There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed.
(alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed)
(artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories)
No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.
Right at the start of Robert Schenkkan's mesmerizing Tony Award-winning play ALL THE WAY---now playing in an outstanding new production at Orange County's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through October 2---actor Hugo Armstrong is introduced in what would become one of the most powerful, fiery acting performances I have witnessed on this very stage. Commanding, and yet remarkably relatable without ever traversing caricature, Armstrong deftly portrays one of American History's most complex leaders, our 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson. Armstrong's powerhouse portrayal is the explosive epicenter of a richly dense, dialogue-heavy drama that recounts the rocky 11-month period leading up to Johnson's re-election as the leader of the world's most powerful nation. The play spends its entirety focusing on this contentious time which finds Johnson pushing for the passage of the Civl Rights Act---which itself incites a tug-of-war between his longtime pro-segregation Dixiecrat friends and the African-American community lobbying for rights that have been long overdue.
As it prepares to move to a newly renovated cultural arts complex in Glendale this fall, the Antaeus Theatre Company announces its final production in the North Hollywood space it has called home since 2007: A fully partner cast production ofHedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation, begins previews on May 26 with press openings (one for each cast) set for June 2 and June 3. Steven Robman directs.
This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Connecticut, Columbus, Los Angeles and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include the World Premiere of ANASTASIA at Hartford Stage, JEKYLL & HYDE in Columbus, and HEDDA GABLER at Antaeus Company, just to name a few.
Ibsen's Hedda Gabler steeped in 19th century realism has never been presented with more visual splendor than in Antaeus' current production. It is their last in the NoHo space before moving to a new theatre in Glendale in the fall, but that is hardly the reason to see it. It is memorable all by itself for its splendid translation by Andrew Upton (2004) and glorious casts under the sterling direction of Steven Robman. Hedda (Nike Doukas in the Pistols ensemble) lives in a fantasyland, a world of her own creation, one which to her is remarkably perfect and beautiful. The opulent home of her husband professor Jorgen Tesman (JD Cullum) is to her, shabby and boring. She hates it as much as her marriage to him, so she envisions in her own mind how she wishes her life to be, controlling the destiny of those around her, viewing even death in terms of its beauty and ... freedom. Delusional or not, she refuses to give in to the will of others and thus remains the quintessential literary tragedienne of the 19th century.
As it prepares to move to a newly renovated cultural arts complex in Glendale this fall, the Antaeus Theatre Company announces its final production in the North Hollywood space it has called home since 2007: A fully partner cast production of Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation, begins previews today, May 26 with press openings (one for each cast) set for June 2 and June 3. Steven Robman directs.
As it prepares to move to a newly renovated cultural arts complex in Glendale this fall, the Antaeus Theatre Company announces its final production in the North Hollywood space it has called home since 2007: A fully partner cast production of Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation, begins previews on May 26 with press openings (one for each cast) set for June 2 and June 3. Steven Robman directs.
The Pasadena Playhouse presents the West Coast Premiere of CASA VALENTINA by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, the iconic playwright of the Broadway hits Torch Song Trilogy, La Cage Aux Folles, Newsies and Kinky Boots. The production opened on March 20 and will play through April 10, 2016, at The Pasadena Playhouse. Click below to go behind the scenes with the cast and creative team!
Harvey Fierstein's Casa Valentina won a deserved four Tony nominations in 2014 when it played on Broadway. This is a fine example of an unusual play, one of surprising depth, that goes out of its way to hit a nerve or two. Although comical, Casa Valentina is a drama at the core, with some shades of kitchen-sink reality. Currently onstage at the Pasadena Playhouse, Fierstein's latest opus takes a long look at yet another minority with fortitude and alacrity. Directed with finesse by David Lee, the cast is nothing short of luminous.
Casa Valentina is set in a hotel in the Catskills, circa 1962, where a sorority club of straight men, who dress
The Fountain Theatrecontinues its 15-year relationship with master playwright Athol Fugard, presenting the West Coast premiere of his newest play. Directed by Simon Levy, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek opens on November 7 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.
The Fountain Theatre continues its 15-year relationship with master playwright Athol Fugard, presenting the West Coast premiere of his newest play. Directed by Simon Levy, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek opens tonight, November 7 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.
The Fountain Theatre continues its 15-year relationship with master playwright Athol Fugard, presenting the West Coast premiere of his newest play. Directed by Simon Levy, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek opens on November 7 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.
Members of the 'Pro99' movement of Actors' Equity Association have issued an open letter to AEA's newly elected president, Kate Shindle, in response to her victory and to her inaugural address as president of the national union for actors and stage managers. The open letter is signed by over 400 Equity members (listed below), including such notable names as Ed Asner, Francis Fisher, Sally Kirkland and Alfred Molina. The 'Pro99' movement formed in late 2014 in opposition to AEA's rollout of a new plan that will effectively force 'intimate theaters' in Los Angeles to pay Equity actors minimum wage, go 'non-union' or even close - despite an overwhelming vote against the plan by 66% of the Los Angeles membership on an advisory referendum. 'Pro99' members around the nation, who take their name from the current AEA '99 Seat Plan' that allows members to volunteer in smaller venues, oppose AEA's new promulgated plan. They are requesting that Equity leadership put a moratorium on the plan until local members' voices can be heard, and that the union work with its members to develop an alternative plan that will more realistically address the needs of the Los Angeles theater community.
The Theatre @ Boston Court presents The Missing Pages of Lewis Carroll by Lily Blau, developed in collaboration with Sydney Gallas, directed by Abigail Deser. Opening night is tonight, January 31, 2015 on the Main Stage at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Avenue.
The Theatre @ Boston Court presents The Missing Pages of Lewis Carroll by Lily Blau, developed in collaboration with Sydney Gallas, directed by Abigail Deser. Opening night is Saturday, January 31, 2015 on the Main Stage at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Avenue.
The Pittsburgh premiere of Marina Carr's Woman and Scarecrow is even more noteworthy since the acclaimed playwright is coming to Pittsburgh for the production. Artistic and Executive Director Alan Stanford extended an invitation to Marina to participate in the final week of rehearsal and the show's opening.
Marina Carr's play Woman and Scarecrow is a perfect embodiment of the bittersweet humor and comical tragedy that pervades the plays of the Irish, much like PICT's production Waiting for Godot that closed June 21. Alan Stanford will direct this third play in PICT's season, which he selected "because of its delicate investigation of the one event in our lives that we all share. The leaving of it."
PICT Theatre's Artistic and Executive Director Alan Stanford has selected a bold assortment of classic plays for PICT's 18th season, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Each play contains its own version of wickedness, with the Noel Coward classic Blithe Spirit opening the season tonight, May 3rd (May 1 and 2 previews.)
PICT Theatre's Artistic and Executive Director Alan Stanford has selected a bold assortment of classic plays for PICT's 18th season, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Each play contains its own version of wickedness, with the Noel Coward classic Blithe Spirit opening the season May 3rd (May 1 and 2 previews.)
Politics get personal in the go-getting 1980s of Margaret Thatcher's England when Marlene, who has just been made managing director of the Top Girls Employment Agency, discovers that life above the glass ceiling is not all it's cracked up to be. Antaeus, L.A.'s classical theater ensemble, opens its 2014 season with a fully partner-cast production of Top Girls, the Obie Award-winning comedy by Caryl Churchill. Previews begin March 6, with two opening nights set for March 13 and March 14 at the Antaeus Theater in NoHo. Cameron Watson directs.
