Tanya Saracho was born in Mexico, moved to Texas, went to college in Boston, settled in Chicago, and was inspired by a Russian play as she wrote El Nogalar, which is set in Mexico and is opening now in LA at the Fountain. She credits LA’s Luis Alfaro as helping her shape her writing, and he’s the dramaturg of the Fountain production, but the play was born in the supportive environment of the Chicago theater scene. READ MORE
Connie Chats on Opening Night: Clybourne Park
At the opening of Clybourne Park at the Mark Taper Forum on Wednesday, Connie chatted with Erika Alexander, Paul Blackthorne, Tim Griffin, Aidan Quinn and, from the cast, Damon Gupton and Christina Kirk. READ MORE
LA STAGE INSIDER
by Julio Martinez | January 26, 2012
Latino Theater Company announces a spring season at LATC despite a City Council vote to evict the company…CTG offers sections of Tweet Seats for Twitter users at two performances tonight…Rachel Noll discusses her role in Ruskin Group’s Lonesome West…A look at the Ash Grove/Improv venue at 8162 Melrose… READ MORE
PRT Founder Fletcher Returns With Rowland’s Indians
by Alison M. Hills | January 26, 2012
Julia Fletcher, founding artistic director of Pacific Resident Theatre, left the Venice company but two decades but recently returned to stage a workshop. Now she’s back to directing on the mainstage, with Jennifer Rowland’s The Indians Are Coming to Dinner, which examines the struggles inherent in most artistic careers. READ MORE
Applications For 2012-13 [Inside] the Ford Winter Partnership Program Available Now
by LA Stage Alliance | January 26, 2012
Now is the time for any theater companies who want to produce in LA County’s Winter Partnership Program at [Inside] the Ford — next winter, not this one — to prepare your applications. The deadline is March 14, and application workshops will be held Feb 13 and 28. READ MORE
Director MacKinnon Moves Back To
Clybourne Park
by Darlene Donloe | January 25, 2012
Pam MacKinnon staged the premiere of Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer-winning Clybourne Park in 2010, and now she’s preparing the Mark Taper Forum’s staging, which will morph into the Broadway debut for the Raisin in the Sun-inspired comedy in April. She discusses the play, the challenges of transplanting it and her life as an itinerant theater director. READ MORE
Is Expecting to Fly Finally Ready to Take Off?
by Michael Hyman | January 25, 2012
Trying to produce, direct and rewrite his own play, Expecting To Fly, resulted in a “disaster” two years ago, according to Michael Hyman — especially when one of the two actors took a walk just before the scheduled opening. But now, Hyman’s confident that the play is ready to take off. READ MORE
And Eckert Created Great Whales
by Rinde Eckert | January 24, 2012
Rinde Eckert wrestled with a character, Nathan, who was wrestling with the idea of composing on opera based on Moby Dick. The result, And God Created Whales, won an Obie Award a decade ago. Now it arrives in LA at REDCAT, once again with Eckert in the leading role. READ MORE
Spectral Signs and Dreams of The Washer King
by Andre Barron | January 24, 2012
In Christopher Wall’s Dreams of The Washer King, a teenager creeps around the house with a makeshift tape recorder looking for “spectral signs” of his deceased father. Director Andre Barron discusses the process of making Dreams come true on the Theatre 40 stage. READ MORE
A Former Simon Stimson Examines Broad’s Our Town — and LATC
by Don Shirley | January 23, 2012
David Cromer’s original vision of Our Town at Broad Stage offers a lot of surprises, even from the balcony. It expands the role of Simon Stimson in a way that LA STAGE Times’ own ex-Simon Stimson applauds. Also, a look at recent troubling developments at LATC, plus one of the best LA Times theater-related typos of all Times. READ MORE
Connie Chats on Opening Night — OVO
by Connie Danese | January 23, 2012
At the opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s OVO at the Santa Monica Pier, Connie chats with Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Chris McDonald, Ali Landry and Cirque CEO Daniel Lamarre. READ MORE
Kubzansky and Company Climb 39 Steps
by Tom Provenzano | January 20, 2012
Jessica Kubzansky’s staging of The 39 Steps at La Mirada Theatre offers a chance to see Matt Walker outside his usual Troubies format. Switching among 15 different characters and accents, he’s joining Andrew Borba, Dana Green and David McBean in the theatricalized send-up of the Hitchcock movie. The actors and their director discuss the challenges of doing all this with only 2½ weeks of rehearsal. READ MORE







