Ellen Geer News

Seeing a play where Shakespeare's unfortunate characters escape the city and seek refuge in the Forest of Arden is even more enjoyable when experienced in the idyllic setting of Theatricum Botanicum's natural outdoor theater. Every time I go, I am reminded what an oasis it is in a city overwhelmed with urban sprawl.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum will host a gathering of cast members from the long-running TV series The Waltons - in which Theatricum founder Will Geer starred as Grandpa Walton from 1972 until his death in 1978 - for a three-day weekend of tribute and reminiscence August 7-9. All proceeds from A Waltons Weekend will benefit Theatricum, a critically acclaimed Topanga-based non-profit organization that is renowned for its summer seasons of outdoor theater and music as well as for its educational programming.

The final entry in Theatricum Botanicum's 2015 'Americana' repertory season, Green Grow the Lilacs by Native American playwright Lynn Riggs is the rarely produced 1931 play that vied for the Pulitzer Prize and inspired the first mega-musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!. A rough-and-tumble love story with singing cowboys and classic folk music of the pioneering era, Green Grow the Lilacs will be directed by Ellen Geer for a July 11 opening.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its 2015 "Americana" season with August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts that unflinchingly - and uproariously - exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Mary Jo DuPrey directs for a June 20 opening.

A poignant look at justice and the human spirit as told through the eyes of a young girl, Christopher Sergel's stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, continues this summer's 'Americana' season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, opening tonight, June 13 at 7:30 p.m.

I confess to being very confused by the production. In this modern twist on Shakespeare's classic Romeo and Juliet, women play men and men play women. Or rather, women play male characters as men and men play female characters as women…I think.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its 2015 'Americana' season with August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by Tracy Letts that unflinchingly - and uproariously - exposes the dark side of the Midwestern American family. Mary Jo DuPrey directs for a June 20 opening.

A poignant look at justice and the human spirit as told through the eyes of a young girl, Christopher Sergel's stage adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, continues this summer's 'Americana' season at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, opening June 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum kicks off its 2015 'Americana' season with an all-American staging of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, re-set in the divided South of the post-Civil War era and featuring traditional American folk music and dance from that period. As You Like It opens on Sunday, June 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum is gearing up for another summer of theater, music and performance under the California oaks and summer skies of Topanga. The theme of Theatricum's 42nd annual Summer Repertory Season is 'Americana,' as the company sets out to explore who we are as Americans with a mix of American plays, Shakespeare performed with an American twist, toe-tapping Americana roots and folk music, buffet dinners in the gardens and more - making Theatricum a unique destination spot for locals and visitors alike.

What a wonder is love in the hands of a writer like Shakespeare. Through comedy, tragedy, sonnet and poem, the way he captures lovers and their essence is pure magic. In MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, bringing that magic to life rests largely with its leading man and lady, and when a company gets the pairing right, the experience is so thoroughly engaging you never want it to end.

"Botanicum Seedlings," Theatricum Botanicum's Development Series for Playwrights, is gearing up for 2015 by announcing a new submission window for playwrights from Sept. 1 - Dec. 1, 2014.

Romance, intrigue and crackling verbal wit. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday when Much Ado About Nothing joins the All-Shakespeare Summer Repertory Season tonight, July 12.

In Theatricum Botanicum's ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, the action begins and ends with a song. At rise it is the somber lamentation that accompanies a funeral procession and at the play's conclusion, an uplifting madrigal 'Sing We Enchant It.'

Romance, intrigue and crackling verbal wit. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday when Much Ado About Nothing joins the All-Shakespeare Summer Repertory Season on July 12.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicumcontinues its celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday with a new production of All's Well That Ends Well that joins the All-Shakespeare Repertory Season tonight, June 21. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

A frightening thing happens when a woman plays the title role in a gender-reversed King Lear; the betrayal and revenge between mother and sons takes on an added level of horror. What was already tragic to begin with, as originally written for a father and daughters, now feels even more threatening in the reverse.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum kicks off its All-Shakespeare Summer Season in celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday with a gender-reversed Lear for the 21st century, opening tonight, Saturday, June 7 at 8 p.m. in the theater's spectacular outdoor amphitheater in Topanga Canyon.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum celebrates the Bard's 450th Birthday with an All-Shakespeare Season under the stars and live oaks of Topanga Canyon.

Here are Summer Stages Picks from Broadwayworld's Ellen Dostal for what to see in Los Angeles and San Diego.