Ellen Geer News

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum celebrates the Bard's 450th Birthday with an All-Shakespeare Season under the stars and live oaks of Topanga Canyon.

James Avery, Beau Bridges, Jamie Hector, Helen Hunt, Jason Isaacs, William H. Macy, Wendie Malick and Brent Spiner starred in a staged reading of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's acclaimed docudrama THE EXONERATED as the closing event of Theatricum Botanicum's 40th Anniversary Season on November 9. BroadwayWorld has photos from the reading below!

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum has announced the Antelope Valley Theatre Project, an immersive theater program that will expand the company's reach to the Lancaster/Palmdale area with support from The James Irvine Foundation Exploring Engagement Fund.

A young druid wizard destined for greatness comes of age during Britain's bloodiest age. Written and directed by Ellen Geer and featuring an original electronic score byMarshall McDaniel and Kellen McDaniel, the world premiere of Merlin: The Untold Adventures opens tonight, July 20 at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga.

Okay, I'll say it. I haven't seen a production of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW that comes anywhere close to this vivid interpretation of the story. It is spectacular!

Actors who dedicate their life to the theatre are a passionate, unique and rare breed. Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in THE ROYAL FAMILY, an uproarious comedy about a family of actors.

A young druid wizard destined for greatness comes of age during Britain's bloodiest age. Written and directed by Ellen Geer and featuring an original electronic score byMarshall McDaniel and Kellen McDaniel, the world premiere of Merlin: The Untold Adventures opens on July 20 at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga.

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic directorEllen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores,George S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are 'defacto' Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member Susan Angelo directs.The Royal Family opens today, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th Anniversary Summer Repertory Season.

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores, George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are "defacto" Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member SusanAngelo directs. The Royal Family opens on Saturday, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th AnniversarySummer Repertory Season. Check out a first look below!

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic directorEllen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-lawAbby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores,George S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are "defacto" Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member Susan Angelo directs.The Royal Family opens on Saturday, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th Anniversary Summer Repertory Season.

Opposites attract, and forces of nature and desire bring lovers together with unexpected results. Theatricum Botanicum kicks off its 40th Anniversary season with two of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Ellen Geer, opens on Saturday, June 1; one day later, on Sunday, June 2, Theatricum's signature production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, co-directed by Willow Geer and Melora Marshall, hits the boards. Both plays will continue in repertory throughout the summer as Theatricum sets out to celebrate 40 years of theater, music, poetry and performance in the Topanga woods.

"Botanicum Seedlings," Theatricum Botanicum's development series for playwrights, is pleased to announce the recipient of the 4th Annual "Izzy" Award. The winning play, Recipe by Michael Gene Sullivan, was first presented as part of last year's spring playreadings. The Izzy is named for Theatricum's late dramaturg, Israel Baran, who passed away in 2007. To honor Israel's keen mind, sharp tongue, and ear for language (despite the fact that he was frustratingly deaf), the Izzy was established to recognize the Seedlings play that "speaks to us the loudest."

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a lively summer season of theater, music and performance under the stars and live oaks of Topanga Canyon

The Stratford Festival has announced that comedians Albert Howell, Elvira Kurt and Matt Watts will be part of this season's Forum, joining the impressive lineup of comics already confirmed for June 13's Stand Off, featuring Sean Cullen, Chris Gibbs and Sharon Matthews.

THE WALTONS 40th Anniversary Reunion: Celebrating Family & Education is set for today, September 29, 2012.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of THE WALTONS, one of television's most iconic shows, a cast reunion is scheduled for Saturday, September 29, 2012, at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The creator of the series, Mr. Earl Hamner, Jr., along with the cast and many writers, directors and producers of the show, will be honored by celebrities who were guests on the show, as well as by celebrity friends who starred on other classic television shows.

Theatricum Botanicum will present Deborah Brevoort's The Women of Lockerbie beginning June 30 on Theatricum's outdoor stage in Topanga Canyon, and continue through the end of September.

This summer, Theatricum Botanicum examines the inequity of a rigid moralistic government and the effect upon its citizens in Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Director Ellen Geer maximizes the impact of the play's themes by moving the time period to the pressure cooker era of the late 1960s, a perfect choice for the Toganga Canyon venue which already feels like you've taken a trip back in time the minute you walk in.

Theatricum Botanicumcontinues the 2012 Repertory Season with George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House. Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer directs the Nobel Prize-winning author's "Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes" for Theatricum's outdoor stage in idyllic Topanga Canyon.

THE WALTONS 40th Anniversary Reunion: Celebrating Family & Education is set for Saturday, September 29, 2012.