Shari Barrett
Shari Barrett, a Los Angeles native, has been active in the theater world since the age of six - acting, singing, and dancing her way across the boards all over town. After teaching in secondary schools, working in marketing for several studios, writing, directing, producing, and performing in productions for several non-profit theaters, Shari now dedicates her time and focuses her skills as a theater reviewer, entertainment columnist, and publicist to "get the word out" about theaters of all sizes throughout the Los Angeles area. As a founding member of the LA Stage Alliance Leadership Council Task Force, she and reps from theaters throughout the city worked together to articulate a vision for the theater community of Greater Los Angeles.
Shari is a member of the Board of Directors for Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse, one of the thriving community theater groups in Los Angeles, and the Publicist for CRE Outreach at The Blue Door, a theater group dedicated to providing artistic expression for those with all disabilities, military veterans, and at-risk youth.
Along with being on the dedicated team of Broadway World theater reviewers in Los Angeles, Shari writes a weekly "Stage Page" column in the Culver City News featuring local theater news and reviews.
Shari has received recognition from the City of Los Angeles for her dedication of heart and hand to the needs of friends, neighbors and fellow members of society for her devotion of service to the people of Los Angeles, and is honored to serve the theater world in her hometown.
Review: World Premiere MARTIANS: AN EVENING WITH RAY BRADBURY Takes Audiences on an Imaginative Journey to Life on Mars
Review: 26 PEBBLES Shares True Tales from Sandy Hook's Accidental Activists Working Together to Heal
Review: THE CAKE Proves That Love is Always the Key Ingredient in Life
Review: Space Oddity Featuring David Brighton Brings The Ultimate David Bowie Experience to the El Portal in NoHo
BWW Review: Journey Back to Borscht Belt Glory Days at A NIGHT IN THE CATSKILLS
BWW Review: Two Actors Take on Ten Roles in THE TURN OF THE SCREW at the Art of Acting Studio
Review: SHE LOVES ME Musically Shares a Timeless Tale of Mistaken Identity and Romantic Love
Review: A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN Celebrates the Queen of Rock and Roll's Glory Days and Early Blues Influences
Review: SELL/BUY/DATE Highlighted by Sarah Jones' Masterful, Multiple, Multicultural Characterizations
Review: DEAR JOHN, WHY YOKO? Musically Celebrates the Love that Survived Despite Overwhelming Odds
BWW Review: PARADISE, a Divine Bluegrass Musical Comedy Made Great Again at Ruskin Group Theatre
Review: INTO THE WOODS Honored by Cupcake Studios on the 30th Anniversary of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony Award Winning Musical
BWW Review: ENCORE Entertains Audiences with Fun-Filled MARY POPPINS Musical
Review: IN ANOTHER ROOM Offers Site-Specific Haunted House Immersive ExperiencesOctober 19, 2018
IN ANOTHER ROOM is a site-specific immersive play in which guests will wander the rooms of a purportedly haunted house in Culver City, coming face to face with various souls that have lived and died and suffered tragedy within its walls. After meeting with two hosts, one of whom will take your photo to be sure your soul is clear enough to enter the house without disrupting the spirits there, a ploy of course as the photos will become part of the show later on, guests are invited to knock on the front door for entrance into the evening's adventure.
BWW Review: American Premiere of OPPENHEIMER Initiates Rogue Machine Move to VeniceOctober 17, 2018
Those who lived through the World War II years will certainly recognize the name of ambitious and charismatic J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Berkeley-trained scientist who found himself called upon to spearhead the largest scientific undertaking in all of human history: the Manhattan Project and the creation of the Atomic bomb which the United States government believed would bring about a swift end to World War II. And although it did that, what was the cost on those involved with the project or subjected to its first tests without proper protection from the released radiation, as well as those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the bombs were exploded over those cities. Was it even wise to develop the ability to split atoms given how the world has changed since then or the threat of total annihilation which hangs over us daily?
BWW Review: Two Actors Take on Ten Roles in THE TURN OF THE SCREW at the Art of Acting StudioOctober 11, 2018
The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company is presenting a limited engagement of Henry James' classic horror tale THE TURN OF THE SCREW in an adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher under the direction of Don K. Williams, featuring Sean Spann and Emily Sulzberger playing a total of 10 roles between them. It's a tale of a young governess just before the turn of the last century who is tasked with the care of two rather peculiar children at a country estate in England. Within a week of arriving, the governess comes to believe the children are possessed by the previous groundskeeper and governess who have since died. But is that really the case?
Review: Space Oddity Featuring David Brighton Brings The Ultimate David Bowie Experience to the El Portal in NoHoOctober 7, 2018
Space Oddity - The Ultimate David Bowie Experience is a live, multi-media spectacle that takes you on a musical journey through the constantly metamorphosing career of Rock and Roll's most celebrated innovator, starring David Brighton who inhabits the mind, body and soul of David Bowie and his amazing Space Oddity band. I guarantee you will experience a stunning note-for-note theatrical concert event which transports audiences back in time through some of the most exciting moments in the history of Rock music. From the moment the concert begins, you will experience Bowie's miraculous transformation from space-aged rock idol to polished mainstream media star via his timeless classics that forever changed the face of pop culture. David Brighton's salute to the most electrifying performer of our time will have you believing you are in the presence of Bowie reincarnated.
BWW Review: Journey Back to Borscht Belt Glory Days at A NIGHT IN THE CATSKILLSSeptember 30, 2018
For those too young to remember those days, just think about the movie "Dirty Dancing" to get a sense of the rustic environment known as The Catskills, referred to the 'Mountains' or the "Borscht Belt" about ninety minutes north of New York City, which was the place to be for Jewish families to enjoy an escape from the big city during the hot summer months of the 50's and 60's. Days were spent eating, exercising, eating, dancing, napping, eating, laying in the sun, then getting a nosh before enjoying each evening's entertainment featuring a great many of the comedians who began their careers there before becoming major stars.
Review: 26 PEBBLES Shares True Tales from Sandy Hook's Accidental Activists Working Together to HealSeptember 29, 2018
Written in much the same style as The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman where a small group of actors portray several characters sharing their experience of living through a tragic local event and its aftermath on the town, Eric Ulloa's 26 PEBBLES does not just recount what happened on December 14, 2012, but is more about how the people of the Newtown community reached out to their neighbors to bond, cope and heal from that devastating tragedy in order to move forward with their lives to a more hopeful future.
THE BOYS NEXT DOOR Director Jeremy Aldridge and Disabled Actor August McAdoo to Appear on AUTISM LIVESeptember 27, 2018
Please tune in to Shannon Penrod's interview on Autism-Live.com with THE BOYS NEXT DOOR director Jeremy Aldridge and featured actor August McAdoo on Thursdays October 4 and 18 at 11:45 AM Pacific Time on both dates, at which time they will be talking about their involvement with those on the Autism spectrum as well as their participation in the CRE Outreach production opening Friday, October 12 through Saturday, November 10, 2018 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm (except dark 10/21) at The Blue Door, 9617 Venice Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.
BWW Review: A 60's TRILOGY Recounts Three Iconic Moments in an Era That Changed the WorldSeptember 27, 2018
Those of us who can remember the tumultuous 1960s will certainly see moments of our own lives in the World Premiere of A 60's TRILOGY by Tommy Carter which connects race relations and the Vietnam War to present day. And on this 50th Anniversary of the Tet Offensive and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F. Kennedy, this first project between USVAA Vets Repertory and Revenant Stage (formerly The Elephant Theatre), directed by David Fofi, is sure to add fire to the flame of social revolution in the air today.
Review: World Premiere MARTIANS: AN EVENING WITH RAY BRADBURY Takes Audiences on an Imaginative Journey to Life on MarsSeptember 26, 2018
Most of the MARTIANS text is taken from Ray's own words from interviews and books he's written on the art of writing, as well as adaptations of his Martian stories The Strawberry Window, The Blue Bottle, The Messiah and Night Call, Collect. Adapted with and directed by Jeff G. Rack, Mount personifies Bradbury to a tee as, acting as our guide to mankind's next great adventure to the planet Mars, allowing us to get to know the mind and heart of the great writer who believes that humanity can only survive by carrying our culture out into the Universe. In fact, one of Bradbury's favorite films was Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 'Going to the stars, taking your culture with you, and living forever! That's what it's all about!' Bradbury said. That's the theme explored in MARTIANS: AN EVENING WITH RAY BRADBURY.
FIRST LOOK: SILENCE! THE MUSICAL by Bucket List Theatre, Opening 10/11 at Let Live TheatreSeptember 25, 2018
Here's your first look at staged photos from Bucket List Theatre's production of SILENCE! THE MUSICAL, a bawdy, raunchy tribute to the iconic movie "The Silence of the Lambs." This hilarious musical parody returns Los Angeles for the first time following its highly acclaimed 2012 run at The Hayworth Theatre where it won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award - Musical Score (2012). Original Los Angeles cast member Jesse Merlin stars as Dr. Hannibal Lecter along with Amanda Conlon as Clarice Starling, and a multi-talented cast featured in these photos who will provide a silly and suspenseful salute to the film.
Review: SHE LOVES ME Musically Shares a Timeless Tale of Mistaken Identity and Romantic LoveSeptember 23, 2018
SHE LOVES ME, the 1963 Broadway musical with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, was based on Miklos Laszlo's 1937 play, Parfumerie, a warm, gentle comedy that follows the tangled dating life of perfume shop employee Georg Horvath whose dating life goes awry when he discovers that the stranger he has fallen in love with through a secret correspondence is none other than Amalia Balash, a co-worker with whom he constantly bickers. This universal tale about mistaken identity and romantic love went on to become the inspiration for the classic films The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Ole Summertime, and Nora Ephron's 1998 box office hit You've Got Mail in which Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan took their secret romance online through emails.
Review: THE CAKE Proves That Love is Always the Key Ingredient in LifeSeptember 22, 2018
When Della and her Goddaughter Jen have a truthful heart-to-heart about making the decision whether or not the wedding cake will be baked at Della's Sweets, even though you may need a Kleenex, listen closely to the truthful honesty with which the lines are delivered by these two actresses dedicated to showing audiences that neither side is right nor wrong, just diametrically opposed and correct to each of them. And I am not revealing whether or not Della bakes the cake or even attends the wedding as the truth is revealed during the final moments of the play when THE CAKE proves that love is always the key ingredient in life.
Review: A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN Celebrates the Queen of Rock and Roll's Glory Days and Early Blues InfluencesSeptember 16, 2018
Like a comet that burns far too brightly to last, Janis Joplin exploded onto the music scene in 1967 and, almost overnight, became the Queen of Rock 'n' Roll. Davies carries on and mimics the unmistakable raspy voice filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort to a tee, her stage presence making it easy to see what made Joplin a must-see headliner from Monterey to Woodstock and beyond even to this day, so many years after her too-soon passing at the age of 27. After listening to Davies' sharing of Janis' life, it is easy to think the rock legend died from not only from drugs and alcohol but from her lonely co-dependent longing for a man to share her life, equaling her love of the spotlight and adoration received from a live audience, which she could never find. Davies' renditions of Joplin favorites, including Summertime, Piece of My Heart, Cry Baby, and Me and Bobby McGee among others, ignite the stage and audiences alike with a passion no man in her life could ever match.
Review: THE UNTRANSLATABLE SECRETS OF NIKKI CORONA Takes Audiences on a Phantasmagorical Journey to What's BeyondSeptember 15, 2018
Have you ever wished for one more chance to say something to someone who has passed away suddenly? What if there was an organization that could arrange for messages to be delivered to those who have died by pairing you up with someone terminally ill who agrees to deliver that message once they have passed on? Would you do it? And what if it was extraordinarily expensive with no way of knowing if your message was ever received? That is the simple magical premise of THE UNTRANSLATABLE SECRETS OF NIKKI CORONA, a new play written by Obie Award-winning playwright Jose Rivera, premiering at the Geffen Playhouse through October 7.
Review: BARK! The Musical is a Fabulous, Episodic Song Fest to the Glory of DOGSeptember 14, 2018
Anyone who has had a loving dog as their companion will certainly understand the glory of waking up next to the best friend you could possibly ever have. No doubt among those people are the men who created BARK! The Musical, composer David Troy Francis; book by Mark Winkler and Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, with lyrics by Gavin Geoffrey Dillard, Mark Winkler, Robert Schlock, Jonathan Heath and Danny Lukic, when they created such a fabulous, episodic song fest to the glory of dog, musically communicated from six very different types of pooches as each awaits a happy reunion with their master at the end of the day.
Review: SCHOOL GIRLS Offers a Heartwarming, Heartbreaking and Ultimately Hysterical Modern Morality TaleSeptember 11, 2018
Any teenage girl enrolled in any secondary school around the world can tell you how they were tormented or teased by other girls for some reason, be it their weight, height, hair, or lack of the latest hip clothing to wear. Based only on physical appearance, little regard was paid by the most popular Queen Bee to the real circumstances of others' lives which prevented others from living up to her unrealistic expectations of those she was willing to call 'friends' in her inner circle. I can certainly remember being excluded from the more popular groups of friends in high school, not only for my weight but for my lack of interest in boys and obsession with The Beatles. Think back and I bet you can remember similar experiences you lived through or how you made fun of others you perceived as not being worthy of your inner circle friendship.
Photo Flash: Four Disabled Actors Featured as Disabled Characters in THE BOYS NEXT DOOR at The Blue DoorSeptember 10, 2018
CRE Outreach is pleased to present THE BOYS NEXT DOOR by Tom Griffin, a comedy-drama centering on a caring social worker who supervises four disabled men (portrayed by actors with disabilities) living together in an apartment while learning to face their daily challenges together. We all fight with filters and obstacles in our lives, but the actors and characters in this production face challenges steeper than most. It is the experience and living truth of the actors that will fill these disabled characters' stories with physical and emotional authenticity.
Review: SWEAT Explores Brutal Realities of Working the Line With Blinders OnSeptember 9, 2018
It has often been said that the work-a-day world is made up of blood, sweat and tears. Perhaps that is most true for blue collar workers who find themselves laboring with their hands, especially in factories where those on the line are required to stand for hours on end doing repetitive work with little hope of any real recognition or promotion into management. Such is the case of the characters in Center Theatre Group's production of SWEAT, the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, now at the Mark Taper Forum through October 7, 2018.
BWW Review: THE PSYCHIC Offers Plenty of Comedy, Mystery, Murder and MayhemAugust 28, 2018
Struggling to pay the rent, Adam (Brian Patrick Roach) has put up a sign offering "Psychic Readings $25" to save himself from being thrown out on the street. And even though he has never had any psychic abilities nor done any type of reading before, several interesting characters show up, each offering decorating tips before paying the fee, expecting to find out something about themselves. From the beginning, it was pretty clear to me that the visitors would turn out to be characters being born in Adam's laptop, very stereotypical of the types of people they were playing. But it was easy to play along and watch the story in his mind play out onstage.
Review: THE TONY MARTINI VARIETY HOUR Takes You Hysterically Back to the Heyday of Rat-Pack Era Las Vegas Lounge ActsAugust 24, 2018
For those too young to remember the vaudevillian style lounge shows popular in the 50s and 60s in Las Vegas, where an iconic and often talented performer in their own right hosted other acts to keep gamblers entertained as they visited the lounge bar for a drink, looked for a companion for the night, or needed time to recover from a huge loss at the tables, you can now experience a little bit of old Vegas, right here in Hollywood. And I can tell you, I don't remember laughing as hard as I did the night I attended THE TONY MARTINI VARIETY HOUR at Three Clubs Cocktail Lounge, rumored to be the exact same place where Frank Sinatra would hang out with his assorted Rat Pack buddies, friends, and lovers during their own Las Vegas heyday. And that vibe still exists in the room where those great entertainers wowed the crowds so many years ago.
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