Kristin Towers-Rowles News

The Group Rep presents A Cabaret Line, a Two Night Only! fun fundraiser cabaret show, directed and hosted by Bruce Kimmel, with music direction by Richard Allen, produced by Doug Haverty, June 11 and June 12 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, California.

The Coachella Valley Repertory (CVRep), now settled into its newly renovated 210 seat playhouse in Cathedral City, has announced it will remain open throughout the hot summer months to present an exciting line-up of one night only summer performances beginning in June, 2019.

Women of a certain age. That used to be a death knell for excellent artistic opportunities for great actors in not only film but on stage as well. But thanks to playwright Cricket Daniel and compassionate director Kristin Towers-Rowles, that myth may as well fly out the window of a red convertible forever thanks to the Los Angeles premiere of THE LOST VIRGINITY TOUR at the intimate McCadden Theatre in Hollywood! Beginning in the Happy Trails Retirement Resort in Arizona as four friends meet for their monthly Baking Club get-together, pledging their devotion via kitchen utensils, each unique personality is brought to life with remarkable clarity by the talented actors Towers-Rowles was fortunate enough to trust with this funny, profound, provocative and adventurous road trip through their memories of 'the first time.'

The Los Angeles premiere of The Lost Virginity Tour by Cricket Daniel has been announced by producers Jay Donohue and Michelle Hanzelova for a limited run at the McCadden Theatre in Hollywood. Under the direction of Kristin Towers-Rowles, the cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Paulette Dozier, Madonna Magee, Toni Perrotta, and Joy Rinaldi. There will be one preview performance on Friday, April 12, at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, April 13, at 8pm and the engagement runs through May 5 only.

The Los Angeles premiere of The Lost Virginity Tour by Cricket Daniel has been announced by producers Jay Donohue and Michelle Hanzelova for a limited run at the McCadden Theatre in Hollywood. Under the direction of Kristin Towers-Rowles, the cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Paulette Dozier, Madonna Magee, Toni Perrotta, and Joy Rinaldi. There will be one preview performance on Friday, April 12, at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, April 13, at 8pm and the engagement runs through May 5 only. 

A LOVELY LINEAGE, based on an original concept by Michael Sterling, captures the historic Broadway and Hollywood lineage of Kristin Towers-Rowles starting with her grandmother, the legendary Kathryn Grayson who was an MGM darling and a Hollywood pioneer having starred in some of the most beloved movie musicals of the 1950s including Kiss Me, Kate and Show Boat. Her famous lineage does not stop there - Kristin's grandfather was the dashing and talented Broadway leading man Johnnie Johnston; her mother, Patricia Towers, was a Las Vegas headliner; and her father is the prolific character actor Robert Towers.

From the very top of James McClure's one-act Laundry and Bourbon, best friends Elizabeth (Savannah Shoenecker) and Hattie (Kristin Towers-Rowles) gossip in heavy Texas accents and drink bourbon with such fierce intensity that you will end up either loving or hating them; there is no in-between. Midway Amy Lee (Sarah Zuk) makes her entrance. She is quieter but also creates trouble in her own irritating way.What is it about comedies set in the deep South? Steel Magnolias and Crimes of the Heart pull us in the same way. The women put their claws out yet support one another and have hearts of gold ... and their men?  We hear about them via their wives. They act like jerks, love to talk sex in raw detail and treat their cars with more love and respect than their spouses. Unlike the other plays, we actually see the men, apart from their wives, for there is a male companion piece to Laundry and Bourbon. It's entitled Lone Star, after the beer, and it presents Elizabeth's husband Roy (Nick Paonessa), maladjusted since his service in Viet Nam, his younger and weaker brother Ray (R.J. DeBard) and like his wife Amy Lee, the outsider in the group, her husband Skeeter (Todd Andrew Ball).

The Group Rep opens its 45th Season with two James McLure one-act comedies, LAUNDRY AND BOURBON and LONE STAR, directed by Barbara Brownell, produced by Lloyd Pedersen. Three young women who are neighbors and friends share drinks and hard truths about life, love, and marriage while doing laundry on a very hot day. In another part of town three men beat-the-heat in the backyard of a bar as the local high school hero, recently returned after a hitch in Vietnam, details his military and amorous exploits. Laughs are shared, souls are bared.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been in our repertoire of must reads and must sees since high school. We know the storyline of the star- crossed lovers, which formed the basis for the musical West Side Story. The play treats of hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets. Because of the senseless family feuding, lives are lost and somehow love has gone astray. I enjoy seeing Shakespeare done in the traditional mode with 16th century sets and costumes, but am totally open to reimagined productions, as long as the poetry is in tact and the time period to which the story is assigned makes sense and shows the theme and message with clarity and intelligence..Group rep's current production directed quite nicely by Shira Dubrovner takes the audience to Berlin in the 1930s when Hitler took control and slaughtered or banished Jews from Germany.

The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.

The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.

An invitation-only workshop presentation of Christopher Raymond's Scarlet Letter: The Musical will be taking place at the Greenway Court Theatre in Hollywood on Friday, August 24 and Saturday, August 25, it was announced today. Based on the classic novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the show features music and lyrics by Raymond, choreography by Angela Todaro, and the director is Kristin Towers-Rowles.

The Group Rep presents Arthur Miller's 1947 award-winning American drama ALL MY SONS, directed by Linda Alznauer, produced by Diane Frank and Linda Alznauer for the Group Rep. How far would a man go to protect his family, his interests, and his legacy?  Re-visit this exquisitely written, post-war play depicting the tragic downfall of an American family caught in a web of lies, greed, love, and loss, and asking its audience examine their own social responsibilities to all the sons of American wars. ALL MY SONS runs June 30 - August 5 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, in North Hollywood, CA 91601 (at the edge of the NoHo Arts District).

2Cents Theatre Group's popular 3-day festival of female playwrights is back for year FIVE! We are once again gathering around 100 artists for this one-of-a-kind event, from playwrights to directors to actors and street artists, to celebrate the FEMALE PLAYWRIGHT and ART! The Fest will take place March 9-11 at the Hudson Theatres in Hollywood, right in the heart of Theatre Row and the Los Angeles 99-seat community.

Part of the Plan - a new musical featuring 20 iconic songs from the catalogue of acclaimed singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg - celebrates its world premiere and its possible trek toward Broadway with a 19-performance run at Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center. The production opens Thursday, September 8 and continues through September 24 at TPAC's James K. Polk Theatre, with a gala red carpet event heralding the show's official opening night on Sunday, September 10.

K-Squared Entertainment and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) are thrilled to announce the complete cast and creative team for the world premiere of PART OF THE PLAN, a new, original musical written by Kate Atkinson & Karen Harris and scored with the music and lyrics of celebrated singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. 

Check out the top stories from Los Angeles you might have missed this week and more!

Over the years, I have seen many productions of COMPANY and am pleased to tell you the current production at the Morgan-Wixson in Santa Monica is by far the best one I have ever seen thanks to the brilliant direction and fabulous casting done by Kristin Towers-Rowles, herself a triple-threat performer who could no doubt shine in any of the musical's roles herself. The entire revival is perfect in all aspects including musical direction by Daniel Koh, the glorious 70s costumes designed by Michael Mullen, the fabulous multi-level New York-inspired set designed by William Wilday, evocative, attention-focusing lighting designed by Donny Jackson, and the fun choreography by Jaime Pierce, which all combine to make this the perfect introduction to Sondheim's body of work.

2Cents Theatre Group's popular 3-day festival of female playwrights is back for year four! We are once again gathering around 100 artists for this exciting event, from playwrights to directors to actors and street artists, to celebrate the FEMALE PLAYWRIGHT and ART! The Fest will take place March 17-19 at the Hudson Theatres in Hollywood, right in the heart of Theatre Row and the Los Angeles 99-seat community.

I have heard this little double couplet poem since childhood, and have always been terrified by it, so, if I see a story depicted about accused murderess Lizzie Borden of Fall River, Massachusetts, I expect two people to end up corpses, her stepmother and her father. In the new musical by Katrina Wood Spindle City: The Lizzie Borden Musical, now playing at the Secret Rose Theatre, only her father's murder is enacted. But... Lizzie loved her father, in spite of his intolerable business tactics, and... despised her money-hungry stepmother. Does this omission of her murder from the retelling of the infamous story make any sense? Hardly. But that's just one of the problems plaguing this uneven musical at the Secret Rose through November 5.