Liza de Weerd News

Cast members from PULP SHAKESPEARE, an official selection of the 2012 FringeNYC Encores Series and the "Best of Fest" winner at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Fest, will make an in-store appearance to coincide with their September run at the Soho Playhouse.

Cast members from PULP SHAKESPEARE, an official selection of the 2012 FringeNYC Encores Series and the "Best of Fest" winner at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Fest, will make in-store appearances to coincide with their September run at the Soho Playhouse.

Capping off their highly successful 2012 Season, The Porters of Hellsgate have announced their next production, Shakespeare's dark comedy, Measure for Measure-the Bard's deft exploration of the arrogance of power.

Capping off their highly successful 2012 Season, The Porters of Hellsgate have announced their next production, Shakespeare's dark comedy, Measure for Measure-the Bard's deft exploration of the arrogance of power.

PULP SHAKESPEARE, a "Best of Fest" winner at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Fest, has been selected to be presented in the 2012 FringeNYC Encores Series. Out of the 187 productions in this year's FringeNYC Festival, PULP SHAKESPEARE is one of just fifteen chosen for an encore performance. Performances begin September 19 at the Soho Playhouse.

PULP SHAKESPEARE, a "Best of Fest" winner at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Fest, will receive its New York premiere in the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival.

PULP SHAKESPEARE, a "Best of Fest" winner at the 2011 Hollywood Fringe Fest, will receive its New York premiere in the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival.

The Porters of Hellsgate present William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Charles Pasterna, running tonight, June 15 through July 22 at The Whitmore Theatre in North Hollywood.

The Porters of Hellsgate present William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Charles Pasterna, running June 15 through July 22 at The Whitmore Theatre in North Hollywood.

The concept of one single principle being utilized so differently by so many different fields was the inspiration for this play about five couples, and the universal complications in their sexual relationships despite the differences in scenario and detail.

Not unlike Neil Simon with his zippy one-liners coming at you fast and furious, Matthew Leavitt has fashioned a very uptempo ultra-modern comedy about relationships in The Boomerang Effect that manages to slip in a substantial message or two whilst tickling the funny bone. Now onstage at the Odyssey a terrific cast of 10 all sleep in the same bed - well, separate pairs of course - and engineer a slick and well-intentioned comedic evening of theatre.

HUNGER: IN BED WITH ROY COHN is a world premiere fantasy play by Joan Beber about Roy Cohn, the attorney whose hunger for power and prominence ultimately destroyed him.

Playwright Joan Beber's concept of Roy Cohn in her intriguingly nightmarish Hunger: In Bed with Roy Cohn, now onstage at the Odyssey Theatre, comes off a self-indulgent, spoiled, gluttonous, untrusting child monster, which certainly does not add up to a positive view of his humanity. In Angels in America, as I was too young to know the real Cohn in the McCarthy era, I saw Al Pacino's hard-edged, evil-to-the-core interpretation of the man. Barry Pearl's in Hunger, yes is more childlike, whimpering, whining, but if Beber truly wants us to witness a good side to bad, she has not succeeded. I despise the lying, bigoted, hateful man just as much as I did before, reality or fantasy. On the positive side, director Jules Aaron has ingeniously staged the over-the-top entertainment with a marvelous cast. Hunger will run through March 11.

HUNGER: IN BED WITH ROY COHN is a world premiere fantasy play by Joan Beber about Roy Cohn, the attorney whose hunger for power and prominence ultimately destroyed him.

HUNGER: IN BED WITH ROY COHN is a world premiere fantasy play by Joan Beber about Roy Cohn, the attorney whose hunger for power and prominence ultimately destroyed him.

The Group Rep presents Broadway's hit thriller WAIT UNTIL DARK by Frederick Knott, directed by David Colwell, produced by Richard Alan Woody. The play clsoes Sunday, May 8 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood.

Frederick Knott's psychological thriller Wait Until Dark first premiered on Broadway in 1966 with Lee Remick in the title role and was later turned into a film with Audrey Hepburn. As I watched the play opening night at Group rep, I couldn't help but wonder how much better the play might be if the whole first scene with the conmen were eliminated completely. So much exposition with setting up the scheme is draggy, tedious. If audience were to learn about what is happening through Susy Hendrix (Liza de Weerd) at the same time she's figuring it out, the play might be ultimately more gripping. Not that it isn't already suspenseful! As is it's the non-seeing central character and her ultra-sensory world that engage and her solitary dilemma from moment to moment that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Above all, Miss de Weerd's sensational commitment under David Colwell's taut direction makes it all the more fascinating to experience.

The Group Rep presents Broadway's hit thriller WAIT UNTIL DARK by Frederick Knott, directed by David Colwell, produced by Richard Alan Woody.

The Group Rep presents Broadway's hit thriller WAIT UNTIL DARK by Frederick Knott, directed by David Colwell, produced by Richard Alan Woody. The play runs Friday, April 1 through Sunday, May 8; Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm, at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood.

The Group Rep presents Broadway's hit thriller WAIT UNTIL DARK by Frederick Knott, directed by David Colwell, produced by Richard Alan Woody. The play runs Friday, April 1 through Sunday, May 8; Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm, at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood.