A platter of possibilities
From `Fat Ham' to `Mystic Pizza,' productions we'll be looking to try
A banquet of sorts arrives on Southern California stages in the early 2024 season. There are pizza, ham, jelly … and that's merely from some of the show titles.
Audiences can consume from a range of offerings. On one stage a Shakespearean ghost visits a Black backyard barbecue. Elsewhere, there are not one but two jukebox variations of Julia Roberts' most famous movies. Plus, there's a much-awaited musical kiss.
From the menus of the 13 most prominent live theaters across four Southern California counties, here are some of the tempting offerings.
Ahmanson Theater: `Funny Girl'
Off the recent Broadway revival, the show's national touring version follows the (love) life and (comedic) times of famed vaudeville comedian Fanny Brice. In New York, the musical triumphantly starred Lea Michelle. This tour will reveal if young Katerina McCrimmon — a lead in her first national production — earns showstopping status or at least a “Hello Gorgeous.”
When: April 2-28
Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135N. Grand, Los Angeles
Information: CenterTheatreGroup. org
Geffen Playhouse:
`Fat Ham'
“Fat Ham”… a mashup of “Hamlet” at a Black backyard barbecue wedding reception? Well, here's the rub: James Ijames, 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, leans more on tickling rib bones than mulling over Yorick's skull. Its raucous tone is set when the main character's dead father's ghost makes an appearance to demand a side salad of vengeance. Boisterous doings result.
When: March 27-April 28
Where: Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles
Information: Geffenplayhouse.org
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts: `Mystic Pizza'
The West Coast premiere of the musicalized version of a rendering of Julia Roberts' movie debut, “Mystic Pizza” serves up a two-topping combo pie: the coming-of-age storyline of the original, jukeboxed with 20-some '80s and '90s pop hits including “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “The Power of Love” and “Manic Monday.”
When: Jan. 19-Feb. 11
Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada
lamiradatheatre.com
Musical Theatre West: `42nd Street'
It's still a bit surprising to realize that the meta-Broadway show actually began its life long ago as a movie. But it is the framework for a musical, right from the initial visual opening of the curtain rising a foot or so to reveal a stagewide dance line of tapping feet. The plot sounds cliché, but “42nd Street” turns out to be the predominant origin myth about talent and ambition along the Great White Way.
When: Feb. 9-25
Where: Carpenter Center, 6200 E. Atherton St, Long Beach Information:
Pantages Theatre:
`The Wiz'
In a Broadway-bound reimagined production, this seven-time Tony winner back in 1975 — best musical and best score were among its trophies — sees a modernized Black pride version of the famed Oz tale featuring a familiar R&B/funk score. Boogieing down the Yellow Brick Road, however, is limited to a three-week run here, and with Wayne Brady in the role of The Wiz, hurrying along that road to the box office might be more advisable than easing on down there.
When: Where:
Information:
Pasadena Playhouse: `Jelly's Last Jam'
A rarely revived gem — the casting call alone could try directors' and choreographers' souls — this is a tap-dance driven telling of the rough-and-tumble life of jazz pianist and songwriter Jelly Roll Morton. Navigating the back alley, New-Orleans-to-New-York stardom bio of the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz,” this is high risk/ high reward musical theater.
When: May 29-June 23
Where: Pasadena Playhouse, 39S. El Molino Avenue, Pasadena
Information: Pasadenaplayhouse. org
Chance Theater: `Tiny, Beautiful Things'
Drawing on writer Cheryl Strayed's bestseller, actress Nia Vardalos (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) adapted the experiences of an online, modern-day advice columnist into an 80-minute reflective play that finds the writer visited by people who have sought advice, and leaving the central character internalizing the emotional challenges and reckonings she has wrestled with publicly.
When: April 5-28
Where: Chance Theater, 5522E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim
Information: chancetheater.com The Laguna Playhouse: `Ain't Misbehavin' '
First staged in 1978 as a cabaret performance, this is an irresistible sung-through show that is somehow more than a revue even though it's without a narrative.
Running on the energy of Fats Waller's jitterbugging, quick and engaging tunes, it puts the vocalized energies of its five animated performers front and center. In the 1930s Harlem scene, Waller was both a songwriter/pianist and an impresario who wrote songs intended to entertain.
When: Jan. 24-Feb. 11
Where: Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach
Information: LagunaPlayhouse. com
South Coast Repertory: `Prelude to a Kiss, the Musical'
One of South Coast Repertory's most storied commissioned plays, Craig Lucas' “Prelude to a Kiss” will — finally — see the world premiere of the musicalized version of the same title, with Lucas again writing the book. This new work was originally aimed at a 2020 mounting, receiving a very promising reading the year previously, and now the awaited kiss will be bestowed.
When: April 21-May 11
Where: South Coast Repertory Theater, 655Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
Information: SCR.org Segerstrom Center for the Arts: `MJ the Musical'
The Michael Jackson bio-drama is on the road, and if even half the riveting, adrenaline rush of this dance-driven Broadway show transfers, this will land incredibly well. Though organized around a plot that ends in the early 1990s — avoiding the scandals that marred the King of Pop's later years — this time-fluid story covers the singer's earliest, and then most successful, years with maximum dazzle. Much of the success is owed to director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, whose background in the world of ballet brings a focus and discipline to both Jackson's dancing and the dances formed around his music.
When: March 19-31
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 655Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
Information: scfta.org
Fox Performing Arts Center and McCallum Theatre: `Pretty Woman'
Julia Roberts' biggest box office hit spawned this live musical version with songs from rocker Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. The plot resembles the movie, with its modern spin on a Cinderella-esque notion: A business mogul hires a prostitute to be his formal companion at events, and a relationship emerges.
When: Jan. 16-17 (Riverside), Jan. 19-21(Palm Desert)
Where: Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801Mission Inn Ave., Riverside; McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert
Information: tour.prettywomanthemusical.com
Information:
Musical.org
The California Theatre for the Performing Arts: `In the Heights'
A local production presents Lin-Manuel Miranda's “other” musical, the one not about anyone found on any denomination of U.S. currency. It's an agreeable, high-spirited entertainment with a substantive display of characters of Puerto Rican, Cuban and Dominican descent.
When: May 19-21
Where: The California Theatre for the Performing Arts. 562 W. Fourth St., San Bernardino
Information: CaliforniaTheatre.net