Gathering at UCLA Hillel for the first two days of its 31st conference, the Association for Jewish Theatre produced panels that began with jokes but went on to discuss ethical values, Jewish identity and more. The conference also listened to a keynote speech by Richard Montoya of Culture Clash. READ MORE
Sam Anderson — On the Road to The Water’s Edge
by Cynthia Citron | January 17, 2012
Sam Anderson is directing Theresa Rebeck’s The Water’s Edge at the Road, where he is a co-artistic director. Here he also talks about his experiences in TV’s Lost, the recent play Blackbird, and Sondheim’s The Frogs at the Odyssey. READ MORE
Free Programs at the Music Center on Dec. 24
by Cynthia Citron | December 21, 2011
LA County’s annual free holiday celebration at the Music Center, which is broadcast live for three hours on KCET-TV, requires some complicated planning and split-second timing behind the scenes. The audience can number in the thousands, and there are about 500 performers of music and dance, reflecting a wide multicultural mix. Even the parking is free. READ MORE
Bates Wears Rose-Colored Glasses
by Cynthia Citron | November 28, 2011
Kathrine Bates’ The Color of Rose uses three actresses, on stage together, to portray Rose Kennedy in three stages of her life. The West Coast premiere opens tonight at Theatre 40. Bates, whose other plays about historical figures include the popular, site-specific The Manor and a solo show about Lucrezia Borgia, offers reflections on the Kennedy matriarch and the other people whose stories she has dramatized. READ MORE
Mother Nature Won’t Be Fooled in Sherry Glaser’s
Second Coming
by Cynthia Citron | November 13, 2011
Sherry Glaser created a durable hit, Family Secrets, 21 years ago in LA, but now she’s concentrating more on the re-awakening of Mother Nature. It’s the subject of The Second Coming: A One Woman Comedy of Biblical Proportions at Two Roads Theatre. Glaser also talks about the still-unresolved disappearance of her former husband, her new marriage to a woman and their Breasts Not Bombs activism. READ MORE
From Belfast to Kampala to LA With Daddy O’Callaghan
by Cynthia Citron | November 8, 2011
Johnny O’Callaghan’s solo show Who’s Your Daddy? at the Little Victory Theatre relates the tale of his adventures adopting an orphan in Uganda — and more. His past also includes a stint in a site-specific production inside a Central Park restroom and five years as an Ancient Replicator on a TV series. READ MORE
Kate Bergh Plays Dress Up
by Cynthia Citron | September 23, 2011
Kate Bergh’s costumes can be seen in two big shows right now — South Street at the Pasadena Playhouse and Reprise’s Cabaret at UCLA. The former pre-med student found her true calling designing for theater and opera, then commercials and print advertising. Next up — Next Fall at the Geffen Playhouse. 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
Sarah Treem Gets the Ojai Treatment
by Cynthia Citron | August 9, 2011
Sarah Treem is moving from writing HBO’s In Treatment and Netflix’s House of Cards to watching a workshop performance of her newest play, When We Were Young and Unafraid, at the Ojai Playwrights Conference’s festival. She’s the 31-year-old writer whose A Feminine Ending was produced at South Coast Repertory in 2008. READ MORE
For A Death in Colombia You’ve Gotta Have Hart
by Cynthia Citron | July 11, 2011
Roxanne Hart, now appearing in A Death in Colombia, has found new inspiration from working in LA’s small theaters. READ MORE
O’Hara and Ullett Move to Bakersfield
by Cynthia Citron | June 9, 2011
Her email address begins with “nifttt”, which she says stands for “nothing is funnier than the truth.” (It could also stand for “nifty,” which she most certainly is.) For actor/director/comedienne Jenny O’Hara it’s a serious mantra. As it is for her hilariously entertaining husband, actor Nick Ullett. Los Angeles theater lovers will get the chance to sample their superior skills—and the magic they create by acting together—when the two open this week in Stephen Sachs’ new play Bakersfield Mist. READ MORE
Gobetti Tackles Sex and Education
by Cynthia Citron | June 1, 2011
“By the time Tom and I had finished building the theater, we had $25 left in the bank.” Maria Gobetti is talking about the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank that she and husband Tom Ormeny opened in 1979. Now, after 30 years, the Victory is still going strong, with Gobetti and Ormeny still in charge. And Gobetti is not only teaching acting but is playing a teacher in the Victory’s Sex and Education. READ MORE
