Lonny Chapman News

Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. This is on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. Theatre 40 is Beverly Hills' professional theatre company. Ample free parking is available beneath the theatre. The parking area is best accessed through the driveway at the intersection of Moreno and Durant Drives.

The Group Rep presents two unusual one-acts, Paul Zindel's LET ME HEAR YOU WHISPER directed by Katelyn Ann Clark, and Tennessee Williams' THE STRANGEST KIND OF ROMANCE directed by JC Gafford.

The Group Rep Theatre at the Lonny Chapman Theatre is accepting submissions for their third annual festival of NINE WINNING ONE-ACTS, to be presented June 8 through July 14, 2019, Saturdays at 2 pm and Sundays at 7 pm, for a total of 12 performances, Upstairs at the Group Rep, an intimate 38 seat theatre on the second floor of the Lonny Chapman Theatre at 10900 Burbank Boulevard, North Hollywood, California.

Art Shulman has produced many full-length plays including The Rabbi's Mission; The Rabbi & The Shiksa; The Yentas Wear Red Hats; I Got Troubles; Doubting Thomas; I'm Not Just A Comic Genius; Rebecca's Gamble; Not One More Foot Of Land!; Bagels; Boxcar & Eugenia; Sex Is Good For You!; Old Broads Can't Dunk; God, Bring Me A Miracle; The $4 Million Giveaway; Misconceptions; Joe Carbone's Job; September 10; Career Day; and the Xmas musical, Trolls Stole The North Pole. Additionally, he's written many one-act plays, too numerous to list here.

The Group Rep opens its 45th Season with two James McLure one-act comedies, LAUNDRY AND BOURBON and LONE STAR, directed by Barbara Brownell, produced by Lloyd Pedersen. Three young women who are neighbors and friends share drinks and hard truths about life, love, and marriage while doing laundry on a very hot day. In another part of town three men beat-the-heat in the backyard of a bar as the local high school hero, recently returned after a hitch in Vietnam, details his military and amorous exploits. Laughs are shared, souls are bared.

While a number of restaurants are offering up free meals for Federal workers on furlough due to the government shutdown, The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre is jumping in to offer a pair of free tickets to a show.

Actress/director Barbara Brownell has numerous credits as an actress. Broadway: Play it Again, Sam and The Ballad of Johnny Pot.  King Lear at the Actor's Studio, NY.  Touring: Oklahoma, On a Clear Day.  Regional: Zing!, Barefoot in the Park, Star Spangled Girl.  L.A.: Happy Birthday Wanda June, Dylan, A Case of Libel, Early Cabaret, Chicago, Dull Pain. She won the 2017 Broadway World award for Best Leading Actress in a play, LA . T.V. shows include Mad Men, Big Love, Night Court (3), Grey's Anatomy, Monk, L.A. Law, Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, and recurring on Webster and MASH.  Films include Behind the Candelabra, Going Home, Hearts of the West, Someone to Watch Over Me, Ants, Mark of the Witch, and The Master.  In this interview, Brownell discusses acting and directing Laundry and Bourbon and Lone Star at The Group Rep, set to open this Friday January 25.

The Group Rep's Co-Artistic Directors, Larry Eisenberg and Chris Winfield announce the Group Rep's 45th Season (2019) with six eclectic and unique plays: Laundry and Bourbon & Lone Star, two one-act comedies by James McLure, directed by Barbara Brownell (January 25 - March 3),  The Secret of Chimneys, a long lost play by Agatha Christie, directed by Jules Aaron (March 29 - May 5), Avenue Q, the wry, Broadway musical written by Jeff Whitty, Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, directed by Patrick Burke (May 31 - July 7),  Loose Knit, a modern comedy by Theresa Rebeck, directed by L. Flint Esquerra  (August 2 - September 8), Night of the Living Dead, a gripping terror-filled drama based on the George Romero film, adapted by Gus Krieger directed by Drina Durazo (October 4 - November 10), and the beloved farce The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Bruce Kimmel (December 6, 2019 - January 12, 2020).  The six shows will be performed on the Main Stage, first floor 90 Seat Theatre.

After a 23 year stint as the General Manager of the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, David Ralphe retired at the end of December, 2018. The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center opened its doors on Los Angeles Avenue in November of 1995 with David Ralphe as the founding General Manager. Under Ralphe's leadership, the Center has been host to over 8, 500 events and seen more than 75,000 patrons pass through the doors.

The Group Rep is holding their 6th Annual Poker Tournament Fundraiser, Sunday, October 21st, 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm.  Doors open 2:00 pm with food and open bar available, professional dealers The Poker People tutorial 2:30 pm, and games begin 3:00 pm.

Playwright Jennifer Haley will speak about her play BREADCRUMBS this Today, September 29, following the 2:00 pm matinee performance, Upstairs at the Group Rep - Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, California. 

Playwright Jennifer Haley will speak about her play BREADCRUMBS this Saturday, September 29, following the 2:00 pm matinee performance, Upstairs at the Group Rep - Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, California. 

The Group Rep presents BREADCRUMBS written by Jennifer Haley, directed by Bert Emmett, produced by Helen O'Brien for the Group Rep.  The play is about a reclusive fiction writer diagnosed with dementia who must depend upon a troubled young caretaker to complete her autobiography. In a symbiotic battle of wills, they delve into the dark woods of the past, unearthing a tragedy that shatters their notions of language, loneliness, and essential self.

The Group Rep presents the world premiere of AROUND THE WORLD WITH SUZY LONDON written by Suzy London and Calvin Remsberg, directed by Calvin Remsberg, produced by Doug Haverty, choreographed by Michele Bernath, backed by the Robert Brandzel Quartet, an evening of songs and stories from Suzy's travels around the world from the streets of Paris to the cabarets of Germany…the rain forests of Brazil to the steppes of Eurasia…from the temples of Sri Lanka to the pagodas of Japan…all in their original languages!

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has been in our repertoire of must reads and must sees since high school. We know the storyline of the star- crossed lovers, which formed the basis for the musical West Side Story. The play treats of hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets. Because of the senseless family feuding, lives are lost and somehow love has gone astray. I enjoy seeing Shakespeare done in the traditional mode with 16th century sets and costumes, but am totally open to reimagined productions, as long as the poetry is in tact and the time period to which the story is assigned makes sense and shows the theme and message with clarity and intelligence..Group rep's current production directed quite nicely by Shira Dubrovner takes the audience to Berlin in the 1930s when Hitler took control and slaughtered or banished Jews from Germany.

Director Shira Dubrovner serves as the Artistic Director of the Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre and the Festival Director of the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival. As a past member of the Group Repertory Theatre she is excited to be back and thankful to Larry Eisenberg and Chris Winfield for giving her the opportunity to direct R&J. Some of her favorite past directing projects include Broken Glass starring Robert Picardo, GRT productions; Sylvia, Nuts, Veronica's Room and And Then There Were None. What was the genesis of the change-up of ROMEO AND JULIET?

The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.

Travel the Globe AROUND THE WORLD WITH SUZY LONDON A Fundraiser for GRT   Sept. 4, 5, & 6

The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.

Scott Thompson, Kathleen Delaney, and Tracy Powell in association with the Group Rep present an all-star staged reading of THE WOMEN, a comedy of manners written by Clare Boothe Luce, directed by Scott Thompson, as a fundraiser for D'Amor Center for Cancer Care and the Group Rep Theatre Company.