Max Lichtig News

'Paint what you dream...' From the musical writing team Dahan & D'Angelo (The Count of Monte Cristo: The Musical) comes STARRY - a new pop-rock musical about brothers Theo and Vincent van Gogh.

Writer, Daniel Sugimoto has always tried to push past our standard social interactions, which are based on the rules of politeness, in order to have real human interactions instead. His latest play, WHITE PEOPLE DRINKING, which is NOT a musical, is all about those honest conversations during a dinner party with 3 very different couples, each of whom wind up speaking what is really on their minds after the free-flowing drinks loosen their tongues. All the topical taboo scenarios we fear on a silver platter are brought to light in fits of wit and whimsy, often so fast that you may feel your head is spinning trying to catch all the sarcasm as it flies past your ears. Imagine sitting down to dinner with friends, enjoying a few drinks and then really saying what is on your mind including secrets, opinions, and unfiltered drunk words. Would your friendships survive?

Last year at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, I discovered CAC Studios and their own unique brand of musical theatre entertainment, musically directed by Dan Sugi who also acts and sings up a storm. So when I discovered his first full length musical creation BROADWAY NOIR was having its world premiere at Fringe this year, you can be sure I was there to see it on opening night. And the musical genius has outdone himself on this one! Continuing in the immersive style which first pulled me into his shows, Sugi's BROADWAY NOIR is being presented in the intimate backroom cabaret space at 3 Clubs, located at 1123 N. Vine Street in Hollywood, just a few steps north of Santa Monica Blvd., the famous hangout of Frank Sinatra during Hollywood's heyday. The environment totally lends itself to the time period of the piece when bedazzled ladies and their well-heeled gents spent late nights hanging out and drinking with famous Hollywood stars.

Ever since I was dazzled by Creating Arts Studios production 'Thenardiers Inn' which well-deservedly went on to win the 2015 Hollywood Fringe award for best cabaret and variety show, I wait with anticipation for their next totally immersive theater experience, knowing it will be like no other. It was true for their 'The Experiment Cabaret' and I was not disappointed when I walked into the world famous Sayers Club in Hollywood, transformed into the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas during the reign of the Rat Pack in their current celebratory piece entitled 'A NIGHT AT THE SANDS' - A Vegas Musical Cocktail With an L.A. Twist.

What do you get when you combine two already proven, successful musicals- The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch? THE EXPERIMENT - A ROCKIN' FRANK + WIGHEAD INSANE CABARET, the current extremely entertaining mash-up from the brilliantly creative minds of Creating Arts Studios. Cleverly written by Todd Martens and assuredly co-directed by Shannon Sukovaty and Lee Marshall.

Love Out Loud, the first feature film from New York-based filmmaker John Sylva, will have its first live reading headlined by a cast of celebrated actors from the worlds of theater, television, and film on Monday, July 13 at The Creative Center at MTC Studios at 7:30pm EST in Manhattan.

In ChicabaRENT, director/writer Shannon Sukovaty creates a clever mash-up of Chicago, Cabaret and Rent in a non-stop, in-your-face attack on your senses.

If you have never seen THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK onstage, do not miss your chance to see it at the small black box Cupcake Theater in Hollywood, directed with a skilful hand and emotional insight by Sabrina Lloyd, starring Sigi Gradwohl as Anne Frank. Lloyd and Gradwohl present Anne's two-year ordeal hiding with her family during the German occupation of the Netherlands as a story of life, not death, and it is a true depiction of raw, daily survival during the Holocaust.

On February 15, 2014, the story of Anne Frank and her two-year ordeal hiding with her family during the German occupation of the Netherlands comes to Hollywood's Cupcake Theater, starring Sigi Gradwohl, a third-generation Holocaust survivor, as Anne Frank. THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK is a story of life, not death, and a depiction of raw, daily survival during the Holocaust. Told with wit and sentiment, this production is sure to hit home with a truth that still resonates today.