La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment presents the West Coast premiere of Grumpy Old Men: The Musical at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts with shows from Friday, September 20th through Sunday, October 13th. Fasten your seat belt, it’s going to be a grumpy ride! Two aging neighbors, Max and John, have been feuding for more than 50 years until the beautiful and charming Ariel moves in across the street – raising the rivalry to new heights. Don’t miss this laugh-out-loud story of family, friendship, love and romance in a fresh new musical that’s guaranteed to delight!
Dan Remmes, an award-winning writer and actor, wrote the book Grumpy Old Men: The Musical. It was adapted from the Warner Bros. motion picture Grumpy Old Men: The Musical written by Mark Steven Johnson. Mr. Remmes has written plays that have enjoyed hundreds of performances across North America and the United Kingdom. Produced titles: Night Out, What Doesn’t Kill Us, Bedlam, Three Tables, Things We Leave Behind, Leaving London, Delays, Friends, Lovers & Fiancés and Close to Home. His work has won multiple writing awards, including the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Playwriting and Screenwriting and the Samuel French Festival. He’s written and directed two short films (George and Indiana Dad and the Quest for The Lost Tap Shoe) and has three feature films under development in collaboration with Finding Neverland producer Nellie Bellflower.
TV legend & Tony winner Hal Linden, the beloved Cathy Rigby and Broadway’s Ken Page star in this new musical-comedy based on the classic 1993 film.
Hal Linden (Grandpa Gustafson) is an actor, singer and musician whose career has spanned more than 65 years with memorable roles on stage, television, in film and a cabaret-style variety show that he tours nationally. Linden is perhaps best known for his portrayal of police precinct captain “Barney Miller” in the hit television series that aired on ABC from 1975-1982, earning multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his work. Linden made his Broadway debut in 1957 in the musical Bells Are Ringing opposite Judy Holliday and subsequently toured with the national company. He later starred in the 1962 Off-Broadway revival of Cole Porter’s 1930s hit Anything Goes. To date, he has performed in more than 20 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. His numerous stage credits include a number of plays including The Rothschilds, for which he won the 1971 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
His outstanding stagecraft led to roles on both the big and small screen. His feature film credits include: “Bells Are Ringing” (1960), “When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?” (1979), “Starflight One” (1983), “Out To Sea” (1997) with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, “A New Life” (1988) with Alan Alda, and “Time Changer” in 2002. After “Barney Miller,” Linden starred in several more series for network television: “Blacke’s Magic” (1986), “Jack’s Place” (1992-93) in which he played a retired jazz musician, and “The Boys Are Back” (1994). He’s had numerous guest appearances on some of television’s most popular shows including: “Royal Pains,” “Supernatural,” “Two Broke Girls,” “Hot In Cleveland,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Will and Grace,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “The Nanny,” “The King of Queens,” “Touched By An Angel,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: SVU.” In 2011, he released his first CD, titled “It’s Never Too Late.”
McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s own Cathy Rigby (Punky Barrels) led the United States Gymnastic team in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, then retired from gymnastics and joined ABC Sports for 18 years, providing expert commentary on the sport of gymnastics. In 1998, Cathy was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall. After seven years of intense voice and theatrical training, Cathy embarked on a career in performing arts. National and regional credits include: Annie Get Your Gun, Meet Me in St. Louis, South Pacific, Paint Your Wagon, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Sylvia, and Steel Magnolias. On Broadway, she starred in the title role of Peter Pan in 1991 and 1998 and in Seussical the Musical as “Cat in The Hat” in 2002.
While Peter Pan has been her signature role, Cathy has been honored with the National Broadway Theatre Award “Ovation” Lifetime Achievement Award (West Coast version of a “Tony”) and the 2004 Distinguished Lifetime Service Award from The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. In 1991, Cathy was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical when she starred in the 35th Anniversary production of Peter Pan on Broadway. The show also earned more Tony and Emmy nominations after touring nationally. In 2001, A&E filmed Peter Pan.
Cathy and her husband, Tom McCoy, are Executive Producers for the McCoy Rigby Entertainment Series at The La Mirada Theatre. They have successfully produced over 25 seasons of musicals, plays, concerts, and special events. Cathy and Tom also own and operate the McCoy Rigby Conservatory of the Arts in Yorba Linda with the goal of bringing the joy of acting, dancing and singing to their 600 young students as well as arts education to elementary schools in the Anaheim, La Habra and Yorba Linda school district, as they believe the arts are for everyone.
Ken Page (Chuck Barrels) is widely known as the voice of “Oogie Boogie” in the Tim Burton/Disney film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Mr. Page’s Broadway credits include Guys and Dolls– “Nicely” (1976 Revival Cast, Hollywood Bowl), Ain’t Misbehavin’– “Ken” (Original Broadway Cast, Paris, Emmy-winning NBC TV Special, Drama Desk Award, Grammy Award), CATS– “Old Deuteronomy” (Original Broadway Cast, London Video Cast, Grammy Award), The Wiz– “Lion.” London: Children of Eden– “Father” (West End Original Cast), My One and Only– “Rev. Montgomery” (London Palladium), Mr. Wonderful (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), The Little Mermaid – “Sebastian” (Hollywood Bowl). His film credits include Dreamgirls– “Max Washington,” All Dogs Go to Heaven– “King Gator, “Torch Song Trilogy- “Murray.” Ken has made numerous television appearances and directed the award-winning production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ for La Mirada Performing Arts/McCoy Rigby Entertainment. He has written and directed productions around the country. Ken will tour the UK this winter in the live-to-film concert of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The Cast of Grumpy Old Men: The Musical will also feature Mark Jacoby as “John Gustafson,” Gregory North as “Max Goldman,” Leslie Stevens as “Ariel Truax,” Craig McEldowney as “Jacob Goldman,” April Nixon as “Sandra Snyder” and Ashley Moniz as “Melanie Norton.” The Ensemble will feature (in alphabetical order) Joe Abraham, John Battagliese, Fatima El-Bashir, Allen Everman, Karla Franko, Heather Jane Rolff, Neil Starkenberg and Paul C. Vogt.
Performances are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 8 pm & Sundays at 2 pm. There will be no performance on Saturday, September 21 at 2 pm. There will be an ASL-interpreted performance on Saturday, October 12 at 2 pm. Talkbacks with the cast and creative team will be on Wednesday, September 25 and Wednesday, October 9.
Tickets range from $20 – $84 (prices subject to change). Click here to purchase tickets for Grumpy Old Men: The Musical at La Mirada Theatre’s website or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. Student, Senior and group discounts are available. $15 Student Tickets are available for the first 15 performances of the production.