The Geffen Playhouse News

Weathervane Productions, Rising Phoenix Repertory, in association with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater announce casting for the world premiere production of The Convent

A whirlwind night on the town closes California Repertory Company's fall season with laughs and revelations. The Drunken City by Adam Bock plays at the University Theatre from November 29-December 8.

The Ivoryton Playhouse Holiday show opens on December 13th and runs until December 23rd. Coney Island Christmas by Donald Margulies is a heartwarming story with a lot to say about how life could be better through understanding and tolerance for one another. An instant holiday classic and a new family tradition.

Celebrity Autobiography, the award-winning hit comedy show in which celebrities act out other celebrities' jaw-dropping memoirs verbatim, will come to Broadway's Marquis Theatre (210 West 46th Street) three nights only this holiday season. After a decade of playing Off-Broadway and across the globe, the show conquers Broadway.

Two new character-driven relationship plays, both by award-winning women writers and both inspired by events currently at the forefront of our national consciousness, beat out 1241 other submissions in the inaugural Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative. Hart NPI artistic director Christopher Hart will direct Silver Medallion-winning plays Confederates by Suzanne Bradbeer, opening Nov. 9, and Exit Wounds by Wendy Graf, opening Nov. 16, atGrove Theater Center in Burbank, where the two plays will continue to run in repertory through Dec. 16. One will be named the Gold Medallion winner and open on March 13, 2019 for a six-week, off-Broadway run in the 196-seat "Theater A" at 59E59 Theaters in New York City.

Both one-acts in this masterful and memorable double-billing, directed by Steven Robman, are reflective and confessional in nature, with each of the main characters portrayed by masterful actor Brian Dennehy sharing tales of their lives in an attempt to make sense of the way it has turned out for them, especially since the present does not seem to have lived up to the excitement of the past. Perhaps that universal truth is what united these two one acts, with O'Neill and Beckett asking audiences to take a look back at our own lives and realize that even when things seem hopeless and/or meaningless, memories of times past may be the thing to break your downward spiral.

A whirlwind night on the town closes California Repertory Company's fall season with laughs and revelations. The Drunken City by Adam Bock plays at the University Theatre from November 29-December 8.

Already in previews at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater of the Geffen Playhouse, HUGHIE & KRAPP'S LAST TAPE (by Eugene O'Neill & Samuel Beckett, respectively), a double bill starring Brian Dennehy, will open November 14, 2018. I had the chance to chat with director Steven Robman, a frequent collaborator of Brian, as he was driving to a mid-day appointment.

Two new character-driven relationship plays, both by award-winning women writers and both inspired by events currently at the forefront of our national consciousness, beat out 1241 other submissions in the inaugural Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative. Hart NPI artistic director Christopher Hart will direct Silver Medallion-winning plays Confederates by Suzanne Bradbeer, opening Nov. 9, and Exit Wounds by Wendy Graf, opening Nov. 16, at Grove Theater Center in Burbank, where the two plays will continue to run in repertory through Dec. 16. One will be the named the Gold Medallion winner and open on March 13, 2019 for a six-week, off-Broadway run in the 196-seat "Theater A" at 59E59 Theaters in New York City.

A Christmas Carol/by Charles Dickens/adapted by Jefferson Mays, Susan Lyons, Michael Arden/directed by Michael Arden/Geffen Playhoous/Gil Cates Theater/through December 16 Another version of A Christmas Carol you moan? Well, take my word for it, you have never seen a produciton of the Dickensian classic quite like the one currently onstage at the Geffen Playhouse mainstage Gil Cates Theater. Adapted by the brilliant actor playing every role Jefferson Mays, Susan Lyons and brilliant director Michael Arden, A Christmas Carol becomes the perfect transition from Halloween, Dia de los Muertos

Tony Award-winner Jefferson Mays (and his many characters) will grace the Gil Cates Theatre stage of the Geffen Playhouse for his one-man adaptation of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL, already in previews, with opening night set for November 7, 2018. I had the chance to pick Jefferson's witty mind for some very fun answers to my semi-serious inquiries.

Skylight Theatre Company and Frier McCollister present Sandra Tsing Loh's  "Sugar Plum Fairy" Directed by Bart De Lorenzo  Opening at 8:30pm on Saturday, December 1st with reception to follow 8:30pm Fridays and Saturdays, 3:00pm Saturdays and Sundays through December 23, 2018 Skylight Theatre, 1816 ½ North Vermont, Los Angeles, CA 90027

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley brings an enchanted bestseller to life for the holidays with the regional premiere of Tuck Everlasting. Set in the 1890s, free-spirited Winnie Foster searches for adventure, finding the Tucks, a close-knit family that has discovered the secret to everlasting life. Winnie faces the choice of a lifetime: return to everyday life, or join the Tucks on their infinite, irreversible voyage through time. Directed by TheatreWorks Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, Tuck Everlasting will be presented November 28 - December 30 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father, Luis A. Miranda Jr., founding partner of The MirRam Group and founding president of the Hispanic Federation, are bringing their Puerto Rico relief efforts to Los Angeles! The father and son duo will participate in an intimate conversation regarding Puerto Rico's progress towards long-term recovery from the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria and Hamilton's upcoming limited run in Puerto Rico, it was announced today.

LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron explores the complex relationships women have with their shoes, purses, bras, weight, Madonna, their sisters, and their mothers. Based on the book by Ilene Beckerman, the play opened off-Broadway at the Westside Theater in 2009 after a limited run of staged readings to benefit Dress for Success. It closed The Judson Theatre Company's seventh season last week. The parade of well-known actresses who've performed in LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE reads like a who's who and includes Jane Lynch, Carol Kane, Brooke Shields, Rosie O'Donnell, Tyne Daly, Samantha Bee, Parker Posey, and Kristin Wiig. The Judson Theatre's cast too featured some well-known names, including two-time Emmy Award-winner Sally Struthers, who previously starred in the show at The Geffen Playhouse, Kim Coles, who is best known for her role on 'Living Single,' and stage veteran Joyce Reehling. Rounding out the cast were newcomers Ashley Brooke and Olivia Rose Barresi.

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture along with its performing arts program, the Center for the Art of Performance, announces the acquisition of the Crest Theater on Westwood Boulevard, a landmark venue that will be transformed into a new off-campus performing arts space that will serve as an important addition to UCLA's rich offering of cultural venues and resources across the city.

The world premiere adaption of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol at Geffen Playhouse will extend for one week and run through December 9, it was announced today. Adapted by Jefferson Mays, Susan Lyons and Michael Arden, this one-man production features Mays taking on nearly 50 different roles in a new adaptation, which is based on the edited version Dickens himself used for public performances.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 PRESENTS 'What The F*ck Is Going On?: A New Musical,' for one night only! Fresh out from a highly successful concert performance at Feinstein's/54 Below, award-winning composer Zach Spound brings the world of contemporary journalism to life as we follow a young woman's journey to the heart of the Russia Investigation. Along the way, familiar figures including Rachel Maddow, Robert Mueller, Kamala Harris, James Comey, and Sally Yates help put the pieces together by telling their stories. Part cabaret, part rock concert, and part investigative journalism, it's a timely, one-of-a-kind musical experience that, in an era when asking questions is an act of resistance, celebrates the necessity badass-ery of America's journalists.

"Think of these memories as sharp slivers embedded in the soul."International City Theatre presents a gripping drama about war refugees haunted by the death of their loved ones - and by memories of the things they had to do to survive.A Splintered Soul by Long Beach-based playwright Alan L. Brooks opens Oct. 19 atInternational City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place Oct. 17 and Oct. 18.

Two new character-driven relationship plays, both by award-winning women writers and both inspired by events currently at the forefront of our national consciousness, beat out 1241 other submissions in the inaugural Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative. Hart NPI artistic director Christopher Hart will direct Silver Medallion-winning plays Confederates by Suzanne Bradbeer, opening Nov. 9, and Exit Wounds by Wendy Graf, opening Nov. 16, at Grove Theater Center in Burbank, where the two plays will continue to run in repertory through Dec. 16. One will be the named the Gold Medallion winner and open on March 13, 2019 for a six-week, off-Broadway run in the 196-seat "Theater A" at 59E59 Theaters in New York City.