Willow Geer News

Romance, intrigue and crackling verbal wit. Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday when Much Ado About Nothing joins the All-Shakespeare Summer Repertory Season on July 12.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicumcontinues its celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday with a new production of All's Well That Ends Well that joins the All-Shakespeare Repertory Season tonight, June 21. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

A frightening thing happens when a woman plays the title role in a gender-reversed King Lear; the betrayal and revenge between mother and sons takes on an added level of horror. What was already tragic to begin with, as originally written for a father and daughters, now feels even more threatening in the reverse.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum kicks off its All-Shakespeare Summer Season in celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday with a gender-reversed Lear for the 21st century, opening tonight, Saturday, June 7 at 8 p.m. in the theater's spectacular outdoor amphitheater in Topanga Canyon.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum continues its celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday with a new production of All's Well That Ends Well that joins the All-Shakespeare Repertory Season on June 21.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum kicks off its All-Shakespeare Summer Season in celebration of the Bard's 450th birthday with a gender-reversed Lear for the 21st century, opening on Saturday, June 7 at 8 p.m., and the return of the company's signature rendering of A Midsummer Night's Dream, with performances beginning Sunday, June 8 at 3:30 p.m. The two productions will continue to run in repertory through the end of Sept. in the theater's spectacular outdoor amphitheater nestled in a Topanga Canyon ravine, and will be joined later in the season by three additional mainstage offerings.

James Avery, Beau Bridges, Jamie Hector, Helen Hunt, Jason Isaacs, William H. Macy, Wendie Malick and Brent Spiner starred in a staged reading of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's acclaimed docudrama THE EXONERATED as the closing event of Theatricum Botanicum's 40th Anniversary Season on November 9. BroadwayWorld has photos from the reading below!

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents a free reading of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom, the play upon which the popular 1950's musical Carousel was based. Apollo Dukakis, a resident artist with the company, directs the piece, using the Benjamin F. Glazer translation, with a cast of sixteen portraying multiple roles. Admission for the reading is free. RSVP via phone to 626-356-3100 x1 to reserve your seat. This reading takes place during the run of The Guardsman, another well-known work by Ferenc Molnar, at A Noise Within, now playing through November 30.

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents a free reading of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom, the play upon which the popular 1950's musical Carousel was based. Apollo Dukakis, a resident artist with the company, directs the piece, using the Benjamin F. Glazer translation, with a cast of sixteen portraying multiple roles. Admission for the reading is free. RSVP via phone to 626-356-3100 x1 to reserve your seat. This reading takes place during the run of The Guardsman, another well-known work by Ferenc Molnar, at A Noise Within, now playing through November 30.

A young druid wizard destined for greatness comes of age during Britain's bloodiest age. Written and directed by Ellen Geer and featuring an original electronic score byMarshall McDaniel and Kellen McDaniel, the world premiere of Merlin: The Untold Adventures opens tonight, July 20 at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga.

Okay, I'll say it. I haven't seen a production of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW that comes anywhere close to this vivid interpretation of the story. It is spectacular!

Actors who dedicate their life to the theatre are a passionate, unique and rare breed. Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in THE ROYAL FAMILY, an uproarious comedy about a family of actors.

A young druid wizard destined for greatness comes of age during Britain's bloodiest age. Written and directed by Ellen Geer and featuring an original electronic score byMarshall McDaniel and Kellen McDaniel, the world premiere of Merlin: The Untold Adventures opens on July 20 at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga.

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic directorEllen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores,George S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are 'defacto' Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member Susan Angelo directs.The Royal Family opens today, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th Anniversary Summer Repertory Season.

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic director Ellen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-law Abby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores, George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are "defacto" Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member SusanAngelo directs. The Royal Family opens on Saturday, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th AnniversarySummer Repertory Season. Check out a first look below!

Art imitates life imitates art when Theatricum Botanicum artistic directorEllen Geer stars alongside her sister Melora Marshall, daughter Willow Geer and daughter-in-lawAbby Craden in an uproarious comedy about a family of actors. Originally written as a thinly disguised parody of the Barrymores,George S. Kaufman andEdna Ferber's winsome spoof about a thespian dynasty is the perfect vehicle for Topanga's first theatrical family. Also in the cast are "defacto" Theatricum family members Alan Blumenfeld, Tim Halligan, Aaron Hendry and Earnestine Phillips, and longtime company member Susan Angelo directs.The Royal Family opens on Saturday, June 22 at Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, the centerpiece of the company's 40th Anniversary Summer Repertory Season.

Opposites attract, and forces of nature and desire bring lovers together with unexpected results. Theatricum Botanicum kicks off its 40th Anniversary season with two of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies: The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Ellen Geer, opens on Saturday, June 1; one day later, on Sunday, June 2, Theatricum's signature production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, co-directed by Willow Geer and Melora Marshall, hits the boards. Both plays will continue in repertory throughout the summer as Theatricum sets out to celebrate 40 years of theater, music, poetry and performance in the Topanga woods.

Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a lively summer season of theater, music and performance under the stars and live oaks of Topanga Canyon

This summer, Theatricum Botanicum examines the inequity of a rigid moralistic government and the effect upon its citizens in Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Director Ellen Geer maximizes the impact of the play's themes by moving the time period to the pressure cooker era of the late 1960s, a perfect choice for the Toganga Canyon venue which already feels like you've taken a trip back in time the minute you walk in.

Theatricum Botanicumcontinues the 2012 Repertory Season with George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House. Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer directs the Nobel Prize-winning author's "Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes" for Theatricum's outdoor stage in idyllic Topanga Canyon.