Claudia de Vasco News

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison and Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, will present the 2019 Theatre Women Awards at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012) on Monday, March 25 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). For more information on the 2019 Theatre Women Awards, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.theatrewomen.org. 

New year, new Kilroys! For the past five years The Kilroys, an LA-based collective of playwrights/producers continuing the fight to achieve gender balance in the American theater, have been advocating for equal representation on our American stages, and have released an annual list of under-produced plays by women, trans, and non-binary writers. Despite some measurable progress, we still have a long way to go before we strike that balance. So, as we approach 2019, we are beyond thrilled to introduce a fresh new gang of fearless badass leaders. These women will seize our reins and continue the fight for equality, creating random acts of disruption along the way, while the OG Kilroys will serve as an advisory board supporting the current class. 

Meet Eric. He's an aspiring playwright who's trying to break into TV writing when his Dad interrupts his plans by suddenly getting sick with a terminal illness. Instead of stepping up to his familial duties, Eric runs away from his sadness straight into a 'Wall of Dicks'. Fortunately, there's a hot, imaginary Cockroach who's there to help him to confront his grief and his family's disappointment. Death and Cockroaches, a brand new theatrical experience presented by Chalk Repertory Theatre, opens November 9 for four weeks at Atwater Village Theatre. Written by Chalk Rep Artistic Circle member Eric Reyes Loo and directed by Chalk Rep Founding Member Jennifer Chang, in an innovative, immersive production featuring a full sensory experience.

Meet Eric. He's an aspiring playwright who's trying to break into TV writing when his Dad interrupts his plans by suddenly getting sick with a terminal illness. Instead of stepping up to his familial duties, Eric runs away from his sadness straight into a 'Wall of Dicks'. Fortunately, there's a hot, imaginary Cockroach who's there to help him to confront his grief and his family's disappointment. Death and Cockroaches, a brand new theatrical experience presented by Chalk Repertory Theatre, opens November 9 for four weeks at Atwater Village Theatre. Written by Chalk Rep Artistic Circle member Eric Reyes Loo and directed by Chalk Rep Founding Member Jennifer Chang, in an innovative, immersive production featuring a full sensory experience.

ANTON IN SHOW BUSINESS by Jane Martin is a satirical romp across the stage of American Theatre, that holds a hilarious mirror up to the live theatre entertainment from coast to coast. The story focuses on Holly (Gillian Shure), a wildly popular TV star, who needs to get theatrical street cred to be considered for film. On a whim she signs on to do Anton Chekov's "Three Sisters" in a small repertory theatre in Texas where she can hire directors and pull all the strings as the show's financial backer. The entire cast is portrayed by women in this ensemble piece that combines the depth of Chekov and the levity of a Bravo sitcom.

SLIGHTLY SANE PRODUCTIONS announce the opening of prolific award-winning and somewhat mysterious playwright Jane Martin's, ANTON IN SHOW BUSINESS, Directed by Nell Teare.  This satirical gem,  with a stellar cast opens at The Hudson MainStage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA.  Tickets: www.plays411.com/anton - Opening April 9th, 2016.  There will be one preview Friday, April 8th.

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, announce a workshop production of RED BARN, a new musical play. The book is written by David Melville and Melissa Chalsma, original music and lyrics by David Melville and directed by Melissa Chalsma. Performances of RED BARN will begin on Friday, March 13 and run through Sunday, March 29 at the Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village. This production is not open for review.

Over the past ten years, Independent Shakespeare Co. has staked its claim on the city of Los Angeles with its 'of the people, by the people, for the people' brand of Shakespeare. Built from the ground up by two regular people (Melissa Chalsma and David Melville) who love what they do, they have created a fiercely loyal following that can't get enough of their kind of real-people theatre.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT or What You Will, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT or What You Will, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's Twelfth Night or What You Will, directed by ISC's artistic director Melissa Chalsma.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT or What You Will, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma.

Independent Shakespeare Co. bookends its 2013 season with two witty romantic comedies, Oliver Goldsmith's SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER and Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT, to offset a terrifyingly intense and bloody version of MACBETH during this summer's Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival.

The first play of Independent Shakespeare Co.'s season is....Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer or The Mistakes of the Night. It's not a play by Shakespeare, but it shares traits with Shakespeare's great comedies: eccentric characters, absurdly comic situations, and deep warmth. First performed in 1773, it was an immediate success.

This tale of courage and sisterhood is inspired by the true story of the Dominican Republic's Mirabal siblings whose underground resistance proved that despots are not invincible. IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES, on stage April 5-27 at Mixed Blood Theatre, will be performed in Spanish and English (with translated supertitles in both languages). This bilingual world premiere of Julia Alavarez's 1994 New York Times best-selling historical fiction is written by Caridad Svich, author of Mixed Blood's 2010 play based on Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits.