Will Leslie Jordan ever run out of material for his autobiographical solo shows? Probably not, if his mother has anything to say about it — which she does. Director David Galligan helps Jordan shape his stories into performances. Their latest collaboration, Fruit Fly, opens Friday at Celebration Theatre. READ MORE

Staging  I Love Lucy episodes in a 99-seat theater is harder than it looks. The actors, producers and director Rick Sparks talk about the challenges in the Live on Stage version at Greenway Court. READ MORE

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

If you were a teacher in grade school with both Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger in your class, you’d quickly learn to separate the two of them to opposite corners of the room.  Even then, by the end of the day you’d probably visit your principal with the recommendation that one of the two be transferred to a different class altogether.  These two producers of 99-seat theater — including the current Day Drinkers at the Odyssey — make up a very close-knit couple. They complete each other with a comfortable congruency easy to comprehend yet difficult to categorize.  READ MORE

Evelyn Rudie and Chris DeCarlo, the married team who have run Santa Monica Playhouse since 1973, continue the playhouse’s 50th anniversary celebration with Dolls–Not Your Usual Love Story! READ MORE

All the world’s a stage.  You might not agree with that sentiment.  You might wish to argue or debate it.  But as you like it or not, you’d be foolish to deny its cultural impact given its 410-year history.  Of course some stages ring resoundingly clearer than others, especially when peopled by well-trained thespians with soaring vocal timbres.  READ MORE

Playwright Gregg Ostrin and director/produce Rick Shaw discuss their Kowalski, which depicts their imagined scenario about the first meeting of Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando, at the Two Roads Theatre.  READ MORE

Pacific Resident Theatre’s artistic director Marilyn Fox discusses her new show of J.M Barrie one-acts entitled Barrie: Back to Back, being invited to bring Vince Melocchi’s Julia to New York and  PRT’s 25th anniversary season.  READ MORE

The Colony Theatre Company opens its 37^th season June 4 with the West Coast premiere of Michael Golamco’s Year Zero, centering around Cambodian American brother and sister Vuthy and Ra Vichea’s efforts to assimilate into American culture after the death of their mother, starting from home base in Long Beach.  READ MORE

David Hunt Stafford loves theater. Talk to him approximately 15 minutes and you know it. Talk to him another five or so, and he’ll tell you about Theatre 40 where he serves as Artistic and Managing Director. He loves that Luv by Murray Schisgal is their next production opening on May 18.  READ MORE

Les Hanson, founding artistic director of West Coast Ensemble, is espousing the traditions of those wandering minstrels of yore with his next production. He opens Gypsy by Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim at the Egyptian Arena Stage on May 13 under the direction of Richard Israel.  READ MORE

Elizabeth Swain could fall prey to a whimsical journalistic labeling or libeling about how disaffected, displeased and distrustful she currently is, and nothing could be more distanced from the truth. As director of the little-known John Marston’s even less recognized play  The Malcontent at the Antaeus Company opening on May 5, she’s wallowing in the delight of a dream dutifully delivered. READ MORE