Newsies The Musical at Segerstrom Center for the Arts

COME FROM AWAY is Coming to Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Segerstrom Center for the Arts has announced that the national tour of COME FROM AWAY, a Broadway musical about the true story of the small town that welcomed the world, is returning to Costa Mesa at Segerstrom Hall for a limited one week engagement from June 21-26.

Segerstrom Center's Disney Musicals In Schools Student Showcase Announced

Today, Segerstrom Center for the Arts is pleased to announce its 2020 FREE Disney Musicals in Schools student share performance, hosted by Kayla Cyphers, who stars as Nala in The North American Tour of Disney's The Lion King. On Wednesday, March 11 at 5:00pm, 200 elementary school students from Arthur F. Corey Elementary (Buena Park), Garfield Elementary (Santa Ana), Frank Vessels Elementary (Cypress), and Sycamore Elementary (Orange) will sing and dance their way through scenes from Disney's The Jungle Book KIDS and Aladdin KIDS in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Disney Musicals in Schools is designed to help Orange County public elementary schools create sustainable musical theater programs.

Casting Announced for National Tour of ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE Coming to the Segerstrom Center

Casting has been announced for the North American tour of Jimmy Buffett's ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE, coming to Segerstrom Center for the Arts February 4 - 9, 2020 in Segerstrom Hall. The musical will star Chris Clark as Tully, Sarah Hinrichsen as Rachel, Shelly Lynn Walsh as Tammy, Peter Michael Jordan as Brick, Rachel Lyn Fobbs as Marley, Patrick Cogan as J.D. and Matthew James Sherrod as Jamal/Ted.

BWW Review: ALADDIN and his Genie Conjure Up Fun and Magic at OC's Segerstrom Center

Remarkably glitzy and broadly amusing, the delightful stage version of Disney's ALADDIN is a fun, lively, and entertaining repackaging of the originally fun, lively, and entertaining animated film classic, which will please both fans of the original and those in the mood for a great big dazzling (and bedazzled) Broadway musical. While this Casey Nicholaw-helmed big-budget extravaganza of dazzling sights and sounds is quite a faithful adaptation in terms of storyline and tone, the stage version abandons the impossible things it couldn't remotely replicate from the animated movie, but instead smartly utilizes the limitations of---and the unique qualities of---musical theater to produce a show that is, astonishingly, still an overall satisfying sensory treat. The show's national tour continues its three-week engagement at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA through March 23, 2019.

Review: BWW's Michael L. Quintos Picks Best of O.C. and Beyond for 2018

As with each passing season, 2018 proved to be another exceptional year for theater not only in Souther California in general but also in Orange County---my home base. This year, the OC finally welcomed the debut of what has become this century's most awarded and most renowned stage musical ever about the Founding Father etched regally on the 10 dollar bill. Meanwhile, So. Cal. enjoyed a powerful surge of new stage works that explored Asian-American experiences, a positive step forward in the presentation of diverse voices we seldom hear from on the stage. A pair of touring musicals---both opening in the O.C. in early 2019---made such an impact in their Los Angeles engagements for me personally that I had to include them in my list, even though I have not 'officially' reviewed the productions for print. With that said, here is my 'Best of 2018' from Orange County and adjacent locales nearby---a mixture of outstanding shows and brilliant performances that made a lasting, memorable imprint in my theatergoing experience this year.