Jason Niedle News

Apart from the infectious, wall-to-wall music, which is rousingly played live on stage by all the actors, what makes Million Dollar Quartet a crowd-pleaser is the interpersonal dramas driven by the egos of four pop music pioneers. 

THE SOUND OF MUSIC's built-in charm and charisma is indeed very much present in McCoy Rigby Entertainment's latest stage iteration of this classic stage production, now playing at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through May 15, 2022. Filled with visually-captivating production values, a gorgeous-sounding orchestral sound, and an overall, infectiously winning spirit, this new production is a fun, pleasantly nostalgic throwback to the old-fashioned Broadway book musical.

Get a first look at photos from the new production of The Sound of Music.

Laguna Playhouse will present one of the longest running Off-Broadway productions of all time, I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE!, book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music by Jimmy Roberts, musical direction by  Ricky Pope, directed & choreographed by Paula Hammons Sloan.

THE SPITFIRE GRILL begins previews on Wednesday, January 26; will open on Sunday, January 30 at 5:30pm and perform through Sunday, February 13, 2022 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Drive in Laguna Beach.

The new year is going to “Shake, Baby, Shake!” as La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts presents the electrifying Broadway musical, Million Dollar Quartet, book by Colin Escott & Floyd Mutrux, original concept and direction by Floyd Mutrux, inspired by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins and directed by Tim Seib.

Director T.J. Dawson discusses his directorial style used to create MAMMA MIA! at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Mamma Mia is now playing at La Mirada Theatre For the Performing Arts. Performances will run through Sunday, November 21, at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Check out all new photos here!

Some stage shows just refuse to retreat into the sunset, and one of those is MAMMA MIA!, that enduring, unapologetically giddy jukebox musical, now getting a fun, vibrant new staging at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, under the direction of T.J. Dawson. With performances continuing in the city of La Mirada, CA through Sunday, November 21, this infectiously peppy show---featuring a book by playwright Catherine Johnson that wraps around songs made famous by ABBA---is certainly an invigorating way to welcome theatergoers back for live, in-person performances, especially those looking for a silly, non-serious respite from our current realities. If you're looking for some cute laughs paired with some terrific singing and dancing, this show should fit the bill.

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT opened the first show of their 2021-2022 season, the West Coast premiere of the madcap murder mystery, CLUE.

Based on the well-known board game distributed in North America by Parker Brothers (which was later folded into toy and game manufacturer Hasbro) that itself inspired a cult 1985 Paramount Pictures film of the same name written and directed by Jonathan Lynn, CLUE--the stage play--features the same infamous names and, yes, weapons and rooms synonymous with the classic whodunnit game. Writer Sandy Rustin, along with additional writers Hunter Foster and Eric Price, have revived the same colorful characters and personalities of the film and have transposed them into a madcap, 90-minute puzzle that's mostly silly and engagingly fun. The comedy's West Coast Premiere production continues at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through October 17, 2021.

Laguna Playhouse will present RITA RUDNER and PAUL RODRIGUEZ in BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, written by Neil Simon and directed by Michael Matthews. 

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT are thrilled to present the third show of their 2019-2020 season, the hilariously dark comedy, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, written by Joseph Kesselring and directed by Casey Stangl

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT are thrilled to present the second show of their 2019-2020 season, Roald Dahl's MATILDA, THE MUSICAL, book by Dennis Kelly, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, musical direction by Jennifer Lin, choreography by Kate Dunn and directed by Michael Matthews. MATILDA, THE MUSICAL will preview on Friday, October 25, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, October 26 at 8pm) and runs through Sunday, November 17, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

Grumpy Old Men The Musical/book by Dan Remmes/music by Neil Berg/lyrics by Nick Meglin/adapted from the Warner Bros motion picture written by  Mark Steven Johnson/directed by Matt Lenz/choreographed by Michele Lynch/musical direction byBenet Bralin/La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts/through October 13 Taking place in Wabasha, Minnesota in present time, Grumpy Old Men The Musical follows many old-fashioned musical storylines like The Fantastiks, White Christmas and others that deal with a community of family and friends who live in a small town ... where everyone knows everyone else's business. Now in its West Coast premiere at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, Grumpy Old Men is nice fun with a splendid cast headed by special guest star Hal Linden and featuring audience favorite Cathy Rigby.

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present the fifth and final show of its season, Laurie Veldheer as "Belle" and Todd Adamson as "The Beast" starring in Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton, musical direction by Darryl Archibald, choreography by Robbie Roby and direction by Michael Heitzman. Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will preview on Friday, May 31, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, June 1 at 8 pm) and run through Sunday, June 23, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, based on the greatest movie musical of all time with screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green and songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. The fresh new production will be directed & choreographed by Spencer Liff (Emmy nominee for TV's 'So You Think You Can Dance' and Broadway's Head Over Heels, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Falsettos), associate director is Cynthia Ferrer (original 'Kathy Selden' in the first National Tour of Singin' in the Rain) with musical direction by Keith Harrison. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN will preview on Friday, April 19, 2019 (with a press opening on Saturday, April 20 at 8pm) and run through Sunday, May 12, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada. Preceding, it will perform Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14 at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya), 18111 Nordhoff Street, in Northridge.

Having seen the musical HAMILTON when it was in Los Angeles, like many others I learned more important details about the founding fathers while watching it than I felt I had ever learned in school. Lin-Manuel Miranda who created that uber-successful musical in 2015, has said that 1776 THE MUSICAL, written in 1969, during another time of political and social unrest in the United States, has 'one of the best books-if not the best-ever written for musical theatre.' And now I can say I certainly agree with him. In fact, The perfect way to prove the arts can teach valuable history lessons to its audiences is by encouraging everyone to see 1776 THE MUSICAL, presented by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment with musical direction by Jeff Rizzo and impeccably directed & staged by Glenn Casale through Sunday, February 3, 2019 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts or at The Soraya at CSUN from Friday, February 8 through Sunday, February 10.

January, 2019 is a big month for Jennifer as the Rent: Live performance is January 27th on Fox and the BroadwayHD streaming of 'A Night with Janis Joplin' began January 19th where Jennifer performs as the 'Blues Singer.'

gatha Christie's classic Murder on the Orient Express was a hit movie in 1974 with an all star cast headed by Albert Finney as detective Hercule Poirot. Now adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig, in its West Coast premiere, Murder... bows at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts directed with taut precision by Sheldon Epps and featuring a stellar ensemble. It plays through November 11 only.