Randy Brenner

Death tends to affect those who remain differently. Some take time to grieve, then march boldly forward, while others live in purgatory, their grief so overwhelming they only function within the pain of their loss. Mr. Parker by Michael McKeever is very much about just that - as was Daniel’s Husband, but while Daniel’s Husband left us with tears and broken hearts, Mr. Parker gives us hope for life after loss, as well as a lot of laughs which is a great analgesic when exploring deep emotions.

In acclaimed playwright Michael McKeever’s MR. PARKER, an inter-generational relationship leads to a complex web of family soul searching. This “Gay to December” romance finds a widower trying to come to terms with the loss of his longtime spouse while balancing a new potential love interest against the disapproving glares of his overpowering sister-in-law. 

Building on an award winning season that saw its acclaimed productions secure 96% capacity, Dezart Performs of Palm Springs (www.dezartperforms.org ) announces its 16th year of fearless, provocative, and inspiring theatre including a Pulitzer Finalist, Drama Critics Circle Award Winner, and a first ever Broadway play written by a Native American.

What did our critic think of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTE at Dezart Performs?

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Palm Springs Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Palm Springs Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Palm Springs Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

It's always nice when we see a show that has never been performed in Ventura County so we were looking forward to seeing 5-Star Theatricals' Something Rotten!, the 2015 sendup of Shakespeare that answers the question: 'What if Shakespeare had a rival?' As you will read in our upcoming review in The Acorn, we were not disappointed. Something Rotten! is a riotous romp with a twisted premise, as brother Nick and Nigel Bottom attempt to upstage (literally) theatre superstar Willie Shakespeare with their next production: the first musical. Due to the faulty efforts of a befuddled Nostradamus, the Bottom Brothers set out to produce their musical, titled Omelette. Recently, we visited with two stars from 5-Star's production: Justin Michael Wilcox, who plays Nick Bottom, and Aleks Pevec, who plays the strutting Shakespeare.

If a playgoer knows anything about Shakespeare and/or musicals, then for sheer inventiveness, sweetness and curtain-to-curtain smiles, SOMETHING ROTTEN! has you covered.

5-STAR THEATRICALS present the second show of its 2021-2022 season, with the hilarious love letter to all things musical theatre, SOMETHING ROTTEN!, music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, book by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick, choreography by Michelle Elkin and directed by Richard Israel.

Post-world-war-two America somehow managed to erase what 1920s women had fought so hard to create, and what the war effort at home had literally proved, that women could just as easily do a man's job. During the war, women were working in factories, becoming mechanics, if it was a 'man's job' women were out there doing it while the men fought the war. When the men came home, somehow women said hurrah! and happily became housewives and mothers. 'Whew! So glad to be back where I belong!' every magazine, billboard, and family-centric television show seemed to say, characterizing women as happy homemakers whose identity was determined by her biology aka her ability to keep a man happy in bed while producing babies, and all of the domesticity that implies.

@CVRep's Twisted Broadway fundraiser returns for another exciting year featuring a chorus line full of Broadway stars.

Actor and entertainer Pamela Shaw, traces her journey from an obedient and deferential childhood to the independent and irreverent personality she has become, in this humorous and captivating musical memoir. Through expanded musical numbers and dance, spiced up with witty narrative and film clips, Shaw gets naughtier than ever in her funny, provocative, musically eclectic new show, Naughty with a Band, which comes to Feinstein's at Vitello's in Studio City for One Night Only on September 17 at 8:00 p.m.; doors open for dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Jared Gertner, Rory O'Malley, Barrett Foa, Carly Hughes, Doug Kreeger, and Tracie Thoms led for a one night only concert/staged reading of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown that benefited PAWS/LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency serving people and pets in need.

Broadway stars Jared Gertner and Rory O'Malley have joined the previously announced Skylar Astin, Barrett Foa, Carly Hughes, and Tracie Thoms for a one night only concert/staged reading of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown that will benefit PAWS/LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency serving people and pets in need now celebrating its 30th Anniversary. With book, music, and lyrics by Clark Gesner and directed by Randy Brenner, the musical director is Jake Anthony and Andrew Carlberg serves as producer. 

PAWS/LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency serving people and pets in need, will present a one night only concert/staged reading of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. With book, music, and lyrics by Clark Gesner and directed by Randy Brenner, this benefit event is set to feature Broadway stars (in alphabetical order) Skylar Astin (Spring Awakening), Barrett Foa (Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Mamma Mia!), Carly Hughes (Chicago, Pippin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Ghost the Musical, The Book of Morman, Ragtime), Tracie Thoms (Rent, Falsettos), and more to be announced. Musical director is Jake Anthony and Andrew Carlberg is the producer.

Stage Door Theatre will present David Jay Bernstein's delightful comedy,The Bris, The Bar Mitzvah, & Beyond, beginning February 10th.  The production will run through March 26th in the popular Margate venue's Theatre 2.

In MUSICAL COMEDY WHORE, actor David Pevsner has written a most revealing musical autobiography that he performs himself, backed by the able musical accompaniment (and very funny, injecting vocal choruses) of Gerald Sternbach. Randy Brenner smartly directs Pevsner at a smooth, fast clip in this hour-and-a-half one-act.

Based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem, Fiddler on the Roof is one of the most beloved stage musicals of all time which so magically weaves music, dance, poignancy and laughter into such an electrifying and unforgettable historical experience. The Tony Award-winning musical has captured the hearts of people all over the world with its treasured tale of family and tradition, especially to those of us who can trace our origins back to the small Jewish Shtetels in Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th Century.

Palos Verdes Performing Arts mounts a new staging of 'Fiddler on the Roof,' the timeless musical that has captured the hearts of audiences worldwide for more than 50 years. The production opens today, April 22 and will continue through May 8 at the Norris Theatre on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.