INTERVIEW: EMILY DECKER BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Emily Decker, musical theater veteran, and improv performer with a Master’s in Social Work, brings her original musical Trixie: The Musical to this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. This world premiere takes therapy and mental illness to the stage in a positive light featuring a book and lyrics by Emily Decker and music co-written with […]

INTERVIEW: PAMELA EBERHARDT AND DAN TESTA BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO What do you call life after high school? Creators Dan Testa and Pamela Eberhardt call this: 13th Grade, which is the title of their new musical premiering at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. This new musical is a new 90’s musical comedy in the vein […]

INTERVIEW: KAT PRIMEAU BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Last year Robot Teammate delighted audiences with their original musical Thug Tunnel which also won an award for “Outstanding Songwriting” at the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Now Robot Teammate’s new musical has skyrocketed out of the ground and into space to bring us Turbulence! Much like many of the groups works […]

INTERVIEW: ERIK BLAIR AND DANIEL SUGIMOTO BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO They Played Productions debuts its first live project; a serious adult musical about werewolves that explores obsession, our need for choices…and the rage within, this musical is Nothing Bad: A Werewolf Rock Musical. The show tells story of Perfection, California, where everything is exactly that—perfect. But when […]

INTERVIEW: LAURA WATKINS AND NICHOLAS BRANDT BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO I remember seeing Comic-Co the Musical at the 2016 ASCAP/Dreamworks Musical Theater Workshop with Stephen Schwartz at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Here’s a link Tin Pan L.A.’s recap of the 2016 workshop the includes Comic-Con the Musical: Full Article). The musical even then, in its […]

INTERVIEW: GILLIAN BELLINGER AND LANDON KIRKSEY BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Adding to the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival listings of theater in response to this year’s election is the new campy political musical Trump in Space. The musical is created by Gillian Bellinger and Landon Kirksey (book and lyrics); and Tony Gonzalez and Sam Johnides (music). Trump in […]

INTERVIEW: DANIEL SUIGIMOTO BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Fresh off the heels of critically acclaimed original shows such as Letters To Eve and White People Drinking, Daniel Sugimoto and The Zoo Theatre Company are launching another world premiere musical this summer at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica. This musical is We The People, a contemporary musical that […]

2017 ASCAP FOUNDATION MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP (DAY 2) By RYAN LUÉVANO While the first evening of the workshop only offered a sampling of the musicals presented, the second evening featured a 45-minute presentation of the musical The Ballad of Brightwater (Book, Music and Lyrics by Matthew McCollum). This musical was given a full reading, complete with […]

2017 ASCAP FOUNDATION MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP (DAY 1) By RYAN LUÉVANO Whether you’re writing, planning, or just contemplating writing a musical, every February, alongside Valentine’s Day, the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop is here for you. Composer/ lyricist Stephen Schwartz continues to lead the workshop hosted at the exquisite Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts—and […]

REVIEW: AMÉLIE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Pulling from cinema stockpile from abroad, American producers have deemed the 2001 film Amélie as a story worth taking to the musical stage, and not just any stage—Broadway is imminent. After the tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, the show is slotted for an opening on April […]