Joshua Finkel News

His day job is as associate justice of the Second District, Division Six of the California Courts of Appeal, but Steve Perren's passion for the stage has seen him appear in a variety of shows in Ventura County over the years. He played founding father Roger Sherman in Cabrillo Music Theatre's 2012 production of 1776 and has also appeared in numerous operettas staged by the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company. In Panic! Productions' Parade, currently playing at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts, Perren is ideally suited for the part of Judge Leonard S. Roan, who presides over the trial of accused child murderer Leo Frank. Parade deals with the real-life arrest and trial of Frank (played by Joshua Finkel), a Georgia factory superintendent who was accused of murdering 13-year-old factory worker Mary Phagan in 1913. We sat down with Steve during a break in rehearsals for the show, and talked about his unique perspective as an actor who also shares the occupation of the character he portrays.

On Monday evening August 22 An Evening of Classic Broadway returned to Rockwell Table and Stage for another resoundingly superb and downright mirthful show. Headed by Brad Ellis and Dianne Fraser, this show really grows on you. I love talent, and you can definitely find it here in abundance. On the bill this time around were of course ringmaster Ellis, ingenious as always with his delicious banter at the piano, and Fraser, who manages to do it all, even adjusting microphones and assisting with the props. She's amazing! Guest singers included Joshua Finkel, Zachary Ford, Susan Edwards Martin, Barrett Foa, Christina Saffran and daughter Emma Ashford and last but never least the inimitable Julie Garnye.

 Panic! Productions begins its 2016-2017 season with the Tony Award-winning musical,  'Parade,' September 9 through 24, at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks. With a book by acclaimed playwright Alfred Uhry ('Driving Miss Daisy') and a rousing, colorful and haunting score by Jason Robert Brown ('Songs For A New World,' 'The Last Five Years,' 'Bridges Of Madison County'), 'Parade' is a moving examination of one of the darkest corners of America's history. David Daniels directs, with music direction by Ben Ginsberg, vocal direction by Marilyn Anderson, and choreography by Brance Souza.

ROCKWELL TABLE AND STAGE PRESENTS MORE CLASSIC BROADWAY ON AUGUST 22ND

After a two-month absence, (mostly)musicals returned to the E Spot Lounge on Monday, April 25, with IT'S ABOUT TIME, the company's 17th entry in their series of themed cabarets. Scroll down for photos from the concert!

It's nearly time! After a two month absence, (mostly)musicals will return to the E Spot Lounge on Monday, April 25 with IT'S ABOUT TIME, the company's 17th entry in their series of themed cabarets. Scroll down for a peek at the company's rehearsal time!

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will continue their 20thAnniversary Season with the Broadway musical A CLASS ACT. The one-night-only concert will take place at Glendale's historic Alex Theatre on Sunday, February 21, 2016 at 7:00 PM.

As theatres across Ventura County begin a new year of musical shows, Panic! Productions will be celebrating those many countywide offerings with Coming Distractions on January 23 at the Newbury Park High School Performing Arts Center. A fund-raiser to benefit both Panic! and the high school's theatre department, the show will feature medleys of favorite songs and dance numbers from the wide range of musicals that will be mounted in the community during 2016.

Loosely patterned after 'an audition process', this 10th annual fully produced event is geared to discovering new talent between the ages of 18 and 32 for the musical theatre stage. This year the contest is generously sponsored/presented by Princess Cruises.

Executive Producers Michael Sterling of Michael Sterling Publicity and Production (www.msapr.net). and Barbara Van Orden (www.barbaravanorden.com) have announced that vocal auditions for the 10 year Anniversary of LA's Next Great Stage Star® will be held Sunday, December 13, 2015.  'Our annual auditions in search of 10 men and 10 women between 18 and 32 years of age, is highly anticipated by the hierarchy of those associated with the business of presenting Broadway musical theatre in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California said Sterling.  'We couldn't be more grateful to our professional colleagues and select corporate entities for their consistent support of Stage Star since its inception,' added Van Orden 

Following a several month absence from the LA scene, (mostly)musicals will make its long-awaited return on Monday, July 6 at the E Spot Lounge with The Heat Is ON! This will be the company's 12th production in a series of themed cabarets. 'We are so excited to be returning to the LA calendar, and to be back in Studio City in the beautiful new E Spot Lounge,' explains producer amy francis schott.

New Musicals Inc. announces the 2015 Summer Musical Theatre Boot Camp with courses for bookwriters, lyricists, and performers.

When Violet first premiered off-Broadway in 1997, it created a stir winning two prizes for Best Musical but didn't make waves until 2014 when it transferred to Broadway in an all new production starring Sutton Foster. It heartfully tells the story of a disfigured girl from Spruce Pine, North Carolina Violet Karl who makes a journey to Tulsa, Oklahoma in the hopes of being physically transformed by a faith healer. An accident occurred when she was a teen - a blade that her father was using cut her face, leaving an ugly scar - and Violet always blamed her father proclaiming that he did not want her to be pretty. She would have no male prospects and be forced to stay on to live with him on their small farm. The scar runs deep - 'it reaches to your heart' new acquaintances tell her, so the journey to find a brand new 'glamorized' look means everything to Violet who will sacrifice just about anything to have it all.

Kelrik Production's upcoming production of the award-winning off-Broadway hit musical VIOLET, a powerful and heartwarming story of a vulnerable young woman's challenges, loves and emotional journey, will now be staged today, May 15 - 31st, 2015 at the Monroe Forum Theater @ El Portal in North Hollywood.

Musical Theatre Guild, the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in the theatre, will conclude their 2014-2015 season with Stephen Sondheim's latest work, ROAD SHOW.  The one-night-only concert will take place at the Moss Theatre at New Roads School in Santa Monica on Sunday, June 14, 2015 at 7:00 pm. 

Kelrik Production's upcoming production of the award-winning off-Broadway hit musical VIOLET, a powerful and heartwarming story of a vulnerable young woman's challenges, loves and emotional journey, will now be staged May 15 - 31st, 2015 at the Monroe Forum Theater @ El Portal in North Hollywood. With a score by Jeanine Tesori (FUN HOME, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, SHREK THE MUSICAL, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE) and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley. VIOLET is directed by Joshua Finkel.

Panic! Productions welcomes in the season with special fund-raising performances of The Panic! Holiday Radio Hourfeaturing Norman Corwin's classic radio play, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, and a Cavalcade of great holiday hits. Performances are tonight, December 6 and tomorrow, December 7, 19 and 20 at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks.

Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal, the most critically acclaimed, award-winning supper club of its kind in the greater Los Angeles area, has set Sunday, December 14, 2014 as auditions for its 9th consecutive year of LA's Next Great Stage Star, it was announced today by Executive Producer Michael Sterling of Michael Sterling Publicity and Production in Los Angeles, CA.

Panic! Productions welcomes in the season with special fund-raising performances of The Panic! Holiday Radio Hourfeaturing Norman Corwin's classic radio play, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, and a Cavalcade of great holiday hits. Performances are December 6 and 7, 19 and 20 at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks.