Musical Theater West

I have just recently completed my fourth production from Musical Theater West «My Fair Lady». One word-​WOW! Such an excellent cast, costumes, and presentation. Maybe one of the best if not THE best. I have also seen The Music Man, Les Miserables, and Singing in the Rain. All fabulous. The company holds its productions at Cal State Long Beach in the Richard and Karen Carpenter Center which doesn’t have a bad seat so if you a are theater lover, this is the production company for you.

A few weeks before the show, I purchased 2 tickets online for My Fair Lady for my mother’s birthday from the Musical Theatre West website. I had selected the «best available» option when purchasing. When I arrived the day of the show and went to have my tickets printed, I was informed that my 2 tickets were not near each other, in fact they were rows apart. I was devastated. I told him I did not order my seats apart, I had ordered them simultaneously. He apologized but since that performance was sold out, there wasn’t much he could do to place us together. I was bummed and accepted my fate and vowed to myself to never see another MTW show. I guess «best available» doesn’t mean you’ll sit with your party. An obvious over site on the web programmers part. Thankfully, the man took pity on me and said he would see what he could do and to check back with him 5 minutes before show time. So I did, and unfortunately he didn’t have any double cancellations. I thanked him for his time and effort and decided to focus on enjoying the show. The curtain call bells were ringing. Me and my mother were hurriedly getting to our separate seats, when the man came running after us and got us 2 seats next to each other! Not only that, they were better seats! More centered & closer! I regret not getting that man’s name! But I thank him very much! And I look forward to attending future MTW productions! The catalyst to my issue is the website. If you are purchasing tickets simultaneously and will not be seated together, there should be a message to let you know that’s the case. Especially, in my case where the seat numbers were sequential (the rows were different). Thank you kind sir for helping me ensure my mom’s birthday was a success.

I love live theater. We’ll start there :) I’ve been a season ticket holder at OCPAC and I’ve seen many shows on Broadway, in London and in LA… and I LOVE Musical Theater West and will be a season ticket holder forevermore…
Here’s why:
The cast is always top notch. The acting, singing and settings are those I’d expect of a much larger company. Every production I’ve seen has been on par with OCPAC productions.
The Carpenter Center is the perfect venue. It’s small, the seats are comfy and it’s not pretentious in the least. My season tickets are in the back row (literally) by choice. I can see faces and don’t have to look up to see the tops of the sets.
They use live orchestra and not recorded scores. They get GOOD musicians and they sound fantastic.
The patrons are sophisticated. I’ve had HORRID experiences at OCPAC with theater novices who are taking their kids for the first time, or people who are on their cell phones DURING the performances and could give a rats patoot about other patrons. not here. I have never experienced anything but polite and courteous patrons.
but really the number one reason is I feel like MTW really values me as a patron. The director gets on stage at every performance and thanks the audience for being there. Then he stands at the door and says goodbye and thanks you again. They LIKE the patrons… you can tell. It’s nice to be appreciated!!!

they put on great shows… best deal is to subscribe for the season, so all the shows end up on your calendar and you don’t miss them or have to remember to buy tix.
they sell out a ton.

Young Frankenstein, now showing, has it all. A laugh a minute, able singers and dancers, creative sets, a fine orchestra and fun story are all there. Some of the shows are already sold out. We are glad to have season tickets and look forward to every production. Musical Theater West is a treasure for this area. The Carpenter Center theater on Atherton has comfortable seats, good sight lines, and close parking either in their lot or on the street. We have seen many productions, and while some are better than others or more to our tastes, we know we are lucky to have a Broadway quality theater in Long Beach. Musical Theater seems to becoming more rare, as several local ones have closed. As a musical theater fan all my adult life, I find it difficult to understand why more young people aren’t standing in line for tickets for these fine productions with very talented, mostly young professional casts. Tickets can be economical and one can have a memorable experience.

Broadway talent performing in Long Beach. Some of the very best performances I have seen in Southern California. Less expensive than the Orange County Performing Arts Center and Cerritos Performing Arts Center.
They have been around awhile and, yes, their customer base are Season Ticket holders. Many advantages to Season Ticket Holders over one time performance goers… besides value for your dollar. They continue to mix classics with newer productions with each season. GET SEASON TICKETS if you live in Long Beach — you won’t be disappointed!

Friends have season tickets for Musical Theater West performances at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. As such, I have been fortunate enough to see a number of the shows they’ve done over the last few years.
Most recently was a performance of «A Chorus Line». I have to admit until this performance, I had never seen «Chorus Line» (to the surprise of many of my friends) and I REALLY enjoyed it! A GREAT story, wonderful acting, awesome singing, very well done!
Of all the M.T.W. shows I’ve seen, the acting, singing, sets, timing, flow, etc. have all been top notch! Though on occasion, a few of the shows here and there (stories, not the performers) have been real clunkers in my opinion.
Overall I have really enjoyed the performances by Musical Theater West.

The Musical Theatre West is very unprofessional. Oriented for people over 70. It seems that the directors are not searching for new talent. To go there is to waste time.

I saw their production of Cats back in February. I’m sold on these guys.
First off, what a great venue (The Carpenters Theater). Very clean, not too hard to find. The seats are great– we were in the middle and could still see faces. How sweet is that? Even if you were all the way back, you’d still have a pretty decent view. The tickets for that show went as low as $ 25! If you’re on a budget, this is a fantastic deal.
The show itself was very professionally done. The set was authentic, as were the costumes. Orchestra was good enough– they got the job done. The actors, for the most part, did great. Some were better than others, but they all seemed enthusiastic. Kelli Povart made an amazing Grizabella. That woman can belt (and when you’re in a small theater like that… wow). For a local production, this was top-​notch. It was a fun evening.
This is local theater at its finest, and I am pleased that we have such a fine company in the Los Angeles/​Orange County area. I will definitely be coming back for Hairspray.

Seems like 70% of MTW’s audience is 70 or older these days. It makes me nervous. I hope the reason why I rarely see folks of my generation at local musical productions like these is because you’re all saving your pennies to see the big Broadway productions actually on Broadway. Support the arts! And if you’re worried about supporting your bank account, keep an eye on Goldstar, where MTW often lists their tickets for significant discount (search the events for «musical theater west»).
Every MTW production I’ve seen has been much cheaper and more convenient than the big productions that tour through LA. Still, these are relatively big, polished and lavish productions themselves. The ones I’ve seen have been solidly impressive.
Their box office is located at the address above, but they perform in the Carpenter Center at Cal State Long Beach off of Atherton. If you like small local informal theaters, the Carpenter Center… isn’t. The doorpeeps look at you a little odd if you dress down (which I insist on doing) and they charge for parking. It really doesn’t have that same local theater flavor. This isn’t a review for the Carpenter Center, but since they’re a package deal, I figured it was worth mentioning.
If you’re looking for a musical that’s a little edgier than the Meet Me in St. Louis variety (which is coming next season, for the nerds like me out there!), they’re also putting on Little Shop of Horrors and Sweeney Todd. If only Johnny Depp did local theater. And if the rumors are true, they’ll have an amazing «bonus show» in December which hasn’t been officially announced. I’ll post it as an update as soon as I see it confirmed.

The true story of how I first came to attend a Musical Theater West (MTW) production.
A few weeks ago, I got a postcard in the mail from Musical Theater West advertising their new production… of PIRATES OF PENZANCE! Sorry, but that is pretty much my favorite musical ever, and it’s always been in my top 3 shows of all time that I’ve wanted to see but hadn’t. So, I may or may not have gone to see it based just on how much I’ve always wanted to see the show, but it was advertising REX SMITH as the Pirate King! For those who don’t know, Rex Smith was in the original Broadway production and the subsequent movie in 1981 in the role of Frederic. So I did a double take — no, really, Rex Smith, THE Rex Smith, are you serious??? I called my brother straight away, who is also a big Gilbert & Sullivan and Pirates of Penzance fan who grew up with me watching the movie over and over again on video, and I said, did you see this??? And he said yeah, he had also gotten it in the mail and was similarly pumped up. Wow, Rex Smith, but what a trip for him to be the Pirate King this time around. So we decided we definitely had to get tickets.
Finally, the day rolled around that we had decided to see the show. About a day or two before I started getting totally pumped and couldn’t wait to see it. All MTW productions are held at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at CSULB — not a huge fan of the venue, but I was surprised MTW has such a following that it is able to consistently fill such a large hall.
The show was overall really great and far exceeded my expectations for what amounts to a local production. I mean, come one, Rex Smith! No one can outdo Kevin Kline in the original role, but Rex Smith managed all right, and actually everyone in the supporting roles were quite good, and in fact I think the Major General stole the show. Mabel and Frederic were also quite good, but especially the women playing Mabel and Ruth, whom I think I enjoyed more than Linda Rondstadt and Angela Lansbury in the 1981 movie. The women in the roles of the sisters were perfect, and all of the pieces featuring the whole cast sounded fantastic.
Regardless of any nitpicking in the production, I was very impressed with its overall quality, and I think i had a big grin on my face the entire time. I’d be quite pleased to see another MTW production if another show rolls around that I want to see.
–Update–
OK, I don’t want to knock MTW, as I really loved the Pirates show. But I ended up getting free tickets to their Wizard of Oz performance in 2008, and it was atrocious. Really bad, really amateur. Nothing at all like the professionalism we saw in the Pirates production. I hope that it was an exception.