Ellen Dostal - Page 22

3-D Theatricals accomplishes its purpose effortlessly with AVENUE Q. Full of bright, bouncy songs and lyrics that make you do a double take, they prove you can get away with almost anything...as long is it's said by a puppet.

To the uninitiated, Zombie Joe's BLOOD OF MACBETH may look like merely a mad, manic assault on the senses, but there's a method to director Josh T. Ryan's madness. His version of the Scottish play (co-written with producer Zombie Joe) purposely shreds Shakespeare's tale into a ferocious - and often quite visceral - deconstruction...

SOMETHING OF SILVER, otherwise known as The Merchant of Venice with Music, is Tony Tanner's latest adaptation for Classical Theatre Lab & the City of West Hollywood's Free Shakespeare in the Park.

Denise Devin deftly directs a fast-paced intermission-less HAMLET with authority and skill at Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre; a risk that pays off handsomely as the production explores one man's psychological descent into evil.

What revels are in hand in Griffith Park this summer? An abundance of mirth, merriment, mischief, and magic, all part of Independent Shakespeare Co.'s 2012 summer of Free Shakespeare.

When producer Nathan Gardner saw the original Toronto production of the new musical, MY MOTHER'S LESBIAN JEWISH WICCAN WEDDING, he knew immediately that he wanted to bring it to the U.S. Set against the backdrop of the legalization of same sex marriage in Canada, this true story musical was the complete package: funny, heartwarming, original, AND boasted a strong message of love and acceptance. It's a cause and a show that he fully believes in, and it was enough to get us excited about it when we heard he was bringing it to Los Angeles for two concert performances on August 19 and 20.

I have seen the future. And it is ruled by cats. At least it is in Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza's LOLPERA, a fantastical absurdist opera that uses the internet phenomenon lolcats set to music to tell its story.

A well-thought out, carefully orchestrated Speed Merchant (of Venice), based on Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, is playing at Artworks Theatre as part of this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival.

This summer, Theatricum Botanicum examines the inequity of a rigid moralistic government and the effect upon its citizens in Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Director Ellen Geer maximizes the impact of the play's themes by moving the time period to the pressure cooker era of the late 1960s, a perfect choice for the Toganga Canyon venue which already feels like you've taken a trip back in time the minute you walk in.

Sacred Fools' STONEFACE: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton has raced to the top of my list of most recommended shows to see in Los Angeles this summer.

Our Focus on the Fringe preview of the Hollywood Fringe Festival continues with a spotlight on Carpe Noctem, Genetic Eddy, On the Rag to Riches, Robert and the Magic Mirror, and 30 Minute Musicals: Showgirls/Jurassic Park. Check them out below and get ready to Fringe-ify your June!

The first Native American musical by mother/son team of celebrated choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Tony Award nominee for direction and choreography of Broadway's Swing!, and Shaun Taylor-Corbett, who performed on Broadway and in the national tour of In the Heights, with music and lyrics by Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Chris Wiseman comes to Native Voices at the Autry, Saturday June 2nd at 7:30 pm.

Part Two of our Hollywood Fringe Festival series features two musicals that fit right in with the Festival's celebration of the arts, HAIR and The Last Five Years.

The third annual Hollywood Fringe Festival is gearing up for another celebration of the emerging arts in Hollywood. Here's Part One of our 'Focus on the Fringe Series' highlighting musical productions to consider adding to your Fringe dance card.

When it first came out in 1985, RE-ANIMATOR quickly became a hit among horror fans and established a cult following both for the film and its mad scientist, Jeff Combs, who played Herbert West. Graham Skipper plays West in the musical and is just as fiendish as his film counterpart and funnier than ever in the broadly drawn, extremely eccentric role.

Few artists are as truly homegrown as Los Lobos, the Grammy Award-winning East L.A. band whose eclectic musical style and distinctive voice are much loved by Angelenos of all ages and cultures. This is the first time their music will appear in a theatrical production and that reason alone is sure to drive audiences to see Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe.

Melissa Chalsma is one busy woman. Wife, mom, actor, director and full-time artistic director of Independent Shakespeare Co., she knows firsthand what it's like to try and balance more than you think you can. There's always time for a little girl talk though so between juggling kids and rehearsals we grabbed a few minutes to talk about ISC's upcoming performance of As You Like It, how storytelling shapes our world, and those L.A. streets paved with gold. Read on!

You might not expect a theatre company named Zombie Joe's Underground would be the typical place to find a fairy tale play based on the Brothers Grimm characters. What you would expect to find is Grand Guignol horror done up in genius ZJ fashion in productions like their long-running URBAN DEATH and ATTACK OF THE ROTTING CORPSES. This unique group of artists, however, loves to delve into worlds beyond the norm and explore them from a new perspective.

David O. talks about his latest collaboration with A Noise Within and what it's like to create the sound of Molière's The Bungler.

When Frank Wedekind wrote Spring Awakening in the late 1800's, he could hardly have imagined that a little over a century later his play would be transformed into a Tony Award-winning rock musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.