Robin Walton

All new production photos have been released for Chance Theater's Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas. The live in-person production will be playing at the Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Fyda-Mar Stage through December 23.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, announces the Southern California Premiere of “Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas” the stage adaptation of the best-selling series of books by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Book by Cara Lustik & Matthew Hardy, Lyrics by Matthew Hardy, and Music by Randy Klein.

The Orange County Playwrights Alliance is back! During the week of August 24-28, Orange County's premier playwrights group brings you an eclectic trio of one-acts ranging from the romantic to the absurd. Catch these Zoom readings of new plays on OCPA's new YouTube channel.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is pleased to announce the second show in its fifth TYA Family Series... Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium. With book and lyrics by John Maclay and music and lyrics by Danny Abosch, based on the stories by R.L. Stine, and directed by Darryl B. Hovis, Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium will preview from October 4 through October 6; regular performances will begin October 6 and continue through October 27 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Fyda-Mar Stage.

While watching Chance Theater's brand new OC-premiere of EMMA: THE MUSICAL--Paul Gordon's charm-filled 2007 stage musical adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved 1815 novel--I noticed a welcome sensation that took over me throughout most of the production… I could not stop smiling. Delightfully appealing and positively buoyant in a great many aspects, this wonderfully witty and quite beguiling production--directed with engaging gusto by Casey Long--continues performances at their Cripe Stage in Anaheim through December 23, 2018.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is delighted to introduce Jane Austen's Emma: The Musical to Orange County for the first time as part of our 2018 Holiday Literature Series!  Book, lyrics, and music by Tony-nominated composer Paul Gordon, directed by Casey Long, and with music direction by Bill Strongin, Jane Austen's Emma: The Musical will preview from November 23rd through November 30th; regular performances will begin December 1st and continue through December 23rd on the Cripe Stage at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is excited to announce the second show in its 20th Season ... Good People. Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, and directed by Jocelyn A. Brown, Good People will preview from April 20 through April 27; regular performances will begin April 28 and continue through May 20 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Cripe Stage.

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is excited to announce the second show in its 20th Season ... Good People. Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, and directed by Jocelyn A. Brown, Good People will preview from April 20 through April 27; regular performances will begin April 28 and continue through May 20 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center on the Cripe Stage.

America has had a long tragic history of sending brave young people off to foreign lands to fight in life-endangering wars, only to see those who have survived come home forever changed. This idea lingers over the new engaging musical DOGFIGHT, now having its Los Angeles/Orange County-area premiere at the Chance Theater in Anaheim through March 6. Adapted from the 1991 Warner Bros. film of the same name and featuring music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Peter Duchan, this 2013 Lucille Lortel Award-winning off-Broadway musical shows how even the most confident, self-assured people can still be severely affected not only physically but also emotionally by the harsh realities of explosive, in-the-trenches combat.

Anaheim's official resident theater company, Chance Theater presents the Los Angeles and Orange County premiere of DOGFIGHT, with book by Peter Duchan, music & lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, directed by Matthew McCray, with music direction by Taylor Stephenson, and choreography by Angeline Mirenda. DOGFIGHT previews now through February 12, with regular performances February 13 through March 6 on the Cripe Stage at Chance Theater at Bette Aitken theater arts Center. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Anaheim's official resident theater company, Chance Theater is pleased to present the Los Angeles and Orange County premiere of ... Dogfight. Book by Peter Duchan, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, directed by Matthew McCray, music direction by Taylor Stephenson, and choreographed by Angeline Mirenda. Dogfight will preview from February 5 through February 12, regular performances will begin February 13 and continue through March 6 on the Cripe Stage at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Chance presents the world premiere adaptation of Washington Irving's classic spooky tale, THE LEGEND(S) OF SLEEPY HOLLOW as the final production of its first Theater for Young Audiences season. Performances begin tonight, October 8, and continue through October 18 on the 2nd Stage at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken theater arts Center. The show is written by Jonathan Josephson and directed by Darryl B. Hovis. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Bravo to Chance Theater for taking on this mainstream hit and making it actually feel like a fresh, awesome little indie. Now playing through August 9, the latest offering from Orange County's bold, award-winning regional theater company is their own 'intimate' theater re-staging of HAIRSPRAY, the 2002 hit Tony Award-winning musical comedy. The results? Quite simply a more compact production that is an absolutely undeniable, all-around rousing winner. Under the direction of Kari Hayter, the celebratory production's immersive, semi-theater-in-the-round minimalist approach actually thrusts the show's outstanding music and comedy out front, wonderfully blanketing the audience in the show's pro-integration, pro-acceptance storyline about a rotund young lady with big hair and big dreams who sets off to change the world.

Mysterium Theater presents the Project Gutenberg Adaptation in Two Acts of The Importance of Being Earnest, a classic comedy of manners, by Oscar Wilde, in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are 'Ernest,' which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895 at the St. James' Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language. It is being presented as part of the Mysterium Theater 5th Anniversary celebration! Produced by Marla Ladd, and directed by Kaitlyn Tice.

Mysterium Theater presents the Project Gutenberg Adaptation in Two Acts of The Importance of Being Earnest, a classic comedy of manners, by Oscar Wilde, in which two flippant young men, in order to impress their respected beloveds, pretend that their names are 'Ernest,' which both young ladies believe confers magical qualities on the possessor. It was first performed for the public on February 14, 1895 at the St. James' Theatre in London, and is regarded by many critics and scholars as being the wittiest play in the English language. It is being presented as part of the Mysterium Theater 5th Anniversary celebration! Produced by Marla Ladd, and directed by Kaitlyn Tice.

Now onstage at Encore Dinner Theatre in Tustin, Fiddler is a beautiful reminder of the true meaning of family and making one's way through life's shaky journey. This production, directed by Michael Lopez, is lovingly conceived from top to bottom.

What better place for an assortment of controversial characters to gossip and frolic than at a dinner party? The participants are famous within their own local realm as community politicians and their narrow-minded friends. It's a small town in New York state and mayor Charlie and his wife Myra are throwing a 10th wedding anniversary party. But we never see Charlie or Myra. At the very top, their friends Ken and Chris (Dan Acor and Tiffany Berg), the first arrivals, discover that some mischief's been going on : Charlie has been shot, with Myra nowhere to be found. What follows are the arrivals of three more couples and the police, and in between? A frenzied jumbo of crazy freak occurrences and spoken innuendos that liven up the party more than food or music ever could. It's a series of one fabrication after another. The only truth in Neil Simon's Rumors is its sheer sense of fun. It takes a super-skilled cast to pull it off. The play's a farce, so it's all in the timing. Without perfect timing, it dies. Michael Lopez has directed his 10 actors with the utmost nurturing and care, and the result is a nonstop absurd treat, richer than the 1000 Chocolate Chip dessert cake, at Encore Dinner Theatre in Tustin, now onstage through June 30 only. This is the first play they have produced in a while, as the offerings have consisted of mainly singers, a magician and other night club acts. Well, let me tell you, Rumors is a great dinner theatre choice, and this production should put the theatre once again on the SoCal map.