Announcing: Rebuild Japan: A Benefit Concert, at the Pasadena Playhouse, Monday 4/4 at 7:30pm

REBUILD JAPAN:
A BENEFIT CONCERT AT THE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE
PROCEEDS TO SUPPORT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS
PRODUCED BY PATTY ONAGAN AND RONN GOSWICK
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011 AT 7:30PM

In response to the devastating events in Japan, producers Patty Onagan and Ronn Goswick have announced Rebuild Japan: A Benefit Concert at The Pasadena Playhouse, a one-night-only event on Monday, April 4 at 7:30pm. Proceeds will support the American Red Cross and its efforts to assist overseas as Japan begins to rebuild.

A veritable who’s who of Los Angeles and Broadway theatre talent will be coming together to show their support, entertain, and help raise money to assist with Japan’s monumental crisis. The performers, in alphabetical order, include Erich Bergen (Jersey Boys/The Temperamentals), Doug Carpenter (Life Could Be A Dream/Camelot/Summer of Love), Davis Gaines (The Phantom of the Opera), Julie Garnye (Les Misérables), Adam Halpin (Rent/Glory Days), Cliffton Hall (Wicked), Deedee Magno Hall (Wicked), Alvin Ing (Flower Drum Song/Pacific Overtures), Dale Kristien (The Phantom of the Opera), Jodi Long (Flower Drum Song/Miss Saigon), Megan McGinnis (Dangerous Beauty/Daddy Long Legs), Adam Michaelson (Movin’ Out/Baby It’s You!), Marc Oka (Flower Drum Song/Miss Saigon), Adam Pascal (Aida/Rent), Jennifer Paz (Miss Saigon/The Last Five Years), Valarie Pettiford (Fosse), James Snyder (Cry Baby/Dangerous Beauty), Gwen Stewart (Rent), Yuka Takara (Rent), Lea Thompson (Cabaret), Jennifer Leigh Warren (Little Shop of Horrors/Having It All), and the cast of Glory Days: Derek Klena, Matthew Koehler, Ian Littleworth, Jeffrey Scott Parsons, and Alex Martinez Wallace. All appearances are subject to availability.

Said Pasadena Playhouse Artistic Director Sheldon Epps, “I have always found my fellow members of the theatre community to be enormously generous and always willing, ready, and eager to lend their great gifts to worthy causes, and especially to those who are suffering in extreme circumstances. This is proving to be true once again. It is a great honor for The Playhouse to participate in this tremendous effort by offering the use of our beautiful theatre in support of this benefit. I thank all of those who are participating, and all of those who will take advantage of this opportunity to aid those in need as a result of this devastating event.

The evening will feature The Playhouse’s first ever mainstage cabaret seating concert. The mainstage will “extend” over the orchestra, seating an intimate 300 patrons. Tickets are $75 for cabaret seating (which also includes two drinks), and $30 for balcony seating. All tickets are sold as general admission.

Pre-show activities begin at 6:30pm with a raffle (items donated by theatres and businesses all over Southern California), refreshments, and entertainment in The Engemann Family Courtyard in front of The Playhouse. Rebuild Japan: A Benefit Concert at the Pasadena Playhouse will be directed by Meredith Greenburg, with Adam Michaelson, James May and Ron Abel serving as musical directors.

Tickets can be purchased by calling (626) 356-7529, by visiting www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org, or in person at The Playhouse box office, located at 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena.

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03-29-11

Announcing: “Glory Days” Opens Saturday 3/19 at Lillian Theatre for Limited Run

LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF
GLORY DAYS
A MUSICAL BY NICK BLAEMIRE & JAMES GARDINER
DIRECTED BY CALVIN REMSBERG

PERFORMANCES BEGIN MARCH 17 AT THE LILLIAN THEATRE
OPENS SATURDAY, MARCH 19 FOR LIMITED ENGAGEMENT

Producers Anthony Gruppuso, Calvin Remsberg, Tricia Small Stabile, and Bella Vita Entertainment have announced the Los Angeles premiere of Glory Days, a musical by Nick Blaemire & James Gardiner, directed by Calvin Remsberg, at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood for a limited engagement. There will be two preview performances on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, March 19 at 8pm. Performances will continue through April 24 only.

Glory Days is a new musical with music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire and book by James Gardiner that premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, on January 15, 2008. The production opened to enthusiastic reviews, including a rave in The Washington Post. The show then moved to the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, where after seventeen previews, it opened … and closed … on May 6, 2008.

Glory Days is the story of four high school friends who, after a year away at college, reunite on the bleachers of their high school football field. We soon learn the purpose of the midnight meeting: the boys are planning a prank seeking revenge on their high school football team, who tormented the four during their school years. Things do not go smoothly, as the boys find they have grown apart … and their friendship is not what it was. Said Peter Marks in The Washington Post, “Glory Days is a fresh and vivacious one-act musical … real, and surprisingly moving.”

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Alex Robert Holmes, Derek Klena, Matthew Koehler, Ian Littleworth, Jeffrey Scott Parsons, and Alex Martinez Wallace. The set design is by Andrew Hammer, lighting design is by Jeremy Pivnick, costume design is by Mara Bear, and sound design is by Joseph Slawinski. James May serves as musical director, and the production stage manager is Ronn Goswick.

Glory Days will play two preview performances on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18 at 8pm, and opening night is set for Saturday, March 19 at 8:00. The limited engagement will continue through Sunday, April 24. Preview tickets are $20; all seats beginning March 19 are $32. Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.plays411.com/glorydays or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/159876 or by calling (323) 960-7792.

The Lillian Theatre is located at 1076 Lillian Way (one block west of Vine, just off Santa Monica Boulevard), in Hollywood. Street parking is available.

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03-07-11