Jeff Lorch News

Opening night of the West Coast premiere of 'Found: A New Musical' was held at the Los Angeles Theatre Center last Thursday, Feb. 20.

IAMA Theatre Company presents the West Coast premiere of Found, a new musical inspired by Davy Rothbart's popular Found Magazine, which features scores of actual discarded notes and letters that have been 'found' in the real world by everyday people.

Since the world premiere of Vietgone in 2015, Qui Nguyen has become one of the most lauded and sought-after contemporary American playwrights, as well as being a writer for Marvel and Disney. The world premiere of REVENGE SONG, his new rousing, romping, music-filled look at the real life of Julie d'Aubigny, a queer 17th century French swordswoman and opera singer, offers an exciting, entertaining, and rollicking theatrical experience, ingeniously directed by Robert Ross Parker that is sure to please rowdy fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show during the heroine's interactive journey toward self-discovery and acceptance. Adding to the fun are satirical references to more musicals than I could count, including Hamilton, Cabaret, Company, Avenue Q, Beauty and the Beast, and Bye Bye Birdie.

Geffen Playhouse presents its commissioned world premiere production of Revenge Song: A Vampire Cowboys Creation, written by Qui Nguyen (Vietgone, She Kills Monsters) and directed by Robert Ross Parker (Mothers, Disgraced). The production features original songs by Shane Rettig with lyrics by Qui Nguyen.

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, it's time to get your date night plans in order. BroadwayWorld is ready to help with our top recommendations for a theatre night out on the town. It doesn't matter if you're looking to impress your sweetie, meet up with friends, or escape the daily grind on your own, these productions will certainly sweeten the day.

Directed by Hollace Starr, an associate professor of theatre at Pepperdine University, a designated Linklater Voice teacher, and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio, with an innate understanding of feminine emotional turmoil, and John Perrin Flynn's keen eye for multimedia effects, EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON tackles our chronic inability to act in the interest of our future generations. At the center are three very different sisters who are left to raise and care for one another after their mother dies and their father abandons them. Now adults, the sisters find themselves navigating a 21st century London that is at the precipice of both an existential and an all-too-real environmental crisis.

Arthur Miller's electrifying family drama ALL MY SONS won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Play and Miller his first Pulitzer Prize when it first opened in 1947, and went on to be a recipient of numerous Tony Awards. Inspired by a story from an Ohio Newspaper on an aircraft factory's troubled contracts during WWII, the tale remains as timely as it is timeless about pointing your finger at someone else rather than soil your own reputation by taking responsibility for your own actions, a personality trait all too evident in today's society.

Geffen Playhouse presents the world premiere adaptation of Key Largo, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, Farragut North) and featuring Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia (Mama Mia! Here We Go Again, The Godfather: Part III) as Johnny Rocco. The Geffen Playhouse production is adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Andy Garcia, based on the play by Maxwell Anderson and the screenplay by Richard Brooks & John Huston. Original music is composed by 10-time GRAMMY Award winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Arturo Sandoval.

The play adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Andy Garcia, produced in association with Frank Mancuso and Andy Garcia, and directed by Doug Hughes, honors the original story in which disillusioned World War II veteran Frank McCloud (Danny Pino) travels to a hotel in Key Largo to pay his respects to Nora (Rose McIver), the young widow of a fallen solider, who now runs the hotel with its owner, her blind father (Tony Plana) who claims to have a?oeseena?? and heard it all during his lifetime. What McCloud doesn't count on is being confronted by an entirely different type of battlefield with mobsters who have overtaken the hotel, led by the ruthless Johnny Rocco (Andy Garcia, who dominates the stage channeling Al Pacino in The Godfather to the hilt), who is waiting for the culmination of a drug deal. As a hurricane barrels toward the Keys, tempers flare and gunfire blares, forcing McCloud to face his demons in order to take down a monster.

Before getting to the review, allow me to write in full disclosure: Approximately a?' of my viewing enjoyment of this production was usurped due to the fact that there was an elderly gentleman having issues with his hearing devices and the one-act that developed in trying to assist him. The billowing and flustering and seat-switching that was going on with the 'annoyed and put-off' audience members added with the bumbling and fumbling of the Front Of-House staff that tried to assist him was, to say the least, amazingly distracting. Mind you, I was equally disappointed in the 50'something crowd expressing their irritation as I was with the lack of decorum from the staff. To the FOH staff, may I highly suggest to have a workshop on working with seniors before, during, and after a performance and allow for all scenarios that may come up during their visit. To the 50'something crowd...we will sometime (soon) be the age of that senior gentlemen, may we remember that and put forth the energy of how we wish to be treated during our twilight years. Seniors deserve our utmost respect!

Geffen Playhouse presents The Thanksgiving Play, written by Larissa FastHorse (What Would Crazy Horse Do?, Landless) and directed by Michael John Garcés (Urban Rez, The Royale).

At its core, the original production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (and the movie adaptation it spawned) unabashedly celebrated its campy outlandishness. But unlike the original source material which was filled to the brim with sassy sight gags, cartoonish mannerisms, and pulp thrills, this new, gloriously reimagined production---now on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse through October 20, 2019 helmed by director Mike Donahue---feels much more grounded in reality and feels much more guided by the emotions of its characters, rather than have them just play second banana to the monstrous plant of excess vying for all the attention. With this pivoted focus, this incredible new production also now requires a cast of performers that can truly showcase that change---and, wow, did they ever find them in this brilliant ensemble!

Staged on a brilliantly creative two-setting, split-level scenic design by Dane Laffrey which includes a scene-dividing projected face on a screen on which the most extraordinary, ever-changing, light-flashing and color-changing eyes appear, this inventive retelling of a sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by beginning when a charming Devil (Evan Jonigkeit, a black-clad, roguishly perfect scene stealer) arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. But which of the five inhabitants will agree to sell their soul to attain whatever it is they think will make them happiest?

In this fiendishly funny new play by Jen Silverman, inspired by The Witch of Edmonton by Rowley, Dekker and Ford, a charming devil arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes.

Mysterious Circumstancesby Michael Mitnickinspired by The New Yorker article 'Mysterious Circumstances, the Strange Death of a Sherlock Holmes Fanatic' by David Granndirected by Matt ShakmanGeffen Playhouse, Gil Cates Theaterthrough July 14

Some believe the history of humanity has been guided by a desire to come to terms with the unknown in our world to create order amidst the overwhelming flood of mystery which surrounds us. Perhaps it is our desire to know about the complexities and intricacies of being human, to understand that which we cannot explain, which have led magicians to create flocks of followers attempting to figure out exactly how reality seems to be bent in their presence. Such is the case for storyteller and master illusionist Helder Guimarães who has returned to the Geffen Playhouse to share his personal perspective on how important it is to experience mystery in today's world. And wonder you will at his mind-blowing illusions, impossible coincidences, and entirely new perspectives, leaving you with one overwhelming thought - just how did he do that?

A love letter to those who shape our lives, hold us together and break our hearts. IAMA Theatre Company presents theworld premiere of Mama Metal, a joyfully irreverent black comedy by 2017 Humanitas Play LA award-winner Sigrid Gilmer that entwines issues of identity with pop culture icons to tell a truly unique mother-daughter story. Deena Selenow directs for a May 23 opening atAtwater Village Theatre, where performances will continue through June 23. Low-priced previews begin May 17.

Multi-award winning Pacific Resident Theatre, in their 34th year as one of the top regional companies in the country, is now offering a brand new resource to children in the Los Angeles area. The PRT Youth Conservatory is a full-time year-round program serving students up to 18 years of age, and completely free of charge for all students.

Bill falls for Sarah, but she is married to Ted. Ted might be a good match for Alice - who is married to Bill.Elina de Santos directs a painfully funny look at modern relationships by former attorney general-turned-playwright Grant Woods. The world premiere of The Things We Do, presented by Never Dark Productions as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre, opens on April 6, with performances continuing through May 12. 

Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole/book by Colman Domingo & Patricia McGregor/music supervision:John McDaniel/directed by Patricia McGregor/Geffen/Gil Cates Theater/through March 17 A much anticipated musical in Los Angeles has been Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole, which has received previous tryouts back east. Penned by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, who also directs the piece, the show is supposedly based on real facts from Cole's life and includes most of his standard hits arranged by John McDaniel. Currently onstage at the Gil CatesTheater of the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, Lights Out is spectacular entertainment, especially from Dule Hill as Cole and Daniel J. Watts as Sammy Davis Jr. but its book is in need of some major retooling. It is December 17, 1957 in the NBC Studio in Burbank where Cole's final  30 minute TV variety show is about to be presented live with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and Randy Van Horn Singers. Fifteen minutes to air time, Cole is in a deep state of depression over this being the final show. Why? He has millions of fans. Southern states have refused to continue paying for advertising on the show. Cole is a Negro, pure asnd simple. In spite of his fame, it's Lights Out for him. Guest star Peggy Lee has not shown up and friend Sammy Davis Jr. comes in to replace her with his amazing style of frantic comed