Lena Sands News

Experience the L.A. premiere of 'Birds of North America' at Odyssey Theatre, starring Arye Gross and Jacqueline Misaye. Directed by Peter Richards, the play delves into the complex relationship between a father and daughter against the backdrop of nature and climate change.

Big Little Theater Company in association with the Los Angeles LGBT Center has announced its world premiere production of Menstruation: A Period Piece by Miranda Rose Hall. Produced by Camille Jenkins and under the direction of Katie Lindsay with music by Tova Katz, previews begin on March 16 with opening set for Friday, March 24, at 8pm.

Misfiring on a lot of levels though it does, the production’s world premiere, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, has no shortage of electricity. Greene’s young and spirited ensemble pumps away to some quite familiar songs and to others that are less well-known.

See photos from opening night of Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts' WORLD PREMIERE production of INVINCIBLE - THE MUSICAL, featuring the songs of PAT BENATAR & NEIL GIRALDO, running through December 18, 2022, in The Wallis' Bram Goldsmith Theater.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble will present the Los Angeles premiere of an electrifying adaptation, by acclaimed British director Richard Eyre, of what may be Henrik Ibsen’s most controversial play. Directed by Bart DeLorenzo, Ghosts will kick off with two public previews on Sunday, Sept. 4 at 4 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m.

The South Pasadena Theatre Workshop has announced the cast for a new production of Timberlake Wertenbaker's award-winning dark comedy, Our Country's Good. Set in newly colonized Australia in the late 18th century, the production will run from May 26 to June 26. SPTW Artistic Director and co-founder, Sally Godwin Smythe, will direct the cast of twelve. 

Center Theatre Group’s Dorothy and Richard Sherwood Award will go to two artists – D’Lo and Mikaal Sulaiman. Center Theatre Group recognizes and celebrates this year’s finalists for their exceptional contributions to the Los Angeles theatre landscape and their work as innovative and adventurous artists.

Three finalists have been selected for Center Theatre Group’s 2021 Dorothy and Richard E. Sherwood Award: D’Lo, Lena Sands and Mikaal Sulaiman. Center Theatre Group recognizes and celebrates this year’s finalists for their exceptional contributions to the Los Angeles theatre landscape and their work as innovative and adventurous artists.

Euripides' BACCHAE is one of the bloodiest of the Greek tragedies we have: a grisly tale of how violently the capricious Olympian gods can retaliate on mortals if they feel disrespected. Here, the god in question is Dionysus, god of wine, passion, fertility--and theater. As played by Ellen Lauren, he's sinewy and androgynous and lewd: part Mick Jagger, part mad imp.

Hear more from artistic director Joseph Haj on welcoming director Anne Bogart and this famed ensemble to the Guthrie below!

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Four Larks present their World Premiere production of FRANKENSTEIN, created by Four Larks after Mary Shelley's classic novel, from Wednesday, February 12 through Sunday, March 1, 2020, in The Wallis' Lovelace Studio Theater. This unusual Frankenstein, commissioned by The Wallis, is an exuberant amalgamation of dynamic physical theatre, live music and experiential design that brings the tale to life in a modern take that spotlights the dangers of unregulated technology. Sourced predominantly from Shelley's novel in conjunction with its 200th anniversary, the production awakens new questions about moral responsibility for each generation. That description drew me to see the show, but in all honesty, I found the storyline as presented completely incomprehensible. But yes, it was entertaining to watch the talented cast of twelve...

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) today announced SITI Company's cast and creative team for the riveting ancient tale The Bacchae, written by Euripides, translated by Aaron Poochigian and directed by celebrated SITI Company co-founder Anne Bogart. The globally renowned acting company's debut on the Guthrie's mainstage offers a rare opportunity for local theatergoers to experience this influential Greek tragedy through a contemporary lens.

Orpheus, Eurydice, a trouble-making horse and Death herself converge in a very funny and irreverent reimagining of the Greek myth by surrealist poet, playwright and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Deaf West Theatre views Cocteau's whimsical, magical and highly visual play, first performed in 1926, through a unique lens: translated from the French into Spoken English by John Savacool, into American Sign Language by Andrew Moore, and slated for a run at the True Colors Festival in Tokyo, Japan at the end of April. Deena Selenow directs Orphée in a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre, opening March 13 for a four-week run through April 5. Three low-priced previews are set for March 8, March 11 and March 12.

Moses and Kitch stand around on the corner - talking smack, passing the time, and hoping that today a miracle will come. The Echo Theater Company presents theWest Coast premiere of Pass Over, the 2019 Lucille Lortel award-winning play by Antoinette Nwanduthat mashes up Waiting for Godotwith the Exodus saga - a rare piece of politically charged theater by a bold new American voice.Deena Selenow directs for a July 13 opening at Atwater Village Theatre. Pay-what-you-want previews begin July 10, and performances continue through Aug. 19.

Formidable actress Betsy Moore brilliantly portrays Alice as an adult who questions whether or not to end her life due to personal and professional road blocks. Her mind wanders, creating a visit from Mira, an extraterrestrial "star caller" from one of Tiptree's stories, portrayed by Megan Rippey, phantasmagorically dressed by Lena Sands in mermaid-like, metallic green, who leads Alice on an episodic, emotional journey through the shadows of her past where, despite her life's accomplishments, buried pain and unmet desires reside. During her journeys, Alice encounters her younger selves (Isabella Ramacciotti as Little Alice and Paula Rebelo as Young Alice) during the dreamlike remembrance sequences in which Alice travels to Africa with her mother (Anneliese Euler), becomes an officer in the Army, works for the CIA and the Pentagon before she started writing science fiction under the male pen name of James Tiptree, Jr. as a last grasp for life at the age of 50.

The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of the science fiction world's greatest literary tricksters.

The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of the science fiction world's greatest literary tricksters. Sheldon was most notable for breaking down the barriers between writing perceived as inherently 'male' or 'female,' as it was not publicly known until 1977 that Tiptree was, in fact, a woman. Inspired by the biography 'James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon' by Julie Phillips along with 'With Delicate Mad Hands' by James Tiptree, Jr., The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man, is a co-production from Son of Semele Ensemble and opens on October 27 at Son of Semele Theater in Los Angeles.

The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of the science fiction world's greatest literary tricksters.

The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man - Part fact, part fever dream, and part musical, this captivating new work opens with Alice B. Sheldon - better known to sci-fi aficionados as author James Tiptree, Jr. - contemplating suicide. Dodging in and out of reality, the play, with a bold musical score from award-winning world music artist Yuval Ron, investigates gender, longing and creativity as self-exploration through one of the science fiction world's greatest literary tricksters. Sheldon was most notable for breaking down the barriers between writing perceived as inherently 'male' or 'female,' as it was not publicly known until 1977 that Tiptree was, in fact, a woman. Inspired by the biography 'James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon' by Julie Phillips along with 'With Delicate Mad Hands' by James Tiptree, Jr., The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man, is a co-production from Son of Semele Ensemble and opens on October 27 at Son of Semele Theater in Los Angeles.

The 2018 Stage Raw Theater Awards celebrate excellence on the Los Angeles stages in venues of 99-seats or under. This fourth annual edition included productions that opened between January 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. Stage Raw is a community funded professional journalism website that was created in response to the decline of arts coverage in local mainstream and alternative media.The Awards ceremony was held Monday night, August 20, at Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, hosted by Coeurage Theatre Company, and co-directed by Jer Adrianne Lelliott, Thaddeus Shafer and Lauren Ludwig. Winners notated in red below.