Belinda Howell News

Get a first look at photos of Twelve Angry Jurors at The Group Rep!

Founded in 2002 as an artists' ensemble, Little Fish Theatre presents classic and contemporary plays in an intimate setting on Centre Street in the Arts District of downtown San Pedro. With the pandemic forcing the shutdown of live theatre, Little Fish Theatre’s 2021 Virtual Season offers up a tasty serving of this year’s best short plays with Pick of the Vine.

This morning as I was compiling my Spotlight Series on Bill Wolski and his equally talented wife Holly Baker Kreiswirth of Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro, Bill shared an amazingly wonderful description of the ever-so-fleeting magic of performing live theatre which brings a playwright's scripts to life and often unites a cast as life-long friends. His post centers on his first-hand experience in the Little Fish production of THE COUNTRY HOUSE by Donald Margulies, which was directed by Holly and featured a talented cast of six, including Belinda Howell. Frannie Morrison, Richard Perloff, Maire-Rose Pike, Patrick Vest and Bill Wolski. And his post speaks so clearly to me that I immediately reached out to him, and have been given permission to share his words as a Spotlight Series today.

The Group Rep presents A Cabaret Line, a Two Night Only! fun fundraiser cabaret show, directed and hosted by Bruce Kimmel, with music direction by Richard Allen, produced by Doug Haverty, June 11 and June 12 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, California.

A clever and compelling love letter to theater, and everyone who enjoys it both on- and off-stage, Donald Margulies' The Country House opens at Little Fish Theatre on April 4 for a four-week run. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright focuses his lens on a multi-generational family, revealing long pent-up frustrations and unrequited love in this ultimately healing narrative. LFT company member Holly Baker-Kreiswirth directs.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been in our repertoire of must reads and must sees since high school. We know the storyline of the star- crossed lovers, which formed the basis for the musical West Side Story. The play treats of hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets. Because of the senseless family feuding, lives are lost and somehow love has gone astray. I enjoy seeing Shakespeare done in the traditional mode with 16th century sets and costumes, but am totally open to reimagined productions, as long as the poetry is in tact and the time period to which the story is assigned makes sense and shows the theme and message with clarity and intelligence..Group rep's current production directed quite nicely by Shira Dubrovner takes the audience to Berlin in the 1930s when Hitler took control and slaughtered or banished Jews from Germany.

The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.

The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.

The Group Rep presents their second Nine Winning One-Acts event, featuring fresh world premiere plays chosen from more than 150 entries from around the country.

The annual dysfunctional family Christmas gathering? Oy! This family lives in Minnesota. Double oy!! Issue at hand: not one of the family members is anywhere near to being happy. Mom (Belinda Howell) is in denial, keeping her breast cancer a secret, her doctor son Michael (Patrick Burke) has been mysteriously separated from wife Jill (Rebekah Dunn) for three months, other son Carl (Greg D. Barnett), a struggling writer, is estranged from his girlfriend Rita, and daughter Stacey (Truett Jean Butler) is gay and separated from her partner, who hasn't yet told her parents about their relationship. Then there's obnoxious intruder Uncle Bob (Fox Carney) who does his best to upset everyone with his disgustingly uber jovial disposition, and Grandma (Marcia Rodd), with a tongue that could cut glass, who sashays around them all with digs, jibes and a whole barrel of insulting fun. Doug Engalla has skillfully directed a superb cast of players who only have to speak Phil Olson's hysterically funny lines to get laughs. It's a howler a la Neil Simon with a laugh about every two seconds, and each character has that dry infectious Minnesota accent that makes you double over every time you hear it.

The Group Rep presents the world premiere comedy A Nice Family Christmas written by Phil Olson, directed by Doug Engalla, produced by Alyson York.

The Group Rep presents the world premiere comedy A Nice Family Christmas written by Phil Olson, directed by Doug Engalla, produced by Alyson York.

The 2003 film Calendar Girls was produced in the US with a British cast starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. It is a delightful comedy and a sweet ode to women, who, dissatisfied with many lifestyle choices, try quite earnestly to raise the bar. In 2008 it was made into a play and has been a best seller in the UK, probably because it takes place in and pays homage to Yorkshire. Now under Larry Eisenberg's keen and caring direction, Calendar Girls, rarely produced in the US, has a sturdy production with a sterling cast at Group rep in NoHo through October 9.

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.