With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the Arts alive in the City of the Angels. This Spotlight focuses on Shon LeBlanc, owner of The Costume House in NoHo who had 15 shows on his costume design schedule cancel within a week due to the COVID-19 shutdown to a?oeFlatterTheCurvea?? of infection.
Y'all ready for a second helping? Wussy Mag, Queer Appalachia, and Southern Fried Queer Pride, three powerhouse stewards of Southern and Appalachian queer culture, have teamed up again to bring you 'The Big Ass Telethon to End Metronormativity: PART TWO.' The livestream event celebrating rural queer artists will air on Saturday, May 30 at 5pm PDT/8pm EDT on Twitch at @endmetronormativity.
Popular American film director and producer, television writer and producer, playwright and actor Del Shores is an expert at creating mid-twentieth century lowbrow female characters; the salt of the earth Southern women on the surface who bubble with peppery torment beneath the surface, just waiting to explode. And now in his latest play, THIS SIDE OF CRAZY which Shores also directs at the Zephyr Theatre for its Los Angeles premiere, carries on the same tradition of a strong-willed, highly religious mother who raised her three very different daughters, each of whom has rebelled against family traditions and society's expectations - until they are called upon to reunite in the family home for some higher purpose.
Beard Collins Shores Productions is thrilled to present the Los Angeles premiere of Dale Dickey, Bobbie Eakes, Sharon Garrison and Rachel Sorsa starring in the Los Angeles premiere of THIS SIDE OF CRAZY, written and directed by Del Shores. THIS SIDE OF CRAZY opened on Friday, January 31 and will run through Sunday, March 8 at the Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., in West Hollywood.
The Los Angeles Premiere of prolific playwright Del Shore's latest THIS SIDE OF CRAZY begins January 30, 2020 at the Zephyr Theatre. Del's latest in his entertaining and relatable dysfunctional family tales centers on renown Gospel singer Ditty Blaylock as she's about to be honored by the Gospel Music Network. Unbeknownst to her adoring public, the promised reunion of her three singing daughters, estranged for twenty-five-plus years, may be the death of Ditty yet. I had the chance to ask a few questions of Del Shores regular Dale Dickey, who plays Abigail Blaylock, the crazy, angry daughter.
THE 6th ACT presents a world premiere comedy, a heartfelt love letter to all things 99-seat theatre, THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, written by Matthew Leavitt (The Boomerang Effect) and directed by Joel Zwick (a?oeMy Big Fat Greek Wedding,a?? Serrano The Musical). THE $5 SHAKESPEARE COMPANY will open on Friday, February 7 at 8pm and run through Sunday, March 8, 2020 at Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Blvd. in Hollywood.
BroadwayHD, the premiere streaming service for theater fans, is warming up the winter weather with a hot new lineup of titles this month. On December 5, BroadwayHD starts the month with the critically-acclaimed musical film Cabaret starring Tony and Academy Award winner Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey.
Beard Collins Shores Productions will present the Los Angeles premiere of Dale Dickey, Bobbie Eakes, Sharon Garrison and Rachel Sorsa starring in the Los Angeles premiere of THIS SIDE OF CRAZY, written and directed by Del Shores. THIS SIDE OF CRAZY will preview on Thursday, January 30, 2020; will open on Friday, January 31 and run through Sunday, March 8 at the Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., in West Hollywood.
BWW Review: THIS SIDE OF CRAZY at New Conservatory Theatre Center is Del Shores dramatic confrontation of a narcissistic mother and her three daughters.
Fresh from the combined creative minds of Jake O'Flaherty and Tom Misuraca, their SUICIDAL BLONDE will world premiere September 19, 2019 at the Whitefire Theatre. Their dark comedy take on suicide will be directed by Candi Milo. I had the opportunity to field a few questions to Pam Trotter, who plays BLONDE's integral Felicia.
'Yellow' is Del Shore's roller coaster play of a 'perfect' southern family that is thrown into a building storm of emotional and physical turmoil. The struggle breaks opens layers of pain to expose raw, heavy and hard to face truths. Director Rhonda Erbrick success as a director is clear by the gasps and teary-eyed moments from the audience.
In September, New Conservatory Theatre Center is delighted to kick off its 2019-20 Season with the world premiere of This Side of Crazy, a delightfully campy comedy written and directed by cult-phenomenon, Del Shores. a?oeLittle superstars for Jesus,a?? the Blaylock Sisters, are all grown up and kind of a mess. There's Rachel, a Christian vlogger who still has sex with her comatose husband, Abigail, a chain-smoking virgin with anger management issues, and Bethany, a closeted atheist stripper. When their overbearing stage mother, Ditty, a?oevolunteersa?? her daughters for a star-studded reunion performance, all hell breaks loose. From the brilliant and hilarious mind that created Sordid Lives and Southern Baptist Sissies, comes a brand new play about fame, family, and finding your way back home.
Uptown Players, a professional theater group located in the Uptown area of Dallas, has announced its 2019-2020 season at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. The season will feature the regional premieres of the 2015 Tony Award winning musical, Fun Home, the 2019 Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominated musical, Head Over Heels, and a new twist on the Nunsense holiday special, Nuncrackers. In addition, the season will include the 2017 Tony Award nominated play, Six Degrees of Separation. Uptown Players will also present two bonus add-on shows to its season lineup: the world premiere of the latest play (based on the hit film) from Del Shores, A Very Sordid Wedding and Uptown Players' annual fundraising production, Broadway Our Way.
Last week, to celebrate Pride Month, BroadwayHD brought Del Shores' Southern Baptist Sissies to the streaming service. An award-winning play starring Leslie Jordan, Willam Belli and Emerson Collins who narrates the story of four gay boys who are rife with conflict as they navigate their identities through the web of disapproving religious figures in their community. Watch a trailer here!
Jack Stehlin's critically acclaimed The New American Theatre celebrates one year in its new home on Wilton Place in Hollywood with the world premiere of Boxing Lessons, a ferociously dark, savagely funny new comedy by John Bunzel (63 Trillion, Death of a Buick). Stehlin directs a top-flight cast for an April 26 opening on NAT's main stage in the company's newly refurbished space. Together, they put the capital "D" in family Dysfunction through June 2. Low-priced previews begin April 19.
New Conservatory Theatre Center Founder & Artistic Director Ed Decker announced the line-up for NCTC's 2019-20 subscription season last night at NCTC's annual Season Announcement Party for subscribers, donors and artists.
Jack Stehlin's critically acclaimed The New American Theatre celebrates one year in its new home on Wilton Place in Hollywood with the world premiere of Boxing Lessons, a ferociously dark, savagely funny new comedy by John Bunzel (63 Trillion, Death of a Buick). Stehlin directs a top-flight cast for an April 26 opening on NAT's main stage in the company's newly refurbished space. Together, they put the capital 'D' in family Dysfunction through June 2. Low-priced previews begin April 19.
P3 Theatre Company announced today their five-show lineup to debut the Grand Opening of their new professional, non-profit 501(c)(3) theatre company. The first season will consist of Evita, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics by Tim Rice, Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling, Sordid Lives, by Del Shores, Gypsy, Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and A Chorus Line, Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleban - all showcasing at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre in Long Beach.
