Shari Barrett - Page 56

The old adage that the show must go on was put to the test at Hudson Theatre during the opening night performance of Jonathan Larson's musical RENT presented by the 2Cents Theatre Group. Not only did the air conditioning go out, the sound equipment was on the blink! Even so, the produciton still packs a punch.

Zayd Dohrn'sLONG WAY GO DOWN is a fast-paced and often brutal story with hyper-realistic dialogue in English and Spanish. With evocatively moody original music by Jared Swanson and an incredible multi-level and location set by Michael Allen, effectively lit by the show's producer Johnny Patrick Yoder, the intense one-act tells the story of four people from two Americas, each hell-bent on finding a better life and willing to cross any border, both physically and emotionally, to do it.

With the partnership of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum and UCLA's Clark Memorial Library, Chalk Repertory Theatre announces the summer and fall productions of its Fifth Anniversary Season.

FOOL FOR LOVE by Sam Shepard is about romantic obsession, although that may be redundant: Romance IS obsessive. It is feisty, muscular, sexually charged, and often based in fantasy, creating a dream lover where no such person exists.

Kentwood Players is delighted to present our next Kentwood Kids Production, 'All in the Stars' by Mark Billen on Saturdays, June 1, 8 and 15 at 11:00am and 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse. The production is directed by Drew Fitzsimmons and Melodie S. Rivers, and produced by Bruce Starrett by special arrangement with Lazy Bee Scripts.

The Spolin Players Improvisational troupe is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Viola Spolin (known as 'The High Priestess of Improv') by performing her theatre games at The Hollywood Fringe Festival. Each hour-long completely improvised show will be completely different and original. Bring your imagination and suggestions, and get ready to laugh a lot!

Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, Monty Python's SPAMALOT tells the tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in 932AD as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail.

Everyone loves a good meal, especially when someone else prepares it for you. But at a restaurant, do you ever think about who really cooks your meal and what they go through to prepare it for you? DELICIOUS REALITY gives voice to the underprivileged restaurant workers in a very entertaining and seriously eye-opening performance piece.

MY MOTHER'S KEEPER, written by Jane Press and directed by Robin McKee, is a highly autobiographical memory play that moves fluidly back and forth between 1914 when an event involving Press' great-grandmother sets off a cycle of damage and dysfunction, and the present. While the humor of this play may be Jewish, the experience of being part of a big, crazy family is universal.

Kentwood Players presents Neil Simon's CALIFORNIA SUITE from tonight, May 10 to June 15, 2013 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester (LA 90045). The production is directed by Alison Mattiza and produced by Larry Jones by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

EXPERIENCE THE BEATLES WITH RAIN has returned by popular demand to the Pantages for a third engagement, May 7-12, 2013. This adoring tribute will take you back to a time when all you needed was love and a little help from your friends!

Psychiatry, religion, marriage, government, definitions of gender and even language are all targets of British playwright Joe Orton's poison pen in his wild and bawdy farce WHAT THE BUTLER SAW. His sly jokes and hilarious slashes at the follies and foibles of human conduct will have you shaking with laughter from start to finish.

Those of us well versed in Broadway musicals and Hollywood films will certainly catch lots of references in RUTHLESS! And with its off-the-wall, farcical humor and schmaltzy songs, this musical comedy will definitely have you laughing in the aisles!

Directed with a keen vision by Alistair Hunter and featuring talented actors Gil Hagen-Hill, Daniel Houston-Davila, Belinda Howell, Susan Kussman and Gregg Lawrence, BRECHT ON BRECHT will take you on an extraordinary journey via a multimedia revue focusing on the work of the prolific playwright, poet, lyricist, screenwriter, and theatre director Bertolt Brecht. This is thought-provoking theater at its best.

The West Coast Jewish Theatre is presenting a comedy not seen in Los Angeles in many years, Herb Gardner's Tony Award-winning Best Play 'I'm Not Rappaport' which was inspired by two elderly men Gardner met in New York City's Central Park, sharing their strength and courage to live life to the fullest.

This new, adult musical comedy about men is a madcap and hilarious romp through all the many stages of manhood, featuring 29 original songs all paying homage to all things male, lampooning such issues as fatherhood, mid-life crisis, dating, marriage, aging, and sex (or the lack of it), giving an inside glimpse of what it takes to be a man in a modern world shared with women, children, and parents.

Playwright Neil Simon's CALIFORNIA SUITE is a comedy consisting of four playlets whose action takes place in rooms 203 and 204 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1976. This is Neil Simon at his best - a humorous confection that will definitely make you laugh and warm your heart!

The Lee Strasberg Center is hosting the world premiere of a very timely new theatrical work by Jack Betts at The Marilyn Monroe Theatre in West Hollywood entitled IT GOES LIKE THIS which has a message that Americans, Congress and the Supreme Court need to hear as the subject of gay marriage is being put to the vote. Most importantly, it brings awareness to the discrimination and hatred faced by so many individuals in the world today.

In Allen Barton's world premiere play YEARS TO THE DAY at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, two 40-something men, who have been friends for decades but only cursorily in touch via social media over the past four years, finally get together for coffee. But their long anticipated "face to face" meeting reaps surprising consequences when truthful and dramatic changes in each of their lives are revealed.

Following the model of the original Broadway production, four people were pulled from the Theatre Palisades audience and asked to participate in the contest. These visiting spellers were thrown into the mix, led into musical numbers by the cast, and asked to spell words until disqualified and sent back to their seats.