Louis Lotorto News

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This December, Ensemble Theatre Company will offer two holiday events the entire family can enjoy. First, ETC welcomes back Porgy and Bess cast members Elijah Rock and Frank Lawson for a rockin' musical Christmas variety show LIVE from Las Vegas.

THE OUTSIDER now playing at North Coast Rep through March 22nd is the perfect comedy antithesis for a year that can feel like a neverending political drama.  A top-notch comedic cast this show delivers on the laughs with some pointed humor that makes the most of the sometimes counterintuitive feeling political system.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents The Outsider by Paul Slade Smith, directed by David Ellenstein.

THE OUTSIDER, a razor-sharp, hilarious satire of modern American politics, is currently getting a witty and smartly paced West Coast premiere at North Coast Repertory Theatre.

Director Brian McDonald does a nice job of keeping the actors rotating around the multiple microphones on stage (or having them add and remove costuming items) to distinguish between multiple characters. The staging is dynamic and the sight gags are clever, and the actors give pleasant and efficient performances, bringing out the warmth and hopefulness of this holiday tale. Ensemble's production highlights humor and heart for an agreeable, well-produced night of festive entertainment.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald.

AMADEUS, now playing at North Coast Repertory Theatre is a spellbinding tale of talent, jealousy, madness, and revenge that is not to be missed.

With the glorious music of Mozart as a backdrop, Peter Shaffer's AMADEUS assures North Coast Repertory Theatre of a grand start to Season 38. The Tony winner for Best Play weaves the fascinating tale of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Told in a series of flashbacks laced with humor, intrigue and personal insight, AMADEUS examines two men a?" one consumed with jealousy; the other, blissfully unaware of his extraordinary gifts. Deemed a?oeterrifically entertaining and highly theatricala?? by The New York Times, this audience favorite deftly explores musical genius by a master playwright. Tickets are already going quickly, so order now.

With the glorious music of Mozart as a backdrop, Peter Shaffer's AMADEUS assures North Coast Repertory Theatre of a grand start to Season 38. The Tony winner for Best Play weaves the fascinating tale of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Told in a series of flashbacks laced with humor, intrigue and personal insight, AMADEUS examines two men - one consumed with jealousy; the other, blissfully unaware of his extraordinary gifts. Deemed 'terrifically entertaining and highly theatrical' by The New York Times, this audience favorite deftly explores musical genius by a master playwright. Tickets are already going quickly, so order now.

 It's a season of magic for students of the arts as Rubicon Theatre Company's summer educational programs swing into action. With four camps, the Jack Oakie Summer Youth Program offers professional level training for budding performing artists as well as emerging young designers and stagecraft enthusiasts: The Stinky Feet camp for five to twelve year-olds, the Fearless Shakespeare Camp for students aged fifteen to twenty-five, the Theatre Camp for kids from eleven to fourteen years old and finally the Musical Theatre Intensive which accepts young actorsingers who are between fifteen and twenty-five years-old. Each camp culminates in a fully staged production. This year's offerings include Giants In The Sky (music and lyrics by Denver Casado, book and lyrics by Kerry Kazmierowicztrimm), The Tempest (by William Shakespeare), Once On This Island Jr. (book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty) and Into The Woods (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine).

Rubicon Theatre continues the company's 21st "Coming of Age" season with the hilarious and harrowing, politically incorrect comedy FUDDY MEERS by playwright DAVID-LINDSAY-ABAIRE. In this outrageously funny roller-coaster ride of a play, Claire, an amnesiac. wakes up each day having forgotten the details of her life. This morning, like all mornings, her seemingly devoted husband Richard greets her with a cup of coffee and a scrapbook of memories. But when he steps away, a limping, lisping man claiming to be Claire's brother pops out from under her bed and says he is there to save her. He takes her to her mother's home in the country, where Claire meets a naive man with a foul-mouthed puppet, discovers her husband and son have kidnapped an aggressive lady cop, and comes face-to-face with her past.

Rubicon Theatre continues the company's 21st "Coming of Age" season with the hilarious and harrowing, politically incorrect comedy FUDDY MEERS by playwright DAVID-LINDSAY-ABAIRE.

"Think of these memories as sharp slivers embedded in the soul."International City Theatre presents a gripping drama about war refugees haunted by the death of their loved ones - and by memories of the things they had to do to survive.A Splintered Soul by Long Beach-based playwright Alan L. Brooks opens Oct. 19 atInternational City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place Oct. 17 and Oct. 18.

"Think of these memories as sharp slivers embedded in the soul."International City Theatre presents a gripping drama about war refugees haunted by the death of their loved ones - and by memories of the things they had to do to survive.A Splintered Soul by Long Beach-based playwright Alan L. Brooks opens Oct. 19 atInternational City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place Oct. 17 and Oct. 18.

 Hitchcock meets hilarious in a fast-paced comedy mystery thriller for anyone who loves the magic of theater. International City Theatre presents The 39 Steps, adapted byPatrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan and based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie. Jamie Torcellini directs for a June 22 opening at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, with two low-priced previews set for June 20 and June 21.

Witty, enchanting, and joyously self-referential, the original film version of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE fantasizes a story involving a young, virile William Shakespeare in his prime, who quells a bout of writer's block by secretly romancing an engaged lady named Viola---which apparently becomes the inspiration for the Bard's infamous star-crossed tragedy 'Romeo and Juliet.' The plot of the film remains fairly intact in Lee Hall's mostly delightful if slightly diluted stage adaptation, now continuing performances in a gorgeous-looking new regional production at Orange County's Tony Award-winning theater South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through February 10, 2018. This spunky love letter to the theater is chockfull of stagecraft-insider amusements and fun-to-find Shakespearean Easter Eggs that both aficionados and casual fans will appreciate. But, shockingly, despite the spectacular production values and the beguiling, gusto-bathed performances of its large ensemble cast, this stage adaptation somehow loses some of the inescapable romanticism that is so much more prevalent in the original film.