Ricky Pope News

In their first gig back in NYC Nicolas King and The Mike Renzi Trio remind crowds what they've been missing all this time.

It started on Joan Rivers' afternoon talk show. This amazing female impersonator named Lypsinka came out and did a number that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I hadn't seen a lot of drag queens in my twenty-five (ish) years on the earth but the ones I had seen didn't have an act like this - it was all telephones ringing and quotes from movies all pieced together with a big rousing musical finish, and I was as mesmerized as Joan Rivers appeared to be, sitting in her chair, captivated by the very original and fascinating performance. I never forgot it. A few years later I became friends with a man named Mark Sendroff and Mark had a hobby that brought him great pleasure and every one of his friends was the beneficiaries of this hobby. Mark Sendroff made these VHS videotapes called Potpourri that were 2 hours of weird and wonderful show business clips, a melange of oddities and treasures that he had collected over the years and turned into party tapes - because at our home we played these tapes at every party. There was a clip of a man named Michael West doing a 2-minute movie called 'Door To Door Dolly,' there was a clip of Mimi Hines singing 'Yesterday I Heard the Rain' at The Triad, there was a clip of Leslie Uggams messing up the words to 'June Is Busting Out All Over,' and there was Lypsinka on The Joan Rivers Show doing her act with all the telephones and lipsyncing to some astonishing recording of 'Get Me To The Church On Time.' If there was one thing I knew about Mark Sendroff, it was that he would know who sang that song and I could, finally, at it to my collection. I called him on the phone and asked him that which had been on my mind all these years and which nobody had had the answer to.

John Tartaglia recently led The Music Man at The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum in Boca Raton, FL. Check out clips from the production!

John Tartaglia recently led The Music Man at The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum in Boca Raton, FL. Let's see what the critics are saying...

The Wick has taken some enormous risks in the areas of performance and design when staging The Music Man. While there were some minor technical glitches on opening night, this production will continue to grow as it completes its run which was just extended to December 28.

The Wick has taken some enormous risks in the areas of performance and design when staging The Music Man. While there were some minor technical glitches on opening night, this production will continue to grow as it completes its run which was just extended to December 28.

John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek, Johnny & the Sprites) will lead THE MUSIC MAN (Nov. 29 - Dec. 29, 2019) at The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum in Boca Raton, FL.

Due to overwhelming demand, LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is EXTENDING the first show of its 99th season, the perfect romantic comedy to kick off the Summer, ABBA's intoxicating MAMMA MIA!, music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and some songs with Stig Anderson, book by Catherine Johnson, originally conceived by Judy Craymer with musical direction by Ricky Pope and directed & choreographed by Karen Babcock Brassea. Comments Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard, "We start our 99th season with one of the all-time great feel-good musicals, MAMMA MIA!! Our subscribers and audiences are going to be dancing queens and kings all summer long with this irresistible and euphoric new production!" MAMMA MIA! begins previews on Friday, July 5; will open on Sunday, July 7 at 5:30pm and now perform through Sunday, August 4, 2019 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Drive in Laguna Beach.

Due to overwhelming demand, LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is EXTENDING the first show of its 99th season, the perfect romantic comedy to kick off the Summer, ABBA's intoxicating MAMMA MIA!, music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and some songs with Stig Anderson, book by Catherine Johnson, originally conceived by Judy Craymer with musical direction by Ricky Pope and directed & choreographed by Karen Babcock Brassea.  

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE presents the first show of its 99th season with the perfect romantic comedy to kick off the Summer, ABBA's intoxicating MAMMA MIA!, music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus 

Much to my very pleasant surprise, Mr. Mosher delivered one of the most entertaining and delightful evenings that I've had the pleasure of seeing in that space since the days of Nancy LaMott.

Celebrity photographer Stephen Mosher's outrageous experiences come to life in story and song as he shares the adventures he and his colorful family have experienced in a raucous roller coaster ride, 'The Story Teller' playing four encore performances at Don't Tell Mama on April 19 and 22, and May 1 and 7 at 7:00 p.m.  From photographing the likes of Maggie Smith and Sarah Jessica Parker for his publication The Sweater Book to marrying the same man 8 times in the documentary film 'Married And Counting', Mosher's philosophy of devouring life takes center stage.

The holiday offering from the exquisite John W. Engeman Theatre of Northport, Long Island, is an excellent production of the classic Tony winning musical Annie. Marking the half-way point of the Engeman's dazzling 11th season, this production is superbly directed by Antoinette DiPietropolo who also serves as Choreographer. Now I know you're probably thinking: Another production of Annie? Well, when you have a cast as remarkable as this, it definitely warrants another visit.

The John W. Engeman Theater presents ANNIE, running now through Sunday, December 31, 2017. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Leapin' Lizards! The irrepressible comic strip heroine takes center stage in one of the world's best-loved musicals. The company celebrated opening last night, and BroadwayWorld was on hand to capture the event. Check out the photos below!

The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team for ANNIE.

The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team for ANNIE.

'Ain't it a fine life, Carrying The Banner!' Disney's Newsies is the second show this season of the newly reopened Surflight Theatre located in Beach Haven, New Jersey.

Surflight is thrilled to be presenting Disney's Newsies, the third show in the exciting 2017 season. Newly reopened for 2017 Surflight has been overjoyed with the overwhelming response and tickets sales for its first two shows Footloose and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well as its Children's Theatre series and Show Place old fashioned performing ice cream parlour. Surflight's production of Newsies , directed and Choreographed by Paula Hammons Sloan, Assistant Choreographer Liz Troxler and Musical Direction by Michael McAssey, will be the New Jersey Regional premiere.

'Footloose' follows a Chicago teen, Ren McCormack, who recently moved to a small town where dancing and rock music have been banned. As he struggles to fit in, he also fights to change the minds of the conservative Reverend Shaw Moore and the entire town. The music is written by Tom Snow with lyrics by Dean Pitchford and additional lyrics by Kenny Loggins. The book is by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie.