Jane Kaczmarek
NEWS FROM THE GEFFEN…Stage/TV thesp Jane Kaczmarek has the lead role in the West Coast premiere of Tony-nominated Good People, scripted by Pulitzer winner David Lindsay-Abaire, helmed by Matt Shakman, opening Apr 11 in the Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. A recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, Good People, which “takes an affectionate look at the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ through the eyes of characters who won’t be ignored,” was commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) in New York, premiering in the spring of 2011. Shakman is artistic director of LA’s Black Dahlia Theatre…And in the Geffen’s more intimate Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, ever-prolific actor/playwright/pianist Hershey Felder is stepping behind the scenes as adapter and helmer of The Pianist of Willesden Lane, featuring author/pianist Mona Golabek, based on the book by Golabek and Lee Cohen. Opening Apr 25, this premiere outing is based on Golabek’s family history, set in 1938 Nazi-occupied Vienna…
Jean Smart
MORE NEWS…Also in Westwood, noted stage/TV thesp Jean Smart joins original New York cast members Patrick Breen, Patrick Heusinger and Maddie Corman in the LA Theatre Works on-stage recording of Geoffrey Nauffts’ 2010 Tony-nominated Next Fall, Jan 19-21 at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater, helmed by Bart De Lorenzo. Performances before an audience are recorded to air on LATW’s syndicated radio theater series…Katselas Theatre AD Gary Grossman has recruited noted LA theater personalities Tony Abatemarco and Michael Kearns to assume the positions of co-ADs, effective immediately. Both Abatemarco and Kearns are co-founders, along with Grossman and Susan Krebs, of the Katselas INKubator play development series at Skylight Theatre in Hollywood…
Luis Alfaro
PREMIERES…Helmer Laurie Woolery and dramaturg Luis Alfaro team up for the West Coast premiere of El Nogalar (“The Pecan Orchard”) by Tanya Saracho, opening Jan 28 at Fountain Theatre in Hollywood. Inspired by Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, the production, centering on the Galvan family’s long-delayed return to the ancestral home in Mexico, features Sabina Zuniga Varela, Yetta Gottesman, Isabelle Ortega, Diana Romo and Justin Huen…The premiere dramedy, Sidetracked, a whodunit set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, scripted by Sharon Michaels, helmed by Ray A. Rochelle, opens Feb 3 as a visiting production at Macha Theatre in West Hollywood…
Wallace Shawn
WINTER READINGS…Downtown LA’s 2nd Annual 2012 Arts District Winterfest (Jan 5-8) continues an ongoing collaboration (since 2008) by Padua Hills Playwrights with the downtown LA arts community. Produced by AD Guy Zimmerman and Corryn Cummins, Padua is offering a free four-day series of new play readings by Zimmerman, Cummins, Heidi Darchuk, Rachel Jendrzejewski and others, culminating in Paul Mackley’s Jan 8 performance of Wallace Shawn’s 2004 award-winning, The Fever, helmed by Zimmerman. All performances are at multi-use industrial art space, LOT 613…Not to be outdone, Atwater Village-based Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA is offering three weeks of free WinterFest 2012 non-stop staged readings, Jan 10-29: 47 plays in 18 days, including new works by playwrights Nicholas Kazan, Tom Jacobson, Richard Martin Hirsch, Jacqueline Wright, Colin Mitchell, Jonas Oppenheim and many, many more…Also getting into the free read act, the LA Theatre Center (LATC) 3rd Annual Playwrights Festival, Jan 25-29, offers a taste of the theatrical wares to be presented during LATC’s spring and fall seasons, as well as output from UCLA’s New Play Festival (MFA playwrights’ thesis projects). Represented scripters include Evelina Fernandez, Joe Marciniak, Marcus Gardley, Lisa Loomer, Kate Sullivan Gibbens, Michael Premsrirat, Mark Anthony Rolo, Philip Yordan, Leilani Chan and Ova Saopeng. It’s coordinated by LATC’s literary manager Chantal Rodriguez.
Lesli Margherita
REVIVALS…Musical Theatre West’s staging of 1964 Tony-winning tuner Man of La Mancha is featuring the talents of Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita, a recent Ovation winner (Reprise’s Kiss Me Kate). She joins Broadway vet Davis Gaines, helmed by Nick DeGruccio, with music direction by Matthew Smedal and choreography by Carlos Mendoza, opening Feb 10 at Carpenter PAC in Long Beach… Brit Joe Orton’s 1969 send-up of the British mental health profession, What The Butler Saw, is being presented by West LA-based Odyssey Theatre, helmed by Alan Patrick Kenny with original music by Jennifer Lin, opening Jan 14…And Sierra Madre Playhouse is reviving the 1932 Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur comedy Twentieth Century, adapted by Ken Ludwig, helmed by Michael Lorre, opening Jan 27…
OTHER STUFF…New Short Fiction Series, LA’S longest running spoken word series, is hosting E.E. King’s Real Conversations With Imaginary Friends, Jan 8 at NoHo’s Federal Bar, featuring spoken word maven Sally Shore with thesps David Bickford, Jim Hanks and David St. James...Producer Chris Isaacson, who is single-mindedly reviving a long-dormant art form, continues the third season of tune-driven Upright Cabaret’s American Icon Series with The Troubadours, celebrating the music of Bob Dylan, Carole King and James Taylor, featuring the vocal talents of Jackie Tohn, Matt Wolpe, Yvette Cason and Jake Simpson. Led by music director Gerald Sternbach, this pop songfest hits the road on a mini-tour that includes Thousand Oaks’ Scherr Forum Theatre (Jan 27), La Mirada Theatre (Jan 29), Palm Spring’s Annenberg Theater (Feb 5) and Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club (Jan 15)…Come spring, for the third consecutive year, Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF) returns to Venice-based Electric Lodge for its 19th annual event, debuting Mar 22 with LAWTF’s traditional champagne gala and awards ceremony, hosted by actor/playwright Ted Lange and thesp Hattie Winston. Honorees are TBA. Guided by managing producer Shyla La’Sha, the festival continues Mar 23-25, featuring solo presentations by an international representation of women artists, including Ingrid Graham, Nicole Maxali, KT Shorb, Naomi Ackerman, Juliette Marshall, Chrystee Pharris, Ady Abbot, Heldine Aguiluz, Simchah Sharath and others…
…The Julio Martinez-hosted ARTS IN REVIEW, broadcast Fridays (2 to 2:30 pm) on KPFK (90.7FM), spotlights the best in live theater and cabaret in the Greater LA area. Upcoming on Jan 6, ARTS IN REVIEW presents a wrap-up of LA Theater 2011…
