For Matt Castle, a New York-based jack of all musical trades whose work can currently be heard in Sacramento Theatre Company’s lauded world-premiere production of “A Little Princess” (extended through the evening of May 19), taking on the task of orchestrating Eric Rockwell’s score was a multi-layered labor of love. Not only did it allow Castle, a Sacramento native now living in New York, the opportunity to participate in the gifting of his hometown with an original musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved novel, but it provided yet another project on which he and husband Frank Galgano could collaborate – further establishing the duo’s reputation as go-to guys for musical t

A major theatrical event took place in Sacramento on Saturday night, April 27, with the Sacramento Theater Company’s world premiere of “A Little Princess.” It is a musical with close creative ties to Sacramento, a show with a potential to reach a huge audiences, given its launch in a Sacramento Theater Company production that could not be more pitch perfect in any way. William J. Brooke has created a wonderful playbook based on popular English-American writer Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s novel of the same name. Burnett is best known for her children’s books published just before and after the turn of the 19th century, “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” “The Little Princess” and “A Secret G

For those who thought Sacramento Theatre Company's April 2012 cabaret production of "Music of the Night: The Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber" had exhausted the best of the composer's catalogue, the company's closing cabaret offering of the 2012-13 season, "As If We Never Sad Goodbye," might well force a change of mind. Subtitled "A Brand New Tribute to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber," "As If ..." takes listeners back to the beginning with selections from the 1960s ("Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat"), to the 1970s ("Jesus Christ Superstar," "Evita"), to the prolific 1980s ("Starlight Express," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Aspects of Love"), to the '90s ("Sunset Boulevard," "Whistle Down the

photographs by Barry Wisdom / If you've consistently heard good things about Sacramento Theatre Company's almost-annual musical production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," but have just never made it down to the company's main stage at 1419 H St., you may want to make an extra-special effort to catch this year's 25th anniversary mounting. After the current run, which officially kicks off Saturday, Dec. 1, and closes Dec. 23, STC will be pulling a "Disney" and locking away playwright Richard Hellesen's adaptation (with music by the late David DeBerry) for five years. The next opportunity local audiences will have to enjoy the show that's become an STC tradition is 2017. Returnin

I caught the latest Sacramento Theatre Company Cabaret production “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly-The Songs of Learner and Loewe” at the Ethyl MacLeod Hart Senior Center in Midtown. They had the seniors cheering and so will anyone that sees this production. From the late 40s to the mid 70s Learner and Loewe were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed musical writing team in the business. This production reminded me that there is so much more to to Learner and Loewe than “My Fair Lady,” not that they didn’t do some very loverly numbers from that show. “Brigadoon,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “Gigi,” “The Little Prince” and “Camelot” along with songs from a couple of shows from a couple of shows

Images by Kelly Christofferson   New exclusive SacPress images by Barry Wisdom The Sacramento Theatre Company is ending its 2011-2012 season of “Mystery, Music, and Mayhem" with the return of a huge hit for STC 20-some odd years ago, the highly successful Howard Ashman-Alan Menken collaboration, “Little Shop of Horrors." It won’t be a mystery if this new STC production turns out to be its own smash hit. As for the music, Ashman’s lyrics and Menken’s music are equally infectious and the cast and band gave a wonderful performance. The two went on to do several successful and award-winning collaborations with Disney. There is lots of mayhem, mostly of the human-eating plant variety. Ashman

photographs by Barry Wisdom / Sacramento Theatre Company closes its 2011-12 season with a blast from the past, staging an all-new production of "Little Shop of Horrors," a huge hit during its 1986-87 season, that is set to play April 28 to May 20, 2012. The show, which originated more than 50 years ago as a Roger Corman film about a milquetoast florist's assistant and his blood-craving spore from outer space, has enjoyed several incarnations, from film to stage, then back to film, before last landing on television as an animated children's series. Undoubtedly influenced by the cinematic seeds planted in his subconcious by such sci-fi classics as "The Thing from Another World" (1951) and

Sacramento Theatre Company opened its 15 Cabaret production “Music of the Night: The Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber” Thursday night to a cheering capacity crowd. The popularity of the STC Cabaret productions combined with the huge popularity of Lloyd Webber has led STC to offer a second weekend the show. Lloyd Webber, along with his original lyricist Tim Rice, turned concept album concerts into mega hit shows around the world. In his opening remarks, STC producing director Michael Laun spoke about the cast having no shortage of favorite Lloyd Webber songs to the point of being able to do another whole show. The show runs chronologically from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Sacramento Theatre Company associate producer Michael Laun shakes up the STC Cabaret format with some good surprises. SacPress community contributor writer/photographer Barry Wisdom has a great preview of the latest show. Changes included the type of theme. Many previous shows have centered around specific composers. “Make Em Laugh” which runs for a short four show run this weekend on the STC Cabaret Stage, is centered around the title subject. It is a collection of songs, many of which are very well known songs by extremely well known composers from timeless shows. Many of the songs are also from “who wrote that”? Great song, but “what show”? Never heard of it. And it all works well tog

Remember when musical theater was called musical comedy? True, dramatic plot turns have consistenly been essential elements in most of the Great White Way's all-singing, all-dancing productions. From the issue of racial discrimination explored in Jerome Kern's landmark "Show Boat" (1927) to the gritty realities of abortion, rape and suicide facing teenagers in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's "Spring Awakening" (2007), musicals often have featured some measure of conflict. Maybe it's the rose-colored opera glasses audiences tend to slip on when looking back, but some still bemoan Broadway's shift away from happy-go-lucky book musicals in which the most-serious issue was the question of wh

Ah, the child actor. So much competition, so much drive, so many stage mothers and many others, as we shall see, pushing. Oh, and then having to survive the bad reviews. But when a child actor makes it big, there is lots of money and other perks to go around. They say for a child actor to succeed, they and everyone supporting them need to be ruthless. But ruthless to the point of killing a rival? For the lead role in the third-grade play? The center of attention in “Ruthless! The Musical” which is just ending its first week of sold-out and nearly sold-out shows at the Sacramento Theatre Company’s Pollock Stage is Tina Denmark. Right behind Tina is Sylvia St. Croix, child talent represent

Performer photos by Barry Wisdom "How Long Has This Been Going On?-A Tribute to George and Ira Gershwin" opened the fifth season of cabaret at Sacramento Theatre Company Thursday evening to an enthusiastic audience. Although the Gershwin's music goes back to the 1930s and George died tragically in 1937 at the age of 38 the music they created endures as some of the best examples of the Great American Songbook. Ira Gershwin went on to compose with several other lyricists living to the age of 87. STC producing director, Michael Laun who created the cabaret series, enlisted Jerry Lee ("Musical of Musicals the Musical!!," "Frankenstein"-recently closed at STC) one of Sacramento's best youn

There are certain characteristics that most everyone identifies with Sherlock Holmes from the original books by Arthur Conan Doyle, film portrayal or countless theatrical productions for over a century. After all the character has been around for a long time. Doyle first created the character in 1881 along with Dr. Watson. The first play featuring the characters was written by Doyle and a popular American actor William Gillette. The play premiered in 1899. Gillette introduced several things identified with Sherlock Holmes including the bent briar pipe, magnifying glass and syringe. The film carer of the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is nearly as long as cinema itself. The

The second of this season’s Sacramento Theatre Company Cabaret Series, “They Say It’s Wonderful: Broadway’s Best Love Songs,” opened Thursday night. Again the lobby of the STC Mainstage Theatre has again been turned into a nice little nightclub with many tables for four. The program features love songs from the late 1920s to the present. The show opens with “How Long Has This Been Going On” from the1927 show “Rosalie.” The show is long-forgotten, but the song has remained popular over the decades. After some straightforward love songs such as “Someone to Watch Over Me” (“Oh Kay”) and “On the Street Where You Live” (“My Fair Lady”) the first set turns to fun, funny love songs ending with

All photos: Barry Wisdom In my recent review of Sacramento Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol,” I mentioned Caleb Salmon, who plays the young Ebenezer, the tailor and the second suitor (at Fezziwig’s party.) I’d like to elaborate on the program that Salmon has gone through to get where he is now. Salmon has gone through the Sacramento Theatre Company’s Young Professionals Conservatory. He is now attending college and is an Equity Membership Candidate.  Caleb Salmon as Ebenezer Scrooge and Ella Isaguirre as Belle Actor’s Equity Association, commonly known as Equity, is the union of actors and associated theatre trades. Having an Equity card is the doorway to a professional acting car

All Photos: Barry Wisdom Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is possibly the most popular Christmas story ever written, with the exception of the Nativity story itself. Long before radio, television and the multimedia assault we have today, live theatres – from professional to the smallest community – were producing adaptations of Dickens’ novel. For decades the theatre-going public has continued to embrace “A Christmas Carol,” giving the theatres producing it a nearly surefire hit. Many theatre companies depend on their holiday classics the way retail stores depend on the holiday shopping season.  Sacramento Theatre Company now alternates “A Christmas Carol” with its other popular ho

The 2010-2011 Season of the Sacramento Theatre Company Cabaret Season opened with “You’re the Top: A Tribute to Cole Porter.” STC producing director Michael Laun, who created and directed the show, opened with “Let’s Misbehave” from an early Cole Porter show.” After welcoming the near capacity audience Laun explained that the first half of the show would consist of Cole Porter tunes from the 1920s and 30s. This was a period before Porter became well known and met major success. This is surprising to a contemporary audience since all but a couple of the songs are well known to most adult listeners and were hits for various singers over the years. Laun also promised the show would be “a l

 Louise puts the fanatic in fan.  She is a single mother of two working in an electronics manufacturing job in Houston.  From the first moment she first hears Patsy Cline singing on the Arthur Godfrey Show, she is totally enthralled.  She calls the local DJ every day begging him to play her favorite Patsy Cline songs.  During one of these calls Louise learns that Patsy is coming to Houston the next weekend.  Dragging her boyfriend and boss along, she arrives hours early at the honky tonk venue to get a good seat.  The place is still empty, save for Louise’s party, when Cline arrives to check out the venue.  Louise works up the nerve to introduce herself.  Over the evening, the two develop

In many cities around the world with live theater, there are special bar/nightclubs. These are places where actors gather after their performances or in between shows. The club will have a well versed resident pianist. The actors take turns belting out their favorite show tune or try out new material for their fellow actors and assorted fans of “show tunes.” For the next two nights and an afternoon, Sacramentens can experience something similar to this phenomenon. Sacramento Theatre Company's Mainstage lobby has morphed into a nightclub for this weekend. The show being performed in this space evokes just what I have described of these actor performance venues. “You Can't Stop the Beat, C