Kim Dalton News

Video games get the musical comedy treatment in CLAUDIO QUEST, a clever new musical now having its West Coast Premiere performances at Orange County's Chance Theater through February 26 in Anaheim. Those familiar with the 8-bit characters of games like Super Mario Bros. will be amused by the adventures of a pair of heroic brothers whose mission is to save the kidnapped princess from the clutches of a fire-breathing platypus terrorizing the kingdom. When the game suddenly changes players, the heroes are thrown for a loop and must figure out how to navigate and triumph this glitch-filled new world.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is pleased to announce its West Coast premiere production of ... Claudio Quest. With music, lyrics and book by Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet, direction by Pailet, choreography by Maxx Reed and musical direction by Ryan O'Connell, Claudio Quest will preview from January 27 through February 3; regular performances will begin February 4 and continue through February 26 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Cripe Stage.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is pleased to announce its West Coast premiere production of ... Claudio Quest. With music, lyrics and book by Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet, direction by Pailet, choreography by Maxx Reed and musical direction by Ryan O'Connell, Claudio Quest will preview from January 27 through February 3; regular performances will begin February 4 and continue through February 26 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Cripe Stage.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is pleased to announce its West Coast premiere production of ... Claudio Quest. With music, lyrics and book by Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet, direction by Pailet, choreography by Maxx Reed and musical direction by Ryan O'Connell, Claudio Quest will preview from January 27 through February 3; regular performances will begin February 4 and continue through February 26 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Cripe Stage.

America has had a long tragic history of sending brave young people off to foreign lands to fight in life-endangering wars, only to see those who have survived come home forever changed. This idea lingers over the new engaging musical DOGFIGHT, now having its Los Angeles/Orange County-area premiere at the Chance Theater in Anaheim through March 6. Adapted from the 1991 Warner Bros. film of the same name and featuring music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Peter Duchan, this 2013 Lucille Lortel Award-winning off-Broadway musical shows how even the most confident, self-assured people can still be severely affected not only physically but also emotionally by the harsh realities of explosive, in-the-trenches combat.

Anaheim's official resident theater company, Chance Theater presents the Los Angeles and Orange County premiere of DOGFIGHT, with book by Peter Duchan, music & lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, directed by Matthew McCray, with music direction by Taylor Stephenson, and choreography by Angeline Mirenda. DOGFIGHT previews now through February 12, with regular performances February 13 through March 6 on the Cripe Stage at Chance Theater at Bette Aitken theater arts Center. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Anaheim's official resident theater company, Chance Theater is pleased to present the Los Angeles and Orange County premiere of ... Dogfight. Book by Peter Duchan, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, directed by Matthew McCray, music direction by Taylor Stephenson, and choreographed by Angeline Mirenda. Dogfight will preview from February 5 through February 12, regular performances will begin February 13 and continue through March 6 on the Cripe Stage at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Satire on religion can be fun to watch. Take The Book of Mormon, for example, with its ferocious attack on innocence and man-made intervention. On a much smaller scale, Smoke on the Mountain is an intimate up close theatrical experience that comes to life via its bluegrass-style gospel musical numbers. Some of the stories as told by the Sanders family, a group of traveling singers/musicians, who perform a one-night gig circa 1938 at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant, North Carolina are wrenchingly funny. In a well-directed and very well-cast revival at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, Smoke on the Mountain becomes a real audience pleasing entertainment.

One of the first - if not the first jukebox musicals, The Buddy Holly Story is short on plot and high on the unique rock and roll music of Buddy Holly. This is my second time seeing the show - I first saw it on its American tour in 1999. The music I grew up with in the 50s is so appealing, that I sing along to every tune and move and groove in my seat from start to finish. If you are of that nature - and it seemed that many in the audience on opening weekend fit the bill - then you will have a really good time at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre through February 22. Remember, it's enjoyable fare with no need to think, just set your mind to the relax mode!

Trinity Rep and the Holocaust Education and Resource Center of Rhode Island present a staged reading of select passages from Elie Wiesel's Night, a chronicle of surviving the Holocaust, adapted by Lisa Montecalvo's Advanced English Language Arts class at Dr. E.A. Ricci Middle School in North Providence. The performance takes place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Monday, April 28, 7:00-9:00pm, with actors from Trinity Rep's Young Actors Studio High School Collaborative under the direction of associate artistic director Tyler Dobrowsky. The event is free and open to the public in Trinity Rep's Dowling Theater. Appropriate for middle school through adult audiences. Reserve by emailing events@trinityrep.com.

BWW TV's Michael Sterling and Jerry Evans of the JLE Media Group were on hand to produce exclusive television coverage for Broadway World at the Finale of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013 which broke all previous years attendance records during its six week run at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal in the NoHo Arts district of North Hollywood, CA January 6 through February 10. Check out the video below!

On Sunday, February 10 LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013 came to a thrilling conclusion atSterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Sadly, one contestant, Matthew Bohrer, was stranded at Logan Airport, Boston due to the East coast blizzard of the past several days. Host Michael Sterling contacted Bohrer by cell at the top of the show, and what followed was a bittersweet exchange. Bohrer expressed his happiness to have been part of the competition for five weeks, and his sorrow for not being able to be there for the finale, as he wished his fellow contestants all the best of luck. His points for the preceding weeks were still counted in the final tally.

LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013, the only musical theatre competition of its kind on the West Coast, kicked off on January 6th and runs through February 10. Meet this year's contestants below!

The Only Musical Theatre Competition of its Kind on the West Coast. Don' t miss your chance to cast your vote along with a panel of LA's most elite, Creative MusicalTheatre Forces as 20 Contestants compete for the Title of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013, an Award of $1000 cash, a Professional Theatre Career, and their own Headlining Concert Engagement at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal during 2013.

The Pasadena Playhouse has announced the cast for the second presentation of its 2012 - 2013 HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse series, Aunt Stossie's Coming for Five Days. Written by Ellen Simon and directed by Dámaso Rodriguez (former Associate Artistic Director of The Pasadena Playhouse, Co-Founder of the Furious Theatre and incoming Artistic Director for the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland), the staged reading will star Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl, 'The Middle') in the title role, Mary Steenburgen ('30 Rock,' 'Bored to Death,' The Proposal) and Kirsten Vangsness ('Criminal Minds') and will perform tonight, January 8 and 9, 2013, in the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at The Pasadena Playhouse.

The Pasadena Playhouse has announced the cast for the second presentation of its 2012 - 2013 HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse series, Aunt Stossie's Coming for Five Days. Written by Ellen Simon and directed by Dámaso Rodriguez (former Associate Artistic Director of The Pasadena Playhouse, Co-Founder of the Furious Theatre and incoming Artistic Director for the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland), the staged reading will star Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl, 'The Middle') in the title role, Mary Steenburgen ('30 Rock,' 'Bored to Death,' The Proposal) and Kirsten Vangsness ('Criminal Minds') and will perform January 8 and 9, 2013, in the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at The Pasadena Playhouse.

Kentwood Players presents the Tony Award winning musical 'Parade' with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown from Friday, March 18 to Saturday, April 23, 2011 with performances on Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Los Angeles, CA 90045. The production is directed by Ben Lupejkis and produced by Victoria and Rocky Miller with special permission from Music Theatre International.

Kentwood Players presents the Tony Award winning musical 'Parade' with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown from Friday, March 18 to Saturday, April 23, 2011 with performances on Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Los Angeles, CA 90045. The production is directed by Ben Lupejkis and produced by Victoria and Rocky Miller with special permission from Music Theatre International.