With the national tour of the smash Broadway musical Rent making its last stop in Sacramento, fans from all over the world are flocking to Sacramento's Community Center Theater to experience it one last time. The tour features a multitude of original cast members, including Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. Some fans wait all day for the $23 rush tickets, which go on sale at 6 p.m. the day of the show, and provide the opportunity to see the musical from the first two rows. Morgan Macri, Beth Furmoff and Kayla Guminiak had been waiting in line together since 9:30 a.m. Friday morning. They were visiting California for the first time, and had paid more than $500 to visit Sacramento and see Ren

Old Soul Co opened their third Sacramento location Thursday morning in Oak Park. An old familiar spot has a new face in Oak Park and the community is well pleased. Starbucks shut down its 35th and Broadway location last year, much to the disapointment of many. The location was a community hub where many gathered daily to socialize, conduct business or just relax with a good book and a cup of coffee. Despite many letters from patrons voicing their conerns to Starbucks corporate office of the closure, the doors were finally closed in September of 2009. Knowing the community cenergy the coffee house brought regular goers better known there as "The Usual Suspects" were confident something go

It's the "Season of Love" at the California Musical Theatre as the Broadway Musical Rent: The Broadway Tour comes to Sacramento. The musical follows a group of young artists who live in New York's East Village during the 1990s. Rent is a passionate story of friendship and love that challenges many tough subjects like AIDS, poverty, homophobia and drug addiction. Rent is a modern take on the opera La bohème, which was written by Giacomo Puccini in 1896. The show is the eighth-longest running on Broadway. Its success has been recognized multiple times, having received Tony Awards for Best Music, Best Score and Best Book, as well as Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996.   The musical is maki

Making the second stop of a thirteen-city tour, Broadway’s "Xanadu" has made its way to Sacramento. The musical production, directed by Christopher Ashley, brings drama, comedy and a bit of 21st century lingo into a must-see production. "Xanadu" takes place during the 1980s in Venice Beach, Calif. where an artist named Sonny Malone, played by Max Von Essen, struggles to satisfy his artistic hunger. After creating the chalk drawing “The Nine Sisters," Sonny’s creation comes to live with one purpose — to artistically inspire him. The romantic comedy also features Elizabeth Stanley as Kira or Terpsichore, the muse of dance, who becomes Sonny’s inspiration and love interest. Even though th

Sex. It's controversial today, and it has been for more than a century. That's why Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play, Spring Awakening, which has strong sexual themes and language, was not produced in the playwright's native Germany until 1906. It opened to English audiences for the first time in New York in 1917, and closed after one performance. Times have changed. The winner of eight 2007 Tony awards including "best musical" and a 2008 Grammy for "Best Musical Show Album opens Wednesday as part of California Musical Theatre's Broadway Sacramento season. Well, sort of. Spring Awakening was not offered as part of the season subscription package, because the theater's executive producer, Richar

Rehearsal photos by Paul Le and Tony Sheppard – taken at the Artisan, 1901 Del Paso Blvd.   “Tick, Tick…BOOM” Book, Music, and Lyrics: Jonathan Larson Script Consultant: David Auburn Directed by Connor Mickiewicz and Erin island New Helvetia Theatre officially opens its second full production on Saturday, with previews starting Wednesday, of “Tick, Tick…BOOM.” The show is by Jonathan Larson, who won three posthumous Tony awards and a Pulitzer for “RENT.” I had the opportunity to sit in on a recent rehearsal and it literally had me both laughing and crying uncontrollably (not at the same time). The timing was also interesting after the recent movie release of Jane Campion’s beautiful “

The Jellicle felines of Cats made the Music Circus purr, Tuesday night. The dark theater glowed green cat eyes as the 24-person cast filled the small round stage of the Music Circus to sing “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats.” Although the musical has no set storyline,the situations flowed perfectly into one another. Director and choreographer Richard Stafford created a thrilling musical piece full of lifelike mannerisms and situations that any cat lover would understand, any dog lover would appreciate, and even non-pet lovers would be delighted by. The cast of the normally huge Broadway play utilized the small stage as well as the aisles in the crowd, with a variety of dance styles

Sacramento, CA- Around 9:30 P.M. Monday night, Sacramento Police received a call that the China Buffet on Broadway at 14th St. was robbed by three men. Per Sac PD dispatcher, an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen. One of the employees was sustained minor injuries when he was hit in the back of the head by one of the suspects. He refused transportation to the hospital. The suspects fled the scene in a white sedan and remain at large.

The longest-running musical to hit New York stages in years is coming to the California Music Theatre. Opening Tuesday for one week only, the "Altar Boyz" are ready to serenade the audience and entertain Sacramento for 90 minutes of high energy comedy. Based on the book by Kevin Del Aguila, the musical comedy tells the story of Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham, five small-town Catholic boys hoping to make it big in the musical world. After playing for bingo halls and youth groups, the boy band sets its sights on New York. The ups and downs of their journey are told through a series of songs, dance routines and hold-your-stomach hilarious scenes. “I think the show is funny because

Sacramento, CA-  Early Monday evening, at about 6:30 P.M., Sacramento Police and Sacramento City Fire and Paramedics were called to a stabbing at the front of New Station Seafood in the 1800 block of Broadway. Firefighters and police found a 54 year old man sitting on the bus bench bleeding from the chest. Per the on scene police sergeant, the man sustained a 3 to 4 inch deep laceration across the chest and was very intoxicated. Due to the man's level of intoxication, authorities were having challenges getting accurate information from the victim. Per the sergeant, police do have a couple persons of interest in the case. It appears that the subject also took the victims cash he had on ha

The second annual In the Flow jazz festival brought music and art fans out to Broadway's hub with more than 30 bands, poetry readings and live painting. For $20, ticket holders were given wristbands that allowed entrance into all of the weekend's shows, which spanned five different venues along Broadway. For those who weren't wearing wristbands, several free performances were hosted at Records, Java Lounge and Records. The back-to-back schedules at the venues allowed for a constant stream of activity, and if ticket holders didn’t like one performance, they could walk down the street to the next one. The goal of the festival was to "showcase all of the different kinds of jazz you'll find

If it wasn't a serious situation, it would have been almost humorous today as a Sacramento Police Department motor officer stopped Jaywalkers left and right at the railroad crossing on Broadway between 19th and 20th Streets. Some may say it's just revenue for the police department, while others contend that the Jaywalkers coming and going from the Broadway Light Rail station are a true traffic hazard as they weave in and out of vehicles. According to the California Vehicle Code, "Between adjacent intersections controlled by traffic control signal devices or by police officers, pedestrians shall not cross the roadway at any place except in a crosswalk." The citing officer stated that fine

From the Sacramento Police Department: The Sacramento Police Department will conduct a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint on Friday, May 29, 2009, at 21st Street and Broadway. It will begin at 9:00 p.m. and run for 4-6 hours. Traffic flowing through the checkpoint will be contacted by uniformed officers, who will be checking for alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers. Officers will also check to make sure all drivers have a valid driver’s license. The purpose of the checkpoint is to promote public safety; increase awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving, and serves as a deterrent to potential impaired and unlicensed drivers. Funding for this program was provide

“What brings you to Broadway?” Greg Taylor, president of Sacramento’s Urban Design Alliance (UDA), posed this question to city planners, residents, professors and employees that attended a dialogue about Downtown’s popular Broadway held at the American Institute of Architects on Wednesday evening. Taylor answered his own question by saying that Broadway has “great urban character, great bones and great food.” Many agreed that food is Broadway’s main attraction, with popular eateries like Tower Café and Pancake Circus dotting the strip. One woman said that Broadway is a place she feels safe to spend time after hours. Others chimed in that they enjoy perusing specialty shops like R5 Reco

Sacramento Press intern Casey Kirk saw this press release and thought it might a good story for Sacramento Press to cover. I agreed. I also want to post this heads-up to anyone who might be interested. The release itself:   “Edge effect” is a term borrowed from ecology, where it refers to activity in the areas between different land uses. Broadway exhibits a degree of diversity that is similar to nature’s edge effect. On Broadway, these characteristics add up to a high-energy center that draws people from other parts of the city as well as from adjacent neighborhoods. The question of interest from an urban design perspective is: Will future development enhance or diminish Broadway’s edge