The Geffen Playhouse News

WP Theater (formerly known as Women's Project Theater), under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Michael Sag, is thrilled to announce the lineup for the second biennial Pipeline Festival, showcasing the work of the celebrated WP Lab residency for playwrights, directors and producers from March 29 - April 28 at WP Theater (2162 Broadway & 76th Street.)

Theatre enthusiasts packed the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts tonight to hear Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Executive Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley reveal the lineup for the company's 49th season, which launches this summer. Among the exhilarating works announced were: the World Premiere of a new piece by Hershey Felder on Claude Debussy, an acclaimed Tony-winning musical, a thrilling political prizefight, and an array of Regional Premieres that include a hit comedy that sends up suburban values, a gospel/rhythm & blues musical developed at TheatreWorks, a heart-stirring musical for the holidays, a comic drama about one of the key historical events in the last century, a searing look at an unsung American hero, plus the return of the grown-up holiday hit The Santaland Diaries. For more information or to purchase subscriptions ($143 - $583) the public can call 650-463-1960 or visit theatreworks.org. Subscriptions are on sale now; single tickets will go on sale in spring 2018. Special pricing is available for seniors (65+), educators, and patrons 35 and under.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) is pleased to announce the first new play of Roundabout Underground's 2018 - 2019 season. The World premiere of Usual Girls, by Ming Peiffer, directed by Tyne Rafaeli was part of the 2017 Roundabout Underground Reading Series and will begin performances in the 2018/19 season.

Black stars and filmmakers converged on the Harlem Stage Gatehouse on Friday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the acclaimed series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange. The event featured a screening of the documentary program's season finale , Fatal Assistance, award-winning director Raoul Peck's sobering indictment of the global aid policies that failed Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake. The evening was hosted by actor Nicholas L. Ashe, star of the hit OWN Network series Queen Sugar and host of this season of AfroPoP, and featured a post-screening discussion led by award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa with Hébert Peck, producer of Fatal Assistance.

Now playing at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, the 80-minute play IRONBOUND by award-winning playwright Martyna Majok recounts the hard luck life of Polish immigrant Darja and the men she chooses to have in it. Moving between 2014, 1992, and 2006 - but not necessarily in that order - this wry drama points out that sometimes survival is the only measure of success. No doubt the title of her play, though set at a bus stop a quarter of a mile from Elizabeth, NJ, makes sense since that blue-collar town is just like where Darja works in a nearby noisy paper factory and as a maid for a wealthy married woman, and yet still suffers through poverty, abusive husbands who drink too much, single motherhood, and then an adult son who steals her car and abandons her with no way to get to work other than the bus, which of course is always late.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY is thrilled to announce the third show of its 2017-2018 Season, the 2014-2015 Outer Critics Circle & Drama Desk award nominee for Best Play, THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, written by Anthony Giardina and directed by Cameron Watson. Meredith Baxter and Sharon Lawrence star in this deeply moving and thought-provoking story about how the political divide tears apart an American family. THE CITY OF CONVERSATION begins previews on Thursday, February 8, opens on Saturday, February 10, and runs through Sunday, February 25, 2018 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer), New York City's award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968, will celebrate its 49th Anniversary at its annual Gala Benefit on Monday, April 2, 2018 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center (East 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues). Honorary Chair for the event is Tony Award-nominated actor/singer and 2016 Rosie Award-winner Norm Lewis. Two-time Tony Award-nominee Brad Oscar will be Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

The Road Theatre on Magnolia is proud to present the West Coast premiere of Anna Ziegler's exciting A Delicate Ship. The play opened officially Friday January 19 and runs through March 11. Over the course of the run we will spotlight the director and members of the cast. This week the light shines doubly on director Andre Barron and playwright Anna Ziegler, as we present an interview that Barron recently conducted with Miss Ziegler. Director Barron won BWW LA 2016 'Best Direction" for Edward Albee's "The Play About The Baby" at The Road Theatre Company.

On the occasion of what would mark the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela, Academy Award-winning actress and super-philanthropist Charlize Theron and House of Mandela Family Foundation Co-Founder Kweku Mandela will kick off a series of events in a yearlong celebration in his honor.

AFROPOP: THE ULTIMATE CULTURAL EXCHANGE Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Martyna Majok wrote IRONBOUND to share the story of the everyday challenges and hurdles of a Polish immigrant surviving in America, basing this theatrical piece on her own mother's experiences. Already in previews, IRONBOUND officially opens February 7, 2018. Martyna took some time out to answer my inquisitive questions in much depth.

Inspired by the classic Cyrano de Bergerac, Michael Golamco's 'Cowboy vs. Samurai' is not only a tale of misplaced love, it's also an insightful and wonderfully funny meditation on being Asian in middle America, on self-identity, and on the ways we categorize ourselves as well as each other. Pear Theatre's production of 'Cowboy vs. Samurai,' directed by Jeffrey Lo, previews on March 15, with press and Opening Night on Friday, March 16, followed by a champagne gala. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays through April 8. All performances are held at the Pear Theatre, 1110 La Avenida St., Mountain View. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.thepear.org or calling (650) 254-1148.

Bay Area audiences have a handful of performances left to catch Hershey Felder at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in Our Great Tchaikovsky as it heads into its final weeks. Felder's newest work - which set a new record for sales before opening for TheatreWorks earlier this month - runs Tuesdays through Sundays, now through February 11, 2018, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($45-$105) and information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, present the second show of its 2017-2018 season, the west coast premiere of A DELICATE SHIP, written by acclaimed playwright Anna Ziegler (Actually) and directed by Andre Barron (Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby). A DELICATE SHIP will begin previews on Saturday, January 13 at 8pm; will open on Friday, January 19 at 8pm and run through Sunday, March 11 at the Road Theatre on Magnolia, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director, together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, present the second show of its 2017-2018 season, the west coast premiere of A DELICATE SHIP, written by acclaimed playwright Anna Ziegler (Actually) and directed by Andre Barron (Edward Albee's The Play About the Baby).

The Huntington Theatre Company's 2018 Breaking Ground festival of new plays will be held February 9 11, 2018 at the Huntington's home for new work, the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The festival is a vital part of the Huntington's new play development efforts and highlights the work of locally-based Huntington Playwriting Fellows and national writers in partnership with the Huntington. Over the last decade, Breaking Ground plays have gone on to appear at the Huntington as well as theatres in Boston, across the country, and internationally.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY is thrilled to announce the third show of its 2017-2018 Season, the 2014-2015 Outer Critics Circle & Drama Desk award nominee for Best Play, THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, written by Anthony Giardina and directed by Cameron Watson.

BroadwayHD announces today that Thom Pain, the Geffen Playhouse's filmed adaptation of its stage production of Will Eno's lauded play Thom Pain (based on nothing) starring Rainn Wilson ('The Office,' founder of Soul Pancake), will be available on BroadwayHD beginning January 11, 2018.

Daniel Beaty, the award-winning actor and poet, is returning to the Geffen Playhouse with his critically acclaimed solo show, Emergency, for two encore performances today, January 11 and Friday, January 12 in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend.

The untold tale of four rock n' roll pioneers and takes center stage when the hit Broadway musical MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET returns to Southern California... courtesy of 3-D Theatricals (3DT), one of Los Angeles' and Orange County's most critically acclaimed musical theatre production companies.