Rex Smith News

Designed to attract fans of live music as well as music collectors, the Music Collectibles Extravaganza will make its debut April 8-10 in Boxborough, Mass. The family friendly event features all things that appeal to collectors, players and appreciators of music and music history. 

Netflix has released a first look at Mike Myers' new series, The Pentaverate. The film stars Mike Myers, Ken Jeong, Keegan-Michael Key, Debi Mazar, Richard McCabe, Jennifer Saunders, and Lydia West. The familiar voice you hear is Jeremy Irons, who serves as the narrator of the series. Watch the new trailer now!

The smash hit LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE sparkles like a tree full of ornaments on Christmas Eve at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Casting has been announced for For The Record and The Wallis' production of LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of the beloved holiday film from Universal Pictures/Working Title, with performances from Saturday, November 27 to Friday, December 31, 2021, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Broadway and television star Aaron Lazar (Fox's Filthy Rich, Broadway's The Last Ship, A Little Night Music, Les Misérables, and The Light in the Piazza) joins the exciting lineup of talented performers alongside singer/songwriter, musician, producer and engineer, Brian McKnight Jr., who comes from a legendary musically gifted family including famed father Brian McKnight. American Idol 4th place finalist on season 4, Anthony Fedorov, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist actor Michael Thomas Grant, and RCA recording artist Nina Nelson, member of girl group Citizen Queen (with over 30 million music video views), also join the cast for the first time. Rounding out the group of newcomers is Cheyenne Wells who starred in the recent production of Little Shop of Horrors at Pasadena Playhouse with MJ Rodriguez.

Casting has been announced for For The Record and The Wallis’ production of LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of the beloved holiday film from Universal Pictures/Working Title, with performances from Saturday, November 27 to Friday, December 31, 2021, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Broadway and television star Aaron Lazar (Fox’s Filthy Rich, Broadway’s The Last Ship, A Little Night Music, Les Misérables, and The Light in the Piazza) joins the exciting lineup of talented performers alongside singer/songwriter, musician, producer and engineer, Brian McKnight Jr., who comes from a legendary musically gifted family including famed father Brian McKnight. American Idol 4th place finalist on season 4, Anthony Fedorov, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist actor Michael Thomas Grant, and RCA recording artist Nina Nelson, member of girl group Citizen Queen (with over 30 million music video views), also join the cast for the first time. Rounding out the group of newcomers is Cheyenne Wells who starred in the recent production of Little Shop of Horrors at Pasadena Playhouse with MJ Rodriguez. 

For the Record’s perennial holiday hit LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE returns to The Wallis for its third year with previews beginning November 27th.  Cast with incredible vocalists, songs from the Love Actually soundtrack are performed along with some original compositions onstage in front of the screened 2003 film. Got the chance to chat up one of For The Record’s mainstay performers Michael Thomas Grant, also known to TV audiences as Leif on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.

Casting has been announced for For The Record and The Wallis' production of LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of the beloved holiday film from Universal Pictures/Working Title, with performances from Saturday, November 27 to Friday, December 31, 2021, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

Casting has been announced for For The Record and The Wallis’ production of LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of the beloved holiday film from Universal Pictures/Working Title, with performances from Saturday, November 27 to Friday, December 31, 2021, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

In a year that promises particularly joyful holiday reunions, LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of the beloved holiday film from Universal Pictures/Working Title, and the biggest hit in The Wallis' history, is back by popular demand as a not-to-be-missed Los Angeles tradition with performances from Saturday, November 27 to Friday, December 31, 2021.

Caroline Innerbichler (Anna) in FROZEN returns home to Minneapolis to play her first Broadway tour on a new-to-her stage but her local resume proceeds her and fans fill the seats for this actor and the beloved musical's first staging locally. She shares her experience getting this role and her time waiting for theatre to return, and reveals her very Minnesotan self in 6 Questions.

All aboard! The West End production of Anything Goes has found its new Reno Sweeney!

Owners Robert Kotonly and Rory Paull have been concert promoters and club owners since 2001, bringing some of the world's leading talents to their venues across the country.

Actor/Singer Mandy Patinkin, Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Papp biographer Helen Epstein will be among the many celebrities and theater industry leaders confirmed for the 100th birthday commemoration of legendary theatre producer Joe Papp on June 22, 2021.

Today's Theater Stories features the Gershwin Theatre! Learn about the theatre's longest running show, Wicked; the extravagant production of Starlight Express; the Theater Hall of fame featuring theater's biggest names, and more!

a?oeTogether We Can: A Celebration Of Arts Educationa??, a commercial-free, hour-long televised variety special on Saturday, June 27 at 7:00 pm. The production is produced, staged and directed by David Green, founder and Director of Musical Theatre University, which is one of the school district's most treasured arts programs. a?oeTogether We Cana??  is co-hosted by Emmy Winning Comedian and Actor Bruce Vilanch and local CBS Personality Patrick Evans and will showcase the PSUSD's vibrant performing and visual arts programs and make the case for the critical need for arts education in our schools, as the district faces probable budget cuts due to the Covid-19 crisis. This special event is the kick-off to a year-long fundraising campaign by The Foundation For The Palm Springs Unified School District called a?oeTogether We Will; Protect The Artsa??. 

Rex Smith and Tomasina Abate recently teamed up for a cover of the Oscar-winning Best Original Song, Shallow, from the film A Star is Born.

Taking the film and its music to the next level, The Wallis and For The Record are presenting a holiday season encore of last year's LOVE, ACTUALLY LIVE world premiere in the Bram Stoker Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills through December 29. The multimedia presentation, adapted and directed by Anderson Davis with musical supervision by Jesse Vargas, turns the theater into a giant, immersive, cinema in a three-dimensional world where the film and live action seamlessly intertwine throughout the London setting. Each scene is a festival of excellent characterizations, extraordinary lighting effects and costumes, brilliant and fast-paced direction and choreography, and the joy of great music that perfectly expresses the mood and themes of the movie and jukebox musical LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE. No doubt this suburb holiday musical will be making its return to The Wallis each December!

Casting has been announced for The Wallis and For The Record's production of LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of one of the most beloved holiday films of all time and the biggest, record-breaking hit in The Wallis' history, which is back by popular demand, now as a not-to-be-missed Los Angeles tradition with performances beginning the day before Thanksgiving (November 27) and running through the weekend following Christmas (December 29). Returning from the 2018 production are Rex Smith (RIAA Gold® recording artist), Carrie Manolakos (Broadway's Mamma Mia!, Wicked), Doug Kreeger (Broadway's Les Misérables), Tomasina Abate (For The Record's Scorsese: American Crime Requiem, Tarantino), Carson Higgins (international tour of Green Day's American Idiot) and the multi-dimensional Emily Lopez. New this year to the lineup of outstanding performers are Rogelio Douglas Jr. (In the Heights and The Little Mermaid on Broadway), Declan Bennett (Once, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Taboo in the West End, American Idiot and Rent on Broadway), Jon Robert Hall (Fox's Grease: Live, “Glee”), Chris Mann (NBC's “The Voice,” The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Tour), James Byous (Scorsese: American Crime Requiem, Netflix's 'Westside'), Ruby Lewis (Cirque du Soleil's Paramour, Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole), singer/songwriter/actress Aubrie Sellers (one of Rolling Stone's best country albums of the year), Gabriela Francesca Carrillo (American Mariachi, Netflix's Homecoming), Levi Smith (A Bronx Tale: The Musical, It's a Wonderful Life, Mary Poppins and The Music Man on Broadway), young singer/actress Nayah Damasen, John Battagliese and accomplished violinist Molly Rogers. 

The Wallis and For The Record present LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of one of the most beloved holiday films of all time and the biggest, record-breaking hit in The Wallis' history, which is back by popular demand, now as a not-to-be-missed Los Angeles tradition with performances beginning the day before Thanksgiving (November 27) and running through the weekend following Christmas (December 29).

The Wallis and For The Record present LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, the multimedia concert celebration of one of the most beloved holiday films of all time and the biggest, record-breaking hit in The Wallis' history, which is back by popular demand, now as a not-to-be-missed Los Angeles tradition with performances beginning the day before Thanksgiving (November 27) and running through the weekend following Christmas (December 29).