Shari Barrett - Page 4

Strife, a rarely produced play by Nobel Prize-winning writer and social activist John Galsworthy explores the complexities of labor relations, a theme that resonated with both Galsworthy and the Geer family of actors and theater directors. Here's my interview with Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer about presenting it at Theatricum Botanicum.

As Baby Boomers reach their late seventies, tales of dementia cases fill the news, posing the question of how joy, love, and happiness can still exist when our memory starts to fade.

The play is a high-octane, verbal cage match about love and fidelity that follows Jackie, recently released from prison, and his volatile relationship with Veronica, who is not sober.

P3 Theatre Company’s Cozy Cabaret Series was created to present a platform for local professional theatre artists and nonprofit arts organizations to showcase their talents and bring quality arts into the community, and to serve as a fundraising series to help P3 Theatre Company continue to pursue its mission and vision to help make the world a better place through the arts. Here's my interview with Jon Peterson on the creation and future plans for the Cozy Cabaret series.

Opening on July 18, directed by Elina de Santos at Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica, I decided to speak with the production’s leads Luisa and Matt, Sophie Pollono and Rhett Hemingway, about their journey to join the cast, their past experience with the musical, and their feelings about taking the story from the dreamy moonlight into the harsh reality of the Sun.

Inspired by a 1924 drawing room comedy by Ferenc Molnar, The Angel Next Door was  originally commissioned by David Ellenstein for North Coast Rep and the Laguna Playhouse. Following its September 2023 premiere, the romp has gone on to delight theatergoers all over the country.

The Los Angeles regional theatre premiere of Disney’s FROZEN The Broadway Musical presented by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment opens June 6 through June 29 at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. The much-loved family musical stars Jenna Lea Rosen as Princess Elsa and Cailen Fu as Princess Anna, two of the most popular Disney princesses among fans of all ages. I decided to speak with them about their history performing the roles and their path to appearing in the current touring production.

In the World Premiere of Lear Redux: A Quantum Fantasia, Jack Stehlin, who previously starred in both Titus Redux at the Kirk Douglas and Tempest Redux at the Odyssey, inhabits the role of an aging actor whose last days strangely parallel those of Shakespeare’s tragic king. I decided to speak with Jack about his history portraying Shakespeare’s tragic kings, his personal connection to Lear, and how this tragic king differs or is similar to the others.

​​​​​​​Those drawn to intimate, music-driven storytelling and powerful, personal theater take note of This Is Water, written and performed by a singer-songwriter Rain Perry, which makes its debut at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival. I decided to speak with Rain about the genesis of her show, her six-disc recording career, and how her own experience lends to taking an insightful look into her own history in the United States.

French director Maurice Attias, in residence at the Odyssey Theatre, brings a slice of French culture to L.A. with the West Coast premiere of Clôture de l’amour (Love’s End) by celebrated French playwright Pascal Rambert.

44: The Obama Musical is returning for second terms at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City from May 2 – June 22, 2025, and then at The Studebaker Theater in the historic Fine Arts Building in Chicago from August 23 – September 21, 2025.

The birth of western civilization and democracy takes form in the Greek epic Hellas, told in verse, mask, rhythm, dance, and stage combat. I decided to speak with writer/director Christopher William Johnson about his epic creation process and challenges of presenting the complete saga at the Broadwater Main Stage theater through May 11.

Inspired by conversations Rosenbaum had with Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein, the International City Theatre in Long Beach is presenting the American premiere of The Violin Maker, a new play based on the true story of how he gathered and restored ruined violins that survived the Holocaust to create the remarkable collection known throughout the world as the “Violins of Hope.” I decided to speak with playwrights Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum and Ronda Spinak (artistic director of The Braid) about the play’s creation and history, especially why it is so important to tell the Violins of Hope maker’s story.

Josefina López, the celebrated Mexican-American award-winning playwright and screenwriter best known for creating and authoring the play and co-authoring the film Real Women Have Curves, was an undocumented five-year-old immigrant when she migrated with her family from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, to the United States in 1974 to settle in Boyle Heights. And on April 27, she will be making her Broadway debut when Real Women Have Curves: The Musical opens on Broadway!

Broadway stars and real-life couple and triple-threat performers Nicolas Dromard and Desiree Davar are making their debut at the Catalina Jazz Club with Nic & Desi: From Broadway to Hollywood on Thursday May 10. I decided to speak with them about their illustrious careers, how they met, and what led to bringing their new show to Los Angeles prior to taking the show on the road.

Mystery and romance abound in one of the most thrilling Gothic romance novels ever written – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The heart wrenching tale of an orphaned girl’s self-determination, adapted by Elizabeth Williamson, continues at A Noise Within in Pasadena, helmed by the theater’s artistic director Geoff Elliott. I spoke with him about his vision for the show.

Navigating any relationship is difficult enough. But what happens when you factor in politics and rising prejudice? Such is the storyline in One Jewish Boy by British playwright Stephen Laughton who I decided to speak with about his biting, bittersweet story of two young people in love confronted with the world's unpredictable cruelty.