Stage Alliance News

Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Ray Cullom, will present the beloved musical The Fantasticks, directed by Amanda Dehnert, from October 7 through November 1, 2009, on the Mainstage.

The guys are gambling, the dolls are dancing, and the audience will come up a winner when Cabrillo Music Theatre launches its 2009-2010 season with Guys and Dolls. Returning is Director Nick DeGruccio, whose previous Cabrillo production of Jekyll & Hyde led to three Ovation Awards, including Best Director. Returning with DeGruccio is Choreographer Roger Castellano, Ovation-nominated for Jekyll. Musical Direction is by Darryl Archibald, and the production will be overseen by Artistic Director Lewis Wilkenfeld. Cabrillo?s production of Guys and Dolls, created exclusively for the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, will open on Friday, October 16th, 2009 and run through Sunday, October 25th, for Cabrillo Music Theatre in the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will launch a national tour and makes its debut at the Fox Theatre for seven performances, Tuesday, December 1 - Saturday, December 5!

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment in association with The Welk Resorts Theatre are proud to present the first production of La Mirada Theatre's 2009-2010 season of shows, Cathy Rigby and Michael Learned starring in the funny and moving, STEEL MAGNOLIAS, written by Robert Harling and directed by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts Producing Artistic Director Brian Kite. STEEL MAGNOLIAS will begin performances on Friday, October 2 (with a press opening on Saturday, October 3) and will run through Sunday, October 18 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada.

Charles Busch and Julie Halston will host this year's Primary Stages 25th Anniversary Gala Benefit to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (109 East 42nd Street) on Monday, November 9, 2009. This year's 'Leading Ladies' Penny Fuller and Isabel Keating are set to perform and will be joined by Elysabeth Kleinhans, and celebrity guests Allison Janney, Marian Seldes and Elizabeth Wilson in helping Primary Stages celebrate their 25th Anniversary Season.

A Noise Within (ANW) -- the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company hailed by critics as 'adventurous,' 'compelling and current,' 'ingenuity at work,' 'a bona fide class act,' and 'what great theatre is all about' -- continues its trajectory in the 2009-10 season with a slate of six masterworks about individuals who forge their own destinies, much like ANW itself, which takes a momentous step on its journey to a permanent home with a Fall '09 groundbreaking for its Pasadena theatre. The 18th Season, titled 'On the Wings of Fate!', marks the company's last in its current Glendale location before the move in Fall '10 to its spacious new venue. The Fall 2009 line-up opens October 3 with Shakespeare's Richard III, followed by a new adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Michael Frayn's Noises Off. The Spring 2010 offerings are Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing! and John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. The company also reprises for the third consecutive year its critically acclaimed and popular production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot for 10 performances in January 2010.

David Engel and Tami Tappan Damiano - A Fine Romance - June 7, 2009 at Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's, Studio City, CA.

Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's in Studio City, CA, has once again been named one of the top five Best Dinner Theatres in Los Angeles by MyFoxLA TV's Hot List. 'We are deeply grateful to each and every one of the almost 200,000 voters who took time to cast their ballots which kept us in the top five for two consecutive years,' said producer Michael Sterling.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and gala co-chairs Carla Crane and Chandra Geiger Gordon are proud to announce A.C.T.'s 2008-09 season gala, Illuminate the Night, featuring an exclusive performance by Judy Kaye, Tony Award-winning star of A.C.T.'s Sweeney Todd and Souvenir. The entertainment for this wonderful evening also includes performances by A.C.T.'s own Master of Fine Arts Program and Young Conservatory students, created and directed by John Carrafa, the Tony Award-nominated choreographer of Urinetown, the Musical on Broadway and at A.C.T.

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, concludes its 18th Season with Jean Anouilh's The Rehearsal, which opens Saturday, April 18 and closes Sunday, May 24, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, April 11). One of the celebrated French playwright's most critically acclaimed plays, it is directed by ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, and the cast includes Steve Coombs (Villebosse), Susan Angelo (Countess), Robertson Dean (The Count), Jill Hill (Hortensia), Mitchell Edmonds (Damiens), ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Geoff Elliott (Hero), Lenne Klingaman (Lucille) and Chris Roessner (Footman).

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, concludes its 18th Season with Jean Anouilh's The Rehearsal, which opens Saturday, April 18 and closes Sunday, May 24, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, April 11). One of the celebrated French playwright's most critically acclaimed plays, it is directed by ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, and the cast includes Steve Coombs (Villebosse), Susan Angelo (Countess), Robertson Dean (The Count), Jill Hill (Hortensia), Mitchell Edmonds (Damiens), ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Geoff Elliott (Hero), Lenne Klingaman (Lucille) and Chris Roessner (Footman).

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, stages Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, a haunting tale of unrequited passion, revelation and horror, which opens Saturday, March 21 and runs through Saturday, May 9, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, March 14). Directed by Michael Murray, the cast features Mark Bramhall (Estrand), Alex Feldman (Oswald), Rebecca Mozzo (Regina), Deborah Strang (Mrs. Alving) and Joel Swetow (Manders).

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, stages Henrik Ibsen?s Ghosts, a haunting tale of unrequited passion, revelation and horror, which opens Saturday, March 21 and runs through Saturday, May 9, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, March 14). Directed by Michael Murray, the cast features Mark Bramhall (Estrand), Alex Feldman (Oswald), Rebecca Mozzo (Regina), Deborah Strang (Mrs. Alving) and Joel Swetow (Manders).

The 25th Annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event-S.T.A.G.E-will present THE BROTHERS GERSHWIN-GEORGE & IRA as its silver anniversary event on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22 at the Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills. S.T.A.G.E. is the world's longest continuously running AIDS benefit. Net proceeds from the annual event benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), an organization now in its 26th year of providing direct services and HIV/AIDS prevention education throughout Los Angeles County.

As part of Center Theatre Group's DouglasPlus, Mike Daisey performs his acclaimed monologue 'How Theater Failed America' for four performances only at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, opening Wednesday, March 18 and continuing through Saturday, March 21 (all performances are at 8 p.m.). A special roundtable discussion will be held following the March 20 performance on the state of American theatre. Daisey will also workshop a new piece, 'The Last Cargo Cult' on Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m.

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, stages Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, a haunting tale of unrequited passion, revelation and horror, which opens Saturday, March 21 and runs through Saturday, May 9, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, March 14). Directed by Michael Murray, the cast features Mark Bramhall (Estrand), Alex Feldman (Oswald), Rebecca Mozzo (Regina), Deborah Strang (Mrs. Alving) and Joel Swetow (Manders).

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, a new musical based on the beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder series of classic American books, will launch a national tour in October at The Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, following a five-week engagement beginning September 10 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing ?Laura' in the hugely successful NBC television series 'Little House on the Prairie' during the 1970's, now continues her legacy ?on the prairie' by taking on the role of Ma. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will also star Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as Laura.

Center Theatre Group is now accepting submissions for the 2009 Richard E. Sherwood Award. The Sherwood Award is an annual award of $10,000 to support and nurture early career theatre artists living in Los Angeles. The award will be presented at the Ovation Awards ceremony produced by LA Stage Alliance in the fall of 2009.

Native Voices at the Autry proudly presents the world premiere of Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light by musician, poet, songwriter, and playwright Joy Harjo (Mvskoke). The play is a deeply compelling journey of struggle, displacement, self-discovery, and healing. Invoking spoken word, storytelling, music, and song, Harjo takes us on a wild theatrical ride where she tells it like it is with spirit and a mean jazz sax. An allegorical work of tremendous power, Wings demonstrates how theater and art can bring life full circle.

Native Voices at the Autry proudly presents the world premiere of Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light by musician, poet, songwriter, and playwright Joy Harjo (Mvskoke). The play is a deeply compelling journey of struggle, displacement, self-discovery, and healing. Invoking spoken word, storytelling, music, and song, Harjo takes us on a wild theatrical ride where she tells it like it is with spirit and a mean jazz sax. An allegorical work of tremendous power, Wings demonstrates how theater and art can bring life full circle.