The Geffen Playhouse News

Long before becoming world renowned as the iconic George Costanza on "Seinfeld," Jason Alexander was a Tony Award-winning Broadway song-and-dance man. His concert with the Columbus Symphony brings a hilarious re-telling of his journey to and on the Broadway stage, and features a program of great music from the theatre with comedy and audience interaction. It's a much-heralded event of music, laughter, and fun.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has announced that the World Premiere of Hershey Felder: A Paris Love Story, with more than a week to go before its first performance, has already established a new all-time box office record for the 49 year-old Bay Area theatre company.

Kimberly Hebert Gregory literally shines as bright as the Sun as she battles to find the Entity to show her the way to find inner peace, as her comic book battle as superhero Maasai Angel is child's play compared to the heartbreaking emotional pain in her real life. And her journey contains some of the most stunning visual displays ever seen in the smaller Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse! Playwright Inda Craig-Galvan and director Robert O'Hara have brilliantly brought modern-day issues such as race-motivated police shootings, gun control, personal responsibility, ratings-motivated media reporting, and parenting styles to the forefront in this world premiere, sure to go on to great fame worldwide following the Geffen run.

Both heartbreaking and highly inventive, Black Super Hero Magic Mama gives us the hero we have been waiting for.

Playwright/director Robert O'Hara will helm the world premiere of Inda Craig-Galvan's BLACK SUPER HERO MAGIC MAMA, already in previews at the Geffen Playhouse. When MAMA loses her 14-year-old to a police shooting, she retreats into the comic book world created by her deceased son. Robert talks MAMA, George C. Wolfe, and what it means to be an artist.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents SUSAN EDWARDS MARTIN in "THE ORIGINAL LADY BLUES OF TORCH SONG TRILOGY IS BACK IN TOWN!", on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at 9:30pm.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE presents a co-production with the Rubicon Theatre Company, HEISENBERG, written by Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) directed by Katherine Farmer (South Pacific, Gulf View Drive) and starring Faline England (Valentine's Day) & Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues and NCIS).

Sean Daniels, who in his youth was inspired toward a career in theatre after attending Arizona Theatre Company productions with his Mesa-based family, has come full circle by being named ATC's new Artistic Director.

The Second City invites you to celebrate Mother's Day with Margaret Trudeau, the mother of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a world premiere engagement, Margaret Trudeau is coming to Chicago to bring her intimate staged performance Certain Woman of an Age exclusively to UP Comedy Club at The Second City, 230 W. North Ave. Co-written by Ms. Trudeau, herself, and directed by Kimberly Senior, this solo performance follows the compelling story of one of the world's most fascinating figures, chronicling her courageous public and private journeys.

The Nora Theatre Company is proud to present Photograph 51 from March 14 to April 15, 2019 and is directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. The press performance is Monday, March 18 at 7:30PM. Photograph 51 is a Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Production and is part of The Brit d'Arbeloff Women in Science Production Series

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents SUSAN EDWARDS MARTIN in 'THE ORIGINAL LADY BLUES OF TORCH SONG TRILOGY IS BACK IN TOWN!', on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at 9:30pm. An unpredictable musical evening with the song stylings and comedy of Broadway's Susan Edwards Martin, featuring music from the American Songbook, Broadway and her own original Broadway bound show, UNLIMITED! YOU'LL HAVE THE TIME OF HER LIFE! with a virtual appearance by Harvey Fierstein! This multi-talented and captivating performer is someone you do NOT want to miss!

Daniel J. Watts, currently starring as Sammy Davis, Jr. opposite Dule Hill in the Geffen Playhouse's record-breaking box office smash Lights Out: Nat King Cole, is bringing his solo show The Jam: Only Child to Los Angeles on Monday, March 11th at The Federal in North Hollywood (5303 Lankershim Boulevard). Doors open at 6:30pm, the show begins at 8:30pm. All advance general admission tickets are $20. Tickets are $25 day of and can be purchased at http://thefederalnoho.com/tickets/9231155/daniel-j-watts-the-jam-only-child/.

Geffen Playhouse today announced eight productions that will make up its 2019/2020 season, with one additional production to be announced. This marks the second lineup curated by Artistic Director Matt Shakman and the 24th season for the Los Angeles theater. The season will launch Tuesday, August 20, 2019 and run through Sunday, July 19, 2020.

In this electrifying exploration into the soul of an American icon, Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor imagine Nat 'King' Cole as he faces the final Christmastime broadcast of his groundbreaking variety show and weighs the advice of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. to 'go out with a bang.' Cole's hit songs, such as 'Nature Boy,' 'It's a Good Day' and 'Smile,' underscore this boldly original homage to the renowned performer who struggled to break through America's color barrier in the early days of television.

In this electrifying exploration into the soul of an American icon, Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor imagine Nat 'King' Cole as he faces the final Christmastime broadcast of his groundbreaking variety show and weighs the advice of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. to 'go out with a bang.' Cole's hit songs, such as 'Nature Boy,' 'It's a Good Day' and 'Smile,' underscore this boldly original homage to the renowned performer who struggled to break through America's color barrier in the early days of television.

In this electrifying exploration into the soul of an American icon, Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor imagine Nat 'King' Cole as he faces the final Christmastime broadcast of his groundbreaking variety show and weighs the advice of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. to 'go out with a bang.' Cole's hit songs, such as 'Nature Boy,' 'It's a Good Day' and 'Smile,' underscore this boldly original homage to the renowned performer who struggled to break through America's color barrier in the early days of television.

In this electrifying exploration into the soul of an American icon, Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor imagine Nat 'King' Cole as he faces the final Christmastime broadcast of his groundbreaking variety show and weighs the advice of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. to 'go out with a bang.' Cole's hit songs, such as 'Nature Boy,' 'It's a Good Day' and 'Smile,' underscore this boldly original homage to the renowned performer who struggled to break through America's color barrier in the early days of television.

Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole/book by Colman Domingo & Patricia McGregor/music supervision:John McDaniel/directed by Patricia McGregor/Geffen/Gil Cates Theater/through March 17 A much anticipated musical in Los Angeles has been Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole, which has received previous tryouts back east. Penned by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, who also directs the piece, the show is supposedly based on real facts from Cole's life and includes most of his standard hits arranged by John McDaniel. Currently onstage at the Gil CatesTheater of the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, Lights Out is spectacular entertainment, especially from Dule Hill as Cole and Daniel J. Watts as Sammy Davis Jr. but its book is in need of some major retooling. It is December 17, 1957 in the NBC Studio in Burbank where Cole's final  30 minute TV variety show is about to be presented live with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra and Randy Van Horn Singers. Fifteen minutes to air time, Cole is in a deep state of depression over this being the final show. Why? He has millions of fans. Southern states have refused to continue paying for advertising on the show. Cole is a Negro, pure asnd simple. In spite of his fame, it's Lights Out for him. Guest star Peggy Lee has not shown up and friend Sammy Davis Jr. comes in to replace her with his amazing style of frantic comed

CBS All Access, CBS' digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, today announced Ginnifer Goodwin will star in the service's upcoming darkly comedic drama WHY WOMEN KILL. Goodwin joins previously announced cast member Lucy Liu. Created by Marc Cherry (“Desperate Housewives,” “Devious Maids”), WHY WOMEN KILL details the lives of three women living in three different decades: a housewife in the '60s, a socialite in the '80s and a lawyer in 2018, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. The series will examine how the roles of women have changed, but how their reaction to betrayal... has not. WHY WOMEN KILL is produced by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios.

Theatre enthusiasts packed the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts last night to hear Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Executive Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley reveal the lineup for the company's 50th season, which launches this summer. Kelley's 50th and final season as Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley includes triumphant returns of TheatreWorks favorites, bold premieres developed at the company's annual New Works Festival, and celebrated works from the nation's leading playwrights.