Melina Kalomas News

Like a beautiful painting Adam Guettel's The Light in the Piazza is a true work of art. With discordant music not unlike that of Stephen Sondheim, written for a small chamber orchestra, feelings of love - from all kinds of people -fuel passionately. Without the right actresses to play the American mother and daughter visiting Florence, the play loses its fragility and inner beauty. This production could not be more divine. Patti Cohenour as Margaret Johnson and Erin Mackey as her decidedly different daughter make sparks fly with their glorious acting and singing.

Truly one of the most elegant, though underrated musicals of the new century, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA---now on stage in a lovely new production at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through February 23---follows the uneasy journey that a loving, though over-protective mother must embark on when her daughter discovers the wonderfully vulnerable world of adult love. Filled with a gorgeously sweeping score by Adam Guettel and an insanely talented cast, this Italian journey surely ranks as one of the best, most attractive musicals SCR has mounted in recent years.

An Italian vacation, young love and a parent's heart-rending decision are all part of the award-winning Broadway hit, The Light in the Piazza, book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and based on the novel by ElizaBeth Spencer. Directed by Kent Nicholson, The Light in the Piazza runs today, Jan. 24-Feb. 23 on SCR's Segerstrom Stage.

An Italian vacation, young love and a parent's heart-rending decision are all part of the award-winning Broadway hit, The Light in the Piazza, book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer. Directed by Kent Nicholson, The Light in the Piazza runsJan. 24-Feb. 23 on SCR's Segerstrom Stage. Tickets are available online: www.scr.org. Check out photos of the cast below!

An Italian vacation, young love and a parent's heart-rending decision are all part of the award-winning Broadway hit, The Light in the Piazza, book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer. Directed by Kent Nicholson, The Light in the Piazza runs Jan. 24-Feb. 23 on SCR's Segerstrom Stage.

An Italian vacation, young love and a parent's heart-rending decision are all part of the award-winning Broadway hit, The Light in the Piazza, book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer. Directed by Kent Nicholson, The Light in the Piazza runs Jan. 24-Feb. 23 on SCR's Segerstrom Stage.

What a treat to see a brand new theatre company present such a fine opening show like A Man of No Importance! Winner of the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award in New York as Best Off-Broadway Musical, Man..., based on a 1994 film starring Albert Finney, tells a simple but rich story of an ordinary bus conductor in Dublin in 1964 who invests his poetic soul in the spirit of Oscar Wilde and comes up all the richer. Now onstage at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood, A Man of No Importance is a triumph for Good People and director Janet Miller, who has assembled a fantastic cast.

Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities and Executive Producer James A. Blackman III continue their 20th Anniversary Season with Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas' sweeping musical, The Light in the Piazza. Performances begin on Wednesday April 20 (with a gala press opening on Saturday April 23) and will run through Sunday May 8 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities and Executive Producer James A. Blackman III continue their 20th Anniversary Season with Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas' sweeping musical, The Light in the Piazza. Performances end Sunday May 8 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities and Executive Producer James A. Blackman III continue their 20th Anniversary Season with Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas' sweeping musical, The Light in the Piazza. Performances begin on Wednesday April 20 (with a gala press opening on Saturday April 23) and will run through Sunday May 8 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

Last night, October 14th, 2010, Sing for Hope (www.singforhope.org) presented its annual gala to raise awareness and support for Sing for Hope's programs that mobilize professional artists in volunteer service to benefit schools, hospitals and communities. The event also raised funds for the 2011 return of Sing for Hope Street Pianos, a public art installation that brought 60 upright pianos to the streets of New York this past summer, and embodies Sing for Hope's mission of making art available to all.

The New Mel Brooks Musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, the new musical comedy from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award® winning smash The Producers, will celebrate its Los Angeles premiere at the Pantages Theatre with a limited two week engagement from July 27 - August 8, 2010.

There is no denying that Mel Brooks is a comedy legend. Brooks' oeuvre--particularly his hilarious film work--harkens back to a time when getting laughs meant less cynical snark but, rather, more outlandish farce and the endless use of double-entendres and wordplay. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, Brooks' stage musical iteration of his cult hit film--now performing at the Pantages Theatre through August 8--features plenty of Brooks' signature silliness, now paired with several relatively amusing songs, all penned by Brooks. However, the show somehow just stops short of becoming the universally beloved musical that Brooks' earlier show (The Producers) managed to be so much more effortlessly. But rest assured, this show will still coax a lot of smiles and many loud bursts of laughter out of you.

The New Mel Brooks Musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, the new musical comedy from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award® winning smash The Producers, will celebrate its Los Angeles premiere at the Pantages Theatre with a limited two week engagement from July 27 - August 8, 2010.

The hilarious, new musical comedy, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Tony Award winners Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley reprise the roles of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and The Monster in this hilarious new monster musical playing the Golden Gate Theatre June 30 - July 25, 2010.

The New Mel Brooks Musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, the new musical comedy from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award® winning smash The Producers, will celebrate its Los Angeles premiere at the Pantages Theatre with a limited two week engagement from July 27 - August 8, 2010.

The hilarious, new musical comedy, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Tony Award winners Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley reprise the roles of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and The Monster in this hilarious new monster musical playing the Golden Gate Theatre June 30 - July 25, 2010.

Tony Award-winner Roger Bart reprises his iconic role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein when the first national tour of The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein visits Denver's Buell Theatre June 15-27. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, May 9 at www.denvercenter.org or by phone and walk-up Monday, May 10 at 10am.

Tony Award-winner Roger Bart reprises his iconic role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein when the first national tour of The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein visits Denver's Buell Theatre June 15-27. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, May 9 at www.denvercenter.org or by phone and walk-up Monday, May 10 at 10am.