Theatre

Lovers of classic Broadway are in for a treat. Pasadena Playhouse is mounting a new production of Brigadoon, a much-loved musical by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music). It’s about two American tourists who stumble upon a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years, leading to a timeless romance between one of the tourists and a local woman. The show features famous songs like Almost Like Being in Love and The Heather on the Hill and is known for its enchanting story and Agnes de Mille’s choreography. Brigadoon opened on Broadway in 1947 to unanimously positive reviews, one of only eight musicals that opened on Broadway between 1943 and 1964 to do so. Critics praised it for its originality and for integration of song and story. It ran for 581 performances. There have been many revivals, a 1954 film adaptation, and a 1966 TV version.

Directed and choreographed by Katie Spelman, the cast of Brigadoon is led by Tony Award and six-time Emmy Award-winner Tyne Daly, Tony Award-nominee Max von Essen, Betsy Morgan, Happy Anderson, and Daniel Yearwood. The cast also features Brian CalÌ, Amanda Clement, Sophie Liu David, Kylie Victoria Edwards, Michael Scott Harris, Jessica Lee Keller, Evan Kinnane, Maddie Miller Lacambra, Julia Wheeler Lennon, Brian Kim McCormick, Spencer Milford, Gabriel Navarro, Chuck Saculla, Amy Smith, Gil Sweeney, Donna Vivino, and Geoffrey Wade. Don’t miss it!

For tickets, click here.

The Broadway hit “Hell’s Kitchen,” inspired by the life and music of Alicia Keys, began its engagement at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on March 26, and runs through May 21. The production arrived in Los Angeles following a strong reception in New York, earning multiple awards and a positive audience reaction.

Set in 1990s Manhattan, the show, which opened on Broadway in 2024, follows a teenage girl navigating ambition, family tension, and first love while discovering her voice as an artist. Though not strictly a biography, the narrative draws heavily on Keys’ upbringing in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and features many of her best-known songs, reimagined for the stage.

The coming-of-age musical blends R&B, soul and with a theatrical sensibility. Hit songs like “Fallin’” and “If I Ain’t Got You” are woven into the plot, balancing intimate character moments with large-scale musical numbers.

Directed by Michael Greif, known for productions such as “Rent” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Hell’s Kitchen” features choreography by Camille A. Brown that integrates street dance, hip-hop, and contemporary styles, while the staging emphasizes the rhythm of city life, creating a vivid sense of time and place.

Critics have said that “Hell’s Kitchen” stands out for its unique ability to give physical shape to one of contemporary music’s most recognizable voices enhanced by the character’s depth of emptions. At the Tony Awards, the production took home two awards: Best Actress in a Musical and Best Featured Actress.   

For tickets, click here.

Grammy Award-winning artist Ledisi (Selma; Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story) and Chester Gregory (Broadway’s Hairspray and Motown: The Musical) will headline in Ebony Repertory Theatre’s production of Ain’t Misbehavin, a musical tribute celebrating Fats Waller, the legendary international jazz pianist and composer whose passion for his art helped create and define American popular music and swing. The original Broadway production in 1978 ran for 1,604 performances.

Along with Ledisi and Gregory, the cast also includes the wonderful talents of Connie Jackson, Marty Austin Lamar, and Natalie Wachen. Conceived by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Murray Horwitz, the three-time Tony-Award winning musical will feature choreography by Dominique Kelley and musical direction by William Foster McDaniel. This sizzling celebration of Fats Waller’s music will be directed by Wren T. Brown, Ebony Repertory Theatre’s Founder and Producing Artistic Director. Said Brown, “Very little brings me more joy artistically than to explore the magnificence of the Harlem Renaissance and the music of brilliant artists like Thomas Fats Waller.” The show features favorites like Honeysuckle Rose, Your Feet’s Too Big, Black and Blue, I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, The Jitterbug Waltz, and of course the title song, Ain’t Misbehavin’. Don’t miss this limited engagement!

For tickets, click here.

This month, The Colony Theatre in Burbank is presenting the world premiere of an original musical comedy, Millennials Are Killing Musicals.The show has a book, music, and lyrics by Nico Juber and is directed by Kristin Hanggi (Tony Award-nominee for Rock of Ages), with music direction by Anthony Luccaand choreography by Michelle Elkin. The cast features Emma Hunton, Diana Huey, Aynsley Bubbico, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Michael Thomas Grant, John Krause, Mitchell Gerrard Johnson, Lana McKissack, Whitney Kathleen Vigil, Frankie Zabilka, and Casey Anne Apregan. The award-winning design team includes Stephen Gifford (set), Gavan Wyrick (lighting), Jessica Champagne-Hansen (costumes), Tony Award nominee Cricket Myers (sound), John McElveney (props), and Taylor Edelle Stuart. (projections). 

With a contemporary pop-rock score, this entirely original musical comedy offers a fierce, funny look at identity in the age of social media. Brenda, a single millennial mom, just wants to do better “adulting” (like the seemingly perfect Jake’s mom at her daughter’s school), when her younger #influencer sister Katrina shows up eight months pregnant and totally unprepared for motherhood. The three women work to shed the Greek Chorus of social media filters on their lives to achieve their dreams.

Millennials has its sights set on New York and it’s very exciting to have new theatrical work premiering in Los Angeles before it gets there. I’m pretty sure that … well … millennials … will love this show! So, whaddya say, kids?

For more, click here.