Roy Cohn, the Communist-hunting attorney of the early ’50s who died from AIDS in 1986, is the subject of Joan Beber’s Hunger: In Bed With Roy Cohn, opening at the Odyssey. It explores the man with a fantastical style that includes original music and dance — although this isn’t a musical. Beber, director Jules Aaron and choreographer Kay Cole discuss their work. READ MORE
Kubzansky Explores Language Archive at East West
by Patricia Foster Rye | November 7, 2011
Director Jessica Kubzansky talks about the LA premiere of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive at East West Players. It’s about a linguist who tries to preserve dying languages but can’t communicate with his wife. Kubzansky had her cast recall the dying languages within their own familes — then explains how she and her siblings created their own language around their dog. READ MORE
Graf’s Hermetically Sealed Leaves Its Inkubator
by Patricia Foster Rye | October 20, 2011
Kathryn Graf and her son felt isolated in their new home in Connecticut. So Graf, whose solo show Surviving David had explored the death of her husband, wrote the new Hermetically Sealed, inspired by her situation. It was developed in Katselas Theatre Company’s Inkubator program and now opens in a full production at the Skylight Theatre. READ MORE
Actors Co-op Celebrates 20 Years
by Patricia Foster Rye | September 21, 2011
Actors Co-op, Hollywood’s Christian-based professional theater company, is celebrating the big 2-0 with a new production of an old favorite, The 1940′s Radio Hour. The director, company veteran Nan McNamara, discusses the production, as well as the extent to which the group’s Christian orientation affects its work. READ MORE
Director Heidi Helen Davis at Theatricum Botanicum — Rose Cottages is Show #22
by Patricia Foster Rye | July 26, 2011
As she takes a break from rehearsing Rose Cottages in the sylvan setting of the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, director Heidi Helen Davis is in her element. Not only is she directing her 22nd production there, but she has also lived in Topanga for the last 15 years. READ MORE
Anderson, Cummins and the Broken Wings of Blackbird
by Patricia Foster Rye | July 7, 2011
Sam Anderson and Corryn Cummins discuss finding the humanity within their characters in David Harrower’s one-act psychodrama Blackbird at Rogue Machine. He plays Ray, who abused her character, Una, when she was 12; now the adult Una is confronting Ray at his workplace. READ MORE
Hollywood Fringe Festival Returns for Second Year
by Patricia Foster Rye | June 7, 2011
011 marks the second year for The Hollywood Fringe Festival, and co-founder and Festival Director Ben Hill credits the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland as his principal inspiration. “I’ve been attending Fringe Festivals all my life and always dreamed of founding one.” READ MORE
Shoe Story: Ben Snyder’s Urban Fairy Tale at NOTE
by Patricia Foster Rye | April 15, 2011
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
Ruth McKee’s Hell Money Next for Chalk Rep
by Patricia Foster Rye | March 31, 2011
Perhaps Chalk Repertory Theatre should be re-named Chalk Site-Specific Theatre. The company doesn’t perform productions in repertory, but it’s becoming one of LA theater’s leading advocates of site-specificity. Chalk Rep is dedicated to producing classical and contemporary plays in unconventional spaces. Founded in 2008, Chalk has already produced eight plays in such diverse locations as the Masonic Hall of Hollywood Forever Cemetery for its productions of Three Sisters and Twelfth Night and private homes for its 2009 Ovation Award double winner Family Planning and its real estate comedy Full Disclosure. READ MORE
