Little Miss Sunshine

Music & Lyrics by William Finn
Book by James Lapine
Directed by James Lapine

Based on the Academy Award-winning film, on life's winding road, sometimes you need to pull over and change direction. The Hoover family has seen better days. Richard, the father, is a floundering motivational speaker, Grandpa's been kicked out of his retirement home and Uncle Frank's been dumped by his boyfriend. Moody teenager, Dwayne, has taken a vow of silence, and overextended mom, Sheryl, can do little more than slap on a smile. But, when the youngest Hoover... energetic Olive, enters a regional children's beauty pageant, the family thinks that their luck could change and embarks on a cross-country trek, chasing the coveted title of "Little Miss Sunshine."

Little Miss Sunshine

Tony Kiser Theatre at Second Stage Theatre
Nov 14, 2013 - Dec 15, 2013

Premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse from February 15 - March 27, 2011

Photos by Joan Marcus & Sara Krulwich

  • Music and Lyrics by William Finn

    Book by James Lapine

    Directed by James Lapine

    Based on the film by Michael Arndt

    Produced by Second Stage Theatre

    Michele Lynch: Choreographer

    Beowulf Boritt: Set Designer

    Jen Caprio: Costume Designer

    Ken Billington: Lighting Designer

    Vadim Feichtner: Music Director

    Orchestrations by Michael Starobin

    Vocal Arrangements by Will Aronson

    Production Stage Manager: Scott Taylor Rollison

    Stage Managers Jennifer Rogers & Derek Michael DiGregorio

  • Hannah Rose Nordberg: Olive Hoover

    Stephanie J. Block: Sheryl Hoover

    Will Swenson: Richard Hoover

    Rory O'Malley: Frank Hoover

    Wesley Taylor: Joshua Rose

    Josh Lamon: Buddy

    David Rasche: Grandpa Hoover

    Jennifer Sánchez: Miss California

    Logan Rowland: Dwayne

    and Alivia Clark, Victoria Dennis, Miranda McKeon and Leonay Shepherd

Awards, Reviews & Features

2014 Drama Desk Awards

Nominated for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Stephanie J. Block)


“The 100-minute chamber musical is an ingenious, jaunty, sweet but not sticky sweet invention that honors the hit movie while, unlike so many adaptations, happily justifies its life on the stage... Reconceived after a 2011 LaJolla, Calif., premiere, deftly recast and restaged with high-imagination, low-tech flash, the show touches a lot of genuine problems with good humor and just a bit of serious anguish.”

Linda Winer for Newsday, 2013