The Author at the Kirk Douglas raised big questions about how theater artists and audience deal with inflammatory subject matter such as porn and suicide. Meanwhile, Wrinkles offers a very different glance at porn, while Neena Beber’s Jump/Cut examines the media treatment of mental illness. Plus reflections about a few projects in the works at Center Theatre Group. READ MORE
Waiting For A Go
by Richard Martin Hirsch | February 28, 2011
Each week or so I’m updated on happenings in the LA theater scene by way of the latest postings on LA Stage Times. In the past I’ve always found the news to be informative and even gratifying; however, lately I’ve been experiencing different sorts of emotions as I read about my friends and colleagues who have new shows on stage. Lately, my feelings have taken a turn to the dark side, running a fairly tight gamut from envy and jealousy to out’n’out despair. READ MORE
Connie Chats
by Connie Danese | February 25, 2011
Connie Chats with 33 Variations actors Samantha Mathis and Don Amendolia at the opening night party, takes a listen to Linda Eder’s new album and reveals a workshop of a new version of Pal Joey. READ MORE
Elina de Santos Breaks Glass With Arthur Miller
by Cynthia Citron | February 25, 2011
You might call director Elina de Santos an Arthur Miller groupie — not to trivialize, but to celebrate, her lifelong devotion to the works of the man she considers America’s greatest playwright. READ MORE
A Vaudevillian Twelfth Night in Fullerton
by Adam Evans | February 25, 2011
Shakespeare’s classic comedy Twelfth Night opens this weekend at STAGEStheatre with a few new twists. The original tale follows Viola, a shipwrecked young maiden disguised as a man, dodging the affections of the crazed Olivia while dodging her own affection for her master Duke Orsino who happens to be in love with Olivia. If that isn’t confusing enough, she must dodge the suspicions of Olivia’s court of fools and confidants. This chaotic farce has been infused with new music, extreme physical comedy and madcap humor. READ MORE
LA STAGE Insider: February 24, 2011
by Julio Martinez | February 24, 2011
From Rent to Jamaica Farewell and Gigi Perreau’s A Night With the President, it’s all here in this week’s LA STAGE Insider. READ MORE
CRE Outreach is Changing Perceptions
by Jeremy Aldridge | February 24, 2011
As I am sure is the case with many of you reading this blog, I have to maintain a day job to support the family and supply my theater habit. I am fortunate that working as a Director of a Community Center for the City of LA has often overlapped with my addiction. READ MORE
A Tennessee Williams House Built by Simon Levy
by Gary Ballard | February 23, 2011
Simon Levy directs Tennessee Williams’ A House Not Meant to Stand at the Fountain Theatre in its West Coast premiere opening Feb. 26. He says, “This play, coming as late as it does in the Williams canon, is regarded by many critics as one of his problem plays. I don’t consider them problems so much as challenging.” READ MORE
Steve Cisneros’ Phantom Projects for Young Adults
by Tom Provenzano | February 23, 2011
In Southern California the Phantom Projects Theatre Group has a long history of touring schools with important issue-driven productions. Over the past decade Phantom has developed a solid relationship with the La Mirada Theatre of the Performing Arts. The company has created youth programming while also building a broader based season to appeal to all ages. READ MORE
Pinocchio Marks Deaf West’s 20th Birthday
by Cindy Marie Jenkins | February 23, 2011
“Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.” That is a modest start for the classic tale of the world’s most famous fabricating puppet, first serialized in a magazine from 1880-1883 in Tuscany. Now Deaf West Theatre kicks off its 20th anniversary season with an adaptation by Lee Hall (the book writer and lyricist of Broadway’s hit musical Billy Elliot) of The Adventures of Pinocchio. READ MORE
Director Lisa Peterson Tells a Story In Mother Words
by Darlene Donloe | February 22, 2011
Director Lisa Peterson describes her latest show, In Mother Words, as a “compilation or quilt play” made up of 15 short pieces by 15 different writers, all describing what it means to be a mother. READ MORE
How Two Composers Created Music
for a Play’s Unreal World
by Mark Blankenship | February 21, 2011
LA-based composers Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay (Showtime’s Weeds) tackle two distinct worlds in Gruesome Playground Injuries, the new play by Rajiv Joseph currently running at NYC’s Second Stage Theatre. This article kicks off a new content sharing relationship between LA Stage Alliance’s LA STAGE Times and Theatre Development Fund’s tdf Stages in which stories from each site deemed of interest or relevant to readers on the opposite coast will appear periodically. READ MORE
