MUSICAL NEWS: 3D Theatricals will present the first, major, fully-produced Southern California regional premiere of the Tony nominated Tarzan® The Stage Musical based on the Disney Film at both Fullerton’s historic Plummer Auditorium July 11 – 26 and the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center August 1 – 9, 2015. Broadway’s Rufus Bonds, Jr. will direct, with T.J. Dawson as assistant director. Musical director/conductor is Nick Petrillo. Choreography is by Linda Love Simmons. Aerial choregraphy is by Paul Rubin. Cast includes Devin Archer as Tarzan, with Katie DeShan as Jane Porter, Daebreon Poiema as Kala, Lawrence Cummings as Terk, Mark Cedric Smith as Kerchak, Joey D’Auria as Professor Porter, Brian Abraham as Clayton, and Jude Mason as Young Tarzan. The ensemble includes Danielle Barron, Jeremy Barron, Jillian Dey, Jude Dawson, Kingson Higgins, Mallory Barron, Arlondriah Lenyéa, Chelle Denton, Christiana Powell, Jeanette Dawson, Jenna Wright, Kim Taylor, Natalie Iscovich, Rachel Farr, Taj Johnson, and Tiffany Reid, Brandon Burks, Bren Thor Johnson, Brian Whitehill, Dominique Alan Petit Frere, Du’ron Fisher, Evan Strand, Frankie Silver, Gary Brints, Justin Matthew Segura, and Remmie Bourgeois. www.3dtshows.com The Hollywood Pantages has added eight shows as options to its 2015-2016 season. This new lineup of shows includes the return of Six Hollywood Pantages favorites: Beauty and the Beast (Nov. 13-22), Riverdance – The 20th Anniversary World Tour (Dec. 1-6), Mamma Mia! (Jan. 26-31), Once (March 15-20), Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles (April 5-10), and last season’s smash hit, Kinky Boots (April13-24). Current season ticket holders have first priority to purchase tickets at www.HollywoodPantages.com/SeasonPackages or by calling 866-755-BWAY (2929).
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has announced dates and subscription tickets for its 2015-2016 Season Artistic Advisor master classes and events. These include Suzanne Farrell, former Principal Dancer in George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet and founder of Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center (Jan. 24, 2016); Judith Jamison, dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director Emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (April 5, 2016); Patti LuPone, Grammy, Olivier and Tony Award-winning actor and singer (March 31, 2016); Arturo Sandoval, Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter, pianist, composer and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Oct. 27, 2015); and Denzel Washington, Academy, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning actor (Sept.17, 2015). Four of the advisors will also give Master Classes that are open to the public including Patti LuPone on March 31, 2016. LuPone will also perform her Far Away Places concert April 1-2, 2016. www.thewallis.org
Laguna Playhouse presents Footloose, directed & choreographed by Paula Hammons Sloan July 8 - August 9. The cast will feature Logan Farine as Ren and Lily Davis as Ariel, along with Ricky Pope, Jill Slyter, Carol Robinson, Hannah M. James, Charlene Jean, Melissa Mangold, Ashley Nicole Martin, Joseph Abrego, Derek Leo Miller, MaryAnn DiPietro, Michael Stancliffe, Todd Tucker, Christopher Hansell, Bryce Colby Vaewsorn, J’royce Walton, Mike Brennan and Siena Yusi. Footloose is based on the stage adaption by Dean Pitchford & Walter Bobbie. Musical direction is by Jeff Biering. www.lagunaplayhouse.com Subscribe to Actors Co-op and get two Co-op Too! productions for free: Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse’s The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd (June 25 – 28, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2:30pm), and An Evening with C.S. Lewis (July 10 – 19, Fridays, Saturdays at 8pm and Saturdays, Sundays at 2:30pm). www.ActorsCo-op.org Sierra Madre Playhouse presents Always…Patsy Kline July 31 – Sept. 12, directed by Robert Marra, with musical direction by Sean Paxton. The show is based on a real incident that occurred in 1961. Super-fan Louise Seger (Nikki D’Amico) befriends Patsy Cline (Cori Cable Kidder) before a concert in Houston. After the show, Louise takes her home, cooks her breakfast and appears with her on a local radio broadcast. The two maintain a correspondence, writing each other letters until Cline’s untimely death in a Tennessee plane crash in 1963. The star closed each of her letters to Seger, “Always…Patsy Cline.” www.sierramadreplayhouse.org
Like Star Trek? Battlestar Galactica? My Fair Lady? Then Space: The Musical Frontier is for you. It’s set on a spaceship, but instead of amazing special effects, it’s got show stopping musical numbers and lots of shiny duct tape. Join the crew of the U.N.E.S.S. Entrepreneur as they sing their way into their enemies’ hearts-- and yours. Space, written by Katie Smith and Jessica Spaw with music by Zach Reino, debuts June 30 at 8:30 pm on the Upright Citizens Brigade’s Sunset Stage. Tickets available for $5 at the UCB Sunset website or at the door. Starring Zach Reino, Richie Root, Alexa Green, Andrew Delman, Jessica Spaw, and Katie Smith. Additional performances set for 7/27 @ 10:30pm and 8/17 @ 10:30pm. https://sunset.ucbtheatre.com/
Performances of Enceladus Theatre Company’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will continue through July 3. The musical is being presented at the Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts in the Studio Theatre at Whittier College, 6760 Painter Avenue, Whittier, CA 90608. Producing Artistic Director Gil Gonzalez directs a cast that includes Charlotte Bailey, Molly Cunningham, Max Gallo, Stella Gordon, Christian Mohn, Ruben Sanchez, Courtney Smith, Jonathan Tupanjanin, and Andrew Zubiate. www.shannoncenter.org
New Musicals Inc. will present its annual 15-Minute Musicals June 29, 30 & July 1 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre. They are the culmination of NMI’s Academy for New Musical Theatre writers’ workshop and a decades-long tradition. This year’s theme is “Forks in the Road” with each musical about a life-changing moment. The creative team of director Scott Guy, music director Ron Barnett, stage manager Rita Cannon, and actors Conchita Belisle-Newman, David Crane, Shannon Martinous, and Louis Silvers will present End of the Line (book by Howard Ho, music by Kristen Rea, and lyrics by Chris Edgar), Can I Help You Out? (book by Weston Scott, music by Laura Wardrip, and lyrics by David Rackoff), and Fork You! (book by Lucy Wang, music by Molly Siskin, and lyrics by Shawn Ryan). The creative team of director John Coppola, music director Ross Kalling, stage manager Angel Hernandez, and actors Melvin Biteng, J. Bailey Burcham, Elise Dewsberry, and Emma Sperka will present Queen Hamembshaput Says What? (book by Danielle Roderick, music by Sahara S. Spain, and lyrics by Mitch Glaser), Margot’s Blessing (book and lyrics by Lori Ada Jaroslow, and music by Morgan Hollingsworth), Have A Nice Trip (book by Dan Margules, music by Raphael Nemes, and lyrics by Marissa Kochanski), and Half Off (book by Rich Cook, music and lyrics by Jeff King). www.nmi.org
The Fountain Theatre presents a world premiere theatrical event: Citizen: An American Lyric as Claudia Rankine’s acclaimed book of poetry about race in America is brought to the stage by playwright Stephen Sachs and director Shirley Jo Finney. A meditation on race fusing poetry, prose, movement, music and the video image, this provocative new stage adaptation about everyday acts of racism in America features a six-member ensemble including Bernard K. Addison, Leith Burke, Tina Lifford, Tony Maggio, Simone Missick and Lisa Pescia. August 1 – Sept. 14. www.FountainTheatre.com. Pictured: Steven Sachs, Claudia Rankine, and Shirley Jo Finney, courtesy of the Fountain Theatre.
MAGIC: For one night only, The Colony Theatre Company will travel back in time to the days of vaudeville and kick off its first ever magic series on Sunday, June 28 at 7pm with an eclectic evening of conjuring. Five, award-winning magicians will gather to performVaudevillusion, a new creation that fuses the mysteries of magic and live theatre. This special engagement features acts seen on America’s Got Talent, Wizard Wars, Fake Off, and at The World Famous Magic Castle. Tickets: 818-558-7000 or www.colonytheatre.org. For more information go to www.Vaudevillusion.com. EXTENDED: DOMA Theatre Company’s production of Green Day’s American Idiot: The Musicaladds five Thursday night performances beginning July 2, and extends one week through August 2. Performances take place at the MET Theatre The MET Theatre. For tickets, call 323-802-9181 or go to www.domatheatre.com.
DANCE:DancerPalooza, the “Coachella” for the dance world, will bring together the industry’s top professional choreographers, master teachers, professional dancers, dance students of all ages and dance fans under one roof for an exclusive week-long event July 21 – 26 at the Long Beach Convention Center. DancerPalooza features a wide variety of opportunities for everyone interested in dance -- from professionals to the general public – including the three-day Beat Street, (offered Friday July 24 through Sunday July 26) a dance expo hall that features special performances, Crash Courses (workshops throughout the day), and nightly ticketed performances in the intimate 825-seat Center Theater with some of the hottest names and ensembles in dance today including the works of Kenny Wormald & Misha Gabriel, Talia Favia, Andrew Winghart, Mike Minery & Anthony Morigerato, WilldaBeast, Dana Foglia, and Lauren Adams & Jason Parsons, and the return of Shaping Sound to the stage after its second national tour – a chance for the public to see the work of choreographers and dancers that all of the industry is talking about. www.dancerpalooza.com
Photo by Jamie Pham
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT:Family Jam at the L.A. Zoo, featuring family entertainment for all ages, is set for Saturday, July 11, 2015, 6 pm, with live music, karaoke, crafts, games, popular food trucks, up-close encounters with some of the Zoo’s smaller residents, keeper talks, a rare opportunity for after-hours viewing of popular animal exhibits and more. Headlining the entertainment is The BeatBuds duo, who enrich young audiences with an array of original children’s songs that get the whole family singing, dancing, and laughing together. Also on hand is Close Encounters, a live karaoke band, plus a Paint Party providing the opportunity for children to commemorate their Family Jam experience, a Crafts Zone and animal cut outs for "”wild” selfies and family photos. Rounding out the evening is an animal search and a Play Zone (7-9pm), both offering small prizes. Food trucks in attendance are CPK, Ragin Cajun, Dogtown Dogs, Patty Wagon Burgers, My Tornado Potato, Greenz on Wheelz, The Grilled Cheese Truck, Vchos, Rice Balls of Fire, Hang 10 Tacos, Kona Truck and Paradise Cookies and Ice Cream. www.lazoo.org/familyjam For more Musicals in LA news: Become a Fan on Facebook Follow Musicals in LA on Twitter Click Here to return to home page
