The first (rave) reviews of ONCE are in!

South Coast Repertory's production of ONCE opened last Friday, and the praise from newspaper and blog reviewers has started showing up in print and on the web.

Geek Girl Authority's Leona Laurie compliments the show's "excellent music" and "festive atmosphere," and recommends seeing the production "if you love the music of ONCE even a little."

Paul Myrvold's Theatre Notes says the play is "brilliantly directed by Kent Nicholson," that "the cast of twelve quadruple, world-class threats as actors, singers, musicians and dancers, envelops the audience with warmth and emotion," and "ONCE is not to be missed."

At Stagescene LA, Steven Stanley deems ONCE "as thrilling a South Coast Repertory season opener as any musical theater lover could wish for," calling leads Rustin Cole Sailors and Amanda Leigh Jerry a "perfect Guy and Girl" and saying that Scott Anthony and his fellow "supporting performers are equally marvelous" who "may play smaller roles but… are no less sensational than their castmates."

The Los Angeles Times' Daryl H. Miller says "South Coast Repertory has grabbed hold of [ONCE], giving it a joyous production that looks, sounds and feels very much like Broadway’s yet resonates with an emotional truth all its own" and that "when audience members find themselves in tears without understanding why, it’s probably due to a tiny marvel such as this."

Scott Anthony portrays Eamon in SCR's production of ONCE, which runs through September 30. For more info and tickets, click here.

Meet the cast of South Coast Repertory's ONCE

South Coast Repertory took some time to get to know the actors in the cast of their production of ONCE, Enda Walsh's play with music by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, based on John Carney's 2006 film. Their mini-interviews are posted on SCR's website. 

Scott Anthony portrays Eamon in the Kent Nicholson-directed play, which opened Friday, September 8 and closes Saturday, September 30. For more info and tickets, click here.

ONCE preview on LATimes.com

The Los Angeles Times' Daily Pilot interviewed director Kent Nicholson, music director Andy Taylor and lead actress Amanda Leigh Jerry to preview South Coast Repertory's upcoming production of ONCE. The article includes a gallery of photographs from the cast's sneak preview performance on SCR's plaza.

Scott Anthony is portraying Eamon in ONCE, which goes into previews Saturday, Sept. 2 and opens Friday, Sept. 8 on the Segerstrom Stage at South Coast Repertory. More info and tickets are available at the SCR website.

Trailer released for INSULT TO INJURY pilot

Irish Rail Productions has released the trailer for the pilot of the upcoming webseries INSULT TO INJURY. In it, we get our first glimpse of Mac, our accident-prone protagonist, as she makes one last-ditch effort to keep Edna, her guardian angel, from opting out of her contract. Scott Anthony provides scoring and is co-writing the songs for the semi-autobiographical musical comedy with series creator and lead actor Maura M. Knowles. 

The pilot also features Jennifer Shelton as Edna, Alison Shanks as the Judge, Carol Kline, Alexander Wells and Gina D'Acciaro as Mac's family, as well as Stephen Van Dorn, Demetrio James and Jennifer Weiss as doctors. Pre-production has started for the next two episodes, which will shoot in December.

Scott Anthony joins THE CHRISTIANS at Houston's Alley Theatre

The Alley Theatre in Houston has hired Scott Anthony to music direct and perform in their upcoming production of Lucas Hnath's THE CHRISTIANS. Alley Artistic Director Gregory Boyd will direct the play, which runs from April 22-May 15 in the Alley's Hubbard Theatre.

Scott will be making his Houston theatrical debut, having previously led the choir on two Les Water-directed productions of Hnath's play at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival and Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit the Alley Theatre's website.

STEELY DANISH to play in Louisville March 29

STEELY DANISH have announced a March 29 Louisville date at Haymarket Whiskey Bar. The eleven-member Steely Dan cover band, comprised of many of Louisville's elite musicians and ex-pats Scott Anthony and Ray Rizzo, boast a repertoire of half of Steely Dan's 1972-1980 catalog, including the entire AJA album.

Shoehorned into the middle of Motherlodge's JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR tour, this will be an intimate, early-evening affair. Pre-show tickets are available at this link to ensure entry. Seating is limited, so non-dancers should arrive early.

Tickets for Motherlodge JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR tour are on sale

Advance tickets are on sale for all three dates in this month's Motherlodge JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Kentucky/Indiana mini-tour. Motherlodge founder Ray Rizzo and Scott Anthony are returning to join an all-star band of Louisvillians and a revolving cast of local singers in a concert presentation of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber rock musical.

Last year's shows in Louisville were so well-received that Motherlodge decided to reprise the show at a larger venue in Louisville (3/31) and add shows in Berea, KY (3/25) and Madison, IN (3/26).

Click here to order tickets for any of the shows.

Insider Louisville previews Motherlodge JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR concerts

Earlier this week, Insider Louisville's Melissa Chipman gave us a preview of the JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR concerts Motherlodge will be producing next month in Kentucky and Indiana. Give it a read for details on the mini-tour and, mostly, to find out musician and Motherlodge-founder Ray Rizzo's most frequent online mistaken identity.

Scott Anthony to join Motherlodge March JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR concerts in Kentuckiana

Motherlodge, who have been producing their "Live Arts Exchange" festivals in New York and Kentucky for seven years, have decided to reprise last year's concert presentation of the music of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, expanding this year to a three-city tour in Kentucky and Indiana.

Scott Anthony will return to his hometown to play keyboards, joining New Yorker and Motherlodge-founder Ray Rizzo on drums, as well as violinist Cheyenne Mize, guitarist Chris Rodahaffer and bassist Danny Kiely to form the core band for the shows. They will sing and share the stage with a rotating cast of guests, including Peter Searcy, JD Green, Nina Rodahaffer, Brett Holsclaw, Robert McFarland, Rebecca Minnick, Mitch Barrett and Robert Rorrer.

The schedule for the tour follows:

3/25 Union Church in Berea, KY
3/26 Red Bicycle Hall in Madison, IN
3/31 Headliners Music Hall in Louisville, KY

For more details, visit www.motherlodge.com. 

THE CHRISTIANS odds and ends

Center Theatre Group's THE CHRISTIANS received a few more good notices over the holidays. At the Bitter Lemons blog, Travis Michael Holder named the play one of the Best Productions of 2015 in his TicketHolder Awards and much of the cast and creative team, including Music Director Scott Anthony, showed up as Runners Up in individual categories. 

In a brief review in Splash Magazine, Elaine L. Mura calls THE CHRISTIANS "a subdued and thought-provoking night of theater" and says that the "huge and vocal choir which keeps things moving."

In a much longer and spoiler-filled post at FolkWorks (Spoiler alert: Some of them aren't quite true.), Ross Altman, Ph.D. calls the choir "magnificent" and "inspirational," and says that "the enthusiastic opening night standing ovation at the end was well earned by the cast, the choir and the play."

The Les Waters-directed production of Lucas Hnath's play is in its final week at CTG's Mark Taper Forum. Click here for more info and tickets.

"The Grid" interviews Scott Anthony about THE CHRISTIANS choir

Dillon Slagle interviewed Scott Anthony about his, and the choir's, role in Lucas Hnath's THE CHRISTIANS. Slagle's article, in Center Theatre Group's "The Grid," delves into the function the choir serves in the Les Waters-directed production and how Scott and CTG's casting department went about finding the singers to suit the play.

THE CHRISTIANS runs through January 10 at the Mark Taper Forum. Click here for more info and tickets.

LA Observed names THE CHRISTIANS one of 2015's best

Don Shirley of LA Observed leads off his "20 highlights of LA theater in 2015" with an extended discussion of THE CHRISTIANS. This is just the latest year-end best-of list to include the Les Waters-directed production of Lucas Hnath's play, which casts as its tragic hero the pastor of a megachurch who has a change of heart.

Scott Anthony, who served as Music Director on the world premiere production in 2014's Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, is again serving in that capacity for Center Theatre Group's production at the Mark Taper Forum. The play runs through January 10.

Click here for more info and tickets.

Reviewers sing the praises of THE CHRISTIANS

Los Angeles critics have been weighing in on CTG's production of Lucas Hnath's THE CHRISTIANS. The Les Waters-directed play opened at the Mark Taper Forum December 13 and is receiving applause as reviews roll in.

In the LA Times, Charles McNulty says that the show, which "begins with a rousing hymn performed by a large choir ready to raise the roof in praise of the Lord… is that rare play about religion that both believers and nonbelievers can embrace."

Frances Baum Nicholson of the LA Daily News writes that the "gospel choir [is] led with style by Scott Anthony" and that THE CHRISTIANS "does what theater does so well — make people think, ponder their own understandings, share with others and, regardless of viewpoint, become emotionally engaged in either the concept or the characters, or both." She urges theatergoers, "Don’t go to see an easy play, but go to see one that will stick with you."

On the web, The Wrap's Thom Geier says "These are not stock figures but flesh-and-blood believers grappling with hard choices about deeply felt truths." and Broadwayworld.com's Don Grigware writes that "THE CHRISTIANS, with its crisp dialogue, stellar cast and taut direction is a surefire winner," and that "the choir with Scott Anthony directing, perform the intermittent contemporary hymns quite nicely."

THE CHRISTIANS runs through January 10. Click here for more info and tickets.

THE CHRISTIANS on year-end "Best of Theatre" lists

THE CHRISTIANS is becoming a fixture on year-end reviews of the best theatrical productions of the year. Richard Zoglin of TIME Magazine ranks the play fifth in his "Top Ten Plays & Musicals". The New York Times' Charles Isherwood calls the play "a moving exploration of faith" in his list of "The Best Theatre of 2015". In ranking THE CHRISTIANS No. 7 in "The Best Ten Theatre Events of 2015," Jesse Green of Vulture.com says that "Religion emerges not as politics or psychopathology but as a necessary living argument."

Having served as music director on the Humana Festival of New American Plays world premiere production of the play, Scott Anthony rejoins the cast and creative team of the Actors Theatre of Louisville and Playwrights Horizons productions for the show's LA premiere at Center Theatre Group's Mark Taper Forum. Lucas Hnath's play, directed by Les Waters, opens December 13 and runs through January 10.

Click here for more info on THE CHRISTIANS and tickets.

First photos from THE CHRISTIANS

Broadwayworld.com has published "first look" photos of THE CHRISTIANS, including a few nice views of Scott Anthony and the choir. Scott is serving as music director, leading and accompanying the 27-member choir in Center Theatre Group's production of Lucas Hnath's play, which Actors Theatre of Louisville's Artistic Director Les Waters is directing. THE CHRISTIANS, which is in previews, opens Sunday, December 13 and runs through January 10.

Click here for more info on THE CHRISTIANS and tickets.

Scott Anthony and choir of CTG's THE CHRISTIANS on broadwayworld.com.

Broadwayworld.com Los Angeles notes that "Choir Set for THE CHRISTIANS at Mark Taper Forum This Winter", telling of the process Scott Anthony and Center Theatre Group took to cast the 50 singers who will spend time on the Taper stage in the 27-member choir Scott is directing and performing with in Lucas Hnath's Les Waters-directed play that is in previews now and runs through January 10.

Click for more info and tickets to THE CHRISTIANS.