The Geffen Playhouse News

Chance Theater, Anaheim's official resident theater company, announces the Orange County premiere of “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity,” a dramatic comedy by Kristoffer Diaz that was one of the final nominees for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and snagged numerous “Best Play” Awards. Directed by Jeremy Aluma, “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity” previews from September 23rd through September 30th, with regular performances running October 1st to October 23rd on the Cripe Stage at the Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

Road Less Traveled Productions will begin its 19th season with the second-ever production of Mysterious Circumstances by Michael Mitnick.  

Artists Repertory Theatre (ART) begins its 40th season on stage with The Hombres by Tony Meneses, a funny exploration into masculinity and the intimacy of male relationships. Performances run Sept. 10 through Oct. 9.    

Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota, Florida's premiere destination for bold, contemporary black-box theater, announced its 2022-23 season, which includes four main productions and two special engagements.

Ava: The Secret Conversations will join the Geffen Playhouse 2022/2023 season lineup to complete the full season.

54 BELOW will present JAIME CEPERO’S SONGS ABOUT ANXIETY 2.0 on August 17th 2022 at 930pm. Part ritual, part therapy, part queer kiki session, Songs About Anxiety 2.0 is the second installment of the concert performance showcasing original work from Afrolatinx actor, writer, and Gold Anthem Award recipient Jaime Cepero.

King Liz is the premise for a television show at best, and, despite the noble work of those who are trying to pass it off as a piece of live theatre, its plot points, the characters’ relationships, and the narrative are only strong enough to grab our interest through the next commercial break.

Next up at the Geffen Playhouse, the west coast premiere of playwright Fernanda Coppel’s King Liz opening July 21, 2022 (previews already begun). Jesca Prudencio directs the cast of Ray Abruzzo, Oscar Best, Nancy Linari, Evan Morris Reiser, Michelle Ortiz and Sabrina Sloan. I had the opportunity to throw out a few questions to Fernanda about King Liz, as well as her writing career.

The GLOUCESTER STAGE COMPANY will present the Tony Award-nominated GRAND HORIZONS next in the lineup of its 2022 season. Robert Walsh returns to Gloucester Stage to direct this thought-provoking comedy of marital malaise by award-winning playwright Bess Wohl, running from July 29 to August 21.

Director Mike Donahue’s production on the Geffen’s Cates stage is so intelligent, well-crafted and downright fun that A WICKED SOUL IN CHERRY HILL seems destined to have a future beyond Westwood.

A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill is now in previews at Geffen Playhouse. In this poignant true-crime story told completely through song, a tight-knit Jewish community gathers to recount, remember, and reckon with the details of what happened in—and to—their town. Get a first look at photos here!

Ojai Playwrights Conference has announced 11 playwrights for the 25th Anniversary New Works Festival taking place August 7-14, 2022, in Ojai, CA, marking a return to in-person workshops and live performances after two years of working online.

Dorset Theatre Festival will open the 45th Season of professional summer theatre at the Dorset Playhouse with a regional revival of the classic thriller, Wait Until Dark, directed by Jackson Gay.

'I see THE LION very much about what it was like for me to turn thirty, about how I became myself. When I began writing the show, in 2012, I was very much the-son-to-the-father. As of now, in London 2022, my wife and I are expecting our second child, a son. When I performed THE LION one last time (Southwark Playhouse, May 2022), it was the first and only time I've performed the show as a father. During that performance, I understood the character of 'Dad' in a very different way. I also realized that young-writer-me wrote Dad and Cancer as very similar characters; quasi-mythical external forces that controlled Ben and couldn't be reasoned with.'

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts presents the regional premiere of Los Angeles playwright Liza Powel O’Brien’s Apostrophe. Developed at the 2020 Ojai Playwrights Conference, the play runs June 10-25, 2022 on the WICA Mainstage.

The East West Players presents the rolling world premiere of Interstate, an Asian-American pop-rock poetry musical (opened last week). Jesca Prudencio directs the cast of Jupiter Lê, Kristian Espiritu, Jaya Joshi, Michelle Noh, Reuben Uy, Stefan Miller, Natalie Holt MacDonald and Krystle Simmons. Jesca took some time between her two productions to answer a few of my queries.

Signature Theatre, which makes an extended commitment to producing a playwright's body of work, announces its 2022 Gala in the sweeping lobby of its own Frank Gehry-designed home, The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street).

Geffen Playhouse celebrated its 25th Anniversary and raised $1 million for the theater’s education, community engagement and artistic initiatives at its signature Backstage at the Geffen annual fundraiser held June 4, it was announced today. 

Set in a hotel room on a mission trip to Thailand, MAN OF GOD four high school girls must grapple with the possibility of their Pastor being a sexual predator. Read our BWW critic's review.

The Green Room 42 has announced their June line-up for in-person performances. Located inside YOTEL Times Square (570 Tenth Avenue, Fourth Floor), The Green Room 42 is Broadway's newest and most spacious cabaret club.