Musicals in LA

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

What's Happening Around Town for Wednesday, January 8, 2014

OPENINGS: Chance Theater presents the first show of its 16th anniversary season, and the first in its new theater, Lysistrata Jones, beginning Feb. 7. Opening night is set for Feb. 15 and the show will continue through March 9. Lysistrata Jones is directed by Kari Hayter and features choreography by Kelly Todd, music direction by Rod Bagheri. It stars Devon Hadsell, J.D. Driskill, Camryn Zelinger, Ashley Arlene Nelson, Robert Wallace, Klarissa Mesee, Chelsea Baldree, Danielle Rosario, Jackson Tobiska, Darian Archie, Michael Dashefsky and Ricky Wagner.

Athens University is in the midst of a thirty-year losing streak, so Lyssie J. and her girl-power posse won’t “give it up” to their basketball-playing boyfriends until they win a game. The hilarious dialogue and upbeat score from five-time Tony nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn is an electric combination of Mean Girls, Glee and Pitch Perfect. The Opening Gala on Saturday, Feb. 15 includes a post-show reception at Chance Theater’s new location, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim, CA 92807. For tickets, call (714) 777-3033 or visit www.ChanceTheater.com.

Getting to Know….Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, the authorized version of the classic musical Cinderella for young people, will take place in North Hollywood Feb. 28 – March 23. The show features book & lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers, and is adapted by Tom Briggs. Presented by the Children’s Theatre Group of Southern California and The Eclectic Company Theatre, it is directed and choreographed by Kay Cole, and features vocal direction by Ben Enright. The cast includes Ava Benavente, Lola Michelle Brown, Zoe Busenberg, Sabrina Grace Carr, Tess Cooley, Ella Grane, Griffin Gunn-Myers, Langdon Janos, Justin Knott, Savannah Miller, Cleo Riley, Vera Wheatley and Jenna Zuckerman. Costume design is by Tricia Berry. Set and lighting design is by John Dickey. Produced by Sherry Lynn and Robert Briscoe Evans. For tickets, call (818) 508-3003 or go to www.ctgsc.org.

The Fourth Annual Betty Garrett Memorial Musical Comedy Tribute at Theatre West will present four concert performances of By Jupiter with book by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart, Feb. 8, 9, 15, and 16th. Miriam Nelson directs and choreographs the Theatre West staging, as she did with previous concert readings of Panama Hattie and Let’s Face It. Brian O’Halloran returns as musical director. Proceeds from the performances support the continuing work of Theatre West and the Betty Garrett Musical Comedy Workshop, named in memory of the beloved MGM musical star who was a Theatre West co-founder and who moderated its musical comedy workshop for decades.

Hippolyta rules as Queen of the Amazons, where women are warriors and men keep house, raise the kids, and buy new hats. The source of the queen’s power is the girdle of the goddess Diana, in the possession of and worn by Hippolyta. The gods have decreed that Hercules, as one of his assigned Twelve Labors, must relieve Hippolyta of the girdle and spirit it away so Hercules heads for Amazonia in the company of the Greek army. The fun has just begun. By Jupiter’s cast includes Saratoga Ballantine, Troy Guthrie, Patricia Jaramillo, Devra Korwin, Gerald Lancaster, Evan McNamara, Kerry Melachouris, Barbara Minkus, Anne Montavon, Donald Moore, Michael Pammit, Linda L. Rand, Nick Santa Maria, Sandra Tucker, and Sarah Ann Vail. For tickets, visit www.theatrewest.org.

Theatre West also announces that its Storybook Theatre production of Goldilocks and the Three Bears has been extended by popular demand and will continue performances through June 14. The family musical features lyrics by Rob Meurer & Scott Martin, book by Scott Martin, and music by Richard Berent, with direction by Barbara Mallory Schwartz and Lloyd J. Schwartz. www.theatrewest.org

MainStreet Theatre Company’s first production of 2014 is The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, a fun-filled musical adaptation of the beloved book by Jeff Brown. Kevin Cochran is the director, with choreography by Lisa Hopkins and musical direction by Janice Rodgers Wainwright. The production will play two school performances on January 31st, and open to the public on Saturday, February 1st at 4pm, running through Sunday, February 16. The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley follows the adventures of Stanley Lambchop, a normal boy in all respects who is longing to do something amazing. He gets his wish when a bulletin board falls on him and he wakes up… FLAT! Realizing that he can fit in an envelope, he mails himself all over the world and has wonderful adventures, until he finally finds his way back home. The cast will feature Doug Harvey as Stanley, real-life husband and wife Michael Faulkner and Amanda Pajer as Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop, Ann Marie Lee as mail carrier Mrs. Cartero, and Josey Montana McCoy as Stanley’s brother Arthur. They will also play the many characters that Stanley meets along the way. Click Here for tickets and more information.

William Finn & Rachel Sheinkin’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will run Feb. 14 – Mar. 1 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, directed by Kristin Towers-Rowles, with musical direction by Jake Anthony. The cast includes Nicole Barredo, Tavis Dixson, Leigh Golden, Kimberly Hessler, John Devereaux, Craig McEldowney, Chuck McCollum, Erik Romney and Emily King Brown. www.elportaltheatre.com

A new professional company, Riverside Repertory Theater plans to produce daring, innovative and high-quality musicals starting this March at The Box in downtown Riverside. Riverside Rep is a group of theater professionals, business people, and award-winning directors, designers and technicians committed to creating professional musical theater in the Inland Empire. First up for the new company is Fiddler on the Roof, in a production their website says will be “unlike any other you’ve seen!” Tickets can be purchased by calling (951) 808-5566 or by visiting www.riversiderep.org.

MUSICAL THEATRE CLASSES: Dan Callaway’s Musical Theatre Workshop & Dinner is back, beginning Tuesdays, January 21st. Bring any song you’re working on, need to prep for an audition, or are adding to your book and work it. An accompanist is provided and Dan’s new structure is even easier than before. Class is $45 (It used to be $75/class, $300/month and there is a week-by-week sign up with no monthly commitment. Dinner at 6:00 pm. Class is 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Eight participants max. Location: Dan’s home in Eagle Rock. Click Here for more info and how to sign up.

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Labels: chance theater, ctgsc, el portal theatre, mainstreet theatre company, riverside rep, theatre west