Peter Van Norden News

This December, Ensemble Theatre Company will offer two holiday events the entire family can enjoy. First, ETC welcomes back Porgy and Bess cast members Elijah Rock and Frank Lawson for a rockin' musical Christmas variety show LIVE from Las Vegas.

As part of the 'Much Ado About SOMETHING' series, The Working Actor's Journey podcast presents - in collaboration with the San Diego Shakespeare Society and the City of Coronado Public Library - an all-star cast in a FREE online Shakespeare reading of The Merry Wives of Windsor on Thursday, May 14th at 3 pm PST / 6 pm EST.

In these times of much ado about something, The Working Actor's Journey podcast presents-in collaboration with the San Diego Shakespeare Society and the City of Coronado Public Library-an all-star cast in a FREE online Shakespeare reading of Much Ado About Nothing.

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights' Arena a?" the first and oldest theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights a?" is thrilled to announce the extended run of RED INK by Steven Leigh Morris through Monday, February 24, 2020.

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights' Arena – the first and oldest theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights – is presenting RED INK by Steven Leigh Morris, with a cast that includes Michelle Bonebright-Carter, Steven Culp, Tracey A. Leigh, Leo Marks, Jocelyn Towne, and Peter Van Norden.

Director Brian McDonald does a nice job of keeping the actors rotating around the multiple microphones on stage (or having them add and remove costuming items) to distinguish between multiple characters. The staging is dynamic and the sight gags are clever, and the actors give pleasant and efficient performances, bringing out the warmth and hopefulness of this holiday tale. Ensemble's production highlights humor and heart for an agreeable, well-produced night of festive entertainment.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights' Arena – the first and oldest theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights – is thrilled to announce the cast for RED INK by Steven Leigh Morris, which includes Michelle Bonebright-Carter, Tracey A. Leigh, Leo Marks, Christopher Salazar, Jocelyn Towne, and Peter Van Norden.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald.

Play On Shakespeare today announces an expansive list of compelling actors and dynamic directors confirmed to participate in the Play on! Festival, presented in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Play on! features 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street). In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green and songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. The fresh new production will be directed & choreographed by Spencer Liff (Emmy nominee for TV's 'So You Think You Can Dance' and Broadway's Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Falsettos), associate director is Cynthia Ferrer (original 'Kathy Selden' in the first National Tour of Singin' in the Rain) with musical direction by Keith Harrison. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN will preview on Friday, April 19, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, April 20 at 8pm) and run through Sunday, May 12, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Preceding, it will perform Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14 at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya), 18111 Nordhoff Street, in Northridge.

Even before it opened this month, La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment knew they had a hit production on their hands with SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green and songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name which starred Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen, the plot closely adheres to the original story set in 1920s Hollywood during the waning days of the Silent Screen era, focusing on romantic leading man, Don Lockwood, his tap dancing sidekick Cosmo Brown, aspiring actress Kathy Selden, and Lockwood's platinum blonde leading lady Lina Lamont, whose less-than-dulcet vocal tones make her an unlikely candidate for stardom in the new talking pictures.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment (celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary at the theatre) are thrilled to present SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. The fresh new production will be directed & choreographed by Spencer Liff (Emmy nominee for TV's So You Think You Can Dance and Broadway's Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch & Falsettos). The Associate Director is Cynthia Ferrer (original Kathy Selden in first National Tour of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN) with musical direction by Keith Harrison.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment (celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary at the theatre) are thrilled to present SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. The fresh new production will be directed & choreographed by Spencer Liff (Emmy nominee for TV's So You Think You Can Dance and Broadway's Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch & Falsettos). The Associate Director is Cynthia Ferrer (original Kathy Selden in first National Tour of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN) with musical direction by Keith Harrison.

JAILBIRDS ON BROADWAY by Tony Nominated writers Cheri & Bill Steinkellner (Sister Act), with music by Jeff Rizzo will receive an invitation-only industry developmental reading in NYC on Monday, March 25 at 4pm.  Directed by Glenn Casale, with Musical Direction by Andrew Bourgoin.

GOOD MORNING TO YOU! LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT (celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary at the theatre) are thrilled to present SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green and songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed.

In McCoy Rigby Entertainment's production of '1776,' director Glenn Casale utilizes a mixture of young and veteran performers. In the show, seasoned actors like James Barbour (Edward Rutledge) and Peter Van Norden (Benjamin Franklin) co-star with young newcomers like Jordan Schneider (Lyman Hall) and Nick McKenna (A Courier). We spoke with Schneider and Nick Santa Maria (John Hancock) in this enlightening interview about auditions, reacting, and listening as an actor.

Having seen the musical HAMILTON when it was in Los Angeles, like many others I learned more important details about the founding fathers while watching it than I felt I had ever learned in school. Lin-Manuel Miranda who created that uber-successful musical in 2015, has said that 1776 THE MUSICAL, written in 1969, during another time of political and social unrest in the United States, has 'one of the best books-if not the best-ever written for musical theatre.' And now I can say I certainly agree with him. In fact, The perfect way to prove the arts can teach valuable history lessons to its audiences is by encouraging everyone to see 1776 THE MUSICAL, presented by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo and impeccably directed & staged by Glenn Casale through Sunday, February 3, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts or at The Soraya at CSUN from Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10.

A brilliant cast and production highlights McCoy Rigby Entertainment's '1776,' with bravura performances from Andy Umberger (John Adams), Peter Van Norden (Benjamin Franklin) and John Barbour (Edward Rutledge).