News And Blogs

Why is a massive cross dominating the stage of the Mark Taper Forum, and why is a choir belting out hymns? These are two ways The Christians, which plays the Taper through January 10, 2016, is immersing audiences in an evangelical church where they play the congregation. At the pulpit, a pastor questions a core tenet of Christianity, organized reli...

In 'The Christians' L.A. is The Choir

Rock ’n’ roll and musical theatre, Kansas City and Los Angeles, the Pacific Palisades and “Malibu,” and Center Theatre Group donors and artists came together for an unforgettable evening under a 100-plus-year-old oak tree on a Saturday night this fall. The occasion: a CTG benefit to celebrate and support the opening of Todd Almond’s Kansa...

Courtney Love and Todd Almond Rock Out for Donors

Musical heavyweights Courtney Love and Todd Almond lead the cast of Kansas City Choir Boy, which plays at the Kirk Douglas Theatre through November 8, 2015, but this contemporary music-theatre work is very much an ensemble piece. Director Kevin Newbury gave us a glimpse into the extremely collaborative process of bringing Todd Almond’s music and...

The Ensemble Behind 'Kansas City Choir Boy'

In the new national tour of The Sound of Music, on stage at the Ahmanson Theatre through October 31, Maria teaches the von Trapp children to sing in perfect harmony in a matter of minutes—exactly the time it takes to sing the song “Do-Re-Mi” from start to finish. Not exactly realistic....

The Hands are Alive with 'The Sound of Music'

Nearly everyone knows The Sound of Music, and at any given night at the Ahmanson Theatre, where a new national tour is kicking off this fall, many audience members could probably sing along to every song. One might give them pause when it begins, however. Since this production is coming on the heels of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which ha...

Making 'Something Good' a Little Bit Better

Rock operas have delighted listeners since the late 1960s, when The Who gave us Tommy, The Pretty Things released S.F. Sorrow, and the British band Nirvana (not that Nirvana) invented the genre with The Story of Simon Simopath. In the intervening decades, rock operas have increasingly found their way to the stage as theatricalized adaptations, such...

Blending, Bending Genres in 'Kansas City Choir Boy'