The multi-ethnic culture of New York City in the 1980s is not what immediately comes to mind when thinking of a fairy tale setting. Yet in Ben Snyder’s new play Shoe Story, having its Los Angeles premiere at Theatre of NOTE on April 15, the play is billed as an urban fairy tale. READ MORE
Connie Chats
by Connie Danese | April 14, 2011
If you select but one show to see this season, get thee to the Ahmanson to witness an incredible cast at the top of its game in God of Carnage, the Tony-winning play by Yasmine Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton. All four original Tony-nominated actors are back together on stage and “in the zone”– Marcia Gay Harden (Best Actress Tony), Jess Daniels, Hope Davis and James Gandolfini are united with their Tony-winning director Matthew Warchus. READ MORE
Creating a Play with Son of Semele Company
by Oliver Mayer | April 14, 2011
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be about to see Wallowa: The Vanishing of Maude LeRay at the Son of Semele Ensemble. I’ve always enjoyed watching this company of actors work but I never thought I’d get to work with them — certainly not from the ground up on a new piece of this magnitude and deep feeling. READ MORE
LA STAGE INSIDER
by Julio Martinez | April 14, 2011
The Importance of Being Earnest, Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl, Corner Stone Theatre performing in Watts, Kathleen Freeman from The Full Monty- it’s all here in this week’s LA Stage Insider!! READ MORE
Why Producers Produce
by Steve Julian | April 14, 2011
Ask established actors when they got their first break, and many may say it came when they were children. They devised a skit and performed in the living room for their family, anxious for the applause. It was a show they wanted to put on. In short, they created their own break. READ MORE
Opening Night Photos for God of Carnage
by LA Stage Alliance | April 14, 2011
The stars came out in force to the opening night of God of Carnage at the Ahmanson Theatre including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Will Ferrell, Sandra Oh, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Martin Sheen, Gina Gershon, Annie Potts, Eric Idle, Anjelica Huston, Julian Sands, Troian Bellisario, Andrea Bowen, Camryn Manheim, Sara Gilbert, Simon Helberg, Jason Alexander and Bradley Whitford. READ MORE
Allan Miller Directs O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock
by Steve Julian | April 13, 2011
For three weeks in 1966, Allan Miller left New York to teach actors in Ireland. The invitation came from a former student, Deirdre O’Connell, who had opened the Focus Theatre in Dublin, which since has been at the forefront of training actors in the Stanislavski System. “In those days,” says Miller, “Dublin had four traffic lights and crazy drivers because it was so rare to have a car. It was a very celebratory time.” READ MORE
Impro Theatre Does Three UnScripted Shows in Rep
by Greta McAnany | April 13, 2011
No script? No blocking? No problem. This approach might confuse and even frighten most LA directors, but for Impro Theatre directors Michele Spears, Dan O’Connor and Brian Lohmann, this is the ideal. READ MORE
Philip Baker Hall: I Never Sang For My Father
by Pauline Adamek | April 13, 2011
Craggy-faced character actor Philip Baker Hall, facing his 80th birthday with his gruff but lovable image intact, has taken on the role of an elderly parent facing his mortality — and facing down his middle-aged son — in the New American Theatre (formerly Circus Theatricals) revival of Robert Anderson’s I Never Sang for My Father. READ MORE
Five by Tenn at Theatre 68
by Shelly Hacco | April 13, 2011
In the introduction of his one-act play collection 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, Tennessee Williams comments on his former theater company, The Mummers, as a group driven “by some kind of beautiful witchcraft.” Inspired by the idea of individual spirits collectively producing elusive yet memorable theatrical art, the members of Theatre 68 proudly acknowledge their 10 years of existence as a feat that could only have been accomplished through their “witchy” energy. READ MORE
Getting to Know F. Murray Abraham
by Darlene Donloe | April 12, 2011
F. Murray Abraham has about 30 minutes to talk before he has to go to rehearsal for Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, which is set to open April 14 on the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. He’s not rushed. In fact, he talks slowly and deliberately, as if time has agreed to wait for him to conclude his discourse. The Oscar winner’s conversation is of both a personal and professional nature, with the gist being about the fun and joy he’s having bringing the character of Shylock to life on stage. READ MORE
The Electric Chairs: Good-bye to Glendale
by Don Shirley | April 11, 2011
With Ionesco’s The Chairs, A Noise Within has produced a fitting valedictory for its final regular season in Glendale. But why hasn’t the Times theater critic written more often about LA’s leading classical company? Plus a few thoughts on Fragments, The Escort, The Mercy Seat and The Cripple of Inishmaan. READ MORE
