Ed Krieger News

Laguna Playhouse is thrilled to present the sixth show in its 97th season, the world premiere of NATHAN GUNN FLYING SOLO, written and directed by Hershey Felder, with musical direction by Michael Bagby.

5-STAR THEATRICALS (formerly Cabrillo Music Theatre) continues its 2017-2018 season with the Thousand Oaks premiere of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Peter Parnell (based on the Victor Hugo Novel and songs from the Disney film), musical direction by Dan Redfeld, choreography by Michelle Elkin and directed by Misti B. Wills. THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME opens on Friday, April 20, 2017 and runs through Sunday, April 29, 2018 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

ENGAGING SHAW begins in England in 1897 in a comfortable cottage in Stratford, England, where Shaw hopes to complete his new play. As he engages in conversation with his friends, the happily married cottage owners, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, we learn Shaw is a notorious flirt and heartbreaker who enjoys romancing women, attracting them to him "like a moth to the flame." But it is soon apparent he is not particularly interested in sex, a fact reflected in his real life where he remained a virgin until his 29th birthday. It's the thrill of the hunt that is the main attraction for Shaw, thoroughly enjoying the effect he has on women as he pursues them, not in the keeping of them. In present-day parlance, he'd be considered a sexist cad. Beatrice sees an opportunity to deflect Shaw's interest in her (and hers in him) by inviting their wealthy benefactor Charlotte to visit, knowing when she meets Shaw, the financially challenged but famous Irish playwright and political activist, that sparks will fly.

Golden Globe winner Melanie Griffith can now be seen on stage playing pop culture's most famous cougar, Mrs. Robinson---the infamous 'mom of a certain age' who uses her predatory sexuality to seduce a recent college graduate into entering a torrid affair---in a new production of THE GRADUATE, which continues its just-extended engagement at the Laguna Playhouse through March 25, 2018 in Laguna Beach, CA. On paper, the role seems like a perfect fit for the now 60-year-old star who has demonstrated prior success in playing sultry, seductive women. But in this production, the results---like the dysfunctional relationships that criss-cross in this play---aren't as well-matched as you'd hope it would be.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is thrilled to announce that due to overwhelming demand, the fifth show in its 97th season, Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner MELANIE GRIFFITH starring as Mrs. Robinson in THE GRADUATE, adapted by Terry Johnson, based on the novel by Charles Webb and the screenplay by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, directed by Ovation Award-winner Michael Matthews (Twelve Angry Men, Billy & Ray) is EXTENDING through SUNDAY, MARCH 25 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Drive in Laguna Beach. THE GRADUATE will begin previews on Wednesday, February 21 and will open on Sunday, March 4 at 5:30pm.

Range of Light presents the world premiere of David Sessions' dark comedy Two Fisted Love, directed by Los Angeles stage veteran Jules Aaron, in a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre. Opens February 10.

When Danny, son of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic rabbi, injures the more traditionally Orthodox Reuven during a baseball game between their rival yeshivas, their two universes collide and a unique friendship is born. "This powerful story shows how essential it is to consider the views of those who are different from us," says director Levy. "It's an antidote to the toxicity of our times. Potok beautifully depicts what it means to bridge chasms - between modernity and tradition, the secular and the sacred, Zionism and Hasidism, adolescence and adulthood, friendship and family, fathers and sons, the head and the heart, and the struggle to choose for ourselves, to fight for what we believe in and who we want to be."

Josefina Lopez, Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights, CA announced today that CASA 0101 Theater is in danger of closing its doors. Lopez said, "I opened CASA over 15 years ago. I started CASA to create opportunities for actors and writers and artists. This is the kind of place that I wanted when I was a little girl. I thought this would be my way of giving back to my community in Boyle Heights. But, unfortunately we are on the brink of closing down because we can't pay our rent, so we need your financial support. If you believe in what were are doing, please support us now."

Based on historical events, Oh Freedom! tells the story of the greatest collaboration against racism in American history before the Civil Rights movement. Combining stories of the men and women who were active in the fight against slavery with songs of the period, it reminds us that it took the cooperation, conviction, and bravery of many people, both black and white, to help hundreds of enslaved people make their way to freedom. Due to serious subject matter, this production is not suitable for children under 10.

Every January I look forward to attending THE MANOR by Katherine Bates, presented by Theatre 40 inside the historic Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills where the story upon which it is based actually took place. Now celebrating its 16th year, the annual production has become a Los Angeles/Beverly Hills institution with several performances selling out even before tickets go on sale to the public. Its popularity, no doubt, is due to the talented actors, costumed to time-period perfection, who make up the cast of characters about the oil-rich Doheny family, as well as the chance to be inside the grand and glorious architectural landmark in which the events of 89 years ago actually took place, performed in two acts taking place 10 years apart.

Disney's Beauty and The Beast, The Broadway Musical has been extended at CASA 0101 Theater, 2012 E. First Street (at St. Louis Street), Boyle Heights, CA 90033 through Sunday, January 28, 2018. Conrado Terrazas, Executive Producer of TNH Productions and Emmanuel Deleage, Producer and Executive Director of CASA 0101 Theater announced today: Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, we are very happy to announce that we are extending our production of Disney's Beauty and The Beast, The Broadway Musical for one additional week, until Sunday, January 28, 2018. The production is being presented by CASA 0101 Theater, TNH Productions and El Centro Del Pueblo, in association with Councilmember Gil Cedillo.

Friendship, faith and fatherhood. Jonathan Arkin, Alan Blumenfeld, Dor Gvirtsman and Sam Mandelstar in The Chosen, the award-winning stage adaptation by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok of Potok's beloved novel. Simon Levy directs for aJanuary 20 opening at the Fountain Theatre, where performances continue through March 25. The Fountain celebrates the novel's 50th anniversary (last April) with the West Coast premiere of Posner's new, streamlined version.

By now, we all know that new laws have been enacted which allow the first born, whether male or female, of the reigning heir to the British monarchy to be named that person's successor. This new move to equality of the sexes when it comes to being named the crown was perhaps initially started by Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII, who he made Queen Regent when he went off to war (allowing her to rule in his place). Parr then took it upon herself to have his daughters Mary and Elizabeth (Bess) added to the line of succession should their younger half-brother and heir apparent, Edward, die without any legal heirs to assume the crown. That move led to advancing their status as women of royal privilege as more than just a piece of property to be used as a bargaining chip for royal alliances through marriage.

KPFK Radio's Arts in Review, Los Angeles's longest-running radio showcase on live theater and cabaret, presents its annual Christmas Day Holiday Drama Special, aired in two parts (10 to 11am & 1pm to 2pm), highlighted by the radio dramatization premieres of All is Calm, All is Bright ( The Story of Silent Night ) & One Horse Open Sleigh ( The Story of Jingle Bells ), performed by the Arts in Review (AIR) Repertory Players. This special broadcast will also offer the 14th annual concert presentation of Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas in Wales, featuring actor Al Alu, and an encore presentation of AIR Repertory's The Christmas Eve Truce. Hosted by entertainment journalist Julio Martinez, the program airs on KPFK 90.7.FM, and streamed live worldwide on kpfk.org.

ASHES TO ASHES centers on liberal Sara (Lena Bouton) and right-winger Jefferson (Kevin Young), ex-spouses who are polar opposites about everything except their love and devotion for their two, newly deceased, filthy-rich best friends. Trapped by the time-constraints of their friends' will, the two are forced to spend the next 16 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes together, scattering their friends' ashes across Europe under the direction of pre-arranged tour guides who meet the duo as they arrive at each of their destinations. The places visited where ashes are to be left trace a journey of the heart from their friends' lives, and the feuding duo soon realize the steps in a relationship that test true love may soon re-ignite the passion between them.

Last year Casa 0101 produced a lovely dual language version of Disney's Aladdin, which was so popular it extended its run and eventually transferred to a larger venue. Hoping to repeat that success, they have set their sights on another Disney classic but, this time, the production proves too ambitious an undertaking for the company.

One of the most current topics in the media now concerns transgender people being able to live the life they envision for themselves without prejudice or scorn aimed at them. After all, no doubt you have seen public restrooms now labeled to allow anyone access to them, be that person either physically or dressed as either gender, or perhaps a mix of both. Amid a breaking wave of transgender stories in popular culture (Transparent, Boy Meets Girl, and Orange is the New Black), Olivier Award winner Jon Brittain has created ROTTERDAM, a groundbreaking play, with deeply relatable characters that are flawed and often hilarious or heartbreaking as they struggle to be truthful about their identities.

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.

A tale as old as time will be making its way to Boyle Heights, CA on the Main Stage at CASA 0101 Theater when a young woman named Belle, from a provincial town meets up with a Beast, who is actually a handsome young Prince under the magic spell of an Enchantress.

When playwright Tania Wisbar was growing up as a girl in America, her mother shared little about her past in wartime Germany, other than Tania came from a very well-placed and highly respected film family. With her parents divorced, there was not much else Tania knew about her family history, at least not until 1999 when a German professor visiting the U.S. brought Wisbar a 60-year-old document he had discovered in a Harvard University archive. In the 86-page manuscript, Wisbar's mother, Eva Kroy Wisbar, who was Jewish, detailed her forbidden marriage to a German film director as the Nazis were coming to power. The manuscript held answers to many of the questions the playwright's mother never answered before her 1984 death. Fifteen years later, that document inspired Wisbar's play, THE RED DRESS, its World Premiere now at the Odyssey Theatre through November 19.