Two faces familiar to Ventura County audiences will be performing dream roles when they debut in Ragtime, which plays from February 10 to March 3 at the Pasadena Playhouse. Both Shanno…
In McCoy Rigby Entertainment's production of 1776, director Glenn Casale cast a mix of veteran stage performers with younger newcomers. The result blends beautifully in the musical comedy…
With all the fuss and fame that Hamilton has caused in bringing America's founding fathers to the stage, one easily forgets its predecessor, 1776, a delightful show that only gets b…
A brand-new musical made its world premiere on the black box stage of the Hillcrest Theatre for the Arts to kick off 2019. "Scott Robbins & the Traveling Show" had been percolating in th…
"Larger than life" is a description that is overused in show business, but this is not hyperbole when it comes to legendary vaudeville entertainer Sophie Tucker (1884-1966). Famously promote…
BY CARY GINELL 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 t…
BY CARY GINELL As each year comes to a close, we like to look back at some of the highlights of the past year in musical theater and plays in Ventura County. 2016 was the fourth year in whic…
(Agoura Hills, Calif. " December 17, 2016) After 11 years of renting multiple local spaces and partnering with many local theatre groups and local high schools and colleges, the New Year wil…
BY CARY GINELL Siena Avila is like many other 16-year-old high schoolers you know. Cheerful, friendly, enthusiastic, and just a little bit shy. But Siena has one thing that most kids her age…
REVIEW BY CARY GINELL Calendar Girls, a 2009 play based on a hit 2003 film, is Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi’s true-to-life comedy about six middle-aged women from a village in Yor…
BY CARY GINELL Louis Baker has had a varied career in the entertainment world. As an actor, he studied under three prestigious performers: Bill Duke, Haile Gerima, and Debbie Allen. He has w…
BY CARY GINELL The idea of a woman playing the lead in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not a new one. The first female Hamlet, Elizabeth Powell, performed the role at London’s Drury L…
BY CARY GINELL The musical Ragtime, which plays through this Sunday, December 4, at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, is an important work that weaves actual historical personages …
BY CARY GINELL Everyone knows that the director is the person responsible for the look and content of a musical or play, but once the cast has been selected, sets and props are delivered, an…
REVIEW BY CARY GINELL Before Mamma Mia!, before The Marvelous Wonderettes, and before Jersey Boys, there was Return to the Forbidden Planet, an Off-Broadway space farce that w…
REVIEW BY CARY GINELL The title of All My Sons, Arthur Miller’s riveting play of guilt, heartbreak, and tragedy, refers to 21 young World War II combat pilots, who were needlessl…
BY CARY GINELL If you have the opportunity to see Cabrillo Music Theatre’s splendid production of Evita this weekend, you will no doubt be drawn to the electrifying performances by …
BY CARY GINELL It’s the day after opening night at the Camarillo Skyway Playhouse and the house is nearly empty. On stage, a terrific production of the Kander and Ebb musical Curtai…
BY CARY GINELL For years I have been saying that the best kept secret in Ventura County theater is the Ventura County Gilbert & Sullivan Repertoire Company. Celebrating its 10th season t…
BY CARY GINELL In Cabrillo Music Theatre’s new production of Evita, the role of Che, the narrator figure based on Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, is played by Marc Baron Ginsburg…
REVIEW BY CARY GINELL You’ve seen them. Gaudy costumes worn by Hollywood and Broadway stars, preserved and on display in museums and galleries. It’s a great way to witness first-…
BY CARY GINELL Tonight, friends and colleagues will pay tribute to Lewis Wilkenfeld at a special fundraising banquet and program honoring his 10 years as artistic director of Cabrillo Music …
BY CARY GINELL His day job is as associate justice of the Second District, Division Six of the California Courts of Appeal, but Steve Perren’s passion for the stage has seen him app…
BY CARY GINELL One of the most heinous crimes of the 20th century was the one in which 13-year-old Atlanta pencil factory worker Mary Phagan was mysteriously murdered in 1913. The suspect, t…
REVIEW BY CARY GINELL Last Sunday, we ventured into Los Angeles to see two Ventura County theater alumni in a production of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Next to Normal, the Tony and …