Tuesday, January 3, 2017
International City Theatre in Long Beach starts the year off with Forever Plaid, directed and choreographed by Scott Dreier and Kurtis Simmons, at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. It’s the ‘50s all over again when four young singers killed in a car crash on the way to their first big gig miraculously return to earth 60 years later for a doo-wop do-over. Full of wholesome comedy, fun choreography, and a hit parade of favorites like “Rags to Riches,” “Shangri La,” “Chain Gang,” and “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” this is a show to warm your heart and make you smile. (Feb 17 – March 5) InternationalCityTheatre.org
Nick DeGruccio will direct Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment. The show stars Devin Archer and Natalie Storrs, with musical direction by Brent Crayon. The Last Five Years is a beautifully intimate, vivid picture of the five-year relationship between a young, ambitious author and a struggling actress told in reverse chronological order: we see her experiences from the painful ending of the relationship, while we see his from the passionate beginning. The endearingly funny, poignant, and insightfully honest two-person musical has enraptured audiences around the world with its spellbinding, emotional score. (Jan 20 – Feb 12) LaMiradaTheatre.com
Palos Verdes Performing Arts has announced the cast of its upcoming production of Dan Goggin’s Nunsense playing at the Norris Theatre. Nunsense follows the crazy antics of five spirited nuns from the Little Sisters of Hoboken Convent. When their cook accidentally serves some tainted soup, poisoning 52 of the sisters, the five surviving nuns band together and put on a show to raise money to cover the burial costs. The cast includes Dawn Stahlak as the jovial Reverend Mother; Jennifer Leigh Warren as the Mistress of Novices, Sister Mary Hubert; Noelle Marion as wannabe ballerina, Sister Mary Leo; Rebecca Lumiansi as the streetwise Sister Robert Anne; and Silvie Zamora as the charmingly wacky Sister Mary Amnesia, the nun who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head. The show is directed by Ken Parks with music direction by Jake Anthony and choreography by KC Gussler, and accompanied by a live orchestra. (January 20 – 29) PalosVerdesPerformingArts.com
Chance Theater will present the west coast premiere of Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet’s new video game musical Claudio Quest beginning Jan 27. Pailet also directs, choreography is by Maxx Reed, and musical direction is by Ryan O’Connell. The new musical comedy is the story of a very super hero, his less super little brother, and one butt-kicking princess, as the three embark on a mission to overcome killer eggplants, a love-starved platypus, and their own 8-bit existential crisis. Sounds fun, yes? (Jan 27 – Feb 26) ChanceTheater.com
If you can’t make it down to Chance for Claudio Quest you can also get a sneak preview of the show at (mostly)musicals’ songsforahappynewYEAR on Monday, January 16 at the E Spot Lounge. Joining musical director Gregory Nabours will be Amanda Kruger, Caitlin Gallogly, Emily Clark, Eric B. Anthony, Jason Peter Kennedy, Jeff Scot Carey, Justin Michael Wilcox, Kelley Dorney, Kristina Miller, Matt Valle, Tiana Okoy, and Selda Sahin in an evening of happy songs to start the new year right. mostlymusicalsla.com
Theatre Artists Unite, Artists Rise Up Los Angeles presents a special one-night-only benefit on Jan 31, E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One, a collection of short plays and scenes, music, dance, spoken word, art installations and multi-media presentations in reaction to the 2016 presidential election. The benefit is part of the National Month of Outrage which first began in New York City when Jonathan Alexandratos put together a group of artists called Theatre Artists Unite. Artists and producers across the country followed his lead by setting up protests for their own stages. Here in LA, Artists Rise Up Los Angeles is the brainchild of director and executive producer Sue Hamilton, (in collaboration with Artists Rise Up New York and its leader, Jessica Litwak). It is made up of diverse members of the creative community, representing actors, directors, writers, filmmakers, singers and dancers, spoken word artists, photographers and others, all of whom have come together to Rise Up.
Among those performing at the LA event are Robert Yacko and Heidi Godt who will sing Jason Robert Brown’s original post-election composition, “Hope,” and Hamilton Broadway cast member & choreographer Karla Garcia, and fellow cast member David Guzman recreating the Best Presentation-winning number, “America,” from this year’s Gypsy of the Year competition. A post-performance lobby reception will also include a live art installation, photography exhibits, food, and drinks. Tickets are $35 and proceeds will be split between the following organizations: American Civil Liberties Union, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Human Rights Campaign, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Natural Resources Defense Council. ArtistsRiseUpLA.com
MainStreet Theatre Company in Rancho Cucamonga begins 2017 with The Secret Garden, based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, directed by Jessica Kubzansky. The timeless story is the perfect antidote to a dreary January and has been a staple of children’s literature for over 100 years. When cantankerous and orphaned Mary Lennox is taken away from her home in India to live with her reclusive uncle in the Yorkshire Moors, she discovers a garden that changes her life, with the help of a robin (played by a puppet in the production) and new friends. Recommended for Ages 7 and up. (Jan 28 – Feb 12) LewisFamilyPlayhouse.com
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group will present End Up Here, three late-afternoon performances of music and prose by Christopher Reiner directed by Zombie Joe this month. Reiner has composed music and songs for 23 ZJU productions in Los Angeles, off-Broadway, and Cape Town, including Urban Death, Alice, Tell-Tale Heart, and Nightmare’s Trio. He is author of three books of poetry and prose, most recently, I Want Nothing But You In The World. (Jan 8, 15 & 22 at 4pm) ZombieJoes.com/
The Broad Stage kicks off its theatre season with the delightful musical comedy 13 Things About Ed Carpolotti by Barry Kleinbort, based on the play by Jeffrey Hatcher. Virginia Carpolotti (Penny Fuller) is a devoted widow with loving memories of her recently-deceased husband. Though her love endures, her confidence in him flounders as one shady character after another comes calling for the debt that Ed put in her name, and things really heat up when a mysterious $1 million ransom note appears. (Jan 11 – 29 *Contains adult language) TheBroadStage.com
Also on The Broad’s Broadway series, Matthew Morrison brings a dazzling mix of show tunes and jazz to the main stage on Jan 14, and the iconic Chita Rivera recreates signature moments from her illustrious career in Chita: A Legendary Celebration on Feb 10.
In San Diego, new musical The Geeze & Me at Tenth Avenue Arts Center explores the wild ride of life’s later years in a funny, irreverent, and poignant look at surviving aging. The show features book by Hedges Capers and Nancy Capers and an eclectic blend of songs ranging from pop to blues to corner street doo-wop by Hedges Capers. The story follows a troupe of eccentric players who team up to wrangle aspects of aging from an expert. It’s a little like Hair, after it’s gone (March 31 - April 29) TheGeezeAndMe.com
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