Robert Yacko News

Broadway and ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" sweetheart, MARISSA JARET WINOKUR, makes her return to the All-Star cast of the 32nd annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (STAGE), Sondheim No. 5, taking place on Saturday, June 18th at the beautiful Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.  Performances will be at 2:00pm and 8:00pm and benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles.

What a lovely surprise! I know that Bruce Kimmel is quite the clever gentleman and would not expect anything less than superlative work from his camp, but stepping down to the college campus level to review is not something that I particularly savor. These actors, with the exception of Robert Yacko and April Audia, are students, not yet professional performers as such. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed, not by the singing, but at least by the acting and overall drive and energy of the performers who delivered a mightily informative, nostalgic and fun show. It's called L.A. Now and Then, and it's a revue with songs and monologues that take a glance back at Los Angeles through the years and compare past with present cultural values. Kimmel as director maintains a great pace throughout: no lags; the show moves!

Conceived and Directed by Grammy nominated Producer, Director, Writer, and Composer Bruce Kimmel, L.A. NOW AND THEN, is a new musical revue about the city that was and the city that is. Proudly presented by Kimmel's alma mater, The Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy and Kritzerland Entertainment, the production will be presented May 13 - 22, 2016 at the Caminito Theatre on the campus of Los Angeles City College (LACC). BroadwayWorld has an inside look at the show's opening night; scroll down for photos!

Conceived and Directed by Grammy nominated Producer, Director, Writer, and Composer Bruce Kimmel, L.A. NOW AND THEN, is a new musical revue about the city that was and the city that is.

Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal presents SEASON'S GREETINGS - Our Fifth Annual Holiday Show - tonight, December 9, 2015 (6:00 PM dinner | 7:30 PM show).

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, continued their 2015-2016 season with the Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim andArthur Laurents 1965 musical DO I HEAR A WALTZ? The one-night-only concert took place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, November 15 at 7:00 PM. Scroll down for photos from the evening!

Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal presents SEASON'S GREETINGS - Our Fifth Annual Holiday Show - on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 (6:00 PM dinner | 7:30 PM show).

Like many others during 1964-1966, I made sure to be home when "The Addams Family" TV show was broadcast. Carolyn Jones and John Astin were like no parents I knew and their family certainly lived the sort of off-kilter life totally different than any other family I had ever known. But it was their unwavering support of each other and their entire family that drew me to the series, so when I heard the glitzy-gloomy musical based on the characters was being brought to the stage by 3-D Theatricals, I excitedly made plans to see it and can happily report it was a spectacular and highly creative extravaganza with an awesomely talented cast.

Appropriately enough, the supposedly haunted Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton is currently playing host to the happy spooks of 3-D Theatricals' regional production of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, which continues performances at this historic theater through October 25 before migrating south to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center for shows October 31 - November 8. Filled with gleeful, cheese-tastic one-liners and catchy, cleverly written tunes from Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party, Big Fish), this seemingly underrated stage musical gem is a lively, highly-amusing little comedy that celebrates individual uniqueness while poking lots of giddy fun at fragile family dynamics, pointing out that even the most creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky beings among us face the same kinds of OMG-drama that so-called 'normals' do. As an added bonus, 3DT's production features a stellar cast led by TV's Bronson Pinchot as Gomez and Broadway vet Rachel York as Morticia.

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will continue their 2015-2016 season with the Richard Rodgers, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents 1965 musical DO I HEAR A WALTZ?

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County presents the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County presents the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County will present the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

The La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts/McCoy Rigby Entertainment presents the Southern California Premiere Production of the Broadway Musical 'FIRST DATE' Sept. 18 - Oct. 11, 2015- directed by Nick DeGruccio and now playing at LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS. Check out photos from opening night below!

Perfect for the fall and Halloween season, 3-D Theatricals' (3-DT) of Orange County will present the two-time Tony Award winning musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams.

On Sunday September 6 at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal, Kritzerland Records celebrated its 61st show and 5 year anniversary. On hand were affable host Kritzerland producer Bruce Kimmel, musical director extraordinaire John Boswell at the piano and a bevy of super talented singers who included: Brennley Brown, Hadley Miller, Jenna Lea Rosen, Sami Staitman, Robert Yacko, Damon Kirsche, Darcie Roberts, Sharon McNight, Jason Graae, and special guest star Tony Award winner Sammy Williams. What a cast and what a fabulous evening of entertainment entitled The Songs That Got Away IV!

Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal presents THE SONGS THAT GOT AWAY IV, their 5th anniversary show, on Sunday, September 6, 2015 at 7:00 PM.

Founded by BroadwayWorld TV's own Michael Sterling (On-air Producer and Host for live entertainment news events in Los Angeles), Sterling's Upstairs first opened its doors at the renowned Vitello's Restaurant in Studio City, CA. where it single handedly brought back to Los Angeles the art of intimate upscale cabaret concerts which had all but vanished from the cultural scene in movie town, USA.  However, in due time, the venue was whole heartedly embraced by enthusiasts of LA's performing arts community and continued to thrive for 6 successful years in a former storage room that was transformed by Sterling into a true supper club environment.  

Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal presents WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN: THE SONGS OF PAUL WILLIAMS on Sunday, July 5, 7PM.

Kritzerland's Berlin to Rome's theme unintentionally became 'generations,' as the youngster and the senior stole the show from the others of the talented line-up of singing pros.