Shari Barrett

Shari Barrett

Shari Barrett, a Los Angeles native, has been active in the theater world since the age of six - acting, singing, and dancing her way across the boards all over town. After teaching in secondary schools, working in marketing for several studios, writing, directing, producing, and performing in productions for several non-profit theaters, Shari now dedicates her time and focuses her skills as a theater reviewer, entertainment columnist, and publicist to "get the word out" about theaters of all sizes throughout the Los Angeles area.

As a 20-year member of the Board of Directors for Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse, one of the thriving community theater groups in Los Angeles, as well as writing for Broadway World LA, Stage and Cineme, and as the Stage Page columnist with Lan Newspapers, Shari is dedicated to promoting theaters of all sizes in the city. Shari has received recognition from the City of Los Angeles for her dedication of heart and hand to the needs of friends, neighbors and fellow members of society for her devotion of service to the people of Los Angeles, and is honored to serve the theater world in her hometown.




LEARN MORE ABOUT Shari Barrett

First Show:

South Pacific

Favorite Show:

Man of La Mancha

Favorite Stories:



MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

Interview: Jessica Lynn Johnson on Directing the 31st Annual LOS ANGELES WOMEN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL
Interview: Jessica Lynn Johnson on Directing the 31st Annual LOS ANGELES WOMEN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL
March 26, 2024

Founded in 1993 by Adilah Barnes and Miriam Reed, the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival holds the distinction of being the oldest Annual Solo Festival in Los Angeles celebrating powerful women performers. The 31st annual Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson, has a roster of accomplished co-hosts as well as performers during its six programs March 28-31, beginning with a Gala on Thursday night. I decided to speak with Jessica to find out more about the event and the honor being bestowed upon her at the event’s Gala.

Interview: Aaron Ellis on Portraying Leo Frank in PARADE at Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center
Interview: Aaron Ellis on Portraying Leo Frank in PARADE at Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center
March 5, 2024

Leo Frank led a comfortable life as a Jewish American in New York City who transferred to Marietta, Georgia to manage his wife’s uncle’s pencil factory. In 1912, he was accused of raping and murdering one of the young factory girls during the town’s July 4th parade, and was brought to trial where he was unjustly convicted. I decided to speak with actor Aaron Ellis on what it means to him to be taking on the role of Leo Frank, especially since the resurgence of racism and antisemitism are running rampant in the world today.

Interview: Playwright Catya McMullen on the World Premiere of ARROWHEAD produced by IAMA Theatre Company
Interview: Playwright Catya McMullen on the World Premiere of ARROWHEAD produced by IAMA Theatre Company
February 9, 2024

Catya McMullen (pictured), a native New Yorker, now finds herself at home in Los Angeles. While working in film and television, her life-long love of theater inspired her to write plays. The world premiere of Arrowhead is her first being presented here, produced by IAMA at Atwater Village Theatre, directed by Jenna Worsham. I decided to speak with Catya about her journey to writing the play, why she set it in Arrowhead, its themes, and how it speaks to different generations of women about love and sexual identity.

Interview: Renee O'Connor on Directing Roald Dahl's MATILDA the Musical for Encore Productions at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center
Interview: Renee O'Connor on Directing Roald Dahl's MATILDA the Musical for Encore Productions at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center
January 15, 2024

Renee O’Connor is perhaps best known as Gabrielle from the popular TV Show Xena Warrior Princess. Along with her roles in many movies, she is now stepping into the role of director for Encore Production’s Matilda, a musical extravaganza featuring cast members of all ages and backgrounds at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center on Friday, January 19 at 7:30pm, Saturday, January 20 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday, January 21 at 2:00pm. I decided to speak with Renee about directing the production, her search for the young performers needed in it, and to find out more about her other entertainment ventures.

Interview: Award-Winning Mezzo Soprano Audrey Babcock on Portraying Santuzza in Pietro Mascagni's CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
Interview: Award-Winning Mezzo Soprano Audrey Babcock on Portraying Santuzza in Pietro Mascagni's CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
January 8, 2024

The Verdi Chorus, the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, continues to celebrate its 40th Anniversary season by presenting its first full-length opera, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana for one performance only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on January 20, 2024, followed by a wine and dessert reception. I decided to speak with Audrey Babcock about taking on the challenging role of Santuzza as well as her history of performing opera around the world.

Interview: Riley Cole on Directing THE HARVEST Immersive Production for Last Call Theatre
Interview: Riley Cole on Directing THE HARVEST Immersive Production for Last Call Theatre
November 15, 2023

During the Hollywood Fringe Festival this past June, I twice attended the award-winning The Collective, the first Last Call Theatre immersive production directed by Riley Cole who is also directing the group’s upcoming immersive production called The Harvest, opening this December in downtown Los Angeles. I decided to speak with them about the show as well as how its creation compares to the other.

Interview: Zachary Reeve Davidson of Coin & Ghost On Directing MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE
Interview: Zachary Reeve Davidson of Coin & Ghost On Directing MAMA MAMA CAN'T YOU SEE
November 9, 2023

Zachary Reeve Davidson is the Founding Artistic Director of Coin & Ghost, the group presenting Mama Mama Can’t You See, an explosive new play about human connection and the mythology of war written by ex-Marine Stan Mayer and Cecilia Fairchild. Davidson is directing and choreographing, opening November 10 at Studio/Stage. Since the new play tells the story of being involved in a war from the viewpoint of a Marine, I decided to speak with Zachary about its creation and relevancy to our world today in which wars seem to be constantly in the news.

Interview: Writer/Director/Musician David P. Johnson on Creating Sally Spectre: The Musical at Theatre West
Interview: Writer/Director/Musician David P. Johnson on Creating Sally Spectre: The Musical at Theatre West
October 26, 2023

Each Halloween Season, many horror and science fiction offerings hit our stages. This year, David P. Johnson is bringing his Sally Spectre: The Musical back to Theatre West weekends through October 29. A combination horror and morality play, it centers around the ghost of a 5-year-old girl trying to escape from her locked bedroom where she was brutally murdered. But is this musical really for children? To find out, I decided to speak with David P. Johnson who not only wrote the book, music, and lyrics but also directs and co-produces it, and appears onstage accompanying the cast on keyboard during every performance.

Interview: Kelly Ruggirello on Long Beach Symphony's A BEATLES CELEBRATION with Classical Mystery Tour
Interview: Kelly Ruggirello on Long Beach Symphony's A BEATLES CELEBRATION with Classical Mystery Tour
October 14, 2023

Their 2023/2024 season opens on October 28, 2023, with A Beatles Celebration featuring the Classical Mystery Tour band who will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the first Beatles U.S. tour in 1964 as well as the Beatlemania they inspired. I spoke with the group's president Kelly Ruggirello about the upcoming season.

Interview: Anne Marie Ketchum on THIS, AND MY HEART: A PORTRAIT OF EMILY DICKINSON AND HER WORLDS THROUGH TEXT AND SONG
Interview: Anne Marie Ketchum on THIS, AND MY HEART: A PORTRAIT OF EMILY DICKINSON AND HER WORLDS THROUGH TEXT AND SONG
October 5, 2023

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Verdi Chorus, the group’s Music Director and Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, pianist/vocal coach Victoria Kirsch, and actor Linda Kelsey created This, and My Heart, A Portrait of Emily Dickinson and Her Worlds Through Text and Song, to be presented as a unique theatre/concert piece by the Verdi Chorus and the Sahm Family Foundation at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on October 15, 2023. I decided to speak with Anne Marie about how she decided to create the event and her plans to represent and honor Emily Dickinson.

Interview: Laural Meade on MS. TUCKER WILL SEE YOU NOW Celebrating the Life and Bawdy Humor of Sophie Tucker
Interview: Laural Meade on MS. TUCKER WILL SEE YOU NOW Celebrating the Life and Bawdy Humor of Sophie Tucker
September 20, 2023

In her tribute cabaret/theater act, Ms. Tucker Will See You Now, Los Angeles native Laural Meade shares her admiration of Jazz great Sophie Tucker by performing her rollicking songs, bawdy stories, and dirty jokes at the historic Gardenia Supper Club in Hollywood. It’s your chance to travel back to the glory days when such intimate settings were common place, both during and after Prohibition, where regular folks could hang out with Hollywood greats to enjoy an evening of dinner, drinks, music, and laughter in the presence of The Last of the Red Hot Mamas, a moniker Ms. Tucker earned throughout her lifetime.I spoke with Laural about the creation of her Sophie Tucker tribute show.

Interview: Matthew Quinn And Bertha Rodriguez of Combined Artform on the HOLLYWOOD INDEPENDENT THEATER FESTIVAL
Interview: Matthew Quinn And Bertha Rodriguez of Combined Artform on the HOLLYWOOD INDEPENDENT THEATER FESTIVAL
September 5, 2023

Those who attend the Hollywood Fringe Festival (HFF) surely know the married couple, Matthew Quinn and Bertha Rodriguez, producers and venue managers who have been putting together many selections since HFF began in 2010 via their company Combined Artform and Asylum venues. Continuing the celebration of independent plays, the duo has created the Hollywood Independent Theater Festival (HITFEST) https://hitfest.stagey.net/ opening in September featuring encore performances from this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. I interviewed the power couple to find out more about the new HITF.

Interview: Playwright Garry Michael Kluger on the World Premiere of WALKING IN SPACE at Theatre West
Interview: Playwright Garry Michael Kluger on the World Premiere of WALKING IN SPACE at Theatre West
August 27, 2023

Prolific writer Garry Michael Kruger is bringing the world premiere of his latest play, Walking In Space, to Theatre West for a five-week run beginning September 8, directed by Arden Teresa Lewis. It centers on a family in crisis with a drug-addicted single mother needing the assistance of her children to overcome her demons.

Interview: Susan Priver On Returning To Harold Pinter's A SLIGHT ACHE After 17 Years
Interview: Susan Priver On Returning To Harold Pinter's A SLIGHT ACHE After 17 Years
August 15, 2023

Seventeen years ago, Susan Priver starred as Flora opposite Henry Olek as Edward with Shelly Kurtz as the match seller in Harold Pinter’s A Slight Ache, a tragicomedy of manners that takes a funny, ominous, and unsettling journey into the human psyche. All three actors will reprise their roles in a visiting production of Pinter’s play, directed by Jack Heller at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A. from August 26 through October 1. I decided to speak with Susan about her experience with both productions of Pinter’s play.

Interview: Playwright Wendy Graf on EXIT WOUNDS World Premiere at International City Theatre
Interview: Playwright Wendy Graf on EXIT WOUNDS World Premiere at International City Theatre
August 15, 2023

The world premiere of Graf’s play Exit Wounds is taking place at International City Theatre in Long Beach for a three-week run, August 25 through September 10, directed by ICT producing artistic director caryn desai [sic]. I decided to speak with Wendy on her process for creating the play, being acknowledged as a best new play in such a prestigious competition, why she decided to hold the world premiere at ICT, and how she hopes audiences will connect with its story about healing, hope, and compassion when someone you love has committed a terrible crime.

Interview: David Hunt Stafford on PLAYS IN REP & READING SERIES at Theatre 40
Interview: David Hunt Stafford on PLAYS IN REP & READING SERIES at Theatre 40
July 27, 2023

David Hunt Stafford (pictured) is the Artistic Director and Managing Director of Theatre 40, posts he has proudly held since 2000 at the professional theater company located on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. I decided to speak with David about the current plays running in rep during July and August: Doris and Ivy in the Home, in which he appears, and One Moment of Freedom which he produces; and the group’s ongoing Reading Series showcasing new and well-known plays read by company members.

Interview: David Melville on Directing Shakespeare's Gritty Political Thriller JULIUS CAESAR
Interview: David Melville on Directing Shakespeare's Gritty Political Thriller JULIUS CAESAR
July 9, 2023

Given recent events and political drama, including propaganda used to sway the public, nothing should surprise modern audiences when it comes to politics. But perhaps the most well-known dramatic representation of political intrigue takes place in Shakespeare’s classic play Julius Caesar, which centers around the events that led to his assassination by Roman senators on the 'Ides of March' (March 15) 44 B.C.E.  I decided to speak with David Melville about how the production will differ from more traditional staging and why he decided it would be a good fit for audiences.

Interview: Director Susan Leslie on Martyna Majok's IRONBOUND at the Broadwater Second Stage July 14-16
Interview: Director Susan Leslie on Martyna Majok's IRONBOUND at the Broadwater Second Stage July 14-16
July 9, 2023

Writer and performer Susan Leslie is probably best known in the theatre world for her long association with writer/director, Del Shores, having appeared in six of his plays. And this month, she will be directing Martyna Majok’s play Ironbound, with three performances July 14-16 at The Broadwater Second Stage. I decided to speak with Susan about her decision to direct this play and why the short run is being presented as a benefit for WomenShelter of Long Beach.

Interview: Rainee Blake Talks Her Award-Winning Play And Performance In TAKE ME AS I AM: A JONI MITCHELL TRIBUTE
Interview: Rainee Blake Talks Her Award-Winning Play And Performance In TAKE ME AS I AM: A JONI MITCHELL TRIBUTE
July 6, 2023

Rainee Blake is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, actress and writer based in Los Angeles, perhaps best known for her role as Alannah on CMT’s popular show Nashville. But during this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival, Rainee brought her one-woman show Take Me As I Am, which offers audiences an intimate club experience in which she performs memorable songs and shares the stories which inspired them as folk singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, while playing both guitar and dulcimer. I decided to speak with her about the show’s development, her reaction to its award-winning reception at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival, where she has performed the show before, and what future plans she has to take it on the road.

Interview: Writer/Performer Romy Nordlinger on GARDEN OF ALLA: The Alla Nazimova Story at Theatre West
Interview: Writer/Performer Romy Nordlinger on GARDEN OF ALLA: The Alla Nazimova Story at Theatre West
June 28, 2023

During the Roaring 1920s until its closing on July 27, 1959, West Hollywood’s landmark Garden of Allah Hotel on Sunset Blvd. hosted the Hollywood elite looking to have a great time socializing and mingling without the prying eyes of the media or autograph seekers in their faces, or their beds for that matter. I decided to speak with Romy Nordlinger, the playwright and performer of Garden of Alla in which she shares the life of Alla Nazimova, a Jewish immigrant from Tsarist Russia who became a Broadway and silent film superstar, visionary Hollywood director and producer, LGBTQIA trailblazer, and creator of the hotel which became world famous on many levels, both famous and infamous.



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