Ellen Monocroussos News

Harold Pinter fans can enjoy 72 minutes of quintessential Pinter when Jack Heller directs the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's rarely-produced early work, A Slight Ache, in a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre. Dance On Productions in association with Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger presents a six week run, August 26 through October 1.

Richard Bach's bestselling 1970 novella “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” is brought vividly to life in Jonathan Livingston Seagull: A Solo Flight by Adapter and Performer Andrew Thacher who invites us to join Jonathan on his journey through the here and now, and all of eternity, as he soars to the heights of perfection, freedom, and Love.

In this two-person character study, Joey Brant (R. Emmett Lee, who more than adequately took on the challenge of learning to speak Hebrew for the part) is a Jewish divorce lawyer in his 60s who never had a bar mitzvah ceremony. For reasons which become clear in the story, Joey's bar mitzvah ceremony must take place at the synagogue he attended five decades ago where his grandson Ben Goldman will carry on the family tradition with his own bar mitzvah in a matter of months. Joey, a thoroughly secularized man, must now re-connect with the faith of his ancestors, but promptly alienates the synagogue's regular instructor. But when Joey goes to meet with the temple's new rabbi for his bar mitzvah lessons, he is shocked to find a woman is now in charge.

Bar Mitzvah Boy. Southern California Premiere engagement of a new play.

When is it time to give up the keys? Get ready for the laughter-through-tears magic that is Last Call by Anne Kenney. Open Fist Theatre Company presents the world premiere of this funny, sad and very human debut play by the Peabody Award-winning writer best known for her work on Switched at Birth, Hellcats, Greek, L.A. Law and, most recently, the first three seasons of Outlander. Open Fist company member Lane Allison directs for a Jan. 18 opening at Atwater Village Theatre, where performances will continue through Feb. 23. Pay-what-you-want previews begin Jan. 11.

When is it time to give up the keys? Get ready for the laughter-through-tears magic that is Last Call by Anne Kenney.

When is it time to give up the keys? Get ready for the laughter-through-tears magic that is Last Call by Anne Kenney.

When is it time to give up the keys? Get ready for the laughter-through-tears magic that is Last Call by Anne Kenney.

Directed by Howard Teichman for the West Coast Jewish Theatre at the Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica on a beautifully detailed split-level set designed by Kurtis Bedford and lit by Ellen Monocroussos, Neil Simon's classic took on a more emotional dedication from the cast with Simon's passing on August 26, 2018 during the show's rehearsal process. But even though Teichman keeps the pace moving along at a steady pace, running at almost 3 hours with very little laughter, the play, though extremely well written and performed, does seem a bit long and drawn-out as there certainly were moments when it could have ended much sooner and still been as effective.

It's 1949, the war is over, and America is beginning a new chapter. Eugene Jerome and his brother Stan are being given a chance to audition as comedy writers for CBS in the emerging medium of television. If they succeed, they'll move out of the family home in Brighton Beach and into the Big City. Eugene, however, is distracted. He's fallen in love and thinks his new girl is The One. Stan has episodes of writer's block.

It's 1949, the war is over, and America is beginning a new chapter. Eugene Jerome and his brother Stan are being given a chance to audition as comedy writers for CBS in the emerging medium of television. If they succeed, they'll move out of the family home in Brighton Beach and into the Big City. Eugene, however, is distracted. He's fallen in love and thinks his new girl is The One. Stan has episodes of writer's block.

It's 1949, the war is over, and America is beginning a new chapter. Eugene Jerome and his brother Stan are being given a chance to audition as comedy writers for CBS in the emerging medium of television. If they succeed, they'll move out of the family home in Brighton Beach and into the Big City. Eugene, however, is distracted. He's fallen in love and thinks his new girl is The One. Stan has episodes of writer's block.

The thin line between waking and dreaming, the conscious and subconscious, is exposed in an outrageously funny, surreal sit-com about 18 hours in the life of an all-American nuclear family.Jan Munroe directs theSouthern California premiere ofAll Night Long by John O'Keefe, opening Sept. 14 in anOpen Fist Theatre Companyproduction at Atwater Village Theatre.

Intensely beautiful, poignant and sublimely funny. Open Fist Theatre Company presents a revival of Under Milk Wood, the linguistic tour-de-force by the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Ben Martin directs for a July 27 opening atAtwater Village Theatre. 

Two performances of One Year Later have been added due to popular demand! Open Fist Theatre Company's "political pop-up" features 13 short plays by writers from across the country that explore our nation's current social and political climate and how the past year has affected us. Finding it hard to get off the couch and get to the theater? Open Fist has brought the couches to Atwater Village Theatre, creating a cozy, speakeasy setting where patrons can arrive early or stay late to have a drink and a chat with the cast and fellow audience members.

Tragedy meets hilarity and King Lear gets a happy ending in a madcap musical romp la Mel Brooks and Monty Python. Open Fist Theatre Companyrevives its smash hit production of deLEARious, an award-winning play-within-a-play by Second City'sRon West and composer Phil Swann. West directs for a Nov. 10 opening at Atwater Village Theatre, where performances will continue through Dec. 16. Pay-what-you-want previews begin Nov. 3.

Tragedy meets hilarity and King Lear gets a happy ending in a madcap musical romp la Mel Brooks and Monty Python. Open Fist Theatre Company revives its smash hit production of deLEARious, an award-winning play-within-a-play by Second City's Ron West and composer Phil Swann. West directs for a Nov. 10opening at Atwater Village Theatre, where performances will continue throughDec. 16. Pay-what-you-want previews begin Nov. 3.

Two couples learn what it means to be American in a world that no longer admires the U.S. Open Fist Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Walking To Buchenwald, a protean comedy with shocking consequences by Tom Jacobson.Roderick Menzies directs for a Sept. 9 opening atAtwater Village Theatre.

West Coast Jewish Theatre has announced the second production of its 2015-16 season, the internationally acclaimed comedy Romance.com by Hindi Brooks. Directed by WCJT Artistic Director Howard Teichman, the show opens tonight, October 10 at 8pm at the Pico Playhouse in West Los Angeles. The engagement will run through November 15.

 West Coast Jewish Theatre has announced the second production of its 2015-16 season, the internationally acclaimed comedy Romance.com by Hindi Brooks. Directed by WCJT Artistic Director Howard Teichman, there will be two preview performances on October 8 and 9 with opening set for Saturday, October 10 at 8pm at the Pico Playhouse in West Los Angeles. The engagement will run through November 15.