Michael Heimos News

With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Michael Mullen, an award-winning and always busy costume designer, writer and actor who often steps onstage in a variety of roles, both male and female.

With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series of interviews with some of am the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight Series interview features Kristin Towers-Rowles, an Award-Winning Director, Triple-Threat Actress, and Granddaughter of Screen Legend Kathryn Grayson.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, offers audiences a toe-tapping trip back to the golden age of musicals, and took Broadway by storm, winning five Tony Awards. It spoofs musical-comedy fanatics and the genre itself, often called one of the wittiest, craziest shows ever to hit Broadway. The very entertaining production at Santa Monica's Morgan-Wixson Theatre through October 13 is directed by Kristie Mattsson, produced by Michael Jackson Heimos, with music direction by Daniel Koh, and choreography by Niko Montelibano.

The Drowsy Chaperone, the Tony-award winning Broadway musical, will be presented at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, running now through October 13 as the first production of the 2019-20 Mainstage season.

SHE LOVES ME, the 1963 Broadway musical with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, was based on Miklos Laszlo's 1937 play, Parfumerie, a warm, gentle comedy that follows the tangled dating life of perfume shop employee Georg Horvath whose dating life goes awry when he discovers that the stranger he has fallen in love with through a secret correspondence is none other than Amalia Balash, a co-worker with whom he constantly bickers. This universal tale about mistaken identity and romantic love went on to become the inspiration for the classic films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime, and Nora Ephron's 1998 box office hit You've Got Mail in which Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan took their secret romance online through emails.

Before Peter had the last name Pan, he was a browbeaten 13-year old orphan shipped off with his two mates from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. The boys know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain's cabin, containing a precious, otherworldly cargo, given to a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training, who realizes that the trunk's precious cargo is starstuff, a celestial substance so powerful it must never fall into the wrong hands. During the journey, the ship is taken over by pirates - led by the fearsome Black Stache (who will later be known as Captain Hook in The Adventures of Peter Pan) - a villain determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own, making the journey quickly become a thrilling adventure. From marauding pirates and jungle tyrants to unwilling comrades and unlikely heroes, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER playfully explores the depths of greed and despair... and the bonds of friendship, duty and love.

I have to admit I had never seen the 2001 MGM movie, Legally Blonde before seeing LEGALLY BLONDE The Musical at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. And I am happy to say it is great fun for all ages in every aspect from the effervescent musical numbers presented by the remarkably energetic cast to the over-the-top bright pink costumes designed by Kristie Rutledge. Director/Musical Director Anne Gesling and choreographer Lauren Blair surely spent hours on end putting together the many incredibly intricate musical numbers, including the momentous "What You Want," Elle's video essay to get into Harvard, which includes at least 3 set changes, several costume changes by dozens of cast members, and many types of dance from tap to jazz. That 12-minute number alone is worth the price of admission on its own!

CELEBRATION THEATRE presents as part of its New Works Reading Series 'Like Drowning' tonight, March 17 at 7:30pm at the West Hollywood City Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. in West Hollywood. 'Like Drowning' takes place in an upper East Side Manhattan apartment, switching back and forth in time from the early 1990s to present day. The earlier scenes explore the relationship of Richard, a handsome, irresponsible actor in his 40s, and Rodney, a slightly older, attentive, well-off member of a theater's Board of Directors. In the present-day scenes, some 25 years later, an older version of Rodney brings an older version of Richard to his apartment to care for him as he faces his greatest personal challenge.

CELEBRATION THEATRE presents as part of its New Works Reading Series 'Like Drowning' on Tuesday, March 17 at 7:30pm at the West Hollywood City Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. in West Hollywood. 'Like Drowning' takes place in an upper East Side Manhattan apartment, switching back and forth in time from the early 1990s to present day. The earlier scenes explore the relationship of Richard, a handsome, irresponsible actor in his 40s, and Rodney, a slightly older, attentive, well-off member of a theater's Board of Directors. In the present-day scenes, some 25 years later, an older version of Rodney brings an older version of Richard to his apartment to care for him as he faces his greatest personal challenge.

Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center will present 'bare: a pop opera,' a contemporary rock musical by Damon Intrabartolo and Jon Hartmere, Jr. featuring a pulsating rock score and emotionally charged story. A contemporary musical event in the vein of Spring Awakening and RENT, bare: a pop opera tells the incredibly touching story of a group of young friends at a Catholic boarding school struggling to discover who they are as they walk the tightrope between adolescence and adulthood. Provocative, tender, and extremely moving, bare is a story of love, friendship, secrets, self-acceptance and the consequences that result from their decisions. With music by Damon Intrabartolo, book and lyrics by Jon Hartmere, SVCAC's production of bare: a pop opera will be the Ventura County debut of this incredibly moving theatrical event. Due to subject matter, this production is recommended for audiences over 14. Provocative, raw, and unyielding, 'bare' examines the consequences of baring a soul or hiding it from those who matter most.