Ovation News

Consider yourself at home at Musical Theatre West's (MTW) production of Lionel Bart's Tony Award-winning musical Oliver! at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center February 8-24. Tickets are on sale now at www.musical.org, by calling (562) 856-1999, or at the MTW Box Office. Tickets start at $20.

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, present the second show of its 2018-2019 season, the world premiere of DEATH HOUSE, written by Jason Karasev and directed by Michael Peretzian. DEATH HOUSE will preview on Tuesday, January 15 at 8pm; Wednesday, January 16 at 8pm & Thursday, January 17 at 8pm and will open today, January 18 at 8pm and run through Sunday, March 10 at the Road Theatre on Lankershim, 5108 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.

Earlier this month, six time Tony nominee Danny Burstein and Christian Dante White  assumed the role of Alfred P. Doolittle and Freddy Eynsford-Hill in Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady, directed by Bartlett Sher, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street). Check out a first look at the duo in action below!

This January, rapper, poet and award-winning Omar Musa brings his critically acclaimed show Since Ali Died back to Griffin Theatre Company for Sydney Festival following triumphant sold-out runs at Griffin's inaugural Batch Festival and Darwin Festival in 2018. Using the death of his hero Muhammad Ali as a lyrical springboard, Musa dives into a furious torrent of poetry, story and song, confronting everything from suburban violence to lost love to his Malaysian heritage-and the dark realities of growing up as a brown-skinned Muslim boy in Queanbeyan. Award-winning director Anthea Williams is once again at the helm of this livewire, hypnotic and totally unmissable hour of theatre.

The sensational feel-good musical MAMMA MIA! will have its star-studded gala premiere at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts tonight, 17 January 2019. The Gala Night audience will include invited VIPs, show sponsors and a host of local celebrities such as Stephen Chan, Cissy Wang, Ankie Beilke, Cecil Chao, Bianca Wu, Snowy Choi, Icy Wong, Janet Ma and Sabrina Leung.

Crown City Theatre Company in North Hollywood has announced its production of the Oscar Wilde classic The Importance of Being Earnest, set to open on Friday, February 1, at 8pm. Under the direction of Michael J. Marchak, the engagement will run through March 31.

Hank's Bar is a roadside joint on a desolate highway in the middle of nowhere. Hank the barkeep (played by Kurtis Bedford) passes the time when he has no customers by perusing a porn mag while pleasuring himself. He likes the bar's isolated location: It keeps him away from his ex-wife and kids. But Hank does have one customer this evening: Jonas (George Villas), a drifter who wants to drink, not chat. Jonas has been haunted by troubling dreams. He travels from place to place to escape his past. Into the bar strides Ruby (Kate Whitney), a sexy woman who informs them that her car has broken down nearby. Can she use the phone to call the auto club? A howling dust storm outside suggests that the three are going to remain at the bar for a while.

Since its 2015 premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts - a popular laboratory for some of Broadway's most recent smash hits -Waitress, with music and lyrics by the indomitably popular songstress Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson, has made defying the theater community's wildest expectations look easy as pie. Somewhat quietly, Waitress has baked a more than 1100 performance run (and counting) on Broadway, spanning nearly three years, no small feat for a modern musical, particularly one that does not rely upon spectacular stage effects, grandiose chorus numbers, a well-known jukebox catalog or Disney source material. Adapted from Adrienne Shelly's 2007 film of the same name - which was by no means a box office juggernaut - the musical incarnation of Waitress has none of these things. What it does have, however, is a fantastic score, relatable and likeable (with one exception) characters, and a well-mixed blend of humor and heart.

Two-time Tony-winning actress, singer and dancer Sutton Foster returns to Cafe Carlyle, June 11-22. At Cafe Carlyle, she'll perform Broadway favorites and original recordings, focusing on selections from her new album, Take Me to the World, and stories of how being a mother of a two-year-old has informed her work and changed her life.

Producers Anita Greenspan and Tony Hawk with Executive producer Adam Zotovich announced today that a new musical adaptation of the 2007 Nick Hornby novel, SLAM, is in development. This new project will feature a book by Tony Award Nominee Kyle Jarrow (SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical) with music and lyrics by Mark Mothersbaugh (prolific film composer, co-founder of new wave band Devo). Pro-skater Tony Hawk, who is featured as a character in the novel, is a producer on the project and is slated to develop skate choreography.

Previews begin tonight for the world premiere production of The Convent, a new play by critically acclaimed playwright Jessica Dickey (The Amish Project, Charles Ives Take Me Home), directed by Daniel Talbott.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT (celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary at the theatre) are thrilled to present the award-winning and revolutionary 1776 THE MUSICAL, with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo and directed & staged by Glenn Casale. 1776 THE MUSICAL will preview on Friday, January 11, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, January 12 at 8pm) and runs through Sunday, February 3, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.  

The Mollyhouse, the highly-anticipated original musical with book and lyrics by Richard Hanson and music by Divya Maus will have a staged reading at the historic Montalban Theatre, 1615 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90028.  For more information, please visit MollyhouseMusical.com

Queer & Art Presents 'I AM SEAGULL' a new play with music is having it's first public workshop performance at acclaimed Celebration Theatre in Hollywood. This all-queer inspired new adaptation takes place in the not-so-distant future after the United States and Russia have joined forces to create a new fascist-communist country; where the government has deemed queer people as 'Unclassified' and sent to death camps. A response to the world's climate, performer/artist Frankie Kraft has adapted the classic play to be told through queer voices. The cast includes 'godfather of LGBTQ theatre' Michael Kearns, Toni Christopher (Ovation Nominee 'Rabbit Hole'), Nathan Mohebbi, Kareem Ferguson, Ryland Shelton, Ashley Diane Currie, Richardson Jones, Arne Gjelten, Kenton Chen, Tristan Scott Behrends, Jessie Jacobson, and Frankie Kraft. Written and Directed by Frankie Kraft. The story is told with original music from Ryland Shelton, Jessie Jacobson and Ivo Dimchev. As well as choreography by Bruno Isakovic and Arne Gjelten. 'I AM SEAGULL' is presented by Queer & Art-- a new multimedia platform specializing in Queer art. They produce podcast, films and now theatre. For more information visit: www.frankiekraft.com On instagram at @queerandart & @frankiekraft. Or email queerandart@gmail.com. Monday January 21 7:30 pm at Celebration Theatre in Hollywood. This is a benefit performance for Rainbow Railroad-- an organization that helps LGBT+ asylum seekers escape violence globally.

Kronos Quartet brings its touring program Music for Change: The Banned Countries to New York, presented by Carnegie Hall at Zankel Hall on Friday, February 8 (9 pm), and Washington, DC, presented by Washington Performing Arts at Sixth & I on Saturday, March 2 (8 pm).

Definition of Man, which had its world premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June 2017 and recently finished an international tour returns to the LA stage this January. The one-act play had an oversold run during Hollywood Fringe and was nominated for multiple awards including Best World Premiere and won Best of Fringe in Dance & Physical Theatre, the "Ripest Show" sponsored Award from Cherry Poppins, and an Encore Producers Award. At Edinburgh, they enjoyed a successful twenty-one show run that critics called a five-star "unmissable" production (everything- theatre.co.uk) where the "quality of writing, thought and performance going into the show...is a pleasure to see" (thescotsman.com).

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is pleased to announce the first show in its fifth season of our TYA Family Series... James and The Giant Peach. With book by Timothy Allen McDonald, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, based on the book by Roald Dahl, and directed by Darryl B. Hovis, James and The Giant Peach will preview from February 15 through February 17; regular performances will begin February 17 and continue through March 3 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Fyda-Mar Stage.

The Tedd Firth Trio started January 2019 off in true genius form with a week of performances for their debut at the Birdland Theater on West 44th St. in NYC. The show had Mr. Firth taking control of the mic and hosting an evening of exciting music featuring Tedd Firth on Piano, David Finck on Bass, and Mark McLean on Drums. Each of the 4 nights of performances also featured a different guest artist singing a few tunes from their repertoire...songs sung in their own solo shows so often accompanied by Mr. Firth.

Valencia is the Donald Trump of coloured female constables - totally unapologetic in her campaign to take back Bellville from "Klein Somalia" and "make it great again". Her greatest fear is that her community is becoming overrun with prostitutes and Boko Haram, curtain-wearing terrorists. She speaks the prejudices that many silently harbour with grotesque zeal and bombastic charisma.