Matthew Wrather News

The World Premiere of Jerry Mayer's 'How to Love a Republican' - a Political Romantic Comedy' Opens Today, October 1st at Santa Monica Playhouse.

The World Premiere of Jerry Mayer's 'How to Love a Republican' - a Political Romantic Comedy' Opens Saturday, October 1st at Santa Monica Playhouse.

Movie stars, music, suspense, hilarity, pathos, and the truth behind the Hollywood mystique, as told by those who've been there and done that. The 10th Anniversary production of the L.A. Times 'Recommended' AUDITION! THE MUSICAL, based on the all-too-true-life Hollywood experiences of the award-winning creative team of Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie, is back and brings ten years more harrowing, haunting and hilarious Hollywood horror stories than when it opened in 2006. It's the show for anyone who's ever wanted to be the best. At anything.

An incredibly talented cast populate the West Coast premiere of Gretchen Cryer's I'M STILL GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER (AND TAKING IT ON THE ROAD). This production actually includes the original 1978 I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road as the first act with the newly written second act set 30 years later.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to announce the cast for the west coast premiere musical event, I'M STILL GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER and taking it on the road, with music by Nancy Ford, lyrics by Gretchen Cryer and performed and directed by Gretchen Cryer. Check out photos from the show below!

The Laguna Playhouse presents the west coast premiere musical event, I'M STILL GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER and taking it on the road...,music by Nancy Ford, lyrics by Gretchen Cryer and performed and directed by Gretchen Cryer.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham have announced the cast for the west coast premiere musical event, I'M STILL GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER and taking it on the road...,music by Nancy Ford, lyrics by Gretchen Cryer and performed and directed by Gretchen Cryer.

Santa Monica Playhouse presents the World Premiere of LOVE in the Key of C# (C sharp) or Bb(B flat)- a rockin', romantic, rambunctious, and ever so-slightly risque musical about first love, puppy love, second-time-around love, everlasting love, love in the afternoon, love of mothers, grandmothers, men at arms, and men in our arms by the award-winning team of Evelyn Rudie and Chris DeCarlo now playing weekends through March 29th.

At least four plays have been written about Florence Foster Jenkins, who in the 30s and 40s, in spite of being considered the worst singer ever, recorded and gave highly publicized annual SRO concerts including one in 1944 at... Carnegie Hall. A rank amateur, Jenkins had no pitch, tone or rhythm and decimated just about every note and lyric in every score she put her voice to. BUT, she had a dream and she loved music with a passion. In her head and heart, she sounded like one of the most gorgeous sopranos that ever graced a stage. Maybe she really knew she was tone deaf and couldn't hit the mark... or maybe she didn't. If we cannot get our hands on one of her recordings, we can only estimate the truth of the matter by what we read or see in the various plays about her life.

In 1940s New York, the performer who everyone wanted to see live was Florence Foster Jenkins, an enthusiastic soprano whose pitch was far from perfect. Based on a true story, Glorious! is Peter Quilter's hilarious, Olivier-nominated comedy that invites us into the world of this New York socialite of great passion, considerable wealth and zero talent who fancied herself an opera diva. Richard Israel directs a four-week run at International City Theatre, opening tonight, Oct. 10.

In 1940s New York, the performer who everyone wanted to see live was Florence Foster Jenkins, an enthusiastic soprano whose pitch was far from perfect. Based on a true story, Glorious! is Peter Quilter's hilarious, Olivier-nominated comedy that invites us into the world of this New York socialite of great passion, considerable wealth and zero talent who fancied herself an opera diva. Richard Israel directs a four-week run at International City Theatre, opening tonight, Oct. 10.

In 1940s New York, the performer who everyone wanted to see live was Florence Foster Jenkins, an enthusiastic soprano whose pitch was far from perfect. Based on a true story, Glorious! is Peter Quilter's hilarious, Olivier-nominated comedy that invites us into the world of this New York socialite of great passion, considerable wealth and zero talent who fancied herself an opera diva. Richard Israel directs a four-week run at International City Theatre, opening Oct. 10.

International City Theatre bids au revoir to its 2013 season with a sexy, modern French farce, adapted for English-speaking audiences by Robin Hawdon from the original by Marc Camoletti(Boeing-Boeing). Directed byTodd Nielsen, Don't Dress for Dinner opens Oct. 11 atInternational City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10.

International City Theatre bids au revoir to its 2013 season with a sexy, modern French farce, adapted for English-speaking audiences by Robin Hawdon from the original by Marc Camoletti (Boeing-Boeing). Directed by Todd Nielsen, Don't Dress for Dinner opens Oct. 11 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10.

Santa Monica Playhouse announced today that Gina Rizzo Bishop, The Will Rogers Follies (Broadway/National Tour), Gypsy, Joseph (National Tour), Unfabulous, Drake & Josh, An American Love; Kate Bergeron, On the Brink (Z Factor TV), Chasing Eden (Little Miss Mafia Films), Leading Ladies (Theatre at the Center), BuzzFeed producer; Patrick Censoplano, Fame (MGM), Gettin' It (Second Slate Films), Bye Bye Birdie (Glendale Center Theatre Co), Hearing Your Heart (Kennedy Center); Ryland Dodge, 1940s Radio Hour (South Bay Civic Light Opera), I Suck (Cinekoncept), The Crucible and The Three Musketeers (The Arts and Dance Company); Sarai Jimenez, Maximum Security (Young Professionals' Company), Shot in the Dark (The Dream Factory, England); Obi Ndefo, Star Trek, Star Gate, Dawson's Creek, Seeds (Cornerstone Theater), Downstream (writer/producer, Orphan Productions); and Jessica Stone, Terri (Sundance-honored feature film), Six Feet Under, Chicago Hope (recurring), Hairspray, the voice of Stanley (Disney) will play "The Kids" in Santa Monica Playhouse's new staging of the internationally acclaimed Rudie-DeCarlo original musical Adults, Keep Out! - a delightful mix of Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings and the Little Rascals and a loving tribute to Ogden Nash, J.R.R. Tolkien and Gilbert & Sullivan. On stage in The Other Space at Santa Monica Playhouse now through September 29, 2013.

Like Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Joan Holden's adaptation for the stage examines whether a middle-aged, middle-class woman named 'Barbara' can survive when she suddenly has to make beds all day in a hotel and live on $7 an hour.

Santa Monica Playhouse presents Actor's Repertory Theatre (ART) in the return engagement of the 'dazzling' (Daily Bruin) original Jewish musical, BACKSTREET, a passionate and whimsical portrait of life, love, and loyalty played out by a family of Backstreet Ladies in a house of Jewish 'working girls' in the New York ghetto, circa 1905. This gem from the Playhouse Jewish Heritage Program by the creators of the immensely popular Sholom Aleichem quartet of plays - Author! Author!, Because of You, The Clown Prince and The Great Fair - and part of the ongoing Santa Monica Playhouse (SMP) 50th Anniversary Celebration of Theatre, opens May 15, 2010.

Santa Monica Playhouse presents Actor's Repertory Theatre (ART) in the return engagement of the 'dazzling' (Daily Bruin) original Jewish musical, BACKSTREET, a passionate and whimsical portrait of life, love, and loyalty played out by a family of Backstreet Ladies in a house of Jewish 'working girls' in the New York ghetto, circa 1905. This gem from the Playhouse Jewish Heritage Program by the creators of the immensely popular Sholom Aleichem quartet of plays - Author! Author!, Because of You, The Clown Prince and The Great Fair - and part of the ongoing Santa Monica Playhouse (SMP) 50th Anniversary Celebration of Theatre, opens May 15, 2010.

KNB - the Musical, with book, lyrics & music by CHRISTOPHER CARTER SANDERSON, will open at the Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, Sunday, August 10th.

KNB - the Musical, with book, lyrics & music by CHRISTOPHER CARTER SANDERSON, will open at the Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, Sunday, August 10th.