Joan Didion News

Today, bicoastal indie-pop duo EXES and LA-based synthpop duo JOME officially announce their collaborative EP Nothing's Out To Get You slated for release on March 8th. In anticipation, on Wednesday they premiered their second new single “Stay Still”with Atwood Magazine; a powerful ode to the feelings surrounding love, loss, and tragedy.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents Past Tense, a production by acclaimed artist Carrie Mae Weems on Friday, March 8 at the Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles. Tickets for $29-69 are available now at cap.ucla.edu, theatre.acehotel.com, 310-825-2101 and The Theatre at Ace Hotel box office.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents MOUTHPIECE, a production by Quote Unquote Collective in association with Why Not Theatre for a four-night engagement from Wednesday, Feb.6 to Saturday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. at the Royce Hall Rehearsal Room, UCLA.

 The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting and videogame writing during 2018. Winners will be honored at the 2019 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 17, at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

This quote is the opening sentence from the author of the book and the words that inspired, created and catapulted The White Album -- a theatrical representation in full of Didion's autobiographical, literary essays of the same name published in 1979 but focused on the tumultuous period of time between 1966 (though it was officially started in 1968) and 1971, which had an engagement as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival November 28 - December 1, through collaborators between Lars Jan/Early Morning Opera, Mia Barron (who portrayed Didion herself), and multiple commissioners and supporters including Center Theatre Group, arts centers at CalArts, UCLA, Ohio State University and the UCross Foundation, amongst others.

Ucross, a prestigious artists' residency program and creative lab for the arts located in Wyoming's majestic High Plains, is proud to announce that Ucross Fellows Lars Jan and Mia Barron will stage The White Album, Jan's word-for-word celebration of Joan Didion's famous essay, at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) from November 28th through December 1st.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) in association with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance present the U.S. Premiere of Dimitris Papaioannou's celebrated work The Great Tamer on Friday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m. at Royce Hall.

Back by popular demand, Linda Purl returns with her one-woman tour-de-force show. Based on Joan Didion's National Book Award-winning memoir, 'The Year of Magical Thinking,' this show takes you on a remarkable journey about loss and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. Linda Purl - stage, movie and television veteran actress, stars in a one-woman tour-de-force performance. This play is a tribute to an extraordinary marriage and a love letter to Didion's daughter. Ms. Purl is known for her roles on 'Happy Days' as Ashley Pfister, 'Matlock' (Charlene Matlock), 'Robin's Hoods' (Brett Robin), 'The Office' (Barbara Fortnum) and most recently 'Designated Survivor (Julia Rombauer).

The White Album is a multifaceted theater work based on Joan Didion's seminal essay about California's shifting cultural landscape of the late 1960s. In this piece, directed by Lars Jan, the Obie-winning Mia Barron delivers the essay in its entirety while two performance works simultaneously unfold on stage. Two separate audiences-one is the traditional audience seated in the theater; the other is a smaller selected group of approximately 20 on stage, intimate, and mobile. Both audiences experience the works simultaneously but from different vantage points. The smaller audience eventually becomes part of a contemporary house party, representing a microcosm of the promise, tumult, and violence of the era traced in Didion's text.

Back by popular demand, Linda Purl returns with her one-woman tour-de-force show. Based on Joan Didion's National Book Award-winning memoir, "The Year of Magical Thinking," this show takes you on a remarkable journey about loss and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. Linda Purl - stage, movie and television veteran actress, stars in a one-woman tour-de-force performance. This play is a tribute to an extraordinary marriage and a love letter to Didion's daughter. Ms. Purl is known for her roles on "Happy Days" as Ashley Pfister, "Matlock" (Charlene Matlock), "Robin's Hoods" (Brett Robin), "The Office" (Barbara Fortnum) and most recently "Designated Survivor (Julia Rombauer).

Back by popular demand, Linda Purl returns with her one-woman tour-de-force show. Based on Joan Didion's National Book Award-winning memoir, 'The Year of Magical Thinking,' this show takes you on a remarkable journey about loss and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. Linda Purl - stage, movie and television veteran actress, stars in a one-woman tour-de-force performance. This play is a tribute to an extraordinary marriage and a love letter to Didion's daughter. Ms. Purl is known for her roles on 'Happy Days' as Ashley Pfister, 'Matlock' (Charlene Matlock), 'Robin's Hoods' (Brett Robin), 'The Office' (Barbara Fortnum) and most recently 'Designated Survivor (Julia Rombauer).

Arena Stage announces the presentation of the fourth annual Beth Newburger Schwartz Award to National Public Radio's Nina Totenberg, with actor and performer Kathleen Turner headlining the 2019 Arena Stage Annual Gala. The Gala will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at the Mead Center for American Theater

TSG Theatricals announces the developmental reading of "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins" by Allison and Margaret Engel at the Tony Kiser Theater on Monday, November 5 at 7pm.

Multimedia artist and designer Lars Jan has been granted permission to stage Joan Didion's seminal essay The White Album. Preceded only by a Broadway production of The Year of Magical Thinking, Jan's production will be the second of Didion's works to be adapted for the stage. The White Album is currently in development, and is scheduled to premiere on October 4, 2018 in Pittsburgh, PA, followed by subsequent performances in New York and Los Angeles.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents the West Coast premiere of Nigerian-born, UK-based poet, playwright and performer Inua Ellams' celebrated play Barber Shop Chronicles, a co-production of Fuel, National Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse, from Thursday, Oct. 18 to Saturday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Freud Playhouse, UCLA.

Renowned actress and singer Linda Purl, best known for 'Happy Days', 'Matlock' and 'The Office' will make her solo cabaret debut at Feinstein's 54 Below on September  4th and 5th with her sensational new show 'Big Band Romance' featuring the all- female Diva Jazz Orchestra.

Marking its 40th anniversary as one of New York's most vital cultural institutions,Symphony Space is proud to announce a new season of bold programming, presented in a uniquely warm and welcoming environment. From September through June, Symphony Space offers an exciting lineup of events that connect art, ideas, and the city's rich mosaic of communities.

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) announces three additions to its 2018-19 season, which honors legacy artists and features pioneering social justice champions and diverse global perspectives. Bestselling humorist David Sedaris will return with new and unpublished work for the 20th anniversary of his first appearance at Royce Hall. Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker and activist Josh Fox will appear in a live solo performance of The Truth Has Changed ahead of the midterm elections. Pulitzer Prize finalist and Latino Literature Hall of Fame member Luis Alberto Urrea will join previously announced Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen in a conversation exploring their writing about the immigrant experience and society we all share as Americans.

Dee Rees' THE LAST THING HE WANTED Rounds Out Cast