South Coast Repertory News

Lucky for us here in Southern California, going to the theater this time of year doesn't mean having to trudge through icy streets and snow-covered pavements! So this holiday season, spend some time with these top 5 yuletide-themed theatrical offerings for the holidays!

Stage Directors and Choreographers Workshop Foundation, The Pasadena Playhouse, and East West Players will present a forum to explore the current state of diversity in Southern California theatre focusing on the director's role and the questions: What's working? What aren't we doing? How can we work together to increase diversity in Southern California theatre? DIVERSITY: THROUGH THE DIRECTOR'S EYE is set for Today, December 16, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. at Pasadena Playhouse, 39 El Molino Ave, Pasadena, CA.

Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation presents its first season at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center - Air Supply on Saturday, January 25 at 8 pm; America on Saturday, February 22 at 8 pm; Broadway star Susan Egan, the original Belle of Beauty and the Beast, on Saturday, March 1 at 8 pm; and The Temptations on Saturday, June 7 at 8 pm.

Love in the modern world doesn't have an 'easy button;' it's complicated and sometimes not very convenient. Take a look at one contemporary and very complex relationship in the next production at South Coast Repertory: Trudy and Max in Love by Zoe Kazan The show runs Jan. 5-26, 2014, on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Lila Neugebauer directs.

The 2014 Studio SCR series at South Coast Repertory offers five works that: Earned honors including Best Comedy at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and Ovation Awards; Have been created by a MacArthur Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation fellowship recipient; Found inspiration in the writings of Tennessee Williams and Nathaniel Hawthorne; and Push the boundaries of the theatrical form through hip-hop culture, improvisation and science.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Workshop Foundation, The Pasadena Playhouse, and East West Players will present a forum to explore the current state of diversity in Southern California theatre focusing on the director's role and the questions:

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Other Desert Cities. A riveting new play by Pulitzer Prize nominee and creator of TV's hit drama Brothers & Sisters, Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities was named the Outstanding Play by the Outer Critics Circle and called 'the best new play on Broadway' by The New York Times. Jackson Gay returns to direct this new production after helming the Alley Theatre's productions of August: Osage County, Red andIntelligence-Slave.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced complete casting for the American premiere production of award-winning British playwright Roy Williams' stage adaptation of Alan Sillitoe's beloved short story THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER, directed by Leah C. Gardiner.

The world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis arrives at Segerstrom Center for the Arts on Friday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Segerstrom Hall. The much admired and critically acclaimed orchestra performs the music of Count Basie and Duke Ellington for its return visit to the Center. "One rarely hears this music played with such technical brilliance, stylistic authenticity and tonal sheen...Here were the throaty reeds, percussive trumpet blasts and visceral sense of swing that have made the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra the greatest large jazz ensemble working today," notes Chicago Tribune.

A new crop of local talent joins Goodman Theatre's artistic team for the 2013/2014 Season. The four Chicago-based writers named to the fourth season of the Playwrights Unit-a year-long residency program designed to support and develop new works-include Andrew Hinderaker, Gift Theatre ensemble member; Mickle Maher, cofounder of Theater Oobleck; Anne Garcia-Romero, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists; and Laura Schellhardt, who oversees undergraduate playwriting at Northwestern University. A partnership with Chicago Dramatists, the Playwrights Unit meets twice per month with members of the Goodman's artistic team to discuss their plays-in-progress and provide feedback for one another. The program includes readings of the playwrights' works-in-progress at Chicago Dramatists in early 2014, and culminates in summer 2014 with staged readings of their completed works at the Goodman. Playwrights Unit alumni include Greg Allen, Alice Austen, Ike Holter and Christopher Oscar Peña (2012/2013 Season); Philip Dawkins, Nambi E. Kelley, Elaine Romero and Martin Zimmerman (2011/2012 Season); and Seth Bockley, Lisa Dillman, Laura Jacqmin and Rohina Malik (2010/2011 Season).

The KahaneSwensenBrey Trio, comprised of Jeffrey Kahane, piano; Joseph Swensen, violin; and Carter Brey, cello, perform an evening of celebrated chamber music at Segerstrom Center for the Arts tonight, December 12 at Samueli Theater.

Casting has been announced for the Orange County engagement of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical. Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage at Segerstrom Center for the Arts from January 14 - 19, 2014.

A new work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp looks at loss, regret and the tenacity of hope. The play, The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois, is featured in the next NewSCRipts reading at South Coast Repertory today, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available through the Box Office at (714) 708-5555 or online at www.scr.orgA new work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp looks at loss, regret and the tenacity of hope. The play, The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois, is featured in the next NewSCRipts reading at South Coast Repertory today, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available through the Box Office at (714) 708-5555 or online at www.scr.org.

The Record Company will open for legendary blues guitarist B.B. King at his Segerstrom Center debut tonight, December 8 at 7 p.m. in Segerstrom Hall. The band is a rock/blues/roots trio based in Los Angeles and consists of Chris Vos (guitar, lead vocals, harmonica), Alex Stiff (bass, guitar, vocals), and Marc Cazorla (drums, pianos, vocals). Steeped in the classic sounds of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker along with the raw rock 'n' roll of The Stooges and The Yardbirds, The Record Company has burst onto the scene in a very short time.

Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, the performance space at Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles, is pleased to present Bahu-Beti-Biwi, a stunning solo performance that weaves together dance, theatre, live singing and more, by multi-talented performer Sheetal Gandhi on Thursday, February 6, 2014.

Laughter has long been considered the language of the soul and Four Clowns Jr. has embodied this message in their productions That Beautiful Laugh, a show that spoke to children and adults alike through laughter and a slew of touchingly funny vignettes, and Robin Hood, a hilarious clown-inspired adventure, which marked the company's most prestigious collaboration to date with South Coast Repertory. Now, in its latest endeavor Somewhere Like Earth, Four Clowns Jr. plans to feed the soul, not just with laughter, but with learning as well.

Now in its 10th year, Goodman Theatre's 2013 New Stages festival features five FREE new plays-two fully staged workshop productions performed in repertory plus three staged readings-in the Owen Theatre, today, December 7 - 22.

A new work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp looks at loss, regret and the tenacity of hope. The play, The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois, is featured in the next NewSCRipts reading at South Coast Repertory on Monday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available through the Box Office at (714) 708-5555 or online at www.scr.org.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts welcomes jazz master Dr. Lonnie Smith in his Center debut on February 21 and 22 in Samueli Theater. He will be joined by guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Johnathan Blake. Musician, composer, performer and recording artist, the Doctor is a guru of the Hammond B-3 organ. With a career that spans more than five decades, he is affectionately dubbed "The Turbanator" and has been featured on more than 70 albums and has performed with some of the best in the music industry. Today, a new generation of audiences and music makers are happily discovering and sampling his innovative and boundless grooves.

As the festive month of December approaches, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale ring in the season with a cornucopia of holiday shows. The Center presents three yuletide concerts, including the return of Fiesta Navidad with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (December 4), the Center debut of The Beach Boys performing their Christmas show (December 7) and American vocal ensemble The Manhattan Transfer entertaining with holiday favorites (December 16).