Outstanding Production of a Musical, Tick, Tick...BOOM! at Chance Theater. Photo courtesy of Eric Modyman. Chance Theater, Curtis Theatre, and Costa Mesa Playhouse Among Top Honorees May 12, 2026 – Orange County’s vibrant theater scene took center stage on Monday night at the 5th Annual OC Theatre Guild Awards, held at the Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Artists, designers, and companies from across the county were recognized for their creativity, dedicatio
Shakespeare comedy reimagined through a Western lens. From left: Mary Price Moore, Shane Murphy, Jeremy Krasovic, Taylor LaBarbera, Sarah Jane Fince, Charlie Massey. Photo courtesy of Cabrillo Playhouse By Anne Reid “Twelfth Night” is a beloved Shakespearean romantic comedy about twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated by a shipwreck. In this modern take, it’s set on the coast of California, where Viola seeks to rebuild her place in the world. She disguises herself as a
A picture-perfect 1950s dream, a life styled to perfection, and the moment the fantasy starts to slip. From left: Mary Price Moore, Shane Murphy, Jeremy Krasovic, Taylor LaBarbera, Sarah Jane Fince, Charlie Massey. Photo courtesy of Cabrillo Playhouse By MaryAnn DiPietro At first glance, it looks like perfection. But in “Home, I’m Darling” at Cabrillo Playhouse, that polished facade is only the beginning. In a production that leans into both nostalgia and nuance, director Hil
Two teenagers confront identity, belonging and change in post-9/11 New Jersey. From left, Vicky Yvonne and Spike Pulice. Photo courtesy of Doug Catiller. by Anne Reid Where were you born? Where did you grow up? For most people, those questions are answered without much thought. In Martyna Majok’s “Sanctuary City,” opening May 1 at Chance Theater, they carry real weight. Set in Newark, New Jersey, in the years following 9/11, the play follows two teenagers known simply as B an
An innovative reimagining of a classic Christie mystery. From Bottom Left; Clockwise: Sawyer Reece Maier, Paul Burt, Holly Jones, Abel Miramontes, Shawn Plunkett, Noah Chin, Tanya Raisa, Catalina Tan, Emily Hood, Olivia Oakley. Photo courtesy of Katelyn Abaya by Anne Reid Just after midnight, a snowdrift brings the Orient Express to a halt, stranding its passengers in the dead of winter. By morning, one of them is dead: an American tycoon found in his compartment, stabbed ei
Four women. One truth. And the dangerous cost of carrying it. From left, Kallie Pong, Megan Sigler, Juliet Fischer and Rori Flynn . Photo courtesy of Shinshin Tsai . by MaryAnn DiPietro At Chance Theater, the stage becomes a crossroads of memory and consequence. In “The Messenger,” written by Jenny Connell Davis and directed by Katie Chidester, a nonlinear drama unfolds as the stories of four women, decades apart, speak into the same restless space. “Four interwoven monologue