Lee Martino News

When You Wish: The story of Walt Disney officially opened October 16 at UCLA's distinguished Freud Theatre following four successful previews (October 11 - 13). BWW TV's Los Angeles correspondents Michael Sterling and Jerry Evans were invited to visit with the cast and creative team as the world premiere musical was approaching its first preview performance. When You Wish is the first ever musical about Walt Disney who is considered not only one of the most universally celebrated, award-winning figures in entertainment history, but one of the greatest showmen on earth. The long anticipated project features an original score of 17 songs with Music and Book by Dean McClure; Direction by Broadway's Larry Raben; and Choreography by Lee Martino. Still an active performer, author and business man... film and television star, and former pop recording superstar Pat Boone co-produces When You Wish with Dean McClure and Robert Rudolph. Check out the video below!

The life and times of Walt Disney, perhaps the most universally celebrated, award-winning figure in the history of entertainment, comes to the stage in When You Wish, the first ever musical about one of the greatest showmen on earth. When You Wish previews October 11 - October 13 followed by its official world premiere October 16 - November 3 at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA.

Performances of the New York premiere of Roger Bean's ("The Marvelous Wonderettes") new musical LIFE COULD BE A DREAM - winner of the LA Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly Theatre and Backstage Garland Awards for Outstanding Musical - begin tonight (Monday, July 8th) at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival presents the New York premiere of Roger Bean's ("The Marvelous Wonderettes") new musical LIFE COULD BE A DREAM - winner of the LA Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly Theatre and Backstage Garland Awards for Outstanding Musical. LIFE COULD BE A DREAM is an official selection of the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival and will play at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan beginning July 8th, 2013 for 6 performances only!

Triple threat actress/singer/dancer Betty Hutton is perhaps one of the greatest yet lesser known musical film stars of the 40s and 50s. Star of Annie Get Your Gun and The Greatest Show on Earth, Hutton possessed a uniquely energetic style that can be most realistically described as 'manic'. It seems that she was in constant motion, never stopping for an instant and propelling her musical numbers through her electric singing and dancing to new heights of excitement. Diane Vincent was so taken by Robert Osborne's 2000 interview with Hutton on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) that she knew she had to research and put together a show to celebrate the lady's immeasurable talent. And here it is, some 13 years later, the world premiere of Nuttin' But Hutton, a revue in two acts with music both familiar and unfamiliar from all of Hutton's films.

Nuttin' But Hutton, LLC presents a world premiere musical event, Nuttin' But Hutton, A Musical Tribute To The Songs Of Betty Hutton! Nuttin' But Hutton began previews on Friday, March 8 at 8pm and runs tonight, March 16-April 28 at the NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd. (at Lankershim) in North Hollywood.

When Oklahoma! was first produced on Broadway in 1943 it became the first smash hit for newly formed collaborating team Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and also the first real book musical, preceded only by Showboat. It was a breakthrough musical, which when given a first-class production, is still, some 70 years later, without question, one of the greatest American musicals ever written. 'The Farmer and the Cowman' truly represents the philosophy of what America is all about, a unity and pride that is unmistakably individual. MTW's newest production is exceptional - by far one of the best to be staged in a very long time. Director Davis Gaines - his first direction - magnificently brings together an astoundingly talented cast now in Long Beach through March 3 only.

Nuttin' But Hutton, LLC presents a world premiere musical event, Nuttin' But Hutton, A Musical Tribute To The Songs Of Betty Hutton! Nuttin' But Hutton begins previews on Friday, March 8 at 8pm and runs March 16-April 28 at the NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd. (at Lankershim) in North Hollywood.

Never seen since its original New York run, LEGS DIAMOND kicks off the third season of MUSICAL THEATRE WEST'S REINER READING SERIES tonight, December 2, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Never seen since its original New York run, LEGS DIAMOND kicks off the third season of MUSICAL THEATRE WEST'S REINER READING SERIES on December 2, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Rubicon Theatre Company, Ventura County's premier professional theatre company, received eight Ovation nominations at L.A. Stage Alliance's announcement ceremony at the Renberg Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening. Check out photos of the nominees below!

Nominees for the 2012 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced Tuesday evening at the Renberg Theatre inside the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles. The 2012 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, November 12, at the historic Los Angeles Theatre, 615 South Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles at 7:30 pm. For more information, visit www.LASTAGEOvations.com.

The 28th Annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event-S.T.A.G.E. presents ORIGINAL CAST 3, a musical celebration showcasing artists from theater, television and cabaret performing songs they originated in musical productions, tonight, April 28 at 7:30PM. This year, the annual event, which benefits AIDS Project Los Angeles, returns to the Saban Theatre Beverly Hills.

The International City Theatre will host a staged reading of INNOCENCE, a new musical by British team Jonathan Dove and Alasdair Middleton. The reading will be held today, April 24, at 7 PM and will be free and open to the public.

The International City Theatre will host a staged reading of INNOCENCE, a new musical by British team Jonathan Dove and Alasdair Middleton. The reading will be held on Monday, April 24, at 7 PM and will be free and open to the public.

Be assured that Hello! My Baby is by no means a musical revue, but an original book musical by Cheri Steinkellner, incorporating fine old standards from The Great American Songbook written in the early 1900s when the action of the play takes place on both the Upper and Lower East Sides of New York. It's a newly fashioned old-fashioned look at a few fictional characters who struggled to write songs in the golden age of musical history. Now onstage at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura Baby offers a sweetly delicious take on the perils of dreaming one's dream, with an energetic and phenomenally talented cast of 22 under the lickety-split pace of skilled director Brian McDonald and nifty choreographer Lee Martino.

Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 2011-2012 Season of "Magic, Mystery and Music" with the World Premiere of Hello! My Baby, a new tuner from the pen of Cheri Steinkellner, the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning writer of 'Cheers' and a Tony nominee for Sister Act: The Musical.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced the winners and special awards for excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County theatre for the year 2011. The 43rd Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards ceremony took place Monday, March 19 at A Noise Within in Pasadena, and was co-hosted by Jason Graae and Lesli Margherita.