Wendy Kesselman News

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce the 2014/15 Season, to include Isaac's Eye by Lucas Hnath, directed by Michael Halberstam; The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman, directed by Kimberly Senior; and Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, directed by William Brown.

Anne Alsedek directs a well-handled version of Open Stage's annual production -- its fifteenth year of presenting the powerful classic

vTalkback dates with director Austin Pendleton and Jen Danby have been confirmed for tonight, March 14 and March 16 & 22nd. The March 16th talkback will be led by Sissy Gamache of The Sissy Gamache Show.

During World War II, the gifted young Jewish girl chronicles her rapidly changing life as she and 7 others hide in an attic to avoid the terrors of Nazi rule. This transcendently powerful adaptation by Wendy Kesselman tells a deeper story by incorporating Holocaust survivor accounts and newly discovered writings from Anne Frank's diary.

During World War II, the gifted young Jewish girl chronicles her rapidly changing life as she and 7 others hide in an attic to avoid the terrors of Nazi rule. This transcendently powerful adaptation by Wendy Kesselman tells a deeper story by incorporating Holocaust survivor accounts and newly discovered writings from Anne Frank's diary.

If you have never seen THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK onstage, do not miss your chance to see it at the small black box Cupcake Theater in Hollywood, directed with a skilful hand and emotional insight by Sabrina Lloyd, starring Sigi Gradwohl as Anne Frank. Lloyd and Gradwohl present Anne's two-year ordeal hiding with her family during the German occupation of the Netherlands as a story of life, not death, and it is a true depiction of raw, daily survival during the Holocaust.

Sharon Tate in Heaven is a one woman odyssey about model and actress Sharon Tate. Sharon did some television work and made six films, her last with Orson Welles, and was on her way to international stardom. She met director Roman Polanski in 1967 when she was hired to play the lead in his film The Fearless Vampire Killers, fell madly in love, and married him. Two years later while pregnant with his child, a boy, she and four others were savagely killed by members of the Charles Manson 'family' in August 1969 when Manson, a frustrated musician who wanted to get revenge on the Establishment that rejected him, and with paranoid delusions about a Helter Skelter race war he wanted to start, set it in motion. At the home Sharon and Roman rented on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Sharon passed before being able to say goodbye to her husband or loved ones. In this one woman show, written and performed by Jen Danby (The Blonde Bombshell Project: Marilyn Monroe), and inspired by research into books, pictures, interviews, films, virtual explorations, and more, Sharon Tate is interviewed in Heaven moments after her death to talk about her life, acting, and love, as a Valentine message to her husband. At the juncture of an American Tragedy that is cultural memory, this is the story of the real Sharon Tate and it is a Love Story. Tickets on sale now at SharonTate.brownpapertickets.com

Wasatch Theatrical Ventures will present one of the great American plays of the 20th century, INHERIT THE WIND, written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, directed by the award-winning Kiff Scholl, produced by Racquel Lehrman/Theatre Planners. In a small town courtroom and with the eyes of the nation upon them, two legal giants face off over a teacher's right to teach evolution to a high school class in this critically acclaimed drama based on the Scopes Monkey Trial. As rousing and relevant today as it was when it debuted in 1955, INHERIT THE WIND is an edge-of-your-seat riveting look at the age-old conflict between science and religion. The play opens Friday, February 8th and runs through March 16th at the Grove Theatre Center in Burbank, CA.

The moving and meaningful 'Diary of Anne Frank' is currently playing at The Media Theatre. It runs through February 16. Check out a first look below!

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-sixth year. Chosen from over 100 submitted plays, the Finalists are

On February 15, 2014, the story of Anne Frank and her two-year ordeal hiding with her family during the German occupation of the Netherlands comes to Hollywood's Cupcake Theater, starring Sigi Gradwohl, a third-generation Holocaust survivor, as Anne Frank. THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK is a story of life, not death, and a depiction of raw, daily survival during the Holocaust. Told with wit and sentiment, this production is sure to hit home with a truth that still resonates today.

The Media Theatre is producing the 1997 adaptation of the legendary play 'The Diary of Anne Frank' today, January 29 to February 16, 2014. Wendy Kesselman adapted the play when it was revived on Broadway, based on the original text by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The revival was nominated for several Tony awards.

Tony-nominated and Obie-winning Chekhov director Austin Pendleton helms and appears in Mississippi Mud Productions' SeaGull69, a new version of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, The SeaGull. This is a world premiere of an adaptation by Austin Pendleton and the acting company drawing on Marian Fell's translation. Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, the play looks at family and friends pursuing the American dream of fame, love, and fortune in Hollywood, the land of dreams. Chekhov's sense of humor along with his tender and honest look at life is explored through the terrain of this family and their circle's life in Hollywood from 1969-1971. Tickets on sale online @ http://seagull69.brownpapertickets.com - $17 general admission, $14 student/senior.

Tony-nominated and Obie-winning Chekhov director Austin Pendleton helms and appears in Mississippi Mud Productions' SeaGull69, a new version of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, The SeaGull. This is a world premiere of an adaptation by Austin Pendleton and the acting company drawing on Marian Fell's translation. Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, the play looks at family and friends pursuing the American dream of fame, love, and fortune in Hollywood, the land of dreams. Chekhov's sense of humor along with his tender and honest look at life is explored through the terrain of this family and their circle's life in Hollywood from 1969-1971. Tickets on sale online @ http://seagull69.brownpapertickets.com - $17 general admission, $14 student/senior.

Tony-nominated and Obie-winning Chekhov director Austin Pendleton helms and appears in Mississippi Mud Productions' SeaGull69, a new version of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, The SeaGull. This is a world premiere of an adaptation by Austin Pendleton and the acting company drawing on Marian Fell's translation. Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, the play looks at family and friends pursuing the American dream of fame, love, and fortune in Hollywood, the land of dreams. Chekhov's sense of humor along with his tender and honest look at life is explored through the terrain of this family and their circle's life in Hollywood from 1969-1971. Tickets on sale online @ http://seagull69.brownpapertickets.com - $17 general admission, $14 student/senior.

The Media Theatre is producing the 1997 adaptation of the legendary play "The Diary of Anne Frank" January 29 to February 16, 2014. Wendy Kesselman adapted the play when it was revived on Broadway, based on the original text by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The revival was nominated for several Tony awards.

September 15th marked the 50th Anniversary of the tragic bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Senators and members of Congress marked the recent anniversary with ceremonies and speeches, recalling the tragic event as a major turning point in the civil rights movement. The bombing, which killed 4 young girls, prompted calls to action from Martin Luther King, Jr, in his famous 'What murdered these four girls' speech. On November 21st, at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, this historical event will be commemorated with a one-day-only performance of THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM, 1963. The play, based on a popular book by Christopher Paul Curtis, will be performed for the first time in California.

September 15th marked the 50th Anniversary of the tragic bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Senators and members of Congress marked the recent anniversary with ceremonies and speeches, recalling the tragic event as a major turning point in the civil rights movement. The bombing, which killed 4 young girls, prompted calls to action from Martin Luther King, Jr, in his famous 'What murdered these four girls' speech. On November 21st, at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, this historical event will be commemorated with a one-day-only performance of THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM, 1963. The play, based on a popular book by Christopher Paul Curtis, will be performed for the first time in California.

Obie- Award winning and Tony nominated director Austin Pendleton directs Tennessee Williams' Cat on A Hot Tin Roof in a new Indie theatre production with the Mississippi Mud. This is the play that Ben Brantley described as Williams' 'most impassioned and articulate statement on human isolation, the wrenching problems of communication between people and the ways in which death defines life.' It is brought to life in a new intimate bold raw space production that unfolds in 'real time' and places center stage the lush language of this modern classic fable.

Obie- Award winning and Tony nominated director Austin Pendleton directs Tennessee Williams' Cat on A Hot Tin Roof in a new Indie theatre production with the Mississippi Mud. This is the play that Ben Brantley described as Williams' 'most impassioned and articulate statement on human isolation, the wrenching problems of communication between people and the ways in which death defines life.' It is brought to life in a new intimate bold raw space production that unfolds in 'real time' and places center stage the lush language of this modern classic fable.