Photo Courtesy of BHBPR
On Sunday December 13th singers and performers between the ages of 18 and 32 will have the opportunity of a lifetime in an audition to beat all auditions by way of LA’s Next Great Stage Star ®!
Co-Executive produced by actress, concert headliner, author, business woman, and arts philanthropist Barbara Van Orden, and Michael Sterling, along with Michael Sterling publicity, the competition itself is funded by the Barbara Van Orden grant.
“They don’t make people like Barbara Van Orden anymore,” declares Sterling. Without her passion for live performance and her dedication and loyalty to young hopefuls who dream about having a professional career in the arts, we simply couldn’t exist to the extent of which we do.”
Associate produced by Los Angeles Musical Theatre and television performer/writer/director/producer Peter Welkin, in his 4th year, along with James Lent as musical director in his 7th year, in culmination with Broadway and Television performers/choreographers Joe Giamalva and Susie Ewing, and Los Angeles Ovation Award winning choreographer Lee Martino who have been recruited to stage a couple of dance numbers, this competition has gone on to produce many a working singer!
Fashioned freely after “an audition process”, 20 contestants will be selected from the initial December 13th audition to officially compete for the 2016 title! Those interested in auditioning for said opportunity need only call Michael Sterling Publicity & Production at (818) 623-7300 and make an appointment for a slot anywhere between 10 am and 4 pm. Auditions will take place at the Performing Arts Center, 7735 N. Sepulveda Blvd. 91406 on Sunday December 13th.
Once 20 top contestants have been selected, the remainder of the auditions will take place on the main stage of the Noho Arts Center in North Hollywood’s hip and happenin’ Noho Arts district and will transpire over a series of five Sunday evenings between January 3-31st. The Grand Finale will be presented on Monday February 8th and then and only then will any cuts take place, paring the contenders down to the highest ranking five, fueling any and all suspense to the point of someone in the audience probably and invariably passing out!
Photo Courtesy of BHBPR
Having premiered in 2006, LA’s Next Great Stage Star honored Merissa Hadad as its first winner in early 2007! The only competition of its kind on the West Coast, LA’s Next Great Stage Star ® has turned out many a Broadway/Off Broadway-and-beyond performer!
The competition will award its winner with significant cash funding, a paid headlining gig at Sterling’s Upstairs at The Federal in the Noho Arts District within the new year, theatrical agency representation, and a plethora of other new and exciting first time prizes!
Other top competitors will also receive monetary rewards along with audition prospects with Southern California musical theatre producers, directors, and casting directors.
If selected as part of the 20 prime contestants, a one-time $600.00 entry fee applies.
Specifically because of LA’s Next Great Stage Star, more than half of all 180 contestants over the past nine years, have been cast in well acclaimed regional musical theatre, Las Vegas Musicals, top cruise line shows, Network TV and 14 have even made first appearances on Broadway and Off-Broadway and/or have debuted in Broadway National Tours. Over half of all yearly contestants are signed by LA’s Next Great Stage Star ® industry judges who double as theatrical agents!
In 2016, the showcase will be judged not only via live audience but by roughly two dozen of Los Angeles’ most noted geniuses in the musical theatre world! Included in the mix have been organizations and personages the likes of which are highly recognizable and influential up to and including: Center Theatre Group at the Los Angeles Music Center (Ahmanson and Mark Taper Theatres); Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and 3D Theatricals of Orange county; Cabrillo Music Theatre/Thousand Oaks, CA, Musical and Theatre West/Long Beach, CA, Performance Riverside, Riverside, CA,; Casting Directors Michael Donovan, Peter Matyas, Amy Lieberman, Michael Serna, K.C. Gussler; Directors Cate Caplin, T.J. Dawson, David Galligan, Joshua Finkel, James Mellon, Todd Nielsen, Larry Raben, Calvin Remsberg, Michael Matthews, Kristin Towers Rowles, and Robert Marra; along with Equity Theatrical Agencies up to and including Stage 9/DDO, Connor/Ankrum, ABT Talent, Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Associates, Daniel Hoff, and Brady Brannon & Rich. Judges will give an interactive commentary and constructive criticism to each singer every week. Judges and audience members alike then get to vote on vocal ability, acting skill, stage presence and overall personality.
“We couldn’t be more grateful to our professional colleagues and select corporate entities for their consistent support of Stage Star since its inception,” Barbara Van Orden reflects.
“Our annual auditions in search of 10 men and 10 women between 18 and 32 years of age is highly anticipated by the hierarchy of those associated with the business of presenting Broadway musical theatre in Los Angeles and throughout southern California,” declares Michael Sterling.
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