(03/30/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight shines on Kiki Yeung, a producer, comedian, actress and organizer of the Crazy Woke Asians (CWA) Solo Performance Festival at the Santa Monica Playhouse and Crazy Woke Asians comedy show at the Comedy Store in Hollywood.
(03/29/2020) - This Spotlight focuses on Barbara a?oeBobbiea?? Keegan, an Emmy Award-winning actress who always says a?oeyesa?? to the Santa Monica Playhouse and Theatre 68 who always travels with her adopted son, good luck charm and alter- ego, a?oeSmitty the Magical Flying Purple Turtle.a?? I first met both of them during the second Hollywood Fringe Festival when Keegan took Best in Fringe honors headlining in the world premiere of Jon Courie's JENNIFER ANISTON STOLE MY LIFE, which Courie wrote specifically with her in mind.
(03/28/2020) - This Spotlight focuses on Phil Brickey, an actor, director, rock musician and Elementary School Theatre teacher who was one of the first directors for whom I produced a 2006 show for Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse. That show was George Washington Slept Here which required a double level set to be constructed as the home being renovated had to look totally dilapidated in Act 1 and beautifully restored in Act II. Quite a feat of stagecraft thanks to set designer Grant Francis.
(03/28/2020) - This Spotlight focuses on Brandon Ferruccio, who started out an as actor only to discover his real passion was to direct plays, especially with all female casts or with a strong feminine lead character. He has directed many productions at Theatre Palisades, Westminster Playhouse, Whittier Community Theatre, The Warner Grand in San Pedro, El Camino College, and the James Armstrong Studio Theatre in Torrance. And soon he will be adding the Westchester Playhouse to the list of theaters in which he has directed productions.
(03/27/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Tanya Alexander, a spoken word artist and writer of poetry and music, who I recently reviewed in her leading role in HUMAN INTEREST STORY at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood, in which she plays Jane Doe, an anonymous homeless woman plucked from a park bench and made a media celebrity.
(03/27/2020) - This Spotlight focuses on Melanie MacQueen, an actress and playwright who found her a?oeHome Basea?? directing plays at Theatre 40, who I recently saw in that group's annual production of THE MANOR in which she and her real-life husband, Daniel Leslie, portray married couple Senator Alfred Winston and his long-suffering wife Cora. The pair are so perfectly cast in the roles that no doubt they will continue playing these two characters for as long as the annual production at Greystone Mansion runs! But now she is waiting to find out what happens to her latest directing project, the world premiere of TAMING THE LION which was forced to close after just a few performances in mid-March.
(03/27/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Ronnie Marmo, an actor, director, producer, playwright, and Artistic Director of Theatre 68 who has been touring the country with his dynamic solo show I'm Not A Comedian...I'm Lenny Bruce. I attended the show more than once and was excited to hear the news of its New York City and Chicago production dates, which of course are now on hold.
(03/26/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Philip McBride, a musical theatre triple-threat actor and all-around stage-savvy guy who I have seen in many productions all over town. His skillful comic timing and brilliant smile light up the stage and his respect for others earns him accolades from everyone with whom he creates theatre magic.
(03/26/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Gregg Lawrence, a versatile actor who commands the stage as larger-than-life, fully-embodied characters.
(03/25/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series of interviews with some of am the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Anzu Lawson, an Asian-American Actress, Playwright, Stand-Up Comic, and Yoko Ono doppelganger who I first met during the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival.
(03/25/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series of interviews with some of am the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on married couple and soon-to-be-parents Paul and Alicia Luoma who met in NYC and moved to L.A. together to pursue their mutual passion for the Performing Arts.
(03/24/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series of interviews with some of am the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight focuses on Peter Miller, a Musical Theater and Voiceover Actor Who Spends Time as a Theme Park Carnival Barker.
(03/24/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series of interviews with some of am the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? This Spotlight Series interview features Kristin Towers-Rowles, an Award-Winning Director, Triple-Threat Actress, and Granddaughter of Screen Legend Kathryn Grayson.
(03/24/2020) - With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series of interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved? Today I would like to introduce you to Susan Stangl: Director, Sound Designer, Actress, Singer and Medical School Professor
(03/15/2020) - Head inside Twisted Broadway 3, the third annual Theatre LA Cares fundraiser, this year in support of Red Cross Australia animal rescue.
(03/12/2020) - Taming the Lion will have it's world premiere engagement at Theatre Forty! It is written by Jack Rushen, directed by Melanie MacQueen and produced by David Hunt Stafford for Theatre Forty.
(03/12/2020) - Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of Poor Clare, a play by Chiara Atik about what happens when your eyes are opened to the injustice of the world around you — and you can't look away. Alana Dietze (Dry Land, The Wolves) directs for a March 14 opening, with performances continuing through April 20 at Atwater Village Theatre.
(03/12/2020) - Theatre West presents the world premiere of a comic spy thriller inspired by the true story of a spectacularly botched U.S. attempt to overthrow Chile's democratically elected leader. Our Man in Santiago, written by two-time Emmy nominee and WGA award-winner Mark Wilding (Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Good Girls, Charmed) and directed by Charlie Mount.
(03/11/2020) - The organizers behind Australia's largest disability-specific film festival, the Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, held their official U.S. launch of Focus on Ability USA March 7th at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Los Angeles this weekend. The evening celebrated inclusion through the art of storytelling in their continued effort to raise awareness of the abilities of people with disabilities around the world.
(03/11/2020) - Al Pacino headlined the cast of a sold-out benefit staged reading of David Rabe's The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummer, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, in Beverly Hills, CA. In collaboration with The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, the Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award-winning Pacino reprised the title role of Pavlo Hummel
(03/10/2020) - For one night only, Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown hit the stage at The Bourbon Room Hollywood. See photos from the show!
(03/09/2020) - On Friday, March 6th, Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell was spotted at The Bourbon Room where he attended the hit 80's musical Rock of Ages Hollywood. After the show, he hopped on stage with members from the band where he sang karaoke for everyone in the theater!
(03/07/2020) - The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica is presenting the Southern California Premiere of HOME, created by Geoff Sobelle and directed by Lee Sunday Evans, who won a 2018 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.
(03/06/2020) - Founding artistic director Ron Sossi directs a revival of The Serpent by Jean-Claude van Itallie as part of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season.
(03/06/2020) - THE PACK @ The Pico returned on March 3 with staged readings of short new comedies by Drama Desk Award Winner and Emmy® nominee Eugene Pack.
(03/06/2020) - We are first introduced to a young girl, a very assertive, opinionated young girl, definitely with a strong sense of identity, and self worth. She is heard speaking, which we come to find out is us hearing her inner thoughts and feelings, through her a?oeMind's Eye,a?? her vocally taped diary, into a recorder.
The time is 1968.
We first view her as she runs, into, outside ~ an elderly man who has fallen in their garden, helping him up and, concerned, guides him inside her home, where she spends much of her sheltered life. Patty, played quite brilliantly by Peyton Kirkner, is both honest and earnest in her connection with her new and only friend, Calhoon (played wonderfully and with much heart by Lloyd Pedersen). They were instant friends; and even though Patty is legally blind they easily shared conversation. The actors totally conveyed that feeling, so it was all the more heart-wrenching when her mom, Lola Henderson, played determinedly by Maria Kress, who, understandably, is ultra protective, comes home and just couldn't fathom this new connection ~ having been the caretaker-mom all of Patty's life, this was a concern she had not yet encountered. Flash forward, and back and forth, throughout the rest of the play, this played out and developed one of the underlying themes while at the same time we were fast-forwarded to Patty (aka now renamed by herself, Trish) as a school teacher in 1981.
(03/04/2020) - In a first for Ballet BC, the new full-length work delves into a thought-provoking retelling of the classic that resonates today, capturing audiences with its deeply human story and enduring themes of love and family. a?oeThe vision of love that Shakespeare gave us in this master work is very precious. It is like holding a jewel in your hand that needs to be protected,a?? according to choreographer Medhi Walerski. And he certainly has succeeded.
(03/03/2020) - After performing in over 100 sold out casinos throughout the United States and touring worldwide, The Clairvoyants are kicking off 2020 with a brand new interactive live show in which audiences will be involved throughout the show and will experience the magic in their minds and hands. In addition to never before seen tricks, The Clairvoyants Experience will feature the duo's dog, Mr. Koni Hundini, as part of the show taking place on Saturday, March 14 at 8:00 pm at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada. To prepare myself for The Clairvoyants Experience, I wanted to find out more about Thommy Ten and Amelie van Tass, the two extraordinary clairvoyants who are taking the world by storm.
(03/02/2020) - Twin brothers Jack and Benny Lipson, aka the critically acclaimed jackbenny, presented And on the 366th Day at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex Intimate Theatre on Saturday, February 29, at 8pm. The show featured the fiery powerhouse singer Bella Hicks, vintage songstress Nina Herzog, Baritone Bombshell Jonnie Reinhart, guitarist John Schroeder, and musical theatre icon Valerie Perri.
(03/01/2020) - The Industry is presenting its site-specific world premiere of SWEET LAND at the LA State Historic Park near downtown Los Angeles, with the city's skyline seen prominently during the outdoor production. With Music by Du Yun and Raven Chacon, Libretto by Douglas Kearney and Aja Couchois Duncan, the production directed by Cannupa Hanska Luger and Yuval Sharon, unravels narratives surrounding American identity on the site when a new Arrivals ship runs aground on the shore and they encounter a community of The Hosts, those natives to the land. The story is an important one to be told about the history of invaders who have taken over land where indigenous people live, even in our own backyard, and destroyed not only the land but the people who loved it.
(02/28/2020) - The Blank Theatre in Hollywood has announced the world premiere production of Hot Tragic Dead Thing, a new drama written by Ashley Rose Wellman and directed by Christopher James Raymond.
(02/27/2020) - The Verdi Chorus will kick off its 37th season with their Spring Concert, Opera Gets Real, for two performances only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on April 18 and 19.
(02/27/2020) - PAWS/LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit agency serving people and pets in need, presented a one night only benefit event — Barrett Foa Has Friends! — on Monday, February 24, at 8pm.
(02/25/2020) - THE ANDREWS BROTHERS sung-through musical is sure to please those who remember the 1940s first-hand, or those of us who appreciate the song stylings of those bygone days. According to Bean, a?oeHere we create the atmosphere of a rag-tag USO team a?' a very real organization with an important and impressive history a?' sing songs familiar to many in the audience, and try to live up to the memory of a legendary singing group.a?? And thanks to the talented, triple-threat performers, Kelley Dorney, Michael D'Elia, Max DeLorch and Grant Hodges, no matter what goes wrong, the show must go on!
(02/24/2020) - This thought-provoking testament to the universal struggle of living day-to-day in a society whose apathy seems to know no bounds for the down-and-out will grab your attention and keep you at the edge of your seat as Jane Doe's story unfolds. Tanya Alexander's magnificent ability to morph herself from a homeless woman in dirty clothing, sitting on a park bench holding a sign stating a?oeI am NOT Invisiblea?? allows us to see where she has been and how much she really desires to pick herself up by her bootstraps and do whatever is necessary to survive. As she achieves celebrity status, Alexander opens to heart and soul and lets us see into Jane Doe's guilt of having survived when others have not. And as Jane Doe's fortunes rise, Alexander is costumed to perfection in lovely, form-fitting dresses designed by Shon LeBlanc that would allow Jane Doe to shine anywhere.
(02/22/2020) - This wildly funny satirical farce questions why, in a world of bailed-out banks and overpriced prescription drugs, theft is only a crime when it is committed by those truly in need, centering on humble housewife Antonia (Kaili Hollister) who joins a revolt of women at the local supermarket as they are all hungry and fed up by rising prices and stagnant wages. Determined to live with dignity and rejecting an austere diet of dog food and birdseed which is about all Antonia can afford to buy on her husband Giovvanni's (Jeremie Loncka) wages working on the production line at a local factory, the women's protest escalates and looting ensues.
