By Angela Hatcher<\/p>\n

One More Productions takes on the 1982 Tony Award-winning provocative musical, “Nine<\/em>,” which was originally based on Director and Screenwriter Fellini\u2019s classic 1963 semi-autobiographical film 8 \u00bd.<\/em><\/p>\n

With book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, Nine <\/em>follows the journey of celebrated and flamboyant Italian film director Guido Contini, who is tumbling head -first into a major mid-life crisis as he is turning the big 40.<\/p>\n

He is desperately trying to resurrect his failing career with three recent flops blocking his view, and he is bereft for an idea for his new film even though he has signed a contract that could end his teetering career if he doesn\u2019t come through.<\/p>\n

Wait! There is more\u2026 he has a devoted wife, a na\u00efve mistress, and a bored leading lady to deal with as well.<\/p>\n

He may be turning 40, but emotionally, he is a mere child of 9 with mom in tow, and the lines are blurred between reality and his inner self. Guido\u2019s compulsive nature and unbridled sexual desires are some of the barriers he has placed before him. He is out of chances unless he is willing to face life head-on and ultimately face the music.<\/p>\n

And, yes, then there is the music. Skillfully led by Co-founder\/Director\/Musical Director Damien Lorton, one of One More Productions\u2019 greatest gifts to its audience is its magnificent rendering of Nine\u2019s<\/em> beautiful, award-winning score.<\/p>\n

With its outstanding 22-piece live orchestra (conducted by Adrian Rangel-Sanchez) on stage and the exquisite vocal talents of the 19 utterly irresistible women of Nine,<\/em> along with the good-looking Guido himself (Ian Michaels), OMP\u2019s Nin e<\/em>is one of its best works.<\/p>\n

Lorton says he has compiled \u201c\u202615 years of leading ladies in one show,\u201d and each one of these talented stars gives a show-stopping performance. As Guido muses on this symphony of beautiful women throughout the show, time and space disappear. Some favorite moments are Luisa\u2019s \u00a0(Nicole Cassesso) \u201cMy Husband Makes Movies\u201d; Carla\u2019s (Brittany Gerari) \u201cA Call From the Vatican\u201d; Liliane Le Fleur, Stephanie Necrophorus, and Company (Beth Hansen, Megan Walker, and Co) \u201cFolies Bergeres\u201d; Guido\u2019s (Michaels) \u201cOnly With You\u201d; Sarraghina, Little Guido, and Company\u2019s (Adriana Sanchez, Eliot DeLucia, and Co) \u201cTiVoglio Bene\/Be Italian\u201d; and Luisa\u2019s (Cassesso) \u201cBe On Your Own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brittany Gerari\u2019s eye-popping animalistic depiction of the Italian mistress Carla is sensual and mistress-worthy!<\/p>\n

Beth Hansen\u2019s Le Fleur is so good that Hansen literally owns the role. Erika Baldwin\u2019s Claudia is in command and it\u2019s easy to see that Claudia has earned it. Nicole Cassesso\u2019s Luisa has all women filled with love for her wittrue heartfelt compassion for anyone who has ever been in OMP\u2019s Co-founder, Producer, and as Nine\u2019s <\/em>Luisa, Nicole Cassesso says that working with this cast has been like forming a sisterhood<\/em> that is an amazing experience (and, then, of course there is Guido)!<\/p>\n

The camaraderie and closeness of this cast evokes that energy on stage, and the One More Productions\u2019 Nine <\/em>is a winning combination of talent, hard work, and performance, and in the end, it is simply stunning.<\/p>\n

“Nine”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gem Theatre<\/strong><\/p>\n

12852 Main St.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Garden Grove<\/strong><\/p>\n

714-741-9550<\/strong><\/p>\n

Runs through May 19<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Angela Hatcher One More Productions takes on the 1982 Tony Award-winning provocative musical, “Nine,” which was originally based on Director and Screenwriter Fellini\u2019s classic 1963 semi-autobiographical film 8 \u00bd. With book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, Nine follows the journey of celebrated and flamboyant Italian film director Guido Contini, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":5342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5324,5320,3245],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5343,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5341\/revisions\/5343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}