fresh meaning to The Heiress.

Samuel Beckett's modern classic 'Waiting for Godot' opened March 21, 2012 and continues through April 22 at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. The cast includes prominent Beckett actors Alan Mandell (Estragon) and Barry McGovern (Vladimir), Academy Award-nominee James Cromwell (Pozzo), Hugo Armstrong (Lucky) and LJ Benet (Boy); the director is Michael Arabian. Below, check out the opening night video with cast, creative and celebrity audience member interviews!

The Denver Center Theatre Company presents the musical revue RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH created by Richard Maltby, Jr. and conceived by William Meade, playing The Stage Theatre March 23 - May 13 (opening night Thursday, March 29). Tickets can be purchased now, by calling 303.893.4100 or www.denvercenter.org.

Samuel Beckett's modern classic 'Waiting for Godot' opens March 21, 2012, at 8 p.m. and continues through April 22 at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. The cast includes prominent Beckett actors Alan Mandell (Estragon) and Barry McGovern (Vladimir), Academy Award-nominee James Cromwell (Pozzo), Hugo Armstrong (Lucky) and LJ Benet (Boy); the director is Michael Arabian. Check out the production photos below!

Samuel Beckett's modern classic 'Waiting for Godot' opens March 21, 2012, at 8 p.m. and continues through April 22 at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. The cast includes prominent Beckett actors Alan Mandell (Estragon) and Barry McGovern (Vladimir), Academy Award-nominee James Cromwell (Pozzo), Hugo Armstrong (Lucky) and LJ Benet (Boy); the director is Michael Arabian. Check out the production photos below!

Academy Award nominee and three-time Emmy Award nominee James Cromwell (who will play Pozzo), Hugo Armstrong (Lucky) and LJ Benet (Boy) will join the previously announced prominent Beckett actors Alan Mandell and Barry McGovern in the classic tragicomedy "Waiting for Godot" opening at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum March 21, 2012. Written by Samuel Beckett and directed by Michael Arabian, "Waiting for Godot" begins previews March 14; performances will continue through April 22.

HUNGER: IN BED WITH ROY COHN is a world premiere fantasy play by Joan Beber about Roy Cohn, the attorney whose hunger for power and prominence ultimately destroyed him.

San Jose Repertory Theatre received a total of 22 nominations in the large theatre category (venues over 300 seats) from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle (SFBATCC) for outstanding productions during 2011. San Jose Rep Artistic Director Rick Lombardo received three best director nominations for his work on the world premiere of Love in American Times, the theatrical classic The Dresser and the musical Spring Awakening.

The Denver Center Theatre Company presents the musical revue RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH created by Richard Maltby, Jr. and conceived by William Meade, playing The Stage Theatre March 23 - May 13 (opening night Thursday, March 29). Tickets can be purchased now, by calling 303.893.4100 or www.denvercenter.org.

Rehearsals have begun for The Center Theatre Group's 'Waiting For Godot' in Los Angeles. Watch the very first rehearsal getting underway below.

The Pasadena Playhouse (Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director) announces the full cast and creative team for THE HEIRESS at The Pasadena Playhouse. The production will star Richard Chamberlain in the role of "Dr. Austin Sloper," Heather Tom as his daughter "Catherine Sloper" and Julia Duffy as Dr. Sloper's sister "Lavinia Penniman." THE HEIRESS by Ruth and Augustus Goetz (suggested by the Henry James novel Washington Square), will be directed by Damaso Rodriguez and performs April 24 - May 20, 2012.

Playwright Joan Beber's concept of Roy Cohn in her intriguingly nightmarish Hunger: In Bed with Roy Cohn, now onstage at the Odyssey Theatre, comes off a self-indulgent, spoiled, gluttonous, untrusting child monster, which certainly does not add up to a positive view of his humanity. In Angels in America, as I was too young to know the real Cohn in the McCarthy era, I saw Al Pacino's hard-edged, evil-to-the-core interpretation of the man. Barry Pearl's in Hunger, yes is more childlike, whimpering, whining, but if Beber truly wants us to witness a good side to bad, she has not succeeded. I despise the lying, bigoted, hateful man just as much as I did before, reality or fantasy. On the positive side, director Jules Aaron has ingeniously staged the over-the-top entertainment with a marvelous cast. Hunger will run through March 11.

HUNGER: IN BED WITH ROY COHN is a world premiere fantasy play by Joan Beber about Roy Cohn, the attorney whose hunger for power and prominence ultimately destroyed him.