Richard Azurdia News

Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble takes over West Hollywood's Plummer Park through a commission from The City of West Hollywood's Arts Division for a site-specific interactive theater experience with Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta, celebrating the life of Eugene Plummer, the original resident of West Hollywood.

Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble takes over West Hollywood's Plummer Parkthrough a commission from The City of West Hollywood's Arts Division for a site-specific immersive theater experience with Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta, celebrating the life of Eugene Plummer, a champion of community in early Los Angeles and a prominent figure in what is now West Hollywood. Opening October 19, Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta stirs up a merry band of ghosts and shadows who sweep you into a past filled with wild west duels, pirates, land-grabs, violent mobs, shark-riding, romances, epic court battles, and, of course, fiestas!

TITUS ANDRONICUS is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedies. Characters are stabbed, beheaded, mutilated, raped, baked in a pie, and one is even buried up to his neck and left to die. At first glance it may not sound like an obvious choice for families who attend the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, and it definitely isn't one for 'the youngest audience members' as the website says. But the play's extreme violence does present a unique opportunity for parents to talk to their teens about revenge and the futility of starting down its destructive path.

Summer would not be complete without seeing at least one Shakespeare play outdoors somewhere in Los Angeles. This year I decided to spend a bewitching night in Griffith Park, selecting to see my favorite Bard comedy, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, presented by the Independent Shakespeare Company (ISC) celebrating the 15th anniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. In 2010, ISC moved free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park to Griffith Park, the second largest city park in California. The growth in attendance has been extraordinary, certainly due in part to the quality of the productions. So grab a blanket or a lawn chair, pack a picnic, and take a short hike into Griffith Park to a land of wonder and imagination thanks to the Independent Shakespeare Company's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM - and bring the kids!

This summer spend a bewitching night with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. Independent Shakespeare Co. celebrates the 15th anniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. The Old Zoo will be transformed into an enchanted forest with an all-new production that envelops the audience with the action of the play. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma, will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, June 30 at 7pm and will open on Saturday, July 7 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, September 2 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park

This summer spend a bewitching night with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. Independent Shakespeare Co. celebrates the 15thanniversary season of free Shakespeare in Los Angeles City Parks. The Old Zoo will be transformed into an enchanted forest with an all-new production that envelops the audience with the action of the play. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma,will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, June 30 at 7pm and will open on Saturday, July 7 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, September 2 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.  All ISC Summer Shakespeare productions are FREE to the public!  A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is the first of two productions being presented at this year's GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. TITUS ANDRONICUS will open July 28 and then the plays will run in repertory through September 2. 

May 19th, May 21st & May 22nd, The Vagrancy announces BLOSSOMING: a new play reading series. The Vagrancy annually selects five playwrights with diverse perspectives to join their playwright's group. Beginning each fall, the writers meet regularly as they craft their plays. The Vagrancy hosts two development workshops wherein the plays are explored with the playwright, actors and a director in a rehearsal setting. BLOSSOMING is the first public reaching of the five original plays. Come be inspired, have a glass of wine, and help the play's development along with post-reading audience talk-backs.

Center Theatre Group's production of 'Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue' by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes opened last night, February 3. Directed by Shishir Kurup, the production will continue through February 25, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

This Land has just been extended through November 20 at Company of Angels!

Directed by Company of Angels artistic director, Armando Molina, This Land debuted on October 20, at Company of Angels, Los Angeles' oldest professional theater. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

A deep, painful, joyful story about one extended California family with roots in different parts of the world, who make their home on the same plot of Southern California land over 150 years

A deep, painful, joyful story about one extended California family with roots in different parts of the world, who make their home on the same plot of Southern California land over 150 years. Los Angeles native and Mexican-American playwright, Evangeline Ordaz, crafts a rich and complex web of diverse characters from Los Angeles' Latino, African-American, Anglo, and Native American communities who co-exist as if time were a wheel that constantly doubles back on itself. Through triumph and despair these families discover how deeply they are rooted in the dreams of their ancestors and the land on which they stand. Directed by Company of Angels artistic director, Armando Molina, This Land debuts on October 20, at Company of Angels, Los Angeles' oldest professional theater.

This summer take a trip to a decadent Vienna as INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. opens the season with the wild and wonderful MEASURE FOR MEASURE. The plot twists come fast and furious in this production that is equal parts screwball romantic comedy and deliciously dark social satire.

This summer take a trip to a decadent Vienna as INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. opens the season with the wild and wonderful MEASURE FOR MEASURE. The plot twists come fast and furious in this production that is equal parts screwball romantic comedy and deliciously dark social satire.  MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma, will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, June 24 at 7pm and will open on Saturday, July 1 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, July 22 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.  All ISC Summer Shakespeare productions are FREE to the public!  MEASURE FOR MEASURE is the first of two productions being presented at this year's GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA will play July 29 - September 3.

The Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical 'Jersey Boys,' the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, opened last night, May 18, at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. BroadwayWorld has photos from the festivities below!

The Los Angeles premiere of playwright Elizabeth Irwin's MY MAñANA COMES receives a very detailed mounting at the Fountain Theatre. Armando Molina quite ably directs his very talented cast at a quick clip with Irwin's very words-heavy dialogue flowing non-stop from the quartet. Ingenious scene changes advancing time progression - So innovative. So effective.

Just beyond the elegant dining room of an Upper East Side restaurant, service workers angle for shifts, pray for tips and cling to dreams of life beyond their daily back-of-house grind. Armando Molina directs the Los Angeles premiere of My Mañana Comes by Elizabeth Irwin, opening April 16 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.

Just beyond the elegant dining room of an Upper East Side restaurant, service workers angle for shifts, pray for tips and cling to dreams of life beyond their daily back-of-house grind. Armando Molina directs the Los Angeles premiere of My Mañana Comes by Elizabeth Irwin, opening April 16 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.

This summer, visit the idyllic Mediterranean countryside as INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. brings you to the end of WWII as it presents its take one of Shakespeare's most loved comedies, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, directed by Jeffrey Wienckowski. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING began previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Thursday, July 30 and will open tonight, August 8 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, August 30 at Old Zoo in Griffith Park.