143 stories by "Cary Ginell"
In the 2013 Tony Awards, the big winner was "Kinky Boots," a musical version of a 2005 film whose plot told of a failing shoe factory in Northampton, England that was rejuvenated when it beg…
The life and writings of Emily Dickinson, one of America's most treasured poets, comes vividly to life in the Elite Theatre Company's production of The Belle of Amherst by William Luce…
On February 24, American Theatre Guild's production of Jersey Boys makes a single appearance in Thousand Oaks at the Fred Kavli Theater. COVID forced the canceling of the show twice, first i…
Gerard Alessandrini (Creator, Writer & Director) is a Special Tony Award winner for Excellence in the Theatre. He created, wrote, and directed all 25 editions of Forbidden Broadway…
It's always nice when we see a show that has never been performed in Ventura County so we were looking forward to seeing 5-Star Theatricals' Something Rotten!, the 2015 sendup of Shakespeare…
With the worst of the pandemic hopefully in the rear view mirror, Young Artists Ensemble is back in action with another stellar introduction to children's theatre. Joseph Robinette's The Jun…
When producers of country music decided to try and appeal to pop audiences sixty years ago, the main recipient of this shift to a more accessible sound was Patsy Cline, a rough-and-tumble, t…
It's one of the most common themes found in Broadway musicals: a culturally stagnating town is rejuvenated when an outsider arrives on the scene, affecting everyone in the process. You've se…
After watching Conejo Players' production of "Baby," which plays through November 21 at the company's newly reopened theatre in Thousand Oaks, a better title for the musical might have been …
If you've ever worked in an office, you might be familiar with experiencing the panic of running late for an important meeting for which you are designated to play a key role. That is the pr…
To show you how little importance the plot for the jukebox musical Mamma Mia! is, the printed program lists no scenes from the show, only an alphabetical checklist of the 22 songs inserted i…
In 5-Star Theatricals' current production o Mamma Mia! the role of Sam Carmichael is played by veteran soap opera star Eric Martsolf. Although he's known to his fans mainly for the roles he'…
On October 15, 5-Star Theatricals becomes the next theatre company to emerge from its COVID-induced hibernation with its production of the feel-good musical, Mamma Mia! Playing the central r…
Of all elements of society hit by the pandemic, the one that got hit the hardest was the performing arts. Many theatre companies were forced to close their doors while those that managed to …
Welcome back, regional theatre! For the past 16 months, we've been sporadically seeing a variety of virtual and drive-in plays, musicals, and revues, but it's great to get back to live, in-p…
It's time once again for the annual "Vee-Cee" Awards, in which we honor some of the most memorable performances on Ventura County stages over the course of the past year. Because of the COVI…
In The Revolutionists, Lauren Gunderson's 2017 black comedy about four (in)famous women of the French Revolution, comedy meets tragedy in a fictionalized what-if? premise that brings to mind…
It's hard to believe, but 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, one of the prime community theaters in Ventura County. In 1995, the center's first producti…
An interview with David Krassner, director of Agoura High School's current production of Rent. Krassner uses his experience as an actor on Broadway and in national tours to guide young actor…
Can a play about cancer be uplifting? That's the question posed by Margaret Edson in her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Wit, currently showing at the Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard. The play …
Occasionally, Broadway audiences miss the target. Such is the case with It Shoulda Been You, a musical that somehow lasted less than five months before slinking off into tours and community …
On Wednesday, February 26, Agoura High School's drama department, under the direction of David Krassner, will be staging the high school production of Rent, Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking …
The appeal of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which arrived in Thousand Oaks on February 13 for a four-day run, can be summed up by the comments of an elderly couple leaving the Fred Kav…
Beautiful, the musical that chronicles the life of singer/songwriter Carole King, comes to the Conejo Valley for the first time in American Theatre Guild's national tour. Many performers hav…
The sudden death of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant on Sunday cast a pall over not just Southern California basketball fans, but people around the world who admired Bryant for his devoti…
