Ian Wilson News

Lythgoe Family Panto and the Laguna Playhouse present a fun and enjoyable version of Beauty and the Beast for the holidays. The English tradition of Panto, meaning it is an interactive, audience-participating show, is written by Kris Lithgoe, Directed by Sheldon Epps, Choreographed by Mandy Moore, with Musical Direction by Keith Harrison. With that impressive roster, it is a sure-fire evening of silly humor, great production numbers, unexpected songs and a meaningful message perfect for the holiday season.

The cheeky PG-rated fun of British Panto, courtesy of Lythgoe Family Productions, returns for more holiday silliness at Orange County's Laguna Playhouse, this time with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A CHRISTMAS ROSE, which continues through December 30, 2018 in Laguna Beach under the direction of Sheldon Epps. Fun, light-hearted, and a much-needed far-from-serious break from reality, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A CHRISTMAS ROSE is wonderful family treat the whole family can enjoy for the holiday season.

This past Wednesday November 14th, at The Lab Theater, The Alchemical Studios, took place the World Premiere Reading of the play THIS IS ME.

In partnership with Lythgoe Family Panto, Theatre Under the Stars has opened their family-fun, holiday-filled interactive production Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight to Houston audiences. With a star-studded cast, popular music, and a storybook vibe, Kris Lythgoe's Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight had both the children and the parents in the audience laughing, shouting at the characters onstage, and erupting in applause. This production tells the tale of the cursed Princess Aurora (Lauren Taylor) on the brink of her eighteenth birthday, and the handsome Prince (Garrett Clayton) on the road to his wedding day with the Princess, as the evil fairy Carabosse (Debbie Gravitte) does everything in her power to sabotage the kingdom.

Lythgoe means talent and for several years the family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, with a British panto, American style. A panto is an interactive entertainment that starts with a very contemporary retelling of a fairy tale such as this year's treat Beauty and the Beast: A Christmas Rose and turns it into a highly imaginative show with pop music that will appeal to both children and their parents...but primarily to expose kids to an engaging theatrical experience. There's usually an actor or two in drag, and a villain ... and audience are encouraged to root for the heroes and BOO loudly at the villains. It begins first and foremost with an upbeat script by Kris Lythgoe, replete with silly lines and a lot of play.on.words. To put the younger audience into the spirit, apart from the screaming and booing, Beast masks are on sale and for the adult ladies, long-stemmed roses. This family show plays at the Pasadena Civic through December 24.

The silly, family-friendly fun of those British-borne Pantos are back for a third holiday season in row at Orange County's Laguna Playhouse, this time with a story wrapped around the infamous tale of a smart-aleck street urchin (Jason Gotay) who discovers a magic lamp hiding a genie that grants wishes. Filled with slapstick humor, cleverly repurposed pop songs, and a seemingly endless parade of dad jokes, Lythgoe Family Panto's amusing new production ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH continues its playfully droll run through December 31. Campy and whimsical in the most G-rated way possible, this playfully safe yet still irresistibly entertaining musical comedy is all just silly, mirthful fun designed to keep kids enthralled and their parents snickering.

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham, Executive Director Ellen Richard and Lythgoe Family Panto (LFP) have announced final casting for Lythgoe Family Panto's ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH.

Home for the Holidays, Broadway's only Holiday show, stars Candice Glover, winner 'American Idol' Season 12; Josh Kaufman, winner of 'The Voice' Season 6; and Bianca Ryan, winner: 'America's Got Talent' Season 1. This strictly limited Broadway engagement opens tonight, November 21st, at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue) and continues through Saturday, December 30th only.

Kathleen K. Johnson has announced that Home for the Holidays, Broadway's only Holiday show, will star Candice Glover, winner 'American Idol' Season 12; Josh Kaufman, winner of 'The Voice' Season 6; and Bianca Ryan, winner: 'America's Got Talent' Season 1.

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham, Executive Director Ellen Richard and Lythgoe Family Panto (LFP) have announced final casting for Lythgoe Family Panto's ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH.

Candice Glover, winner of American Idol Season 12; Josh Kaufman, winner of The Voice Season 6; and Bianca Ryan, winner: America's Got Talent Season 1, will be performing more than 25 beloved Christmas classics. Home for the Holidays has announced that tickets are now on sale.

Conductor John Morris Russell conducts the Cincinnati Pops Opening Weekend at the newly renovated Music Hall on October 13-15. The concert program celebrates the legendary film music of composer John Williams. His scores from such films as Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones have engrained themselves into the American musical experience.

Kathleen K. Johnson has announced that Home for the Holidays, Broadway's only Holiday show, will star Candice Glover, winner 'American Idol' Season 12; Josh Kaufman, winner of 'The Voice' Season 6; and Bianca Ryan, winner: 'America's Got Talent' Season 1.

Conductor John Morris Russell conducts the Cincinnati Pops Opening Weekend at the newly renovated Music Hall on October 13-15. The concert program celebrates the legendary film music of composer John Williams. His scores from such films as Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones have engrained themselves into the American musical experience.

If you are a lover of the 'Great America Songbook,' Kent Barnhart's latest amalgamation of familiar tunes, 'I've Got A Crush On You,' with their origins in the musical theater of the last century is for you. Barnhart, with his trademark, droll sense of humor, leads a devoted audience at Quality Hill Playhouse through a century of music that has long outlived the shows that first gave them birth.

THE CENTER, formerly known as the Coral Springs Center for the Arts, today announced the addition of a legendary surf-rock band to its 2018 performance schedule on February 11 at 7 pm (Sunday), The Beach Boys.

To kick off its season exploring what catapults a piece of music from being merely a song to being a standard in the hallowed pantheon known as the Great American Songbook, Quality Hill Playhouse explores Broadway tunes that became part of American popular culture with its latest production, I've Got a Crush on You, opening September 29.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced the return of THE SIXTIES SHOW today, September 23 at 8 pm.

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham, Executive Director Ellen Richard and Lythgoe Family Panto (LFP) have announced that Kira Kosarin (three-time Kid's Choice Award-nominee of Nickelodeon's hit show 'The Thundermans'), Jason Gotay (World Premiere of Stephen Schwartz's The Prince Of Egypt, title role of Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), Barry Pearl ('Grease') and Josh Adamson (Big Fish, Taboo) are set to star in Lythgoe Family Panto's ALADDIN AND HIS WINTER WISH.

When the history of Los Angeles rock 'n' roll is told, bands like the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and the Doors typically are mentioned as founding fathers. As great as those bands are, many other acts have played important roles too. The inaugural LA-A-GO-GO concert shines a spotlight on some of these beloved local music heroes in a remarkable gathering happening November 4, 2017 at the Regent Theater in downtown L.A.