Bruce Goodrich

EMMA THE MUSICAL Comes to Chance Theater

Chance Theater has announced the highly anticipated return of Jane Austen’s Emma, The Musical, directed by Chance Theater Founding Resident Artist Casey Long. This enchanting adaptation by Paul Gordon brings Austen’s timeless tale of romance and matchmaking to life on the Bette Aitken theater arts Center’s Cripe Stage from November 29, 2024, through December 22, 2024.

Photos: First Look at HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at Chance Theater

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, is kicking off its 2024 Season with the groundbreaking Tony Award-winning musical, 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, with book by John Cameron Mitchell and music & lyrics by Stephen Trask. Check out production photos here!

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Kicks Off Chance Theater's 2024 Season

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH will kick off Chance Theater's 2024 Season. Learn more about the production details here!

Review: THE RAINMAKER at Laguna Playhouse

Run, don’t walk, to the Laguna Playhouse’s production of the classic 1954 hit play The Rainmaker. I absolutely love this show. It's impossible to leave the theater after watching The Rainmaker without feeling lifted up by its transcendent joy and restorative optimism. 

Photos: First Look at THE RAINMAKER at Laguna Playhouse

Check out production photos from Laguna Playhouse's The Rainmaker, which opens Sunday, September 24, here!

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME Begins Next Month at Chance Theater

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, has announced that “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” will be the fifth show in its 25th Anniversary Main Season. Based on Mark Haddon's best-selling 2003 novel, the play is written by Simon Stephens and will be directed by resident artist Darryl B. Hovis.

THE RAINMAKER Comes to Laguna Playhouse in September

Laguna Playhouse will present the second show of its 2023-2024 season, THE RAINMAKER, written by N. Richard Nash and directed by Andrew Barnicle. 

Review: A GREAT WILDERNESS at the Matrix

Rogue Machine Theatre has produced several of the Samuel D. Hunter's works and in A GREAT WILDERNESS, director Elina de Santos, knows exactly which gears to pull.

BWW Review: Poignant Play CRY IT OUT Spotlights Modern Motherhood at OC's Chance Theater

Now having its Orange County premiere performances at Chance Theater in Anaheim through May 1, 2022, CRY IT OUT is a poignant slice-of-life that takes an eavesdropper's look at the hopes, fears, and lessons that come with new motherhood in our current times, and just how different each new mother chooses to handle the balancing act.

Molly Smith Metzler's Comedy CRY IT OUT Comes to Chance Theater in April

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, announces the Orange County premiere of Cry It Out, Molly Smith Metzler's comedy that takes a sharp and honest look at the double-edged sword of motherhood in all its joys and perils.

BWW Review: THE WICKHAMS: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY at Ensemble Theatre Company

'The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley' is Jane Austin fanfiction that allows her popular characters life after the end of the novel. By Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, The Wickhams is harmless entertainment that transports the audience back to England of the early 1800s.

Chance Theater Announces Its Third Chance Cyber Chat Series

Chance Theater has announced its third Chance Cyber Chat Series. Just because the doors of the Bette Aitken theater arts Center are temporarily closed, it doesn't mean that we can't still get together, connect and chat on a virtual theater trip! In fact... you could say that now is the best time to focus on community and exhilarating theater productions.

Laguna Playhouse Stages HARVEY Starring French Stewart

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is delighted to present French Stewart and Vanessa Claire Stewart starring in the wonderfully comic HARVEY, written by Mary Chase and directed by Andrew Barnicle. Comments Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard, "We could not think of a better play to end our 98th season with than HARVEY, starring French and Vanessa Claire Stewart under the inspired direction of Andrew Barnicle. French Stewart will be the perfect Elwood, a role he has always wanted to play!

BWW Review: Chance Theater's Superb SKYLIGHT Reunites Flawed Ex-Lovers Scarred by their Affair

The specific highs and lows---and all the cloudy, uneasy details in between---of a failed relationship are all picked apart and analyzed by a pair of distressed former lovers in British playwright David Hare's absorbing 1995 play SKYLIGHT, currently on stage at Anaheim's Chance Theater through May 19, 2019. Directed with an appealing yet captivating casualness by Chance Theater's own artistic director Oanh Nguyen, this excellent, beautifully-acted new local revival of the Olivier and Tony Award-winning drama focuses on a pair of deeply flawed individuals who have been trying their best to move on separately with their respective lives despite the deep scars that continue to haunt them. After three years apart, could a resuscitation of their past relationship be the key to put them both back in the right frame of mind again---or is their love unsalvageable?

David Hare's SKYLIGHT Begins April 19 at Chance Theater

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, presents David Hare's celebrated drama, Skylight. Written by David Hare and directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director, Oanh Nguyen, Skylight will preview from April 19th through April 26th; with regular performances beginning April 27th and continuing through May 19th on the Cripe Stage at the Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

BWW Review: Musical Adaptation of Jane Austen's EMMA Beguiles at OC's Chance Theater

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.

BWW Review: EMMA at Chance Theater in Anaheim

EMMA, now playing at the Chance Theater in Anaheim through December 23rd, is like a perfect tea time confection.  It's lovely, sweet, and has just enough tartness to keeping it all from getting too sticky to enjoy.

SOFT POWER, Kathleen Marshall and More Nominated for 2019 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards

The nominees for the 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were announced this week.

JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA, THE MUSICAL Starts November 23 At Chance Theater

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.

Photo Flash: David Lindsay-Abaire's GOOD PEOPLE At Chance Theater

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.