The project that was to become the play Devil’s Advocate began with a telephone call from the legendary American director Robert Altman. Bob’s aim was to introduce me to the Academy Award-winning film producer Barry Spikings. They had been riveted by the United States invasion of Panama on Christmas Eve 1989. President George H.W. Bush had woven together a tissue of lies and provocations to justify bombing and occupying, temporarily, a sovereign nation, Panama, in order to make what appeared to be a drug bust. READ MORE
LA STAGE INSIDER
by Julio Martinez | March 31, 2011
Ionesco’s The Chairs, Little Me, Broadway’s Bengal Tiger, it’s all here in this week’s LA Stage Insider! READ MORE
Ruth McKee’s Hell Money Next for Chalk Rep
by Patricia Foster Rye | March 31, 2011
Perhaps Chalk Repertory Theatre should be re-named Chalk Site-Specific Theatre. The company doesn’t perform productions in repertory, but it’s becoming one of LA theater’s leading advocates of site-specificity. Chalk Rep is dedicated to producing classical and contemporary plays in unconventional spaces. Founded in 2008, Chalk has already produced eight plays in such diverse locations as the Masonic Hall of Hollywood Forever Cemetery for its productions of Three Sisters and Twelfth Night and private homes for its 2009 Ovation Award double winner Family Planning and its real estate comedy Full Disclosure. READ MORE
Rebuild Japan Benefit Concert at Pasadena Playhouse
by LA Stage Alliance | March 31, 2011
In response to the devastating events in Japan, producers Patty Onagan and Ronn Goswick have announced Rebuild Japan: A Benefit Concert at the Pasadena Playhouse, a one-night-only event on Monday, April 4 at 7:30 pm. Proceeds will support the American Red Cross and its efforts to assist overseas as Japan begins to rebuild. READ MORE
On Creating A Weekend With Pablo Picasso
by Herbert Siguenza | March 30, 2011
Since I was a young boy, I would press crayons against paper and create imaginary worlds and characters. I was born with the mysterious gift of being able to draw. In fact, when I was in second grade, my teacher Mrs. Sharp would pull me out of the reading circle and have me draw on giant rolls of butcher paper instead. READ MORE
Roger Bean’s Summer of Love Revisits an Era
by Samantha Mehlinger | March 30, 2011
Roger Bean, creator of the long-running hits The Marvelous Wonderettes and Life Could Be a Dream, directs his latest musical, Summer of Love, in a Musical Theatre West production opening Saturday. READ MORE
REDCAT to Launch Theater Festival RADAR L.A.
by LA Stage Alliance | March 30, 2011
REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) has announced preliminary program highlights for RADAR L.A., an international festival of contemporary theater running June 14-20. It is being produced by REDCAT in collaboration with Center Theatre Group and New York Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, and a consortium including Theatre Communications Group, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, LA Stage Alliance and Los Angeles Theatre Center. READ MORE
Nicholas Martin Directs Lanford Wilson’s Burn This at Taper
by Tom Provenzano | March 30, 2011
The devastating and untimely death of Lanford Wilson earlier this month turned the Mark Taper Forum’s highly anticipated revival of Burn This into a de facto memorial for this extraordinary champion of the theater. Directing the production is Nicholas Martin, whose long stage career had often coincided with Wilson’s. READ MORE
Marc Masterson Prepares to Migrate to South Coast Rep
by Don Shirley | March 29, 2011
Born in California 55 years ago, Marc Masterson is finally about to return to the state as South Coast Repertory’s new artistic director. He discusses some of the differences between South Coast and the Actors Theatre of Louisville, which he has run since 2000. Also, Don Shirley examines the current productions in the Actors Theatre’s Humana Festival to see whether they’re likely candidates for Masterson to bring with him to Orange County. READ MORE
Riding a Bengal Tiger to a Broadway debut
by Mark Blankenship | March 28, 2011
Glenn Davis and Necar Zadegan are making their Broadway debuts with Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Rajiv Joseph’s tense and metaphorical drama about American soldiers, Iraqi civilians, and a thoughtful speaking tiger. Like most of the seven-person cast, the actors were in Bengal’s first two productions, at L.A.’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2009 and L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum in 2010. READ MORE
Participants Needed for “The Double Double Sonnet Project” on April 16
by LA Stage Alliance | March 28, 2011
The Global Theatre Project (The GTP) is looking for theatre artists and residents of all ages, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and sexual orientation to participate in the “Double Double Sonnet Project” on April 16th at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. (LATC). From 9am to noon, 100-300 participants will create a group theatrical presentation in partnership with the Stratford-Upon-Avon Shakespeare Birthday Festival. READ MORE
Freedman and Robertson Team Again for Blind Spots
by Greta McAnany | March 25, 2011
It’s about women, it’s about politics, it’s about family and most important, it’s about entertainment as writer Colette Freedman and director Elise Robertson team up once more with their new production of Blind Spots. READ MORE
