Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will continue their 22nd Anniversary season with the West Coast professional premiere of WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, the stage musical version of the Academy Award nominated film of the same name. The one-night-only concert will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, November 12, 2017 at 7:00 PM.
Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will continue their 22nd Anniversary season with the West Coast professional premiere of WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, the stage musical version of the Academy Award nominated film of the same name. The one-night-only concert will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, November 12, 2017 at 7:00 PM. Full casting has just been announced!
The temptation to take a film classic and turn it into a Broadway musical is a road fraught with peril. How do you take something perfect and make it better? This was the question posed in 1972 when producer David Merrick decided to musicalize the uproarious 1959 farce Some Like It Hot. The result was Sugar, which enjoyed a respectable 14-month run on Broadway (505 performances) and received four Tony nominations, including one for lead actor Robert Morse, who played Jerry/Daphne. The 86-year-old Morse was on hand at the Alex Theatre in Glendale Sunday night as Musical Theatre Guild presented a rousing staged reading of the musical. Morse and the audience clearly enjoyed the show (he could be seen doing a virtual karaoke act of the score from his seat), but most of what works for the show is what worked for the film, with little new of substance added to the musical.
Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will open their 22nd Anniversary season with SUGAR, the stage musical version of the classic Hollywood film "Some Like It Hot." This is the first of four musicals chosen in a season celebrating musical stage adaptions of films. The one-night-only concert will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, September 24, 2017 at 7:00 PM.
LA's live music venue Rockwell Table and Stage in Los Feliz will host a Mother's Day edition of their ongoing line-up show An Evening of Classic Broadway.
Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will celebrate Black History Month with the rarely produced HALLELUJAH, BABY!. The one-night-only concert event took place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre yesterday, February 12, 2017 at 7:00 PM with original cast members Frieda Payne and Robert Hooks in attendance. Scroll down for photos!
Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will celebrate Black History Month with the rarely produced HALLELUJAH, BABY!. The one-night-only concert event will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, February 12, 2017 at 7:00 PM with original cast members Frieda Payne and Robert Hooks scheduled to be in attendance.
Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will celebrate Black History Month with the rarely produced HALLELUJAH, BABY!
There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed.
(alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed)
(artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories)
No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.
From Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, the creators of Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, and The Secret Life of Pets, comes BUBBLE BOY: THE MUSICAL, a quirky, fun, family-friendly show about stepping outside your comfort zone and embracing the world with an open heart.
From Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, the creators of Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, and The Secret Life of Pets, comes BUBBLE BOY: THE MUSICAL, a quirky, fun, family-friendly show about stepping outside your comfort zone and embracing the world with an open heart.
Celebration Theatre at the Lex and Bruce W. Zisterer in association with Nicholas Caprio, Michael C. Kricfalusi, Todd Milliner and Jack Morrissey presents, under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, and thrilled to announce that their critically-acclaimed (LA Times Critic's Choice) Smash-Hit, West Coast premiere of THE BOY FROM OZ, music and lyrics by Peter Allen, book by Martin Sherman, original book by Nick Enright, choreography by Janet Roston, musical direction by Bryan Blaskie, produced by Andrew Carlberg and directed by Celebration Theatre co-artistic director Michael A. Shepperd is EXTENDING through SUNDAY, JULY 31 at the Celebration Theatre's new home, Celebration at the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave. in Los Angeles.
An Evening of Classic Broadway, the popular ongoing line-up show now in its second year, will be back at Rockwell Table and Stage on Monday evening, June 13th.
Once in a great while an extraordinary performer comes along, one that not only moves us, but also affects meteoric changes within our culture. Peter Allen, born Peter Woolnough in 1944 in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia and who died young in 1992, was one such mega-talented singer/dancer/musical composer, who appealed to a wide audience.Not at first, mind you; it took a few years in the 60s for him to realize his bisexuality and to understand who he was.
Celebration Theatre at the Lex in association with Nicholas Caprio, Michael C. Kricfalusi, Todd Milliner and Jack Morrissey presents, under the artistic direction of Michael Matthews & Michael A. Shepperd, the West Coast premiere of THE BOY FROM OZ, music and lyrics by Peter Allen, book by Martin Sherman, original book by Nick Enright, choreography by Janet Roston, musical direction by Bryan Blaskie, produced by Andrew Carlberg and directed by Celebration Theatre co-artistic director Michael A. Shepperd. THE BOY FROM OZ will begin previews on Friday, April 22 at 8pm; will open on Friday, April 29 at 8pm and perform through Sunday, June 19 at the Celebration Theatre's new home, Celebration at the Lex Theatre, 6760 Lexington Ave. in Los Angeles.
AN EVENING OF CLASSIC BROADWAY returns to Rockwell Table and Stage on Tuesday night, April 12th. The crowd-pleasing line-up show from Fraser Entertainment Group continues to be a popular event at the venue.
Members of the 'Pro99' movement of Actors' Equity Association have issued an open letter to AEA's newly elected president, Kate Shindle, in response to her victory and to her inaugural address as president of the national union for actors and stage managers. The open letter is signed by over 400 Equity members (listed below), including such notable names as Ed Asner, Francis Fisher, Sally Kirkland and Alfred Molina. The 'Pro99' movement formed in late 2014 in opposition to AEA's rollout of a new plan that will effectively force 'intimate theaters' in Los Angeles to pay Equity actors minimum wage, go 'non-union' or even close - despite an overwhelming vote against the plan by 66% of the Los Angeles membership on an advisory referendum. 'Pro99' members around the nation, who take their name from the current AEA '99 Seat Plan' that allows members to volunteer in smaller venues, oppose AEA's new promulgated plan. They are requesting that Equity leadership put a moratorium on the plan until local members' voices can be heard, and that the union work with its members to develop an alternative plan that will more realistically address the needs of the Los Angeles theater community.
Due to the enormous success of their first show, Sixth Avenue presented an encore of its National Tour 'ILove99 The Musical!' cabaret event to save Los Angeles intimate theatre on Tuesday, March 24 at the Dragonfly on Hollywood's Theater Row. Produced by Adam Silver and directed by Alan Smithee (wink wink) featuring returning and additional performers, the event proved to be a real meeting of the minds for both union and non-union audience members. And what a show it was, giving both AEA union members as well as non-members a chance to enjoy great entertainment while rallying everyone to go out and encourage all union member to vote NO on the proposed union changes that could wipe out intimate theater in Los Angeles.
Sixth Avenue announced an encore of its 'I Love 99 The Musical!' cabaret event to save Los Angeles intimate theatre. Produced by Adam Silver and directed by Daniel Henning, the curtain will go up once again, featuring returning and additional performers, tonight, March 24 at 8pm at The Dragonfly in Hollywood.
Sixth Avenue has announced an encore of its "I Love 99 The Musical!" cabaret event to save Los Angeles intimate theatre. Produced by Adam Silver and directed by Daniel Henning, the curtain will go up once again, featuring returning and additional performers, on Tuesday, March 24 at 8pm at The Dragonfly in Hollywood.