Laguna Playhouse is an historic Equity theatre located
in the charming arts colony of Laguna Beach, California. Steps away from the Pacific Ocean,
Laguna Playhouse is known for its year-round season of captivating comedies, dramas, musicals, stand-up comedy and family fare.
Due to Covid the Laguna Playhouse was closed for 19 months. We purchased season tickets for the 2021-2022 season. The Playhouse reopenen in October to Shaboom: Life could be a Dream.
The first play in 2022 was "The Spitfire Grill"
Percy Talbot has just been released from a five year prison sentence for manslaughter. She is trying to find a place for a fresh start,
and based on a page from an old travel book, travels to the small town of Gilead, Wisconsin. The local sheriff, Joe Sutter, who is also Percy’s parole officer,
finds her a job at Hannah’s Spitfire Grill – the only eatery in this struggling town. The Spitfire Grill is for sale. But with no interested buyers, Hannah decides to raffle it off.
Entry fees are one hundred dollars and the best essay on why you want the grill wins. Soon, mail is arriving by the wheelbarrow full and things are definitely getting hot at the
Spitfire Grill. This musical triumph is an inspiring celebration of fresh starts and the power of what one person can do.
"You’ve Got a Friend: Celebrating the Music of Carole King and James Taylor” was our next performance. Songwriter Kirsti Manna, who’s written tunes for Blake Shelton, and recording artist Jonathan Birchfield team up for this concert performance of Carole King’s and James Taylor’s best-loved songs. Expect to hear “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Carolina in My Mind,” and “You’ve Got a Friend.” It was so bad that this was only the second time that we ever left a performance at intermission.
"First Lady of Song: Alexis J Roston sings Ella Fitzgerald." Award-winner Alexis J Roston salutes America's favorite jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. Roston is known for her mesmerizing star turn as Billie Holiday in multiple productions of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, earning Chicago's Jeff Award and Black Theatre Alliance Award. In a spellbinding concert performance, Roston effortlessly emits the sultry swing and playful joy that made Ella an American treasure. Classic tunes include "Summertime," "The Lady Is a Tramp," and "It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing.” Presented by Artists Lounge Live.
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is a musical comedy about everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit. This witty musical revue tackles modern love in all its forms: from the perils and pitfalls of the first date to marriage, children, and the twilight years of life. An insightful and hilarious musical, this show will have audiences shouting, "This is my life!" We went with a couple frienda and had dinner at Carmelita's Laguna Beach before the show. It really did make us laugh and comment "we did that"
A Chorus Line is a celebration of those unsung heroes of the American Musical Theatre: the chorus dancers– those valiant, over dedicated, underpaid, highly trained performers who back up the star or stars and often make them look even more talented than they are. It is also a celebration of the American Musical itself. A Chorus Line is also about competition, and competition might easily be the common denominator that grabs the audience and holds it by the collective heartstring until the final, ultimate choices are made. For everyone, at one time or another, puts his life on the line. We all compete, no matter what business we’re in, for promotion, for attention, for approval and for love.
Saturday Night Fever is a 1998 jukebox musical based on the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. The songs mostly consist of songs that were featured in the film's soundtrack, which in turn were mostly written and performed by the Bee Gees. The musical focuses on Tony Manero, an Italian-American Brooklyn youth whose weekend is spent at the local discotheque. There he luxuriates in the admiration of the crowd and a growing relationship with Stephanie Mangano, and can temporarily forget the realities of his life, including a dead-end job in a paint store and his gang of deadbeat friends. We went to the playhouse with Joanne and Jim. Wanda got a picture with the girl that played Stephanie.
Slap on your roller skates, pump up the glitter, and get hip to the muses in Xanadu, the laugh-out-loud musical stage adaptation of the 1980 film. Xanadu follows Clio, the lovely and precocious Greek muse who decides to don her roller skates and legwarmers in order to help Sonny Malone, a chalk artist with half a brain and a heart of gold, rediscover his own creativity. With both help and hindrance from the other muses -- and from a clarinetist-turned-real estate mogul named Danny Maguire -- Sonny and Clio work to rebuild their “apex of the arts”: a roller disco. Xanadu is the rare musical with a big heart, an even bigger funny bone, and a tongue stuck firmly in its cheek. Hit score includes “I’m Alive,” “Magic,” “Have You Never Been Mellow,” and “Xanadu”.
When wealthy widow and socialite Jessica Medlicott is sued for breach of promise by her money-seeking ex-fiancé, will her past as an actress help or haunt her? As highly respected, strait-laced lawyer Sir Arthur Granville-Jones steps into the picture, he is driven to hilarious distraction by her larger-than-life personality. Based on the 1975 ABC Theater Presentation with Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, this world premiere adaptation of the courtroom classic LOVE AMONG THE RUINS is every bit as charming and delightful as the original film, which garnered a Peabody Award and multiple Emmys.
