KOOZA delivers a signature Cirque du Soleil experience

COMPANY:  Stephen Sondheim is credited with reinventing American Musical Theatre.  After writing lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy, he wrote music and lyrics for the highly commercial A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). His first “concept musical,” a form that became his trademark, was Company in 1970.  It was a non-linear show about a group of married couples who interact with a bachelor named Bobby. It had Broadway revivals in 1995 and 2006. A third revival opened on Broadway in 2020 and it changed the gender of Bobby to female.  Bobby does have some dating experiences in the show, so the partners’ genders have been swapped, but basically it is still a story about a single person interacting with married couples.  It is that version of the show which will be touring California this summer (though without Patti LuPone who was featured in both London’s West end and Broadway). Featuring a rich combination of humor, pathos, and enlightenment, I’m looking forward to this production. San Francisco Orpheum 6/5 – 29 and Hollywood Pantages 7/30 – 8/18.

MRS. DOUBTFIRE:  Broadway producers love to convert popular movies to stage musicals because they have automatic name recognition. Robin Williams’ 1993 film was a blockbuster and admit it, you saw the name and decided to read this blurb! One production was workshopped in 2013 but was eventually scrapped. Then a new version with the score by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick and book by John O’Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick was set for a Broadway opening in March 2020, but halfway through previews it was closed for Covid.  It re-opened in late 2021 and played 43 previews and 83 regular performances.  A national tour was announced to kick off in the fall of 2023, and that tour is coming our way this summer. Even though it’s short Broadway run doesn’t scream “Mega Hit!,” I know I can’t resist finding out how they converted the movie to a stage musical – and how they do the makeup change!  San Diego Civic 6/4 – 9; Hollywood Pantages 6/11 – 30; San Francisco Orpheum 7/2 – 28; and Costa Mesa Segerstrom Center 9/24 – 10/6.

KOOZA:  My hat is certainly off to Cirque do Soleil for their marketing program. In addition to a half dozen sit-down productions in Las Vegas and Orlando, they send touring productions to all sizes and locations of cities around the world. This month they are bringing Kooza to Laguna Hills at the former Laguna Hills Mall. The show delivers a signature Cirque du Soleil experience in its most exciting form with high-flying acrobatics, whimsical characters, lavish costuming, colorful sets, hilarious clowning and a powerful live score. Undeniably the most daring Cirque du Soleil touring production, tickets are available exclusively at www.cirquedusoliel.com/kooza. 6/8 – 7/21.

COACHELLA VALLEY REP’S SUMMER CABARET SERIES:  Coachella Valley Repertory, located in Cathedral City in the former Imax Theatre, is between seasons but is putting their beautiful theatre to good use this summer with a series of cabaret performances, mostly geared toward Broadway singers and tunes.  Performers include Glenn Rosenblum’s “Broadway Showstoppers,” Leslie Tinnaro, Jason Graae, Ken Page, Deven Green & Handsome Ned, Brett Barrett & Bernie Blanks, and if you only see one show this summer, make it David Burnham:  Mostly Broadway (July 25).  This hunky baritone has headlined Joseph and the Amazing Dreamcoat, Wicked, and The Light in the Piazza. Individual tickets and more information are available at www.cvrep.org.  All performances are at 7 p.m. and tickets are $50.