Ed Krieger News

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is excited to present the smash-hit, Wallis Annenberg Theatre production of BLUES IN THE NIGHT, with musical direction by Abdul Hamid Royal and conceived & directed by Sheldon Epps. Comments Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard, 'We are delighted to have the opportunity to move the critically acclaimed Wallis Theatre production to the Laguna Playhouse. With Sheldon and Abdul leading our extraordinary cast and creative team, our subscribers and audiences should get ready to be knocked out by this roof-raising exciting new production!'

A mysterious traveler, a horny barkeep, and a sensuous woman are trapped in a dive bar with an abundant supply of bourbon, yet all three are strangers in a place hundreds of miles from anywhere else during a windstorm that keeps them trapped together in the only shelter. Sure, anything could happen, especially when the mystery of who they are begins to unravel and it becomes apparent one of them is after someone else there. But who is it and what do they really want? And what does a recurring nightmare have to do with it? Whatever happens, one thing is certain: There will be hell to pay.

Every January I look forward to attending THE MANOR by Katherine Bates, presented by Theatre 40 inside the historic Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills where the story upon which it is based actually took place. Now celebrating its 17th year, the annual production has become a Los Angeles/Beverly Hills institution with several performances selling out even before tickets go on sale to the public. Its popularity, no doubt, is due to the scandalous true story as told by the talented actors, costumed to time-period perfection, as well as the chance to be inside the grand and glorious architectural landmark in which the events of 90 years ago actually took place, performed in two acts taking place 10 years apart. The names of all characters in the Doheny saga have been changed, of course, "to protect the guilty" as we are told before the play begins by the mansion's loyal butler, James (Daniel Lench who has masterfully played the part for 6 years).

Rod Serling's television anthology series The Twilight Zone was a popular and critical success when it ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964, shot entirely in black and white. The series introduced many Americans to appreciate stories in various genres including fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror and psychological thrillers, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, usually ending with a moral explained by the writer himself. It has remained so popular that you can often find The Twilight Zone marathons running on various television stations, especially on holidays. As a fan of the show, I often watch episodes when they are shown, keeping my The Twilight Zone Companion handbook close by to check on facts and cast information from each episode. So I made plans to attend when I heard Theatre 40 was going to be presenting ROD SERLING'S STORIES FROM THE ZONE adapted and co-directed by multiple Ovation Award winning set designer Jeff G. Rack and Charlie Mount.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE presents the fourth show in its 98th season, four-time Emmy winner Michael Learned ("The Waltons") and Lance E. Nichols (HBO's "Treme") staring in the Pulitzer Prize award-winning play, DRIVING MISS DAISY, written by Alfred Uhry and directed by Michael Bloom.  

What would Christmas in LA be without the Troubies? A lot less funny. Happily, artistic director, writer, and head jokester Matt "Mashup" Walker and his coterie of clowns aren't about to let anyone down. Not only are they back with their seventeenth annual holiday show, they're proving just how smart they really are when it comes to delivering a performance that has its finger on the pulse of what's happening now.

Whether you are familiar with The Nutcracker ballet or not, you will definitely find huge laughs and great holiday mirth with Sandra Tsing Loh and her Sugar Plum Fairy, This, however, is definitely a show for adults or mature teens, preferably those into the performing arts.. Young teens in school  theatre understand aspirations, jealousy and failures, but it would not be easy for them to extrapolate the humor. Now onstage at the Skylight on Vermont in Hollywood, Sugar Plum Fairy is best described as 'the magic in putting on a show'.

Two new character-driven relationship plays, both by award-winning women writers and both inspired by events currently at the forefront of our national consciousness, beat out 1241 other submissions in the inaugural Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative. Hart NPI artistic director Christopher Hart will direct Silver Medallion-winning plays Confederates by Suzanne Bradbeer, opening Nov. 9, and Exit Wounds by Wendy Graf, opening Nov. 16, atGrove Theater Center in Burbank, where the two plays will continue to run in repertory through Dec. 16. One will be named the Gold Medallion winner and open on March 13, 2019 for a six-week, off-Broadway run in the 196-seat "Theater A" at 59E59 Theaters in New York City.

It is Bo's hard-learned lesson about romance and respect that keeps BUS STOP in the forefront as one of the great classic American romance stories. And thanks to the talented cast and director Ann Hearn Tobolowsky's attention to detail and effective use of freeze framing cast members while others speak, these well known characters will reach out and grab you by the heart, stirring your emotions as lessons are learned, partnerships are formed, and everyone gets exactly what they want by the time the road re-opens, especially a naive cowboy and a 19-year old hick singer from the Ozarks determined to make a better life for herself.

Two-time Academy Award winner and Tony Nominee, Al Kasha. Two-Time Tony winner producer Ron Dante, multiple award-winning hit songwriter Phil Swann, acclaimed author and poet, Sam Bennett, and director-choreographer Kay Cole have woven the two-year courtship of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis into a funny and touching two-character musical that is both poignant, and endearing.  A true Hollywood love story made both human and timeless.

The venerable playwright Josefina Lopez is will be tapping into new ground as a writer with her latest collaborative work, the World Premiere of REMEMBERING BOYLE HEIGHTS, an audience participatory, immersive and theatrical celebration, created and devised by Josefina Lopez, Corky Dominguez and the REMEMBERING BOYLE HEIGHTS Ensemble. Contemporary gentrification debates unlock the early history, stories and memories of Boyle Heights revealing the mythical and human dimensions of L.A.'s own Ellis Island of the West.

5-STAR THEATRICALS (formerly Cabrillo Music Theatre) opens its 2018-2019 season with the Thousand Oaks premiere of SHREK THE MUSICAL, with music by Jeanine Tesori, book & lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, musical direction by Dan Redfeld, choreography by Karl Warden and will be directed by Kirsten Chandler. SHREK THE MUSICAL opens on Friday, October 19, 2018 and runs through Sunday, October 28, 2018 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.  

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE presents the third show in its 98th season with the perfect show for Halloween, the Tony Nominated Best Play, THE SEAFARER, written by Conor McPherson (The Weir) and directed by Ovation Award winner Michael Matthews (The Graduate).  Executive Director Ellen Richard comments, "I love the writing in this play so much and we are thrilled to be presenting it, especially at this time of year." Adds Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham, "I've looked forward to producing this play for 10 years and the moment has arrived.  An exceptional cast, an extraordinary director and a play that is funny, chilling and a perfectly spooky Irish ghost story for the season!" THE SEAFARER will begin previews on Wednesday, October 17; will open on Sunday, October 21 at 5:30pm and perform through Sunday, November 4, 2018 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Drive in Laguna Beach.

The venerable playwright Josefina Lopez is will be tapping into new ground as a writer with her latest collaborative work, the World Premiere of REMEMBERING BOYLE HEIGHTS, an audience participatory, immersive and theatrical celebration, created and devised by Josefina Lopez, Corky Dominguez and the REMEMBERING BOYLE HEIGHTS Ensemble. Contemporary gentrification debates unlock the early history, stories and memories of Boyle Heights revealing the mythical and human dimensions of L.A.'s own Ellis Island of the West.

Written in much the same style as The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman where a small group of actors portray several characters sharing their experience of living through a tragic local event and its aftermath on the town, Eric Ulloa's 26 PEBBLES does not just recount what happened on December 14, 2012, but is more about how the people of the Newtown community reached out to their neighbors to bond, cope and heal from that devastating tragedy in order to move forward with their lives to a more hopeful future.

5-STAR THEATRICALS (formerly Cabrillo Music Theatre) opens its 2018-2019 season with the Thousand Oaks premiere of SHREK THE MUSICAL, with music by Jeanine Tesori, book & lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, musical direction by Dan Redfeld, choreography by Karl Warden and will be directed by Kirsten Chandler. SHREK THE MUSICAL opens on Friday, October 19, 2018 and runs through Sunday, October 28, 2018 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.  

5-STAR THEATRICALS opens its 2018-2019 season with the Thousand Oaks premiere of SHREK THE MUSICAL

Subtitled 'A Light Comedy About Dark Jews,' we meet Bubby as she prepares a much-too-salty matzo ball soup for Rosh Hashana dinner in a period-perfect kitchen as the center piece of a realistic two-story set designed by Joel Daavid in anticipation of her entire family gathering to celebrate the holiday. Even her son and grandson will be there, a special evening (she hopes) as the two have not spoken to each other in years. But after continuously forgetting to bring home the chicken for dinner, Joey's alcoholic father David finally shows up at the table, causing alliances to be challenged and hopefully, new beginnings to be forged. And leave it to Zayda to show up at just the right moments to forward the story and add his own insights into his family's history and character. Oy vey!

This satirical musical hoedown about living the American Dream tells the tale of what happens when the town gets convinced by the new Preacher as their "For Profit Prophet" and the son of a reality TV producer from Hollywood, Peter Martinez (Jamie Daniels), that the way to its salvation, fame and fortune is through being the subject of a new "Reality TV" show so the Preacher can raise funds to build a new "Mega-Church" in town to spread the gospel and bring more citizens into his flock. After all, he claims, "If they believe 'The Bachelor' is real, they'll believe anything."

Acclaimed TV and film actor John Pleshette(Knots Landing, Murder One, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and stand-up comedian and actress Cathy Ladman (I'm Dying Up Here, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Scandal) - a late-night favorite who has made numerous appearances on The Tonight Showand has her own HBO One Night Stand special - anchor the ensemble cast of an outrageous new comedy inspired by a true story about "family dysfunction, atonement and matzo balls." Took A Cab Productions and the world-famousImprov comedy club chain present the world premiere of Jews, Christians and Screwing Stalin by Mark Lonow and Jo Anne Astrow. Lonow directs for an Aug. 18 opening at the Matrix Theatre, where performances will continue through Sept. 23.