99 stories by "Jason Mannino"
DAMN, IT'S GREAT Desert Theatricals hits another home run this weekend with their contagiously joyful production of Damn Yankees at Rancho Mirage Amphitheater running through Sunday, April 7…
An extravagant celebration of the iconic music of Broadway and more, The Four Phantoms in Concert brings together " you guessed it " four actors who have played the lead role in The Phantom …
SCRIPT2STAGE2SCREEN TO DROP ITS FINAL CURTAIN Script2Stage2Screen, the theatrical group that has produced staged readings of original works since 2010, has confirmed that this 2023-24 season…
You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul. " George Bernard Shaw With Avenue Q, Mid-Century Moderns, and The Boy Band Project, Palm Springs' newest profe…
NEW PLAY ELLIE SHOWS ITS UNDERBELLY Desert Ensemble Theater (DET) is one of the boldest and few Coachella Valley companies committed to creating new work and producing envelope-pushing plays…
A CASE OF GREAT THEATER It is rare to see intimate, loving friendships between straight and gay men both in life and on stage. In A Case for the Existence of God, running at Dezart Performs …
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED WHEN BROADWAY WAS HIRED BY A TOILET COMPANY A few years back I discovered a fascinating theatrical vehicle referred to as the "industrial musical." These were musicals…
ALTERNATIVE FACTS This past weekend Desert Ensemble Theater kicked off 2024 with The Lifespan of a Fact, a poignant and funny play by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Jordan Farrell. Based…
HEARTBREAK AND HILARITY IN FULL DISPLAY Palm Canyon Theater has launched into 2024 with a revival of Del Shores' uproarious and heartfelt Sordid Lives. The playwright himself introduced the …
WHAT A GREAT SHOW CAN MEAN TO YOU Dezart Performs kicked off 2024 this past Friday with a compelling production of Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me. When I saw the direct-fr…
MUSICALS LIKE THIS OCCUR ONCE EVERY 100 YEARS Palm Canyon Theater (PCT) launched its 23/24 theater season here in Coachella Valley this past Friday evening with the opening of Lerner and Loe…
Broadway and concert performer and EMI recording artist CHRISTIA MANTZKE will be performing her first ever cabaret show as part of Coachella Valley Rep's 2023 Summer Cabaret Series for one n…
Christiane Noll is captivating, extraordinarily talented and in demand on Broadway, by concert orchestras and for up-close and personal cabaret performances " and she will be at Coachella Va…
BROADWAY BABY GLENN ROSENBLUM is a man with an obsession he gladly acknowledges and is eager to share: Broadway and the glorious world of American Musical Theatre. On Thursday, June 15, 2023…
Broadway luminaries Teri Ralston and Alix Korey have performed in more than 15 Broadway shows between them and have worked with some of the greatest composers of all time, including Stephen …
I LOVES SHE LOVES ME Palm Canyon Theatre closed their 22/23 season this past week with a warm-hearted, inspired mounting of She Loves Me, one of the most romantic musicals ever written. She …
A BAND TO BEAT THE BAND Coachella Valley's new queer theater company The Bent " in partnership with the Palm Springs Cultural Center " closes its wildly successful inaugural season with Mart…
GOES WRONG GOES RIGHT The Play That Goes Wrong running through Sunday, April 30 at Desert Theater Works (DTW) in Indio is the only comedy to ever win both a Tony and Olivier award. It is a h…
TIPS AND TITS Bus Stop Productions LLC is a new entertainment company in the Coachella Valley focusing on lively and unique experiences appealing to all that enjoy local nightlife. Their cur…
TRAGI-COMIC CON Desert Ensemble Theater's (DET) current production, Eliza Clark's Future Thinking, closing on April 23, is the final play in their season of "West Coast Originals." The compa…
DESERT MUSICAL IS AN OASIS IN THE DESERT I have often proclaimed that Andrew Lloyd Webber's best work was in his pre-1980 collaborations with Tim Rice. If you need proof or simply want to ta…
TAKING HOLD OF EVIL Robert Askins' 2011 two-act Hand to God is both an existential, insightful commentary on religious hypocrisy and a hysterical dramedy about Tyrone, a possessed sock puppe…
ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE IN THE DESERT Entering the theater at Desert TheatreWorks in Indio (between Palm Springs and the Salton Sea), it sure didn't feel like the desert. I was greeted by J…
A REAL BEAUTY Desert Theatricals' line-up for next season is exciting, but there was nothing more thrilling than being in an audience filled with awe-struck children to witness this magical …
