Michael Quintos

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of two groundbreaking, iconic musicals CHICAGO and A CHORUS LINE, Segerstrom Center for the Arts in association with Spot-On Entertainment presented a one-nigh-only star-studded concert featuring the music of John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Marvin Hamlisch. The lineup included Tony Award nominees Tony Yazbeck and OC native Eden Espinosa, plus Max Clayton, Jason Graae, and original A CHORUS LINE cast member Kay Cole. The event was hosted by Scott Coulter and featured pianist John Boswell and the Fabulous 50 orchestra under the direction of Rob Istad.

With a notable career that spans stage and screen, musically-gifted actor Cheyenne Jackson delivered a wonderfully charming, wickedly hilarious OC solo debut set during his three-night run at Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theatre from April 10-12, 2025. Backed by the superbly talented Willy Beaman behind the piano, Jackson not only showcased his impressive, Broadway-honed singing chops but also his knack for touching and comedic storytelling, providing OC with a program that was as magnificent as it was swoon-worthy—with plenty of emotion, laughs, and ribald cheekiness generously served in between.

Poignant, hopeful, sardonic, jubilant, and hilariously wicked, YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD! is a brilliant new World Premiere play that revels in its eccentricity yet, thankfully, doesn't quite shield you from genuine, gut-wrenching emotions that tug at your heart strings. Buoyed by a terrific ensemble cast and magical theatricality, Keiko Green’s bold and emotionally resonant new theatrical work is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining. The play continues at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through May 3, 2025.

For Musical Theatre West's new, winning large-scale production—now on stage at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach through April 13, 2025—director Kari Hayter and a company of terrific performers have revived the musical in an expected, true-to-the-classic staging, bursting with the color and aura of a storybook fairy tale come-to-life. While, sure, nothing necessarily new is presented in MTW's vibe, this lively, genuinely spirited presentation reminds old and new fans exactly why the show—for many theatergoers—continues to be a beloved show decades after it first conjured itself on stage.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from experiencing RENT - IN CONCERT—a symphony orchestra-backed concert version of Jonathan Larson's iconic musical which recently played to a full-capacity crowd for a one-night-only performance on March 15, 2025 at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa—is that this Tony and Pulitzer-Prize-winning 1996 show truly deserves to always have a full symphony orchestra playing its memorable score. Aided by a talented ensemble led by Coby Getzug, Abigail Barlow, and Frankie Rodriguez, this beautifully-presented music showcase proved to be an entertaining evening.

For his debut OC cabaret engagement, Broadway actor Claybourne Elder—who recently played Andy in the Tony Award-winning 2021 revival of Stephen Sondheim's (mostly) gender-bent COMPANY—brought his witty charm and sublime musicality to Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theater for three performances on February 20-23, 2025. Filled with personal stories spanning from his early Mormon roots to his work in musical theater, the actor charmed the audience with a cheeky stand-up set sprinkled with wonderfully-performed songs that came off surprisingly wholesome.

Fresh off her final set of performances in the L.A. transfer of the new Broadway revival of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, the two-time Tony Award winning stage and screen star recently returned to Orange County, CA for a one-night-only sold out concert at the Irvine Barclay Theatre accompanied by music director Michael Rafter. Foster dazzled the audience with selections that ranged from traditional showtunes to classic pop hits and even a lullaby or two inspired by her daughter Emily.

For two weekends in a row in January 2025, Segerstrom Center for the Arts presented some powerhouse talents from the world of Broadway to their enjoyable Cabaret Series. First up was the returning Jason Robert Brown, the Tony Award-winning composer of musicals such as PARADE and THE LAST FIVE YEARS joined by a new special guest, Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose. The following weekend, the Samueli Theatre then opened its doors to Tony nominee Kerry Butler’s hilarious one-woman comedy cabaret 'Breaking Broadway.'

Overall, the show is an expertly-crafted piece of unapologetically silly live comedic theatre that demonstrates the power of precision in the guise of 'random' chaos. By blending slapstick humor, meta-theatrical elements, and sheer physical comedy-laced energy, this theatrical enterpris creates an unforgettable theatrical experience that will have you laughing non-stop. While its primary goal is to be an entertaining, crowd-pleasing spectacle, it also spotlights the resilience of theatre performers and the thrilling unpredictability of live theatre—proving that, sometimes, abject failure can be the greatest source of laughter.

Winner of 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical, this quirky musical comedy with an intentionally-diffused serious undertone continues performances at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through February 2, 2025. A generally entertaining show with lots of laughs in spite of its title character’s fatal ailment, KIMBERL AKIMBO is a thematically zig-zagging new musical that is at once intentionally endearing but also surprisingly (and amusingly) chaotic. The show is ultimately winning thanks mostly to the wonderful performances of its two leads, three-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello and her adorable co-star Miguel Gil.

Directed by Mina Morita, the play—an emotionally-absorbing drama with sprinkled bits of comedy—is, at its core, a poignant exploration of deep friendships, colored by a devotion to cultural and religious identity and the fears of displacement and upheaval set against the backdrop of Iran's political turmoil in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Featuring an outstanding ensemble of five very gifted actors that give their respective roles distinct personalities and quirks, the play transcends some of its staging obstacles to ultimately become one of the most emotionally resonant and relatable plays of SCR's 61st season.

A riotous, mostly silly, but also sometimes laughably odd theatrical entity, this touring production of this enjoyable, endearingly-familiar stage musical adaptation of the hit 1985 sci-fi comedy is definitely a fun time—but mostly due to its visual wow factor. For those who cherish the original film, the musical is a delightful tribute. For newcomers or those seeking a deeper narrative experience, it's an entertaining-enough spectacle.

Led by a brilliant performance by Jason Alexander, this lively, emotionally-grounded, classic-leaning staging still somehow manages to feel fresh, reinvigorated, and much more searing than prior iterations.This latest SoCal-area revival of the landmark 1964 musical—here directed by Lonny Price—is, at its most impressive core, one of the most thoughtful, winningly-engaging stage musicals of the year thus far, and is a definite must-not-miss production.

Featuring a remarkable, gutsy performance by Tessa Auberjonois as the legendary comedienne, JOAN is an absorbing and hilarious new work that also feels like an on-going work-in-progress. The world premiere production continues performances at South Coast Repertory through November 24, 2024.

Eric McCormick and Laura Bell Bundy recently stopped by Segerstrom Center of the Arts to present the OC debut of their cabaret show “A Blonde, A Brunette, and Some Duets: From Primetime to Sondheim,” a fun and cheeky night of silly songs and even sillier stories for a limited three-night engagement at the Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa.

Structured as a non-stop song-and-dance revue without any dialogue, the Fats Waller tribute musical relies on its spunky live band and its crazy-good, five-person cast to sing a songbook filled with (mostly) joyful and (some) sorrowful jazz tunes. The show continues through Nov. 3, 2024 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, CA.

Offering a sharp and multi-layered commentary on modern workplace culture, unchecked ambition, and the public-stoked commodification of trauma, playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' intriguing play GLORIA—a riveting new dark comedy that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—is currently having its OC premiere at Chance Theater thru Oct. 20 in Anaheim.

For SCR's impressive, must-see local revival, the show gets a hyper-hybrid treatment that combines nostalgic elements inspired by the original but infused with 21st-century sass and sensibilities. Alongside its visual splendor, the show also features a superb ensemble cast, resulting in a blissfully-raucous, infectiously smile-inducing production.