East West Players ventures into contemporary Bombay with Shane Sakhrani’s A Widow of No Importance. The title takes off from Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance — a signal that it’s a comedic take on the plight of a 50-year-old widow. READ MORE
A West Coast Look at 9/11 and What the Moon Saw
by Tom Provenzano | September 9, 2011
Matthew McCray and Son of Semele found a way to examine 9/11 from a West Coast perspective by asking for some revisions of Stephanie Fleischmann’ s What the Moon Saw, or “I Only Appear to Be Dead” – drawn from five contemporary adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen stories. READ MORE
LA STAGE Theater Task Force
by LA Stage Alliance | September 9, 2011
A group of 20-30 area theater leaders are meeting on 9/10/2011, for a Theater Vision/Council Task Force Day, to create a draft of a vision and a council structure for the Greater LA Theater Community. READ MORE
Second Chances
by Jon Courie | September 9, 2011
Jon Courie discovered that a negative review in The New York Times wasn’t necessarily fatal to one of his plays, which now has a new name — To Carry the Child — as well as a revised script and a production in NoHo from Collaborsative Artists Ensemble. READ MORE
LA STAGE INSIDER
by Julio Martinez | September 8, 2011
Alfred Molina turns Red for 2012 Mark Taper Forum season, which will also premiere Los Otros. CTG vet Ann E. Wareham will be Laguna Playhouse’s artistic director. Anne Archer to morph into Jane Fonda. Sally Kellerman does a thrush turn at Vitello’s and Ottiliana Rolandsson wants to be Garbo in Santa Barbara. INSIDER History spotlights Burbage Theatre Ensemble. READ MORE
South Coast Rep Opens 2011-12 Studio Series to LA Companies
by LA Stage Alliance | September 8, 2011
South Coast Repertory has announced it is expanding its 2011-2012 Studio Series to include Los Angeles County theater companies. The series partners SCR with “eclectic and adventurous local companies” for programming both in and around its 94-seat Nicholas stage. READ MORE
Richard Israel Helms Falsettos for YADA’s New
Third Street Theatre
by Cynthia Citron | September 8, 2011
Director Richard Israel helms Falsettos as the inaugural production for YADA’s new Third Street Theatre and explains why a “small musical with big themes” offered him a great opportunity to work with new actors. READ MORE
Anne Bogart Keeps Walking With Trojan Women
by Deborah Behrens | September 7, 2011
Director Anne Bogart discusses SITI Company’s production of Trojan Women (After Euripides) at the Getty Villa, her new criteria for projects at 60 and why ‘just keep walking’ is a mantra she shares with Hecuba. READ MORE
LA County Arts Commission Announces Funding Workshops for Its Organizational Grant Program
by LA Stage Alliance | September 7, 2011
Eight free workshops for arts organizations considering applying to the Los Angeles County Arts Commission’s Organizational Grant Program (OGP) will be held throughout LA County between September 26 and November 9. New applicants and applicants that did not receive funding the last time they applied to the Organizational Grant Program are required to attend a workshop, but the workshops are designed to benefit L.A. County-based non-profit arts organizations of all sizes. READ MORE
‘Black Dahlia’ Murder Examined in The Chanteuse and the Devil’s Muse
by Pauline Adamek | September 7, 2011
David J refashions his Black Dahlia song cycle into a new multi-disciplinary musical play The Chanteuse and the Devil’s Muse that presents a chilling theory regarding the identity of the famous 1947 cold case killer. Opening September 8 at the Bootleg Theater, it combines drama, song, visual projection, fine art and a Butoh dance performance by Vangeline. READ MORE
Burstyn and Castellino Honor Jolson
by Gary Ballard | September 6, 2011
Mike Burstyn, who stars as Al Jolson in Jolson at the Winter Garden, is the son of a man who sang Jolson’s songs in Yiddish. He and director Bill Castellino discuss their upcoming concert-style tribute to the entertainer who was best known as the star of the movie that broke the early sound barrier. READ MORE
REDCAT NOW FESTIVAL: Cattywampus
by Robert Cucuzza | September 6, 2011
Robert Cucuzza rewrites August Strindberg’s 1888 play Miss Julie line-by-line using a mash-up of “Pittsburghese” and Strindberg’s lyricism plus renames the titular Julie’s counterparts Donnie and Chrissie. READ MORE
