Alison Blanchard

After spending 90 minutes with the O’Shea family, we can thank whatever gods we pray to that we A. did not grow up in the early 1970s, B. that we do have the Internet and C. that this loving but dysfunctional family is not our own.

Theatre 40 will present the Los Angeles Premiere of Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help January 19- February 19, 2023.  The play is written by Katie Forgette, directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, and produced for Theatre 40 by David Hunt Stafford.

Theatre 40 will present the staged reading of a new play, Basement Follies, on Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. The play is written and directed by Theatre 40 company member David Datz.

Theatre 40 will present a play reading on YouTube of a new work by John Strysik, Power & Light. Thomas Edison and Nikolai Tesla: The War That Lit the World. Pioneering scientists in electronics, they were rivals with differing viewpoints on delivering energy. Edison was about the money, while Tesla was more a believer in free energy for all. Commerce won.

In celebration of Women's History Month, Theatre 40 is presenting a Zoom reading of House on the Hill: Mary Ellen Pleasant's Story. Ms. Pleasant (1814-1904) was the first African American female millionaire, an abolitionist who worked with the Underground Railroad, a champion who sued for the right to ride the trolley car in San Francisco, and who earned the name of Mother of Civil Rights in California.

Theatre 40 presents a play-reading via Zoom of a comedy, Community by Nancy Beverly, on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. PST

On Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. PST, Theatre Forty will present a reading on Zoom of a new comedy, The Best Revenge, by Michael Halperin.

The play tells the story of the O'Sheas, a cash-challenged, Irish-Catholic family just trying to get through 1973. Linda O'Shea, our 19-year old narrator, is attempting to re-enact for the audience the most turbulent day of her life....but her family keeps interrupting, insisting on telling their side of the story.

Unlike other plays with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved detective at its center, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE JERSEY LILY written by Katie Forgette, includes bits and pieces of reality in the mix of characters. The famous actress Lillie Langtry is the focus of Holmes' investigation, which also includes the participation of arch villain Professor Moriarty as well as Oscar Wilde, the famous Victorian playwright, who epigrams, as well as a fragment of a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest, give color and freshness to this thriller comedy. And in the hands of skilled director Jules Aaron, whose direction allows his actors to convey each character so thoroughly, you will be drawn into their plight and scheming while hoping everything works out in the end.

Production teams at Theatre 40 expertly present mid-20th Century British comedy better than almost any other theater in town. So it was no surprise to find out the group decided to present the riotous BREATH OF SPRING by Peter Coke to open their 51st season, directed by Bruce Gray and produced by David Hunt Stafford, the dynamic duo production team who have brought so many great shows to their stage. Written in 1958, BREATH OF SPRING has nothing to do with the season. In fact, it is a type of silver mink highly prized among fur aficionados. And while we may have differing opinions about wearing fur, there is no doubt in the mid-20th Century that lovely fur coats, stoles and jackets were often worn not only to keep warm but to show the wearer had "made it" into high society.

Tense mysteries where not much happens in the way of real action on the stage can be problematic if the storyline proves to be too easy to figure out. Thankfully A SHRED OF EEVIDENCE by R.C. Sherriff directed by Jules Aaron at Theatre 40 is so well written and directed that you will be kept on the edge of your seat trying to figure out if the lead character really is guilty of a crime he cannot remember committing when all the circumstantial evidence points directly to him being the culprit.

Members of the 'Pro99' movement of Actors' Equity Association have issued an open letter to AEA's newly elected president, Kate Shindle, in response to her victory and to her inaugural address as president of the national union for actors and stage managers. The open letter is signed by over 400 Equity members (listed below), including such notable names as Ed Asner, Francis Fisher, Sally Kirkland and Alfred Molina. The 'Pro99' movement formed in late 2014 in opposition to AEA's rollout of a new plan that will effectively force 'intimate theaters' in Los Angeles to pay Equity actors minimum wage, go 'non-union' or even close - despite an overwhelming vote against the plan by 66% of the Los Angeles membership on an advisory referendum. 'Pro99' members around the nation, who take their name from the current AEA '99 Seat Plan' that allows members to volunteer in smaller venues, oppose AEA's new promulgated plan. They are requesting that Equity leadership put a moratorium on the plan until local members' voices can be heard, and that the union work with its members to develop an alternative plan that will more realistically address the needs of the Los Angeles theater community.

Martin Thompson directs Rupert Holmes' intriguing murder mystery ACCOMPLICE at Theater 40 with reverence to actors and what they go through to put on a play as well as to put up with each other. The first act seems like a fairly normal British offering with four characters all seemingly trying to outdo each other to gain control of the two husbands' mutual business by having affairs with each other in every possible combination. A particularly shocking revelation just prior to intermission will have you wondering just who is the accomplice trying to assist the perpetrator in getting away with murder.

Wake/by Carey Crim/directed by Matt Kirkwood/SeaGlass Theatre at the Fremont Centre Theatre, Pasadena/through May 25

WAKE, written by New York-based Carey Crim, will have its west coast premiere presented by LA's critically acclaimed SeaGlass Theatre company today, April 26 through Sunday, May 25, 2014 at the beautiful Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena, CA, it was announced by Ovation nominated actor and SeaGlass Theatre Managing Director Paul Stroili, along with SeaGlass Artistic Director Kimberly Van Luin. WAKE'S five all-star member ensemble will feature Nancy Berggren, Alison Blanchard, Michael Connors, Allie Costa, and Lauren McCormack. Matt Kirkwood has been set to direct.

WAKE, written by New York-based Carey Crim, will have its west coast premiere presented by LA's critically acclaimed SeaGlass Theatre company Saturday, April 26 through Sunday, May 25, 2014 at the beautiful Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena, CA, it was announced today by Ovation nominated actor and SeaGlass Theatre Managing Director Paul Stroili, along with SeaGlass Artistic Director Kimberly Van Luin. WAKE'S five all-star member ensemble will feature Nancy Berggren, Alison Blanchard, Michael Connors, Allie Costa, and Lauren McCormack. Matt Kirkwood has been set to direct.

LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL focuses on each character's struggle to find love as well as direction in their life. Each makes choices that seem to pull the them apart, and one wishes the entire Gant family could learn to focus on how to love one another before it is too late - a universal lesson for us all to take to heart.

This Holiday Season, journey to North Carolina circa 1916 as a young man rises to fulfill his destiny to be 'somebody' . Based on Thomas Wolfe's autobiographical novel of the same name, Look Homeward, Angel examines the life of a young man growing up in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina during the early part of the 20th century. Brimming with fascinating and colorful characters, the play is funny, engaging, and ultimately poignant as our hero, Eugene, finds his way through love and loss.

The long-anticipated Los Angeles return of LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL, directed by TheProdCo's Co-Artistic Director T L Kolman and featuring a powerhouse cast, opens November 2, 2013 at the Secret Rose Theatre, 11246 Magnolia Boulevard, in the heart of the North Hollywood Arts District.