Travis Leland News

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley celebrates the holidays - and the 200th anniversary of the novel's publication - with a limited return engagement of Jane Austen's Emma, the musical adaption which originated at TheatreWorks and became the most popular show in the company's 46 year history.

Cabrillo Music Theatre kicks off the 2015-2016 season with a brand-new production of the American Classic DAMN YANKEES. Winner of eleven Tony Awards including Best Musical, DAMN YANKEES is sure to be a home run hit. With a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, this ever-popular baseball musical will have fans on the edge of their seats. Check out photos from the show below!

You don't have to make a deal with the devil to find laughs, love, baseball and heart. Just come out to the theatre, as Cabrillo Music Theatre kicks off the 2015-2016 season with a brand-new production of the American Classic DAMN YANKEES! Winner of eleven Tony Awards including Best Musical, DAMN YANKEES is sure to be a home run hit. With a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, this ever-popular baseball musical will have fans on the edge of their seats. DAMN YANKEES includes favorite songs such as 'Heart,' 'Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets,' 'A Little Brains, A Little Talent,' and 'A Man Doesn't Know,' among many others.DAMN YANKEES opens today, October 16th, 2015, playing until Sunday, October 25th, 2015 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. 

Continuing its mission of showcasing the best new and unheard musical theater songwriting, A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returned to Rockwell: Table & Stage in Los Feliz on Tuesday, September 15. Scroll down for photos from the exciting performance, hosted by Jordan Kai Burnett with music director Bryan Blaskie!

You don't have to make a deal with the devil to find laughs, love, baseball and heart. Just come out to the theatre, as Cabrillo Music Theatre kicks off the 2015-2016 season with a brand-new production of the American Classic DAMN YANKEES! Winner of eleven Tony Awards including Best Musical, DAMN YANKEES is sure to be a home run hit. With a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, this ever-popular baseball musical will have fans on the edge of their seats. DAMN YANKEES includes favorite songs such as "Heart," "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets," "A Little Brains, A Little Talent," and "A Man Doesn't Know," among many others.DAMN YANKEES opens on Friday, October 16th, 2015, playing until Sunday, October 25th, 2015 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. 

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.  

On Wednesday, June 3, A LITTLE NEW MUSIC returned to Rockwell: Table & Stage in Los Feliz for its 8th edition, showcasing the best of new musical theatre writing with an incredible cast of Broadway and local talent. Tony Award-winner Daisy Eagan co-hosted with her partner-in-comedy Jordan Kai Burnett. Bryan Blaskie returned to ALNM for his 7th time as music director. Scroll down for photos of the engaging, exciting, and unpredictable night that was A LITTLE NEW MUSIC 8!

Jennifer Kranz, winner of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2014; and Stage Star top finalist Adrienne Visnic make their respective headlining debuts at Sterling's Upstairs November 16th and 23rd.

Every once in a while, one has the unexpected pleasure to witness 'a happening,' 'an event;' 'an evening you just don't want to end;' the kind of evening that transports you to another place in time. In the case of When Gary Met Harry: The Music of Harry Warren, the concert and its matinee idol Gary Lynn Floyd were all these things and more

Continuing its 8 year reign as the most critically acclaimed, award-winning supper club of its kind in the greater Los Angeles area dedicated to presenting the best of Broadway Performers and Nightclub Artists in concert, Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal welcomes Broadway's David Burnham and Valerie Perri in their co-headlining concert debut of Together Again for the First Time, an evening of non-stop Broadway showstoppers with Musical Direction by Mark Vogel at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood Sunday, September 21, 2014.

On Sunday September 7, at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal, due to an advance sell-out crowd for the 7 pm show, an additional matinee show was performed for the Fourth Anniversary of Kritzerland. Needless to say, both matinee and evening performances were sold out, making the monthly Kritzerland tributes the most popular shows at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. The anniversary party was entitled They're Playing Our Song: The Songs That Got Away III and along with special guests Kerry O'Malley and Bruce Vilanch, the big cast also included Robert Yacko, Evan Harris, Madison Claire Parks, Sami Staitman, Jenna Lea Rosen, and also little Hadley Miller, and in chorus numbers of What If?: Kimberly Hessler, Travis Leland, Bruce Merkle, and Adrienne Visnic, all under the baton of super musical director John Boswell. This marked the 49th Kritzerland show since its inception at the Gardenia in 2010, and its host Bruce Kimmel, founder of Kritzerland Records, was in rare form, doling out trivia-worthy anecdotes about every number presented, as well as singing a song himself, due to the absence of Guy Haines.

Kritzerland at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal presents its fourth anniversary show -- THE SONGS THAT GOT AWAY III -- on Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 2 p.m. AND 7 p.m. Doors open at 1 p.m. before the JUST ADDED matinee for brunch/lunch.

Joanna Jones (Thriller Live!), Coby Getzug (The Black Suits, Spring Awakening), Ryan Castellino (Life Could Be a Dream), Travis Leland and Caitlyn Calfas join up and coming musical theatre writer Zack Zadek in his LA debut at Rockwell on Sunday May 4, at 7PM.

Jennifer Kranz, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles majoring in Theatre and minoring in Musical Theatre, emerged victorious Sunday, February 16th as LA's Next Great Stage Star® 2014 produced and presented by Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed concert supper club in the greater Los Angeles area.

Jennifer Kranz, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles majoring in Theatre and minoring in Musical Theatre, emerged victorious Sunday, February 16th as LA's Next Great Stage Star® 2014 produced and presented by Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed concert supper club in the greater Los Angeles area.

And the winner of the 8th annual LA'S NEXT GREAT STAGE STAR talent competition is Jennifer Kranz, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles majoring in Theatre and minoring in Musical Theatre. On Sunday, Feb 16th, Ms. Kranz and 19 other talented young professionals sang their hearts out for the coveted prize. As winner, Ms. Kranz awarded a cash prize of $1000; an upcoming paid headlining concert engagement at Sterling's Upstairs; a vocal demo recording session from Tom Griep's Audition Trax; a photo session with Isaac James Creative; and is already in the process of scheduling meetings to be signed and represented by one of the lucrative competition's Equity Agent/Judges as the first step toward a professional career in musical theatre, television and film. Scroll down for photos from the competition!

On Sunday, February 16 LA's Next Great Stage Star 2014 came to an exciting conclusion at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. After an amazing two-hour program in which the 20 contestants gave 150% to their uptempo songs from Broadway shows, fourteen contestants were eliminated and the top six* finalists selected. After a brief intermission, each of the six then proceeded to perform a second number after which the distinguished panel of 18 judges made the final decision. Musical director par excellence James Lent accompanied at the piano throughout the three hour show.

Contestants in LA's Next Great Stage Star competition had an exciting second week on Sunday, January 12th. The theme for this round was Breaking New Ground - A Little New Music, and featured songs from some of today's most up and coming musical theatre writers.

The 2014 season continues this weekend after its launch last Sunday, January 5th, in North Hollywood, CA. at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal.