LOS ANGELES INTERVIEWS

John Ross Bowie’s Brushstroke world premieres at the Odyssey January 27, 2024 (with previews beginning January 23rd). Casey Stangl directs the cast of James Urbaniak, Malcolm Barrett, Brendan Hines and Brendan Hines. James took some time from rehearsals to answer a few of my queries....

Renee O’Connor is perhaps best known as Gabrielle from the popular TV Show Xena Warrior Princess. Along with her roles in many movies, she is now stepping into the role of director for Encore Production’s Matilda, a musical extravaganza featuring cast members of all ages and backgrounds at the R...

Next up for the Ruskin Group Theatre, two shows in tandem – John Colella’s An Extraordinary Ordinary Man and Paul Linke’s It’s Only a Show!, both opening January 13, 2024. Got the chance to ask Ruskin’s producing artistic director Michael Myers a few questions on Ruskin’s current shows a...

A long-time collaborator with Charles Nelson Reilly, Paul Linke has co-written It’s Only a Show!, performing as the popular comedian in his one-man tribute to Charles Nelson Reilly. This solo show directed by Edward Edwards opens January 13, 2024 at the Ruskin Group Theatre, 5pm curtain, in tandem...

The Verdi Chorus, the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, continues to celebrate its 40th Anniversary season by presenting its first full-length opera, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana for one performance only at...

Black queer playwright/actress Carolyn Ratteray’s one-woman show Both And (a play about laughing while black) returns to Los Angeles opening at The Wallis January 17, 2024 (with previews starting January 13th). Before the holiday rush, Carolyn found some time to answer a few of my queries....

Alison Arngrim’s long-running one-woman show Confession of a Prairie Bitch opens the Sierra Madre Playhouse’s 100th anniversary season January 19, 2024. Alison took some time from all her charity work and writing to answer a few of my queries....

Debbie Allen presents Camille A. Brown & Dancers: ink January 12th and 13th at The Wallis. ink “explores self-empowerment, Black love, brotherhood, and resilience that examines aspects of Black life that are too often appropriated, rewritten, or silenced.” I had the chance to chat with director/...

The 6th Act world premieres Matthew Leavitt’s SUKKOT opening January 13, 2024; at the Skylight Theatre. Joel Zwick directs the cast of Natalie Lander, Liza Seneca, Andy Robinson and Jonathan Slavin. A regular familiar face on the Los Angeles stages, Natalie carved out some time to answer a few of ...

Theatre 40’s hit immersive drama The Manor- Murder and Madness at Greystone returns for its nineteenth season at the Greystone Mansion January 18, 2024.  Martin Thompson directs the cast of Darby Hinton, Eric Keitel, Daniel Leslie, Carol Potter, Nathalie Rudolph, David Hunt Stafford, Amy Tolsky, ...

A new Pasadena Playhouse holiday tradition begins with the premiere of Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton and Randy Blair’s Pasadena Playhouse Holiday Spectacular running December 14th through December 23rd. Sam directs the cast of MaryAnn Hu, Lesli Margherita, George Salazar and Jason Michael Snow. I ...

Next up at the Ahmanson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s A Christmas Story opening December 8, 2023 (with previews beginning December 5th). Matt Lenz directs the cast of Chris Carsten, Eric Petersen, Sabrina Sloan, Shelley Regner, Kai Edga, and Henry Witcher; with ensemble members Steven-Adam Agdeppa...

The Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir holiday special celebrates its 20th year with PBS premiering December 12, 2023. This perennial favorite, PBS’ #1 holiday show each year, this year features guest stars Lea Salonga and Sir David Suchet performing with the 360-membered Tabernacle Choir and 11...

For The Record’s perennial holiday favorite Love Actually Live returned to The Wallis November 29, 2023. Commemorating the film’s 20th anniversary, Anderson Davis directs the cast of Tomasina Abate, Madison Taylor Baez, James Byous, Chris Cockrill, Audrey Cymone, Anthony Fedorov, Brayden Gleave,...

Jeff Schell and The Habit’s A Very Die Hard Christmas opens December 10, 2023 at Theatre 40. Celebrating the film’s 35th anniversary, Sandro Monetti directs this musical parody with the cast of Nick Versteeg, Lauren Samuels, Jesse Merlin, Raymund King, Nick Bredosky, and Theatre 40 favorites ...

Broadway legend Audra McDonald returns to LA Opera backed by the LA Opera Orchestra and her four-piece ensemble (led by musical director Andy Einhorn) December 2, 2023. Be prepared to experience the stunning vocals of six-time Tony winner singing her expansive Broadway and opera repertoire filling t...

A re-imagined production of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Inherit the Wind is currently playing on the Pasadena Playhouse stage, just extended through December 3, 2023. Michael Michetti directs the cast, led by Alfred Molina & John Douglas Thompson as the battling lawyers in a trial inspire...

InHouse Theatre’s next site-specific production Matt Schatz’ The Past, A Present Yet To Come will open December 4, 2023 at The Artisan Studios, moving over to The Ebell of Los Angeles December 11th. Tom Detrinis directs the cast of Keri Safran, Brandon Scott and Rob Welsh.  After returning fr...

I chatted with writer Isaac Gómez about the world premiere of their new play Radical or, are you gonna miss me? at IAMA Theatre Company. The play, which tells the story of two sisters struggling to navigate a relationship despite major political differences, was inspired in part by a shocking disco...

During the Hollywood Fringe Festival this past June, I twice attended the award-winning The Collective, the first Last Call Theatre immersive production directed by Riley Cole who is also directing the group’s upcoming immersive production called The Harvest, opening this December in downtown Los ...

The global tour of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Holiday Show! finally makes its Los Angeles debut at the El Portal Theatre November 25, 2023 (playing through January 21, 2024). Based on Eric Carle’s children’s books, show creator Jonathan Rockefeller directs the cast of Paula Moore, Becki Park,�...

Next up for the Center Theatre Group, TheaterWorksUSA’s Dog Man: The Musical opening November 21, 2023 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Jen Wineman directs and choreographs this adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s worldwide best-selling book series Dog Man: The Musical. Kevin Del Aguila, who wrote the book a...

Matt Chait’s A Family Business world premieres November 17, 2023, at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre (with previews November 15th and 16th). Brian Shnipper directs the cast of Eric Stanton Betts, Alli Brown, Michelle Jasso, Lindsay G. Merrithew, Bruce Nozick and Julie Pearl. I had the chance to throw...

Next up at the Getty Villa Theater Lab, Guelan Varela-Luarca and Chay Yew’s The House of Baluyot: A Filipino Oresteia for two performances only November 18th and 19th. Guelan and Chay also direct this work-in-progress with the cast of Ramon de Ocampo, Tess Lina, Zandi De Jesus, Reggie Lee, Andres ...

Zachary Reeve Davidson is the Founding Artistic Director of Coin & Ghost, the group presenting Mama Mama Can’t You See, an explosive new play about human connection and the mythology of war written by ex-Marine Stan Mayer and Cecilia Fairchild. Davidson is directing and choreographing, opening Nov...