Thursday, April 24, 2014
Musical News for Thursday, April 24, 2014
La Jolla Playhouse will hold a special event in conjunction with its Page To Stage workshop production of Chasing the Song, a new musical featuring book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music & lyrics by David Bryan, directed by artistic director Christopher Ashley. This free public event, entitled Chasing the Song: The Drive to Make Music, with composer David Bryan, takes place on Monday, May 12 at 7:00 pm in the Playhouse’s Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. Christopher Ashley will moderate this exciting evening with legendary composer and Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, who will discuss his musical influences, the cross-over from rock ‘n’ roll to musical theatre, as well as his work on the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis and Chasing the Song, which explores the creative process behind great American rock music. Reservations are required; please visit www.lajollaplayhouse.org to RSVP beginning on Friday, April 25.
FRINGE BENEFIT: The Hollywood Fringe Festival is hosting a fundraiser bash on May 29 at King Kong (6555 Hollywood Blvd.) to help support the production costs of the 2014 Festival. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. The event, which will have a fantastical circus theme, will feature live entertainment and a silent auction. Doors will open at 7pm. The Fringe folks are also holding a design contest for their annual Festival T-shirt. The winner will be awarded $399 (minus the commission taken by 99Designs). To qualify, submit your design by Friday, April 25 at 11am PDT. Click Here for the guidelines and good luck!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Love the performing arts in Los Angeles? Consider volunteering at LA STAGE Day, a gathering of the Los Angeles performing arts community, taking place at Cal Stage L.A. on Saturday, May 17. This event is a mass get-together of artistic directors, designers, actors, dancers, directors, arts managers. There will also be a large bazaar where many performing arts organizations will be ‘tabling,’ as well as many discussion sessions, workshops, panels, and networking opportunities. Early bird registration is $30 until May 1st (after which registration is $40), but volunteering for 2.5 or more hours gets you into the whole day for free! All you pay is $6 for parking. Details HERE.
CABARET/CONCERTS: Kritzerland at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal presents At Long Last – Cole Porter Sunday, May 4 at 7:00 pm. The show will star Allen Everman, Jean Louisa Kelly, Lisa Livesay, Mark Whitten, Brennley Brown, Jenna Lea Rosen and Sami Staitman, with music director Shelly Markham. For reservations call (818) 754-8700. Doors open at 5:30. Show starts at 7:00pm. Reservations have already started coming in, and are highly recommended. Sterling’s at The Federal, 5303 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601.
The South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC) in partnership with the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and SOPA Studios will present four musical groups as part of the Sixth Annual Eclectic Music Festival on Saturday, May 3, from 2:00 – 10:00 pm at several venues around the city. The SPARC/SOPA Stage is located at the SOPA Studios, 1025 Hope Street, South Pasadena. Scheduled to appear are Lisa Finnie (5:00 pm), Shadowlands (6:15 pm), Anny Celsi Band (7:30 pm) and Jonah Smith (8:45 pm). Please note, all times are approximate. www.sopasartscouncil.com
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s Westside Connections features actor John Rubinstein and pianists Jeffrey Kahane and Christopher O’Riley and the music of Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Brahms on Thurs., May 15, 7:30 pm. Rubinstein created the role of Bob Fosse’s Pippin on Broadway and received a Tony Award for Children of a Lesser God, and O’Riley is a versatile pianist as well as host of the popular NPR radio program From the Top. They join LACO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane, Concertmaster Margaret Batjer and Principal Cello Andrew Shulman in a performance that pays homage to the remarkable legacy of both Rubinsteins and features Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor (Shulman and Kahane), Chopin’s Nocturne in D-flat major Op. 27, No. 2 (Kahane), and Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 (Batjer, Shulman and O’Riley). Moss Theater, Santa Monica. Tickets: (213) 622-7001 or www.laco.org.
You may be required to learn a short dance/movement combination, so please come prepared to move; there may also be cold reading from the script. Bring a résumé, as well as a list of all potential conflicts. The production begins rehearsals May 19 and runs July 5 – August 3 (Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm; Sunday matinees at 2pm). Click Here for complete audition details and a breakdown of characters.
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Labels: conejo players, hollywood fringe, kritzerland, la jolla playhouse, la stage alliance
Sunday, June 30, 2013
What's Happening Around Town for June 30, 2013
What Am I Hearing? The Aural Life of the TheatreJoin LA Stage Alliance and the Geffen Playhouse this Monday July 1st for What Am I Hearing? The Aural Life of the Theatre, the latest in the series of industry events. Composers. Music Directors. Arrangers. Sound Designers. Sound Engineers. So many different artists and technicians are intimately involved in what you HEAR when you attend the theatre. But what do they all do and how do they work together? How can you tell who created that particular bit of auditory magic that worked so well to tell the story? In this interactive session, including samples of music and sound from a variety of LA artists and productions, sound-based artists will shine a light into the inner workings of how they collaborate every day. Speakers include Darryl Archibald, John Ballinger and Drew Dalzell. Moderated by Terence McFarland, CEO of LA StageAlliance. Click Here to RSVP for this FREE event.
The Troubies will go Walkin’ in a One-Hit Winter Warlock Wonderland this holiday season as they return to the Falcon Theatre with a brand new musical. Matt Walker directs the one-hit-wonders cabaret clip-show which will follow the life of one of the Troubies’ most beloved characters, the Winter Warlock. The show runs Dec. 4 – Jan. 19, 2014, with opening night set for Friday, Dec. 13.
Garry Marshall has also announced the rest of the season, which celebrates both new and classic comedy. Impro Theatre’s Twilight Zone Unscripted kicks off the season with an homage to Rod Serling’s sci-fi series The Twilight Zone by creating new never-before-seen and never-to-be-seen again episodes with every performance. Next, you’ll enter a haunted estate on a dark and stormy spoof-filled night in the side-splitting satire The Mystery of Irma Vep, complete with werewolves, vampires and damsels in distress. In the New Year, get ready to have your heart stolen during Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy, a hilarious and personal story of the playwright’s friendship with one of America’s most beloved comediennes. And finally, The Last Act of Lilka Kadison closes the season with a humorous journey about grace in the face of loss as we spend an afternoon with Lilka Kadison while she wrestles with the ghosts of her past and present seventy years after she fled Poland on the eve of World War II. For a complete schedule of dates and subscription prices go to www.falcontheatre.com.
Performance Riverside Drowsy Chaperone Auditions
Please note that the dates originally published by Backstage were incorrect. Auditions will be held on July 28 & 29 not June 28 & 29. For questions and information please contact Joey Smith, 951-222-8793. Roger Castellano will direct and choreograph; Scott Smith is musical director. The Drowsy Chaperone rehearses Aug. 31-Sept. 26, and runs Sept. 27-Oct. 6 at the Landis Performing Arts Center in Riverside, CA. Auditions will take place at Landis Performing Arts Center, Riverside City College Campus, 4800 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92506. For a complete breakdown of roles go to www.performanceriverside.org.
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Labels: falcon theatre, la stage alliance, performance riverside, troubies
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Lee Melville Obituary - LA Theatre Loses a Longtime Theatre Champion
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| Lee Melville. Photo by Michael Lamont, courtesy of LA Stage Times |
Lee Melville, founding editor of LA STAGE Times and its predecessor, the print magazine LA STAGE, and for 12 years the editor-in-chief of the now-defunct trade publication Drama-Logue has died. He was 74. A memorial event will be held Monday, June 24 at the Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street, Burbank 91502. The reception will begin at 6 pm, with the program slated to start at 7:30. Reservations are required. Click Here for the reservation link.
His professional life in and around the theatre, mostly in Los Angeles, spanned more than 50 years as an actor, stage manager, producer, critic, writer, mentor and editor. His many and varied contributions to L.A. theatre earned the respect of the theatre community and were officially recognized in 2011 when an award established by The Playwrights’ Arena (of which he was one of three recipients in 2005) was renamed in his honor the Lee Melville Award.
Born in Salt Lake city, UT, in 1939, Melville had a precocious tap-dancing career starting at age four. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1947 where he continued tap-dancing, adding acting as a career goal when he got the lead in his high school senior play. “That bit me,” he told an interviewer. At the same time, he also became editor of the high school year book which triggered a lifelong love of journalism.
After school, Melville became a page at NBC and joined the Freeway Circuit, a theatre company run by actor/teacher Corey Allen that toured synagogues and civic centers. “We did a play called Only in America by Lawrence and Lee,” he said. “Herschel Bernardi played the role of a Jewish journalist in South Carolina. I was the assistant stage manager and had a small role…When the show moved to the Ivar [in Hollywood] I got paid. That’s why I consider 1961 my first professional year in theatre.”
But a move to New York soon after to study with the famed Sandy Meisner and try his luck as an actor proved discouraging, and when Melville was offered a job as assistant stage manager at Starlight Musicals in Indianapolis, he took it. By the time he turned 30, Melville gave up acting, acknowledging that he hated the audition process and admired actors who could sail right through it.
After successfully co-producing a children’s Christmas play in New York and even forming a theatre company, the Brier Hill Playhouse, in Pennsylvania, he returned to Los Angeles in 1972 and rediscovered his love of writing.
A free-lancing career for various theatre publications ended when Bill Bordy, owner of the trade publication Drama-Logue, tapped Melville to become its editor. Melville began a 12-year tenure that saw Drama Logue soar in stature and influence, particularly after he established the popular annual Drama-Logue theatre awards.
When Bordy sold Drama-Logue to Backstage in 1998, Melville took a sabbatical of a few years to handle a family business. But he couldn’t stay away for long. Lars Hansen, a friend and the director of Theatre LA, a new service organization for Los Angeles theatres now known as LA STAGE Alliance, asked Melville to help him start a print publication in 2001. The print magazine, called simply LA STAGE, was published in print for nine years, switching to a digital format in 2009 after the economy tanked. It acquired the new name of LA STAGE Times and Melville continued as editor-in-chief until Spring 2011, but stepped away after his health had taken a couple of direct hits when his partner of 20 years, Bo White, passed away and, in the same week, Melville lost his home to foreclosure.
Melville leaves a significant legacy in the Los Angeles theatre community as a man with great institutional knowledge and affection and admiration for artists. This respect was widely reciprocated. Many of these artists found in him not only a sensitive and knowledgeable advocate, especially in his later years, but a friend, supporter and mentor as well.
About the seemingly endless debate over whether Los Angeles is or is not a theatre town, he said this: “Who the hell cares? We have wonderful theatre groups here of every size and shape… I defy anybody to say they haven’t had wonderful experiences in the theatre [in Los Angeles].”
Obituary courtesy of Sylvie Drake.
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Labels: la stage alliance
Monday, April 15, 2013
What's Happening Around Town for April 15, 2013
3-D Theatricals Present PARADE
3-D Theatricals presents the Tony Award-winning musical PARADE by Alfred Uhry (book) and Jason Robert Brown (music & lyrics) May 10 – 26 at Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton. The show is directed by T.J. Dawson, choreographed by Dana Solimando, and musically directed by David Lamoureux. PARADE is the true story of the 1913 trial of a Brooklyn-born Jewish factory manager Leo Frank who was accused of raping and murdering a 13 year old employee, Mary Phagan. Already guilty in the eyes of those around him, the trial, sensationalized by the media, aroused anti-Semitic tensions in Atlanta and the state of Georgia.
Original Broadway cast member Rufus Bonds Jr. will recreate his role as Jim Conley, the janitor at the National Pencil Company and star witness at the trial. Also included in the cast is Broadway veteran and Mark Taper Forum revival cast member Robert Yacko taking on the role of Governor Jack Slaton, while the role of Hugh Dorsey is played by Broadway veteran Norman Large. The cast also features Caitlin Humphreys (Lucille Frank), Harrison White (Newt Lee), Jeanette Dawson (Mrs. Phagan), Jeff Skowron (Leo Frank), Jordan Lamoureux (Frankie Epps/ Young Soldier), Valerie Rose Lohman (Mary Phagan), and Zach Ford (Britt Craig). Performances take place at Plummer Auditorium, 201 East Chapman Ave, Fullerton Ca. 92832. For tickets call (714) 589-2770 x 1 or go to www.3DTshows.com.
LA2050 Project
The Goldhirsh Foundation is giving $100,000 to ten different projects to help move LA into a brighter, better future. At least one of the grants is going to an arts and culture idea, which is very exciting! In order for a project to be considered, it has to get enough votes to demonstrate strong interest - and voting closes Wednesday at noon! There are many great projects, one of which is the LA STAGE Alliance’s project, called the ARTS & CULTURE INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE. The point of the project is to launch activities aimed at increasing the overall amount of funding, money, resources and support for LA arts, including matching corporate officers with arts organizations as board members (wouldn’t you like more board members with the ability to support you financially and with broader connections?) and a united fund to help put new philanthropic dollars into small and midsize arts organizations. Take a read, and please vote HERE. Let’s change the way the arts are supported in Los Angeles!
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Labels: 3D Theatricals, la stage alliance
Monday, April 1, 2013
What's Happening Around Town for April 1, 2013
Chaz Bono Stars in Roadhouse Musical
Celebration Theatre presents ROADHOUSE the Rock Opera as the Patrick Swayze classic, Roadhouse, gets a whole new life with the 30 Minute Musical treatment featuring all the action and excitement of the film packed into a thrilling musical adventure. Starring Adam Silver, Brant Cox, Brooke Seguin, Chaz Bono, Daryl Crittenden, Daved Wilkins, Evan Gaustead, Hayes Hargrove, Julianne Dowler, Kirby Slager, Lindsay Wray, Matt McConkey, Natalie Cook, Sarah Schrieber, Simon Petrie, Sixx Carter, Tania Possick, Todd Buonopane, and Tom Detrinis. Click Here for tickets: $10 in advance, $15 at the door. ROADHOUSE the Rock Opera is adapted and directed by Brooke Seguin and features original music by Dan Wessels and Brooke Seguin. Click Here for tickets.
LA STAGE Alliance has announced that it is in the process of outfitting its brand new LA STAGE Space, a new co-operative warehouse facility in Atwater Village designed to promote collaboration between members of the L.A. theater community. The new warehouse will house valuable resources like costumes, props, sets, and equipment that will be shared among Space member companies and individuals. The facility will also include a lounge area that can be used for rehearsals, classes, workshops and creative collaboration. (Or just to relax, memorize lines, and take advantage of coffee and free wifi.) Check out their Indiegogo campaign meant to crowd-source the funding needed to build out the space. Needed are items like shelves, furniture, clothing racks, and a state-of-the-art digital cataloging system to keep the warehouse organized and accessible. With a little help from all of you, the new LA STAGE Space will become a place that will enrich LA theater for years to come. Click Here to go to the Indiegogo page and hear more about it!
RENT Reschedules Performances
Beyond the Stage Productions has announced new dates for its production of RENT originally scheduled for April 4 – 6. The new dates will be May 31 – June 2. For more information about the production visit www.beyondthestageproductions.com.
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Labels: celebration theatre, la stage alliance
Friday, March 15, 2013
What's Happening Around Town for March 15, 2013
The Burger Palace Boys and the Pink Ladies are about to take you for a joyride back to 1959 in the Cabrillo Music Theatre premiere of the classic rock ‘n’ roll musical, Grease! The show opens Friday, April 12 and runs through April 21, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. Directed by Barry Pearl, who toured in the original production of the show, and played Doody in the movie, choreographed by his cohort Kelly Ward (the movie’s Putzie) and with Southern California favorite David O. as musical director, it's sure to be a wop baba lu bop! Ah wop bam boom good time. The cast also feature Adrian Zmed as Teen Angel, who makes a memorable appearance singing “Beauty School Dropout.” Zmed, is a veteran of the original Broadway Grease and the film, Grease 2. A post-show discussion will follow the Saturday, April 13th, 2pm performance and a signed performance for the deaf and hard-of-hearing will take place on the Friday, April 19th performance. For tickets, visit www.cabrillomusictheatre.com or call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Photo by Ed Krieger.
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The Norris Center for the Performing Arts presents the west coast premiere of Real Men Sing Show Tunes…and Play With Puppets, a new musical for guys who hate musicals, and the women who love them April 26 – May 12. This new adult musical comedy by Paul Louis and Nick Santa Maria is a madcap and hilarious romp through the all the many stages of manhood. It features 29 original songs that pay homage to all things male, lampooning such issues as fatherhood, mid-life crisis, dating, marriage, aging, and sex (or the lack of it). The hysterically funny show makes clever use of puppetry to fill out the cast of zany characters. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm at Norris Center for the Performing Arts, 27570 Norris Center Drive, Palos Verdes Peninsula. Tickets are $38 and available by calling (310) 544-0403 or online at www.norriscenter.com.
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French Steward To Host LADCC Awards
French Stewart will host the 44th annual Los Angeles
Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) Awards on Monday, March 18 at the Los Angeles
Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St. downtown. You can reserve tickets for the show and opening
reception, which starts at 6:30pm, by e-mailing
crixawards2013@gmail.com. All seats are $30. Top representatives of local
institutions – including Michael Ritchie of CTG; Sheldon Epps of The Pasadena
Playhouse; Barbara Beckley of The Colony Theatre; and Zombie Joe of Zombie
Joe’s Underground – will assist Circle members in presenting awards in 17
competitive categories as well as a host of special award plaques. Entertainment
will include almost two dozen performers reuniting to perform “The Rumble” from
Chance Theatre’s revival of West Side Story, the cast of Celebration Theatre’s Justin Love,
Cesili Williams from The Color Purple, Tim Cummings from The New Electric
Ballroom, and Bad Apples’ Kate Morgan Chadwick, accompanied by the show’s
composer/lyricists Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns. A cash bar with great food and
a silent auction (cash and checks only, please) will take place 6:30-7:30. For
more information, go to www.ladramacriticscircle.com.
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What Does Professionalism Mean in the American Theatre?
LA STAGE Alliance has announced this year’s LA Stage
Talks, a series of panel discussions moderated by LA STAGE Alliance CEO Terence
McFarland, exploring various aspects of the creation of performing arts in
Southern California. The premiere event is What Does Professionalism Mean in
the American Theatre?, co-hosted by KPCC on Tuesday, March 19 from 7:00 - 8:30 pm,
at the Crawford Family Forum in Pasadena. The event is free, but space is
limited. RSVP is required at www.LASTAGEAlliance.com/talks.
Michael Bateman of Yale University will present the findings of this new study
and talk with leaders of the Los Angeles theatre community about its relevance
to the L.A. landscape. Audience members will be encouraged to lend their
thoughts to the discussion of what it means to be a professional, and how the
concept of professionalism is evolving in the arts.
In addition to Bateman, the panel will include Charles
Dillingham (Past Managing Director, Center Theatre Group), Elizabeth Doran
(Executive Director, Pasadena Playhouse; past Managing Director, Actor's Gang),
Jose Luis Valenzuela (Artistic Director, Latino Theatre Company), Debbie Devine
(24th Street Theatre), and Jenny Byrd (Brimmer Street Theatre Company). The
Crawford Family Forum is located at 474 S. Raymond Avenue in Pasadena. The talk
will also be livestreamed, and panelists will take questions from online
viewers during the events. Information on how to view and how to ask questions
will be posted at www.LASTAGEAlliance.com.
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Labels: cabrillo music theatre, la stage alliance, ladcc, norris center