Roger Bean News

Musical Theatre West presents their first show of 2022! A USO performance from the Andrews Sisters is in jeopardy when they fail to appear shortly before curtain. Thankfully, three earnest stagehands are determined to go on with the show!

From the creators of Life Could Be A Dream and The Marvelous Wonderettes comes the musical Why Do Fools Fall in Love, which will open The TADA Theatre's 2022 'Something For Everyone' season, beginning February 10th.

International City Theatre has been honored with three wins and 20 additional nominations for four different productions by longtime theater reviewer Rob Stevens, who has announced his 35th annual “Robby Awards for Excellence in Southern California Theatre.”

Broadway Rose Theatre Company kicks off its 2022 Season of Live Musicals with Honky Tonk Laundry. Preview performance is Thursday January 27, with opening night on Friday, January 28, and performances continuing through February 20.

On April 7th, 2022 The Ivoryton Playhouse will open its doors for a new season – a very different season with fewer productions but more performances and a year full of exciting, affordable professional theatre. Plays for romantics and plays for cynics; shows for families and shows for sweethearts; classic hit music from the 50s and 60s as well as country music favorites.

This crowd-pleaser is lightweight, fizzy fun—maybe not so much Champagne as sweet sparkling cider, but effervescent nonetheless.

Desert Theatreworks' production of Ron Clark's and Sam Bobrick's farce, MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON'S, is funny and imaginatively staged, and improves upon the source material. It will run Thursdays through Sundays, through November 21st

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is welcoming you back to see Denny and the Dreamers perform all your favorite songs from the '50s and '60s in SH-BOOM! LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, written and created by Roger Bean, musical direction by Nick Guerrero with direction & choreography by Jonathan Van Dyke.

THE PRODUCERS, the first post-lockdown Desert Theatreworks (DTW) show, is perfect to welcome eager audiences back - a true winner. Ron and Lance Phillips, the married couple that operates DTW, took the opportunity of the hiatus to completely rework the Indio Performing Arts Center, adding a new 250-seat main stage for musicals. As most people know, the Mel Brooks show is loaded with bad taste, but is hilarious nonetheless.

After a 19-month pause, the TexARTS Professional Series welcomes audiences back with the opening of Honky Tonk Laundry written by Roger Bean with musical arrangements by Jon Newton.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE will welcome you back to see Denny and the Dreamers perform all your favorite songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s in SH-BOOM!  LIFE COULD BE A DREAM, written and created by Roger Bean, musical direction by Nick Guerrero with direction & choreography by Jonathan Van Dyke.  

The TexARTS Professional Series is back on stage for in-person performances and will welcome audiences again with the opening of Honky Tonk Laundry written by Roger Bean with musical arrangements by Jon Newton.

Desert TheatreWorks (DTW) has announced its 2021-2022 season and invites interested actors, singers and dancers to audition.  There will be four musicals (two of which will feature live bands) and three plays. Artistic Director Lance Phillips has chosen programs that he describes as “upbeat, fun, and an escape to a happy place.”

The season features nine productions exploring stories of contemporary culture, heroic activists, everyday people in extraordinary times, and lots of music. In its 50th season, ASF continues its mission of building community with captivating stories for that speak to and represent all people in the South. 

That triple-threat talent named David Engel will once again grace the Musical Theatre West stage in FOREVER PLAID 30th ANNIVERSARY REUNION CONCERT beginning August 5th, but this time socially distancing at Blair Field near by. Since David originated the PLAID role of Smudge, he has performed on many a stage from Broadway to his home away from home Musical Theatre West. David managed to answer my queries while in the car on the way to his husband Larry Raben’s opening night of SCHOOL OF ROCK he directed at Tuacahn Center for the Arts in Ivins, Utah.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE has announced its doors will open after a too long 18 months, so they can (finally!) celebrate their 100th year of creating exceptional theatre in one of Southern California’s most beautiful & vibrant communities!

Fort Salem Theater officially reopens this Friday, June 18th with THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES, running through Sunday, June 27.

Stage Rights, the licensing company that represents The Marvelous Wonderettes, has just acquired the licensing and theatrical performance rights to the trio of hit country jukebox musicals (Honky Tonk Angels, Honky Tonk Angels Holiday Spectacular, Honky Tonk Angels and the Mystery of Bubba's Revenge) from Ted Swindley, the creator of Always…Patsy Cline.

Broadway's Best is back in Virginia at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts with The Marvelous Wonderettes live onstage from June 2 through July 11! This smash Off-Broadway hit takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom, where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy, and Suzy: four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts!