Ellen Dostal - Page 16

Kingsmen Shakespeare Company's production of HENRY V takes its cue from one of Shakespeare's most well-known speeches, 'O for a Muse of fire ,' the prologue to this play. In it, Shakespeare invites the audience to use its imagination in viewing what is about to transpire, to picture the battle scenes that will take place and the great kings who will lead their armies across the vast countryside, all represented on this humble stage.

Not even a wall can keep these lovers apart. This particular wall happens to be in modern-day East Jerusalem and as Theatricum Botanicum's production of ROMEO AND JULIET commences, chaos ignites at a checkpoint that divides Israel and Palestine. It is a city that has seen struggle for thousands of years and for one Muslim boy named Romeo and one Jewish girl named Juliet, not even their innocence can change the course of this story.

For the past seven years, composer Christopher Hoag has conjured up battle scenes, storms, romance, and adventure with his music for Kingsmen Shakespeare Company's annual summer festival. If you've seen one of their productions, you know how beautifully his rich orchestral scores enhance Shakespeare's text on their outdoor festival stage. He's back again this year writing music for two shows: the currently running Henry V, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, opening July 15. Here he talks about the process of bringing the world of Shakespeare's plays to life with music.

BUMPERSTICKER: THE MUSICAL conquers the Hollywood Fringe Festival with its terrific triple threat combination making it great for people who don't like musicals and even better for those who do. It's the right show in the right venue with the right cast, and a rousing good time from beginning to end.

We meet five women in Merri Biechler's new play OCCUPATION - three mothers and two daughters - none related by blood, all connected by something larger. The United States looks completely different than it did five years ago, before the terrorist takeover by an unnamed faction. Martial law is in effect. An undercurrent of anger bubbles just beneath the surface and we are told repeatedly that these are days of caution. 

In Sarah Kelly's new play, WAR STORIES, we meet four of them: Chelsea (Sarah Schreiber), an actress constantly attracted to catastrophe; Sam (Clayton McInerney), a writer whose motto is 'never fall in love with an actress'; Jen (Sarah Kelly) a therapist, and sucker for a good love story; and Jake (Brian Guest), an intense actor convinced that love is the worst. Four people. Four separate issues. All of them call LA home.

Playwright Carla Neuss lays it all out there in this autobiographical two-hander, starring Katelyn Schiller as The Virgin and Joshua Bross as a variety of past boyfriends. Schiller narrates the largely comedic piece, which combines the framework of a slide projector presentation with flashback scenes from her dating days, to explain her personal commitment to that all-important V card.

For 23 years, Angel City Chorale and Artistic Director Sue Fink have been bringing people together with their community-building world music concerts. Celebrating the spirit of diversity they make music in a wide variety of musical styles and for all people to enjoy. Up next for the illustrious group is Rhythm Planet, featuring the music of two-time Grammy-winning composer Christopher Tin and other world composers. These two family-friendly evenings (June 4 & 5 at 7pm) will feature 150 voices in a grand collaboration that celebrates the Earth's rich cultures and beauty. I asked Sue to share her thoughts about working with Christopher Tin on Rhythm Planet and what is in store for audiences this weekend.

Frozen fans will be ecstatic with the way Disney has re-imagined its much-loved blockbuster film for the stage, now that the doors to FROZEN - LIVE AT THE HYPERION are open on the Hollywood backlot of Disney California Adventure. And with its stunning state-of-the-art visual technology and heart-opening theatricality, it's safe to say that even Uncle Walt would be proud of his studio's latest creation.

Summer Shakespeare under the stars? In Hollywood that can only mean that it's time for SHAKESPEARE AT THE BOWL -- two performances only, August 30 and September 1. On these joyous evenings, actors from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre will perform classic scenes from the playwright's best works, directed by Iqbal Khan, adapted by the Globe's music director, Bill Barclay.

Lovers of the era of Busby Berkeley movie musicals are getting a double whammy of Golden Age goodness this month with a pair of musicals playing only two blocks from each other in Hollywood. I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU is already running at the mid-sized Ricardo Montalban Theatre on Vine and, very shortly, 42ND STREET will open at the much larger Hollywood Pantages. Both are inescapably linked by their subject matter.  

Attempting to produce all of Shakespeare's plays would be daunting task for any theatre company but one young group of actors has continued to stay the course. Over a ten-year period, the Porters of Hellsgate have produced twenty of the playwright's thirty-eight plays, steadily working toward their goal of being the first in Los Angeles to mount the entire canon. This season, they tackle three at once with HENRY VI, Parts 1, 2 & 3.

The destination for girls' night out in Southern California this month is definitely Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton. That's where 3-D Theatricals' revival of David Yazbek and Terrence McNally's THE FULL MONTY kicks into high gear for the next two weekends.

We tell a lot of stories in the theatre. Here in Los Angeles, however, we don't often tell stories that are authentically home-grown. FIGHTING SHADOWS is that rare exception, a deeply personal story of a Mexican-American boy who grew up in east L.A., survived abuse, gangs, prison, and drugs, ultimately overcoming every bad card dealt him. It is an important story and an especially meaningful one told with unflinching honesty and hard-won humility.

With a title like THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF TOLUCA LAKE: THE MUSICAL you wouldn't expect to see high art, but I at least thought this new musical would kill it in the comedy department. Instead, it trades on desperate humor, trite songs, stereotypical characters, and a storyline you've seen before. What could have been a smart, cheeky parody of The Real Housewives television franchise instead ends up feeling rather desperate. Even an audience packed with friends and family on opening night grew tired of applauding and a fair number of one-liners made no impact at all.

Something interesting happens when you remove race as the primary motivator in Shakespeare's OTHELLO. The play's message about the progression of evil becomes even more universal. What was a story about a man destroying another man because of the color of his skin is now part of a larger more enigmatic narrative exploring hate, jealousy, and obsession from a less obvious perspective. It also reveals how masterfully Shakespeare wrote the nuances of human frailty.

It was indeed an auspicious occasion at Chapman University on Saturday night where over a thousand guests gathered for the much-anticipated official opening of the Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts. The black tie event featured a concert performance by luminaries of the opera world, including Placido Domingo, Deborah Voigt, and Milena Kitic, joined by a number of Chapman alumni, the Chapman University Singers, and Alumni Choir. 

A very special production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is on stage right now at UCLA, presented by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. It features second- and third- year M.F.A. students from UCLA TFT's Department of Theater and is unique because it is being directed by Ellen Lauren, co-artistic director of New York's SITI Company and UCLA Visiting Associate Professor.

No one writes a story song like composer Ryan Scott Oliver. Known for his clever lyrics and the ability to create in a wide variety of musical styles, his is an exciting voice in the current musical theatre landscape. Broadway insiders marvel at the way he plays with musical language and captures a point of view that never fails to resonate deeply with the listener. It's no wonder the Pasadena native has already received a Richard Rodgers Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, and a Lucille Lortel nomination.

While she may not be as recognizable as Beatrice, Viola, Lady Macbeth or many of his more popular leading ladies, Margaret of Anjou is nonetheless a significant presence in Shakespeare's history plays - specifically the first tetralogy of the War of the Roses. In this 4-part series (Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3 and Richard III) she is a remarkable figure.