Bursting with magic, wit and whimsy, INTO THE WOODS---the sprightly Tony Award-winning musical that features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine---is currently on stage at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton through May 18. Produced by OC's Ovation Award-winning 3-D Theatricals, this sardonic, often funny, metaphor-heavy dark musical comedy disguised as a family-friendly play is indeed an enjoyable, funny romp, marred only slightly by the theater's ever pesky sound system that renders many of the show's rapid-fire lyrics all but decipherable as the too-loud (albeit hard-working) orchestra drowns out the characters' voices. Still, this trip is worth the journey.
Kicking off 3-D's 2014 musical theatre season, The Producers opened February 1, 2014 at 8:00 pm. Performances will continue in Fullerton through Sunday, February 16. 3DT will then move the production to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for its first season of 'extended' performances February 21 - March 2. After being honored by the prestigious LA Stage Alliance with 15 Ovation Award nominations and 5 wins (including Best Musical) for their 2013 production of Jason Robert Brown's Parade, 3DT's Executive Producer/Artistic Director T.J. Dawson said 'What better way to begin a new year season than with the musical that has won more Tony Awards than any other show in history.' Check out the opening night photos below!
Paul Garman, Executive Director/Producer, has announced a one-night-only concert version of the acclaimed, rarely produced musical KISMET, presented by Musical Theatre West at the University Theatre on the CSULB campus tonight, June 30 at 7 p.m. KISMET is presented as part of the Reiner Reading Series, which presents concert-style versions of some of Broadway's forgotten gems.
Paul Garman, Executive Director/Producer, is proud to announce a one-night-only concert version of the acclaimed, rarely produced musical KISMET, presented by Musical Theatre West at the University Theatre on the CSULB campus on Sunday, June 30 at 7 p.m. KISMET is presented as part of the Reiner Reading Series, which presents concert-style versions of some of Broadway's forgotten gems.
One of the most stunning, brilliantly-staged productions I've seen in the past few years, Orange County's 3D Theatricals has, once again, outdone itself with its moving, epic-sized revival of Jason Robert Brown's Tony Award-winning musical PARADE. Now playing a limited engagement through May 26 at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, this triumphant, emotionally-resonant, Broadway-caliber presentation directed by 3DT's co-founder and artistic director TJ Dawson ranks as, arguably, the best musical this relatively young regional theater company has produced thus far.
In 1998 when Jason Robert Brown won a Tony Award for the score of this unusually provocative musical Parade, the opulent Broadway production closed to critical acclaim, but due to excessive costs, the show remained inaccessible until the Donmar Warehouse resurrected it and produced a tight - minus the frills - mounting at the Mark Taper Forum in 2009. 3-D Theatricals, who are becoming increasingly known for their superlative skill with producing big musicals, have decided to put back many of the frills of the original and double the cast to its original size - 36, in order to enhance and give the musical the big, full-voiced chorus sound it deserves. And, in my mind, this bigger hybrid version surpasses the Taper's for its grande musical elegance and the presence of a perfectly cast lead actor in the role of Leo Frank, Jeff Skowron.
3-D Theatricals presents PARADE now through May 26, 2013 at Plummer Auditorium, 201 East Chapman Ave, Fullerton, Calif., directed by T.J. Dawson, choreographed by Dana Solimando and musically directed by David Lamoureux. BroadwayWorld was there for opening night and brings you photos from the celebrations below!
3-D Theatricals presents PARADE, tonight, May 10 - 26, 2013 at Plummer Auditorium, 201 East Chapman Ave, Fullerton, Calif., directed by T.J. Dawson, choreographed by Dana Solimando and musically directed by David Lamoureux.
3-D Theatricals presents PARADE, May 10 - 26, 2013 at Plummer Auditorium, 201 East Chapman Ave, Fullerton, Calif., directed by T.J. Dawson, choreographed by Dana Solimando and musically directed by David Lamoureux.
On Sunday, April 10 to celebrate her new CD Once Upon a Time, Stephanie Burkett Gerson performed a CD release party concert @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's to an exceedingly enthusiastic packed house. No stranger to musical theatre in LA or anywhere for that matter, as she has sailed across Europe for Disney, tall and lovely Gerson has a beautiful voice and quite a vocal range. The show, with a focus on her life and career thus far, utilized a video screen projecting photos and playbill covers of shows that Gerson has played in and which remain her favorites. There was also a cute video clip of her first performance singing to her dad at age 6.