The Fountain Theatre News

 Walking the Beat, the Fountain Theatre's innovative community-building program that sees cops and kids working together to create theater, will present two free performances of this year's culminating, hope-inspiring production. Two free performances of C.H.I.N. Up! will take place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5 and Sunday, Aug. 6 on the Fountain Theatre's outdoor stage.

Unlike most stories told about the LGBT community in the ’70s and ’80s, this isn’t about homophobia, about the terror of coming out to loved ones, or about self-destruction or self-hatred. Chambers creates normalcy of life for her characters, and that makes them relatable to everyone. We know these women. We ARE these women.

Rogue Machine, renowned for its groundbreaking theatrical productions, announces dates for its most highly anticipated play of the season, 'Heroes of the Fourth Turning.' This gripping drama, written by Will Arbery and directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos, has captivated audiences with its thought-provoking exploration of ideology and identity.

Emmy award-winning actress Jean Smart (Designing Women, Hacks) will join fellow original cast members Lee Garlington, Nancy Linari and Sandra Marshall at the Saturday, July 15 performance of the Fountain Theatre’s current, 40th anniversary production of Last Summer at Bluefish Cove.

First look photos! The Fountain Theatre has transformed the parking lot surrounding the set on its outdoor stage into an oceanfront experience for its 40th anniversary production of the groundbreaking comedy/drama, “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” by Jane Chambers. Directed by Hannah Wolf, performances opened over the weekend and will continue through August 27.

Forty years ago, the Fountain Theatre presented the groundbreaking comedy/drama, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove by Jane Chambers, one of the first playwrights to depict love between women as happy, healthy, and well-adjusted. I decided to speak with the play’s director Hannah Wolf about the history and importance of the play, the challenges of presenting it outdoors, how she was selected to direct it, about the characters who make up the story, and why its message of acceptance speaks to the new generation of theater goers just as it did for those who saw Jean Smart in the original 1983-85 Fountain Theatre production.

Tim Cummings, a four-time LA Drama Critics Circle Award-winning performer (The New Electric Ballroom at Rogue Machine, The Normal Heart at The Fountain, The House in Scarsdale at Boston Court, Daniel's Husband at The Fountain) will release his debut novel, Alice The Cat, on May 23rd, 2023 through Fitzroy Books, the young-adult imprint of the award-winning indie press, Regal House Publishing (Foreword's Publisher of the Year).

Welcome to Bluefish Cove. The Fountain Theatre will transform the parking lot surrounding the set on its outdoor stage to create an oceanfront experience for its 40th anniversary production of the groundbreaking comedy/drama, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove by Jane Chambers.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Fountain Theatre co-founder Deborah Lawlor passed away on Tuesday, May 2, at the age of 83.

The Fountain Theatre will continue its 'Intermezzo: Chamber Music at the Fountain' bi-monthly series, curated by vioIinist/violist Connie Kupka.

Snehal Desai will become the next artistic director of Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group, joining Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman to lead one of the nation’s largest theatre organizations.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced the award recipients for 2022. See the full list here!

Los Angeles is never lacking outstanding theatre, whether epic Broadway shows, engrossing dramas or bold fringe offerings. BroadwayWorld is rounding up our top recommended theatre every month. Our top picks for April 2023 include Merrily We Roll Along, Peter and the Starcatcher, and more!

Next up at A Noise Within, Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman beginning April 1, 2023 (with previews starting March 26th). Michael Michetti directs this classic two-hander with Adrián González and Ed F. Martin. Ed, a familiar face on the Los Angeles stages, managed to squeeze out some time between rehearsals to answer a few of my queries.  

Based on the nonfiction book named “Best of the Year” by the Huffington Post, this highly entertaining, very funny new play follows young intern Jim Fingal, whose first assignment at an elite New York magazine is to fact check an essay written by a highly celebrated and cantankerous author.

Simon Levy’s production at the Fountain Theatre is a smartly-acted brain-tickler that makes its points and lands its blows with humor and intellect

Taken from the history and legend of the Iceni Warrior Queen Boudica, famous for her bloody uprising against the invading Romans in 61 A.D. The School of Night (Punch and Judy, Klingon Tamburlaine, Hercules Insane, The Final Girl, The Troublesome Reign, Lamentable Death of Edward II) presents Battlesong of Boudica, returning after its award-winning 2022 Hollywood Fringe premiere.

What’s more important: writing the truth, or telling a good story? The Fountain Theatre’s West Coast premiere of the Broadway hit play, The Lifespan of a Fact, opens tonight at the Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood, with multiple award-winning director Simon Levy at the helm. Check out photos from the production here!

Originally performed solo by Smith, “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” has been reimagined for a cast of five performers. Thirty years after its world premiere, Center Theatre Group will celebrate the West Coast premiere of the revised production by giving away 1,000 tickets to Angelenos.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced its 2022 nominees for theatrical excellence. See the full list of nominees!