Gil Cates News

The Geffen Playhouse today announced that it has added three directors to its upcoming 2018/2019 season, the first from new Artistic Director Matt Shakman. Tony Award nominee Michael Arden will direct Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by and starring Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays; Obie Award winner Jo Bonney will direct the world premiere of Jose Rivera's The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona; and Obie Award-winner Robert O'Hara will direct the world premiere of Inda Craig-Galvan's Black Super Hero Magic Mama.

Chrissy Metz, the Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominated star of the NBC drama This Is Us, will make her stage debut in Neil LaBute's critically acclaimed play Fat Pig at the Geffen Playhouse.

Last night's star-studded event, Backstage at the Geffen, at the Geffen Playhouse grossed more than $1 million for the theater's education, outreach and artistic initiatives. The fundraiser, which recognizes leaders in the artistic community, supports the theater's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its education and community engagement programs, honored legendary stage and screen performer Dick Van Dyke and award-winning composer, lyricist and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda. Comedian Jim Carrey presented the Distinction in Theater Award to Van Dyke and EGOT award-winning actress Rita Moreno presented the Education Impact Award to Miranda.

Backstage at the Geffen, the Geffen Playhouse's annual fundraiser event, has launched its online auction featuring luxury vacations, one-of-a-kind artwork and VIP experiences. Proceeds will benefit the Geffen's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its award-winning education and community engagement programs, which bring live theater to more than 15,000 disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans annually.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its Los Angeles Premiere production of Skeleton Crew, the third and final installment in Dominique Morisseau's award-winning three-play cycle, The Detroit Project. The play features Amari Cheatom (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) as Dez, Caroline Stefanie Clay (Broadway's The Little Foxes) as Faye, Kelly McCreary (Grey's Anatomy) as Shanita and D.B. Woodside (Lucifer) as Reggie. Patricia McGregor will direct.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its world premiere production of Amanda Peet's Our Very Own Carlin McCullough. The play will feature Mamie Gummer (The Good Wife, True Detective) as Cyn, Abigail Dylan Harrison (The Affair) as Carlin at 10, Caroline Heffernan as Carlin at 17, Tyee Tilghman as Saleef and Joe Tippett (Rise, Broadway's Waitress) as Jay. Tyne Rafaeli (Geffen's Ironbound, Actually) will direct.

One thing for sure about Joshua Harmon's Significant Other is that all of the characters like to talk, nonstop, and while talking about the mundane, like dating, possible mates and themselves, they manage to be funny and serious simultaneously. Jordan Berman (Will Von Vogt) is gay and desperately seeking a partner. He has his eyes set on Will (John Garet Stoker), with whom he works, and is nothing short of obsessive in his approach to asking him out. Will is distant, and it takes Jordan a lot of effort to get

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the launch of the inaugural cycle of The Writers' Room, a forum for engagement and collaboration between Los Angeles playwrights. The program marks the next step in the Geffen's growth under Artistic Director Matt Shakman, whose vision for the theater emphasizes world premiere productions and the development of bold, relevant work by the local artistic community.

The Geffen Playhouse will honor legendary stage and screen performer Dick Van Dyke and award-winning composer, lyricist and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda at its 16th annual Backstage at the Geffen fundraiser. The event recognizes the accomplishments of leaders in the artistic community, supports the theater's mission to produce original, quality work and raises funds for its award-winning education and community engagement programs, which bring live theater to more than 15,000 disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans annually.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its production of Joshua Harmon's (Bad Jews) critically-acclaimed hit play, Significant Other, directed by Stephen Brackett. The cast features Melanie Field (Paramount Network's Heathers) as Laura, Vella Lovell (CW's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Vanessa, Preston Martin as Zach/Evan/Roger, Keilly McQuail (Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Kiki, John Garet Stoker (CBS's Code Black) as Will/Conrad/Tony, Concetta Tomei (Deep Impact) as Helene Berman and Will Von Vogt as Jordan Berman.

Today, actor, writer and activist, Daniel Beaty, was announced as the new host of Geffen Playhouse's acclaimed arts and entertainment series, Geffen Playhouse Unscripted, exclusively on PodcastOne.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced that Sell/Buy/Date, Sarah Jones' critically acclaimed one-woman show, will extend for one week and run through Sunday, April 15. Written and performed by Jones and directed by Carolyn Cantor, Sell/Buy/Date opens tonight in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the nine productions that will make up its 2018/2019 season, the first from new Artistic Director Matt Shakman. The season will focus on world premiere plays from acclaimed playwrights that reflect a culturally diverse Los Angeles and revivals of classic works that are relevant to the issues of today.

The Geffen Playhouse announced today that they will be replacing a previously announced production of Fat Pig by playwright Neil LaBute, with a world premiere of Amanda Peet's new play Our Very Own Carlin McCullough to its 2017/2018 season. Tyne Rafaeli (Ironbound, Actually) will direct.

The Cinema Audio Society Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing Motion Picture - Live Action was presented to the sound mixing team from “Dunkirk” of Mark Weingarten CAS, Gregg Landaker, Gary Rizzo CAS, Alan Meyerson CAS, Thomas J. O'Connell and Scott Curtis.

Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, the 80-minute play IRONBOUND by award-winning playwright Martyna Majok recounts the hard luck life of Polish immigrant Darja and the men she chooses to have in it. Moving between 2014, 1992, and 2006 - but not necessarily in that order - this wry drama points out that sometimes survival is the only measure of success. No doubt the title of her play, though set at a bus stop a quarter of a mile from Elizabeth, NJ, makes sense since that blue-collar town is just like where Darja works in a nearby noisy paper factory and as a maid for a wealthy married woman, and yet still suffers through poverty, abusive husbands who drink too much, single motherhood, and then an adult son who steals her car and abandons her with no way to get to work other than the bus, which of course is always late.

On the occasion of what would mark the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela, Academy Award-winning actress and super-philanthropist Charlize Theron and House of Mandela Family Foundation Co-Founder Kweku Mandela will kick off a series of events in a yearlong celebration in his honor.

Daniel Beaty, the award-winning actor and poet, is returning to the Geffen Playhouse with his critically acclaimed solo show, Emergency, for two encore performances today, January 11 and Friday, January 12 in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend.

BroadwayHD announces today that Thom Pain, the Geffen Playhouse's filmed adaptation of its stage production of Will Eno's lauded play Thom Pain (based on nothing) starring Rainn Wilson ('The Office,' founder of Soul Pancake), will be available on BroadwayHD beginning January 11, 2018.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced that Christian Camargo (Penny Dreadful, The Hurt Locker) has joined its West Coast Premiere of Martyna Majok's Ironbound, directed by Tyne Rafaeli (Actually). Camargo will play Tommy alongside Tony Award nominee Marin Ireland (Broadway's reasons to be pretty, Amazon's Sneaky Pete) as Darja and Josiah Bania (The Good Wife) as Maks, both of whom are reprising their Off-Broadway roles in the Geffen production, and Marcel Spears (The Mayor) as Vic.