Simon Levy

Per playwright Howard L. Craft, the spirit of the human soul has the capacity to return to earth multiple times until it successfully learns…well…whatever it is supposed to learn. Can’t speak for the soul, but the performer J. Alphonse Nicholson needs no do-overs to embody the five incarnations of Abel Green within Craft’s play FREIGHT. Simply put, Nicholson nails each Green ably, in every possible way. Completely.

Check out production photos from Fountain Theatre’s acclaimed West Coast Premiere production of THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT, running at Rubicon Theatre through October 21!

Rubicon Theatre will launch its 25th Anniversary Season, entitled TRULY YOURS, with The Fountain Theatre’s acclaimed West Coast Premiere production of THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT running October 4 - 21, 2023. Learn more about the play and how to get tickets here!

RUBICON THEATRE, Ventura County’s leading not-for-profit theatrical organization committed to entertaining, engaging and enriching the lives of the region’s residents and visitors through innovative live performances, has unveiled the company’s highly anticipated 25th Anniversary “Silver” Season, entitled TRULY YOURS. 

Forty years ago, the Fountain Theatre presented the groundbreaking comedy/drama, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove by Jane Chambers, one of the first playwrights to depict love between women as happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. I decided to speak with the play’s director Hannah Wolf about the history and importance of the play, the challenges of presenting it outdoors, how she was selected to direct it, about the characters who make up the story, and why its message of acceptance speaks to the new generation of theater goers just as it did for those who saw Jean Smart in the original 1983-85 Fountain Theatre production.

Los Angeles is never lacking outstanding theatre, whether epic Broadway shows, engrossing dramas or bold fringe offerings. BroadwayWorld is rounding up our top recommended theatre every month. Our top picks for April 2023 include Merrily We Roll Along, Peter and the Starcatcher, and more!

Next up at A Noise Within, Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman beginning April 1, 2023 (with previews starting March 26th). Michael Michetti directs this classic two-hander with Adrián González and Ed F. Martin. Ed, a familiar face on the Los Angeles stages, managed to squeeze out some time between rehearsals to answer a few of my queries.  

Simon Levy’s production at the Fountain Theatre is a smartly-acted brain-tickler that makes its points and lands its blows with humor and intellect

What’s more important: writing the truth, or telling a good story? The Fountain Theatre’s West Coast premiere of the Broadway hit play, The Lifespan of a Fact, opens tonight at the Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood, with multiple award-winning director Simon Levy at the helm. Check out photos from the production here!

The Fountain Theatre west coast premieres Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell’s The Lifespan of a Fact opening February 18, 2023 (with previews starting February 15th). Fountain Theatre’s producing director Simon Levy directs the cast of Ron Bottitta, Inger Tudor and Jonah Robinson. Simon took some time between his rehearsals to give me some insight to the behind-the-scenes of Lifespan and the Fountain.

What's more important: writing the truth, or telling a good story? The Fountain Theatre will present the West Coast premiere of the Broadway hit play, The Lifespan of a Fact, by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell.

No book has captured the essence of America in the 1920s with such damning insight as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY, opening on stage at the Ivoryton Playhouse on Thursday, September 29th.

No book has captured the essence of America in the 1920s with such damning insight as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s THE GREAT GATSBY, opening on stage at the Ivoryton Playhouse on Thursday, September 29th.

Jason Alexander directs L.A. premiere of Steven Levenson’s funny, powerful ‘If I Forget’ at Fountain Theatre

Next up at the Fountain Theatre, the L.A. premiere of Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson’s If I Forget beginning July 23, 2022 (with previews starting July 20th). Jason Alexander (also a Tony Award-winner) directs the cast of Síle Bermingham, Caribay Franke, Matt Gottlieb, Samantha Klein, Leo Marks, Valerie Perri, Jerry Weil and Jacob Zelonky. I had the opportune occasion to throw out a few queries to Jason, the well-known TV actor and respected L.A. Theatre community denizen.

The Fountain Theatre presents a deeply personal play about history, responsibility, and what we're willing to sacrifice for a new beginning. Tony Award-winning actor Jason Alexander, widely known from TV's Seinfeld, directs the Los Angeles premiere of If I Forget by Steven Levenson, running July 23 through September 10 on the Fountain's indoor stage. Previews begin July 20.

 How do families stay together, even when they are kept apart? Performances of Detained at Fountain Theatre will continue through April 10.

Altoona Community Theatre presents F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, adapted for the stage by Simon Levy, beginning this week. Performances are February 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 PM, and February 13 at 2:00 PM.

How do families stay together, even when they are kept apart? The Fountain Theatre presents a gripping new docudrama, a compilation of true stories that explores the rippling impact of mass deportations on families. The world premiere of Detained, written by 2021 Lorraine Hansberry Award-winning playwright France-Luce Benson and directed by Mark Valdez, winner of the 2021 Zelda Fichandler Award, opens February 19 at the Fountain Theatre.

On April 7th, 2022 The Ivoryton Playhouse will open its doors for a new season – a very different season with fewer productions but more performances and a year full of exciting, affordable professional theatre. Plays for romantics and plays for cynics; shows for families and shows for sweethearts; classic hit music from the 50s and 60s as well as country music favorites.