6/12-16: Monty Python's SPAMALOT

I next appear as "Galahad" in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical SPAMALOT, a witty and raucous re-telling of the legend of King Arthur, “lovingly ripped off” from the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” A team of brilliant comic actors will wring every laugh from this outrageously silly extravaganza. Get your coconuts ready! 

MONTY PYTHON'S

SPAMALOT

June 12 – 16, 2013

MTWichita

Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center

225 W Douglas Ave  Wichita, KS 67202

Book and Lyrics by ERIC IDLE

Music by JOHN DU PREZ and ERIC IDLE

A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

From the original screenplay by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin

Original Broadway Production produced by Boyett Ostar Productions, The Shubert Organization, Arielle Tepper Madover, Stephanie McClelland/Lawrence Horowitz, Elan V McAllister/Allan S. Gordon, Independent Producers Network, Roy Furman, GRS Associates, Jam Theatricals, TGA Entertainment, Live Nation

Here's a "Sneek Peek" of the cast and rehearsal process:

Showtimes: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: Call 316-265-3107. For more information, visit: www.mtwichita.org.
MTWichita Premiere / Rated PG-13 

>> View more photos and Bob Curtright's interview
with MTWichita's creative team and cast at The Wichita Eagle. <<

Damon Kirsche and Jennie Greenberry star in Music Theatre of Wichita's
"Monty Python's SPAMALOT." Photo: Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle

Music Theatre of Wichita opens its 2013 season with "Monty Python's SPAMALOT."
Photo: Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle.

7/22: ON A CLEAR DAY... Reiner Reading Series

On July 22, I returned to Musical Theatre West's "Reiner Reading Series" as psychiatrist Dr. Mark Bruckner in Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner's ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. 

Chain smoking Daisy Gamble is seeing a psychiatrist to help her kick the habit.  While undergoing hypnosis, Daisy is  regressed and the doctor finds himself falling for the dazzling Melinda Wells, Daisy's past life from the 18th century.  The score includes "What Did I Have That I Don't Have?" "Melinda," and "Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here!"

Also starring: ZACHARY FORD (MTW's SPAMALOT) as Warren Smith/Edward Moncrief and STEVEN HACK (Bway:  CATS, A CHORUS LINE) as Dr. Conrad Fuller, with KRISTEN LAMOUREUX making her Reiner Reading Series debut as Daisy Gamble, the role made famous by both Barbara Harris on stage and Barbra Streisand in the film.  Rounding out the cast are Allen Everman, Frankie Marrone, Madison Mitchell, Melissa Mitchell, Debbie Prutsman, Kirkland Robinson and Danny Stiles. Emmy Nominated Director/Choreographer SPENCER LIFF (TV's SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, MTW's THE WEDDING SINGER) and Musical Director JULIE LAMOUREUX (MTW's FIORELLO!, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA).

Read Steven Stanley's post about the production at STAGESCENELA.

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER

July 22, 2012, 7 PM

UNIVERSITY THEATRE

California State University

1250 Bellflower Boulevard

Long Beach, California 90840

SPENCER LIFF (Director)

JULIE LAMOUREUX (Musical Director)

Produced by Michael Betts and David Lamoureux

as part of Musical Theatre West's Reiner Reading Series

*denotes member of Actor’s Equity Association

2/10-2/26: MAN OF LA MANCHA

MAN OF LA MANCHA rehearsals begin today, and the full cast announcement appears at theatremania.com ("Davis Gaines, Damon Kirsche, Lesli Margherita to Star in Musical Theatre West's Man of La Mancha").

MAN OF LA MANCHA

February 10-26, 2012
CARPENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, LONG BEACH


"One of the all-time great musicals, featuring one of the all-time great standards.  At the height of the Spanish Inquisition, author Miguel de Cervantes is imprisoned and uses the story of the knight-errant Don Quixote to defend himself.  Full of indelible characters and a beautiful Latin-tinged score, the original production of MAN OF LA MANCHA ran for six years on Broadway and won the Tony for Best Musical."

DIRECTOR
Nick DeGruccio

MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Matthew Smedal

CHOREOGRAPHER
Carlos Mendoza


Click here for tickets or visit musical.org

"A Passing Wind"—Photos

From our final dress rehearsal of "A Passing Wind," at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts: (Costumes: Anna Frangiosa, Photography: Sandy Flint)

The company of "A Passing Wind": Jered McLenigan (Satie), Ian Bedford (Henri Oller), Maureen Torsney-Weir (Bernhardt), Laura Catlaw (Angèle Thibodeau) and Leah Walton (Elizabeth Pujol).

"Baking our bread daily, making our daily bread," Leah Walton as Elizabeth Pujol and Damon Kirsche as Joseph Pujol

Joseph Pujol (Damon Kirsche) debuts his legendary act for patrons of the Moulin Rouge.

Joseph (Damon Kirsche) and Elizabeth (Leah Walton) backstage. 

Pujol (Damon Kirsche) and Oller (Ian Beford) interrupt Angèle's new act "La Femme Pétomane."

And a few shots of an earlier dress rehearsal:

The Moulin Rouge salutes France at the outbreak of WWI:
Ian Bedford as Henri Oller, Damon Kirsche as Joseph Pujol,  Laura Catlaw as Angèle Thibodeau.

Joseph Pujol, AKA "Le Petomane" (Damon Kirsche) blasts Angèle (Laura Catlaw),
who stands in reluctantly as a German soldier.

Sarah Bernhardt (Maureen Torsney-Weir)  explains the ephemeral yet eternal beauty of Theatre to Pujol (Damon Kirsche): "Life begets life, chemistry begets chemistry, it's only by spending oneself that one becomes rich."

MTW's "Annie" reviewed in the LA Times

Damon Kirsche croons "Your Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" as Bert Healy with Amberly Chamberlain, Amy Gillette and Melissa Mitchell as the lovely Boylan Sisters (Credit: Musical Theatre West, Ken Jacques)

"Throughout, director Steven Glaudini's glossy-toned ensemble displays reliable expertise, whether it's always-fine Shannon Warne as Warbucks' secretary, ever-stalwart Damon Kirsche tossing off his radio host or stellar canine Mikey's outstanding Sandy.  Choreographer Roger Castellano maintains cleanly executed moves, while musical director Daniel Thomas elicits Broadway-level sounds all around." —David C. Nichols, LA Times

"Annie," Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. Ends Nov. 14. Tickets $30 to $80. (562) 856-1999 or www.musical.org. Running time:  2 hours, 30 minutes.

10/30-11/14: "Annie" at Musical Theatre West

Musical Theatre West presents

A N N I E

O C T O B E R  2 9  -  N O V E M B E R  1 4,  2 0 1 0

I'll next appear as radio personality Bert Healy, (crooning "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile") in the Musical Theatre West production of the Best Musical Tony Award-winner "ANNIE" at the 1070-seat Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

Andrea McArdle, Broadway's original Annie, will star as Miss Hannigan. 

ANNIE previews October 29th and runs October 30th through November 14, 2010.  Musical Theatre West Artistic Director/Producer Steven Glaudini directs with musical direction by Daniel Thomas and choreography by Roger Castellano.

Carpenter Performing Arts Center

6200 Atherton Street

Long Beach, CA 90815

Directions and Map 

Ticket start at $30.00. Call: 562-856-1999 or visit: http://www.musical.org

The Musical Theatre West cast also stars:

Jeff Austin as Oliver Warbucks

Shannon Warne as Grace Farrell

Michael Paternostro as Rooster

Bets Malone as Lily St. Regis

Mark Capri  as Franklin D. Roosevelt

Melody Hollis as Annie

Paige Befeler as July

Alexa Freeman as Pepper

Grace Kaufman as Molly

Madison Milledge as Tessie

Jenna Rosen as Duffy

Danielle Soibelman as Kate

With: Jef Canter Amberly Chamberlain, Amy Gillette, Brian Michael Hoffman, Nick Lorenzini, Melissa Mitchell, Todd Nielsen, Jennifer Strattan, and Mikey as Sandy.

StageSceneLA's Best of 2009-10 Awards

Los Angeles–area theatre reviewer Steven Stanley recently announced his 2009-10 Stage Scene LA awards and generously named me "Musical Theater Star of the Year" (!) for my portrayals of Curly in OKLAHOMA!, Byron Prong in FADE OUT/FADE IN and my 6-character turn as Dr. Orin Scrivello and others in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. I ran into Steven at Monday night's launch of the Musical Theatre Guild's 15th Anniversary Season and when I thanked him for his award, he said he owed me an apology for not including my roles in 1776 (Dr. Lyman Hall) or HIGH SPIRITS (Charles Condomine).

It amazes me that Steven saw each of those shows and attends scores more, about which he writes throughout the year. Thank you again, Steven and thanks for your enthusiastic support of the LA theatre scene!

High Praise for "1776"

MTW's current production of 1776 receives high praise:

"Under the direction of Nick DeGruccio, MTW's stunning '1776' embodies everything that makes live theater so exciting and important." - BroadwayWorld.com

"Broadway caliber"- Orange County Register


"Good, clean historical fun" - Long Beach Press-Telegram


"...the audience is on the edge of their seats"-TheaterMania.com


Photos by Ken Jacque. 
Above: Steve Vinovich (Benjamin Franklin), John Bisom (Thomas Jefferson) and Steven Glaudini (John Adams).
Below: Andy Umberger (John Dickinson) and Steven Glaudini (John Adams) face off.

7/9-25: "1776" at Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Tomorrow I begin rehearsals for 1776, the Tony Award-winning musical which dramatizes the events leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A crackling masterwork filled with humor, romance and history that the NY Post called, "brilliant and remarkably moving."


1776
July 9-25, 2010
Musical Theatre West
Carpenter Performing Arts Center
Long Beach, CA


Music and Lyrics by Sherman Edwards, Book by Peter Stone.
Directed by Nick DeGruccio, Musical Direction by Matthew Smedal.
Starring: Steven Glaudini (John Adams), Tami Tappan Damiano (Abagail Adams) and Davis Gaines (Richard Henry Lee), Steve Vinovich (Benjamin Franklin), John Bisom (Thomas Jefferson), Andy Umberger (John Dickinson), Robert J. Townsend (Edward Rutledge), Jessica Bernard (Martha Jefferson), Brad Fitzgerald (Joseph Hewes), Richard Gould (Stephen Hopkins), Michael Kean (The Courier) and Damon Kirsche (Dr. Lyman Hall).

For tickets and further information, visit the Musical Theatre West site.

4/23-5/2: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Cabrillo Music Theatre

Next up: I'll be playing the deranged dentist, Dr. Orin Scrivello, (and a handful of other surprise roles) in Cabrillo Music Theatre's upcoming production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. The production runs for TWO WEEKS ONLY at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.
Directed by Cabrillo Music Theatre's Artistic Director, Lewis Wilkenfeld. John Charron will choreograph while Matthew Smedal musical directs and leads the Cabrillo Music Theatre Orchestra.

Also starring: Jim Holdridge (Seymour Krelborn), Callie Carson (Audrey) and Gibby Brand (Mr. Mushnik).

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS 

Friday, April 23rd — Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

Showtimes:

Thu-Sat, 8 PM

Sat-Sun, 2 PM

A post-show discussion with cast, staff and audience will follow the Saturday, April 24th, 2:00pm performance.Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Box Office located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks or through any Ticketmaster location or by phone (800) 745-3000. For groups of 10 or more, please call Group Sales, Cabrillo Music Theatre at (805) 497-8613.

Ticket prices range from $25-$55. For ticket and theatre information, call (805) 449-ARTS (2787) or visit Cabrillo Music Theatre.
Photos by: Ed Krieger

UPDATE: Production stills

(Ed Krieger, photographer, Wig and Hair Styling and Makeup Design by Paul Hadobas):

L to R: Seymour (Jim Holdridge), the Urchins (Robyn Jackson, Domonique Paton and Nicole Tillman) and Customer (Damon Kirsche).

Orin Scrivello, DDS (Damon Kirsche)

Orin's last laughs. Orin (Damon Kirsche), Seymour (Jim Holdridge)

And three characters in four minutes:

Max Bernstein of NBC TV Studios (Damon Kirsche), Seymour (Jim Holdridge)

Mrs. Luce, wife of LIFE Magazine's editor (Damon Kirsche), Seymour (Jim Holdridge)

and

Skip Snip of the William Morris Agency.

Patrick Martin, Marketing and Licensing Department, World Botanical Enterprises.