Archived entries for Musical Theatre West

Sister Act! (LAArtsOnline.com)

http://www.laartsonline.com/theatre/

constance jewell lopezMusical Theatre West’s Sister Act starring Constance Jewell Lopez runs April 8-24th

Sister Act!

By Ken Werther
Photo By Neil Reinhold

The Broadway musical Sister Act began its life in Southern California at The Pasadena Playhouse in 2006, breaking box office records to become the highest grossing show ever at the venue. After a production at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in 2007 and a newly refined and revised version produced in London in 2009, Sister Act finally arrived on Broadway in 2011. The much lauded, much loved musical will be presented this month by Musical Theatre West in Long Beach for 13 performances only.

The show is based on the 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg which was one of the most financially successful movie comedies of the early 1990s. It’s a wacky story about Deloris Van Cartier, a Reno lounge singer who is put under protective custody in a convent (and must therefore pretend to be a nun) when a mob boss puts her on his hit list.

In the upcoming MTW production in Long Beach, Deloris will be played by Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award-winner Constance Jewell Lopez (who has wowed local audiences in Celebration Theatre’s production of The Color Purple and DOMA Theatre’s Dreamgirls). The director is Ovation Award-winner Michael Matthews … and here’s the thing — any show with Lopez and Matthews attached is guaranteed to be stupendous. That’s right, I said guaranteed!

To purchase tickets and more information on Musical Theatre West, click here.

Announcing: 2012 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards Presented Monday, November 12

2012 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS
PRESENTED MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12
AT THE HISTORIC LOS ANGELES THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN LA

KUDOS FOR 2012 SEASON
SHARED BY 13 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THEATRE COMPANIES

2012 Ovation AwardsThe LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement during the 2012 season, were presented on Monday, November 12, at the Los Angeles Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

Thirty-five awards were bestowed upon 13 different Southern California theatre companies. Leading the pack with 13 awards was Center Theatre Group (The Convert at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Waiting for Godot at the Mark Taper Forum; War Horse at the Ahmanson Theatre; and Best Season), followed by Celebration Theatre with six (The Color Purple: A Musical), and Musical Theatre West with four (Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits, Volume 2;
Hairspray; and Man of La Mancha). The Antaeus Company (Peace In Our Time), and Theatre @ Boston Court (The Children) took home two awards each.

LA STAGE Alliance CEO Terence McFarland commented, “Tonight’s recipients reflect the diverse and rich landscape of greater Los Angeles theatre. The Ovation Awards are a celebration of excellence, and one way that LA STAGE Alliance shines a light on the fantastic work of our LA theatre artists. Theatres across the country should take note that these are the best of the best, and hire an Ovation Award-winning LA theatre artist today!”

For a complete list of winners, visit www.LASTAGEOvations.com.

Additionally, Sarah Lyding, Executive Director of the Biller Family Foundation, presented the Biller BEST (Building Excellence in Small Theatre) Awards, including checks totaling $100,000, to the following LA theatre companies: About Productions, The Antaeus Company, CASA 0101, Circle X Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA, Independent Shakespeare Company, A Noise Within, and The Theatre @ Boston Court. Laura Penn,
Executive Director of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society), presented the 2012 Zelda Fichandler Award, for transforming the landscape of regional theatre through unique and creative work, to Cornerstone Theatre Company founder and current Artistic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Bill Rauch. Center Theatre Group presented the 2012 Sherwood Award, for innovative and adventurous artists, to Los Angeles-based playwright and director John Sinner. This award is endowed by the Sherwood family, and is accompanied by $10,000 to further Sinner’s artistic work. LA STAGE Alliance was also presented with a Commendation from the office of California Assembly Speaker John Perez, for the commitment and unwavering
compassion that LA STAGE has dedicated to the performing arts in the City of Los Angeles.

Hosted by Jane Kaczmarek and Culture Clash co-founder Herbert Siguenza, this year’s presenters included many local performers, city officials, union reps, artistic and executive directors, stage managers and publicists, and included (in alphabetical order) Patrick J. Adams, Lindsay Allbaugh, LJ Benet, Seamus Dever, Elizabeth Doran, Kristy Edmunds, Davis Gaines, Glenne Headly, Nikki Hyde, Leslie Ito, Brian Kite, Christine Lakin, Michele Lee, Dawnn Lewis,
Monique L’Heureaux, Sarah Lyding, Lesli Margherita, Gates McFadden, Jessica Wethington McLean, Laura Penn, Assembly Speaker John Perez, Bill Rauch, Allison Rawlings, Mark Roberts, Kirsten Vangsness, Ken Werther, Vanessa Williams, and Charlayne Woodard.

LA STAGE Alliance is dedicated to building awareness, appreciation and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles through community building, collaborative marketing/ audience development, professional development to strengthen the sector, and advocacy.  Providing access to the performing arts for patrons and access to information and resources for organizations has been the mission of the Alliance for over 35 years. The Alliance connects artists and arts administrators from over 500 groups annually in a six county region with opportunities to engage, inspire, educate and entertain over four million households that engage with the arts in our community. The Alliance engenders a stronger and more connected creative Los Angeles.

LA STAGE Alliance programs are sponsored, in part, by Actors Equity, The Angell Foundation, Arts Council for Long Beach, The Biller Family Foundation, California ArtsCouncil, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs,City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, ELS, Goldstar, James Irvine Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Los Angeles County Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Sky Events & Productions, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Green Hasson Janks.

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11-12-12

2012 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award Nominees Announced

2012 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARD
NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
CENTER THEATRE GROUP LEADS WITH 29,
CELEBRATION THEATRE & MUSICAL THEATRE WEST
FOLLOW WITH 16 EACH,
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE GETS 11,
COLONY THEATRE & TROUBADOUR THEATER COMPANY
TIE WITH 9 EACH

2012 Ovation Awards2012 Ovation Awards Nominees for the 2012 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Tuesday, September 11 at the Renberg Theatre inside the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles. The nominations were revealed by 2011 Ovation Award-winners Beth Kennedy, Matt Walker, Oanh Nguyen, Henry Dittman, Cate Caplin, Brian Danner, and Elina de Santos, along with LA STAGE Alliance Chief Executive Officer Terence McFarland.

Center Theatre Group received the most nominations (29), followed by Celebration Theatre and Musical Theatre West (16 each), Geffen Playhouse (11), and Colony Theatre Company and Troubadour Theater Company (9 each). Center Theatre Group garnered nominations for The Convert at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (11), Waiting for Godot at the Mark Taper Forum (8), American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose (4) at KDT, Poor Behavior (1) and Red at MTF (1), The Night Watcher (1) at KDT, and Follies (1) and War Horse (1) at the Ahmanson Theatre, and for Best Season. Celebration Theatre’s nominations are for The Color Purple: A Musical (13), and What’s Wrong With Angry? (3), and the Musical Theatre West nominations are for Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (9), Hairspray (3), Man of La Mancha (2), Spamalot (1), along with Best Season.

Nominated productions for the Geffen Playhouse are Good People (8), The Jacksonian (1), and The Pianist of Willesden Lane (1), along with Best Season. The Colony Theatre Company is nominated for The Savannah Disputation (5), Old Wicked Songs (2), and Dames at Sea (1), along with Best Season. Troubadour Theater Company’s nominations are for Two Gentlemen of Chicago (6), and A Christmas Westside Story (3). The fifth Best Season nomination goes to La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (The 39 Steps, Noises Off, Miss Saigon, Life Could Be A Dream, Peter Pan). Miss Saigon also received four nominations.

Ovation Honors, which recognize outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories, have been awarded to Sacred Fools Theatre (Composition for a Play, Stoneface: The Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton), Theatre of Note (Fight Choreography, Hearts Like Fists), Theatre @ Boston Court (Puppet Design, The Children), and Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre (Video Design, American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose).

Founded in 1989, the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theater awards in Los Angeles. For the 2011-2012 voting season, there are a grand total of 191 nominations for 77 productions, presented by 50 companies. There were 400 total productions registered from 173 companies. Of those productions registered, 79 were Ovation Recommended, identified during their runs as scoring in the top quarter of all productions in the Overall Production categories. [CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES.]

Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals who are chosen each season by the Ovation Awards Review Committee (through an application process). The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by the entertainment accounting firm Green Hasson Janks. This year’s Ovation Award eligibility period ran from September 1, 2011 through August 28, 2012.

LA STAGE Alliance is dedicated to building awareness, appreciation and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles through community building, collaborative marketing/audience development, professional development to strengthen the sector, and advocacy. Providing access to the performing arts for patrons and access to information and resources for organizations has been the mission of the Alliance for over 35 years. The Alliance connects artists and arts administrators from over 500 groups annually in a six county region with opportunities to engage, inspire, educate and entertain over four million households that engage with the arts in our community. The Alliance engenders a stronger and more connected creative Los Angeles.

LA STAGE Alliance programs are sponsored, in part, by Actors Equity, The Angell Foundation, Arts Council for Long Beach, The Biller Family Foundation, California Arts Council, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Goldstar, James Irvine Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Los Angeles County Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, SDC, The Shubert Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The 2012 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, November 12, at the historic Los Angeles Theatre, 615 South Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles. The curtain will rise at 7:30pm.

For more information, visit www.LASTAGEOvations.com.

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09-11-12