Thursday, March 27, 2014

Musical News for Thursday, March 27, 2014

OPENINGS: Since 2007, CRE Outreach has worked to empower military veterans and the visually impaired through the performing arts. Now they are bringing an original musical, Beyond Sight, to the stage starring blind actor Robert Smith and former U.S. Marine Ginger Lawrence. The story follows a soldier who returns to the U.S. after losing his sight during combat in Afghanistan, featuring a book by Nick Sivakumaran and Jeremy Aldridge, music by Emmy-nominated Mark P. Leonard and Colin Simson, and lyrics by Greg Shane, Colin Simson and Mark P. Musical direction is by the composer, Mark P. Leonard, and choreography is by Allison Bibicoff. Also included in the cast are Tristan Bailey, Graig Churchill, Geoffrey Dwyer, Eboni Gentry, Sean P. Gorecki, Christopher Loverro, Cj Merriman, K.J. Middlebrooks, Raufel Muhammad, Shannon Nelson, and Dan Woren.

 “Our source material was taken directly from the work CRE Outreach does with vets and the blind in the community and authentically portrays their experience,” says CRE artistic director Greg Shane. “With Beyond Sight we hope to launch a larger discussion about how we treat our veterans – and drive home the point that disabilities do not define who people are.”

 “You can’t extinguish the human spirit,” says Aldridge. “That is the core of this show. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the macropolitics of our current wars, the individual stories of what many of our soldiers experience and overcome are inspiring.” Beyond Sight runs April 25 – May 25 at The Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., 2nd Floor, Hollywood, 90028. Parking at the Jefferson Building (garage entrance on McCadden, 1 block East of Highland) is $5 with theater validation. Tickets: (310) 902-8220 or www.creoutreach.org

GYPSY is coming to Inland Valley Repertory Theatre (IVRT) Tuesdays and Wednesdays April 9 – 23 at Candlelight Pavilion starring Shaelynn Parker as Mama Rose. Loosely based on the Memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, it features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by Arthur Laurents. The classic Broadway musical is filled with memorable favorites like “Let Me Entertain You” and “Everything's Coming Up Roses.” www.ivrt.org
BENEFIT: Celebration Theatre’s annual Vibrant Voice Awards benefit event is full of gold this year.  Original Golden Girl Betty White and her Hot in Cleveland co-stars Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, and Wendie Malick will read a classic episode of The Golden Girls as part of the evening’s entertainment and Sean Hayes will be on hand as the 2014 Vibrant Voice Awards are presented to rcipients Wendie Malick and Robert Forster. Directing duties will be shared by Celebration co-artistic director Michael Matthews and Ryan Bergmann. The evening will also feature a raffle for a walk-on role in a future Hot in Cleveland episode. Tickets are available at three price levels and can be purchased now at www.celebrationtheatre.com or by calling (323) 957-1884. The benefit takes place Saturday, April 26, at 7:30 pm at Sound Stage 19, CBS Studio Center in Studio City.
CABARET/CONCERTS: Barbara Morrison will reprise her role as Dinah Washington in the one-year anniversary performance of I Wanna Be Loved on Sunday, March 30 (4pm) at the famed jazz-and-blues singer’s Performing Arts Center in Leimert Park. Co-written by Morrison and Michael Cormier, the musical play tells the story of Washington’s life and loves during a legendary career that ended in her accidental death at age 39 in 1963.

 “I wanted to tell a story about her entire life and named it I Wanna Be Loved because it best explained her life,” Morrison said. “She had seven husbands (including Detroit Lions star Dick ‘Night Train’ Lane at the time of her death) and her mother never supported her secular career and never came to see her. Her mother wanted her to stay in gospel, where she began.” The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center is located at 4305 Degnan Blvd, Suite 101, in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park. Tickets are $40. Call 310-462-1439 or go to www.barbaramorrisonpac.com for reservations.

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Monday, September 30, 2013

More Musical News Around Town for September 30, 2013

OPENINGS: Cabrillo Music Theatre announces its full cast for Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, which runs Oct. 18 – 27 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Joining the previously announced Davis Gaines and Victoria Strong as Fred Graham/Petruchio and Lilli Vanessi/Kate are Scott Reardon as Bill Calhoun/Lucentio, Reba Buhr as Lois Lane/Bianca, Steven Perren as General Harrison Howell, and Ronald Rezac as Harry Trevor/Baptista Minola, along with Orlando Agawin, Francesca Barletta, John Paul Batista, Michael Byrne, Danielle Campbell, Allen Darby, Martin Feldman, Jay Gamboa, Lexi Greene, Steve Greene, Abigail Herman, Natalie Rose Iscovich, Raquel Nicole Jete, Kurt Kemper, Anna Lamonica, Tellina Lee, Derek A. Lewis, Tom G. McMahon, Timothy Reese, Shelley Regner, Tracy Ray Reynolds, Harry Schantz, Joey Sponseller, Megan Stonger and Lamont Whitaker. Richard Israel directs. John Todd makes his Cabrillo debut as choreographer, and Darryl Archibald returns as musical director, leading the full, professional Cabrillo Music Theatre Orchestra.

 With Kiss Me, Kate, Cabrillo Music Theatre also launches its second season of Arts Education. The musical provides a fun way to learn about one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, The Taming of the Shrew. Study Guides are available and accessible for teachers at public schools, private schools and home school parent/teachers, and any parent or individual interested. The Study Guide supplements a fun musical outing with an educational experience that helps students take a difficult subject like Shakespeare, and understand and apply the subject matter and the language in a modern setting. Tickets and info: www.cabrillomusictheatre.com

 IVRT at Candlelight Pavilion in Claremont presents Song & Dance for two performances only on Oct. 29 at 2:30 and 7:30. It will feature Robin De Lano, with Bobby Collins, Max Herzfeld, Matt Edgerton, Nicole Bravo Escudero, Chanel, Kaufman, Chris Giroux and Tiffany Renee Schwanz directed by Hope Kaufman. Musical direction is by Ronda Rubio and choreography is by Kim Eberhardt. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s triumphant musical comprises two acts, one told entirely in Song and one entirely in Dance, tied together by a love story. The first part is Tell Me On A Sunday, with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, about a young British woman's romantic misadventures in New York City and Hollywood. The second part is a ballet set to Variations, composed by Lloyd Webber for his cellist brother Julian, which is based on the A Minor Caprice No. 24 by Paganini. The show won Bernadette Peters a Tony on Broadway. For tickets call (909) 626-1254.

Latino Theater Company presents its annual holiday gift to the community, La Virgen De Guadulupe, Dios Inantzin, on December 4 and 5. Adapted for the stage by Evelina Fernandez from the mid-sixteenth century text The Nican Mopohua, it relates the story of how the Virgin Mary appeared on four occasions to the lowly peasant Juan Diego in the mountains of Tepeyac near Mexico City in 1531. The show is presented in Spanish with English supertitles. Reserved seating is available for $35 and can be acquired online at www.thelatc.org, or by calling (866) 811-4111. Reserved seating for LATC Members is $17.50. Early bird discounts are available until November 1. General admission is FREE to the public at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, on Wed. and Thurs., December 4 and 5 at 7:30 pm. A goodwill donation of $5 is suggested however no one is turned away for lack of funds. Renowned opera singer Suzanna Guzman stars as the Virgin. Sal Lopez plays Juan Diego, along with a cast of over 100 actors, singers and dancers that also includes children and seniors from the community. The production is directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela.

 WEB SERIES: Check out the latest episodes of the new musical comedy web series Destroy the Alpha Gammas. From Streamy Award nominated director, Scott Brown (Larry King Now, Blue Movies) and executive producers, Anna Roberts and Shin Shimosawa (The Following, The Grudge), Destroy the Alpha Gammas is an exploration of rivalry and revenge, set in the wild world of sororities.

Written by and starring pop singer/actress, Leah McKendrick, the show is a sexy and edgy comedy driven by top 40 hits, love triangles, and cat fights in the vein of Bridesmaids or Pitch Perfect. The story centers around Carrie, the newly appointed president of the not-so-popular Delta Pi sorority. Along with McKendrick the show features Anastacia McPherson, Sara E.R. Fletcher, Jon Hall, Lindsey Morgan, Michelle Martinez, Christie Burson, Anna Roberts, Jeff D'Agostino, Karma Stewart, Cara Manuele, Julina Creamer, Dennis Haskins, Judy Norton, Lisa Marie Summerscales, Cindy Derby and Eduardo Enrikez. For more info visit http://destroytheags.com.

 CONCERTS: Miscast is back Monday, October 21- featuring songs from Phantom of the Opera, Grease, Spring Awakening and many more. Presented by Sterling’s Upstairs at the Federal, the show will star Mandy Kaplan, Todd Sherry, Jennifer Hall, Will Collyer, JP Karliak, Mandy Fabian, Chris Carlisle, Mona Chatterjee, Netta Most, Jeffrey Landman, Tom Metz III, and Brett Ryback. You must make reservations ahead of time by calling (818) 754-8700. Dinner & drinks: 6:30 pm, Show at 8:00 pm. Sterling’s Upstairs at the Federal, 5303 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. 

 Sierra Madre Playhouse and the Colburn School of Music will debut their Colburn Concert Series on October 6 with The French Concert. Performers will include Rebecca Nathanson, soprano, LA Opera; Yi Zhou, viola, LA Opera; Yi-Ju Lai, piano, Colburn alum; Eloise Kim, piano, Colburn; Natalie Helm, cello, Colburn; Evin Blomberg, violin, Colburn; Radu Paponiu, Colburn; Ridge Davis, flute, Colburn.
Fauve: La bonne chansons, Op. 61
Ravel: Sonata for violin and violincello
Ravel: Chansons Madecasses
Chaminade: Portrait: Valse chantee
Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Ample free parking behind theatre. Concert begins at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $20. Seniors (65+) and students (to age 21), $15. Reservations: (626) 355-4318 or www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

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