Howard Johnson News

The famous Billy Wilder quote serves as the backbone of a poignant, ambitious and disturbingly funny project from acclaimed local playwright Christian Levatino and his gangbusters theatre company. Now in their 15th season, gangbusters is partnering with the newly reorganized Complex Hollywood to launch a repertory run of three dark comedy plays from Levatino's "Black Bag Pentalogy," a series of works that holds a magnifying glass to five very distinct moments in American history between 1954 and 1972.  Sunny Afternoon, King Dick and ...meantime at HoJo's will run in rep from Oct. 19 to Nov. 18 at The Complex Hollywood, including "The Big Event" on Sundays, which will feature all three shows performed back to back to back.

In October, New Conservatory Theatre Center is pleased to present the regional premiere of Cardboard Piano by Whiting Award-winning playwright, Hansol Jung, in partnership with Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) . Directed by Tom Bruett, this "deeply moving new play" (Courier Journal) is a sweeping tale of love, redemption, and the ongoing fight for international LGBTQ rights. 16-year old Chris just wants to find a safe place to live with the girl she loves- not an easy task in 1999 Uganda. Determined to be together, Chris, the daughter of American missionaries and Adiel, a local girl, meet in the village church to marry in secret. When the war outside the church walls breaks its way into their sanctuary in the form of a wounded child-soldier, all three lives become tied together forever. Cardboard Piano is a riveting testament to the power of the past to shape the future, and the bonds of love, family, and forgiveness.

Joseph Tawadros AM, 4 times ARIA awarded composer and oud virtuoso is on the final stretch of a tour promoting his new album The Bluebird the Mystic & the Fool. Rave reviews of the album and live concerts have brought audiences flocking to the shows, responding with enthusiastic clamouring for repeated encores and standing ovations in each venue.

Who doesn't enjoy romance, laughter, and murder? The Academy Theatre is bringing all three to the stage with Murder at the Howard Johnson's by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick. This show is a lighthearted, fast-paced suspense comedy directed by Rob Raissle.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts's production of Shear Madness, the uproarious whodunit that holds the Guiness world record as the longest-running play in America, celebrates 30 years of hair-raising hilarity as it resumes performances tonight, August 29, in the Kennedy Center Theater Lab.

The Roustabouts Theatre Company presents a comic retelling of a classic romance WITHERING HEIGHTS, based on 'Withering Heights' by Emily Bronte, written and performed by Phil Johnson and Omri Schein and directed by David Ellenstein, bringing together two notable local actors and North Coast Rep's Artistic Director to direct the World Premiere at Diversionary Theatre from June 11 to July 9.

Jazz Women of New York is a new all-woman band conceived by vocalist Lee Torchia.  The core group is pianist Jill McManus, bassist Melissa Slocum, drummer Sylvia Cuenca, flutist Andrea Brachfeld, and saxophonist Carol Sudhalter, with occasional subs from the female side of NY jazz.

2nd Story Theatre in Warren is currently offering Sam Bobrick and Ron Clark's 1979 classic MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON'S. Did I say classic? What I meant was a shallow, pithy, superficial, farcical, and light-weight comedy. Bobrick and Clarke cut their teeth writing tv comedy for some of the smartest television of all time like The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Steve Allen Show. (Look these up if you have to.) This is a comedy about murder and infidelity-now who couldn't like that? 2nd Story says they were shooting for 'a pain-reducing balm' to what we've been experiencing the past months, and I think they more or less delivered. The audience was laughing and, my God, needed it.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ Winning Writers is pleased to announce the winners of its second annual North Street Book Prize for self-published books. 473 books were judged by Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche, assisted by Lauren Singer and Annie Keithline.

On Saturday, Jan. 28 at 11:15 a.m., Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi-award winning 'HowtoDoItFrugally' series of books for writers, will present a one-time only workshop entitled 'How to Get Great Reviews Frugally and Ethically' at the 2017 Genre-LA Speculative Fiction Writers Conference, which runs Friday through Sunday, Jan. 27-29 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Culver City. This workshop coincides with the release of Howard-Johnson's 334-page book, 'How to Get Great Reviews Frugally and Ethically: The ins and outs of using free reviews to build and sustain a writing career.' 'This book is so comprehensive that I'll only have time to cover two of its topics,' said Howard-Johnson who is also an award-winning novelist and poet. 'They are my two favoriteshow writers can make credible no-cost reviews the center of a marketing program and how to manage negative Amazon reviews.' Howard-Johnson's previous Do-It-Yourself books include 'The Frugal Book Promoter,' 'The Frugal Editor,' 'Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers,' and 'The Great First Impression Book Proposal.' This is the 16th annual conference sponsored by West Coast Writers Conferences. 'We invite best-selling authors, educators and industry professionals who help writers raise the level of their writing and marketing skills,' said Executive Director Tony N. Todaro. 'If a writer is looking for a unique educational and inspirational opportunity, this is the one.' Howard-Johnson's comprehensive how-to books give readers the benefit of her years as both author and instructor for UCLA Extension's renowned Writers' Program. 'This is the first time since the early days of printing that authors have as much control over their own success as they are ever likely to have,' said Howard-Johnson. 'If there is one truth to remember, it is that marketing is marketing is marketing.' Event: 2017 Genre-LA Speculative Fiction Writers Conference (Jan. 27-29) Workshop: How to Get Great Reviews Frugally and Ethically Date: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017 at 11:15 a.m. Presenter: Carolyn Howard-Johnson Author of 'How to Get Great Reviews Frugally and Ethically' Location: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles - Westside 6161 West Centinela Avenue, Culver City, California 90230-6306 For more information: Genre-LA Speculative Fiction Writers Conference (Events Schedule & Registration Info): Website: http://www.wcwriters.com/genrela/ HowToDoItFrugally Series: Website: http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com

Among the tri-state area's most versatile jazz ensembles, Diane Moser's Composers Big Band salutes two decades of developing and presenting new music with March 22 concert at Trumpets in Montclair, NJ. Join the celebration with an evening of eclectic, heart-felt-and fun!-music featuring the band's resident composers.

Jazz Women of New York is a new all-woman band conceived by vocalist Lee Torchia.  The core group is pianist Jill McManus, saxophonist and flutist Carol Sudhalter, and bassist Melissa Slocum, with occasional subs from the female side of NY jazz.

One thing is perfectly clear. Jane Wagner's perspective of the 80s, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is a brilliant piece of writing. When Lily Tomlin performed it in the 80s (the film version was released in 1991) as a one-woman play, portraying all twelve characters, the charm of the play was watching Tomlin's ingenious skill. She flawlessly slipped in and out of all the characters, female and male, without changing makeup, hair or clothes. It was a phenomenal performance. Now thirty years later, Wagner and Tomlin have adapted the work for a cast of 12 actors under the direction of Ken Sawyer, which opened in October and has been extended until December 11 only at the LGBT Center on the Ed Gould Plaza at McCadden Place, Hollywood.

UPSTAGE: SEASCAPE By: Edward Albee Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning comic-drama brings eloquence, wit and warmth to a quirky yet compelling examination of the meaning of life. On a deserted beach, a middle-aged couple, for whom existence has grown flat and routine, who hold the answers to the inquisitive amphibians' naive yet probing questions.

The 2-CD set, 'The African Nubian Suite,' captures a concert presented at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts by the Institute of African American Affairs on Easter Sunday 2012 and will be released by African Rhythms on January 20, 2017.

L.I.P. Service presents Bernard Pomerance's THE ELEPHANT MAN (with original cello composition by Josh Bradford), directed by Shawn Gann and starring Jason Leyva, Pat Watson, and Sara Lovett, with *Bert Pigg and Chris Messersmith.

L.I.P. Service is thrilled to announce their production of Bernard Pomerance's THE ELEPHANT MAN (with original cello composition by Josh Bradford), Directed by Shawn Gann and starring Jason Leyva, Pat Watson, and Sara Lovett; and, featuring *Bert Pigg, and Chris Messersmith. The performance will premiere at The Firehouse Theatre on September 29 at 8:00pm. It will run through October 15 today, Friday and Saturday evenings. 

L.I.P. Service presents Bernard Pomerance's THE ELEPHANT MAN (with original cello composition by Josh Bradford), directed by Shawn Gann and starring Jason Leyva, Pat Watson, and Sara Lovett, with *Bert Pigg and Chris Messersmith.

L.I.P. Service is thrilled to announce their production of Bernard Pomerance's THE ELEPHANT MAN (with original cello composition by Josh Bradford), Directed by Shawn Gann and starring Jason Leyva, Pat Watson, and Sara Lovett; and, featuring *Bert Pigg, and Chris Messersmith. The performance will premiere at The Firehouse Theatre on September 29 at 8:00pm. It will run through October 15 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. 

Closing out Crowded Fire's 2016 season of new and contemporary plays is the Bay Area premiere of Young Jean Lee's THE SHIPMENT co-directed by Artistic Director Mina Morita and Resident Artist Lisa Marie Rollins. THE SHIPMENT, which took New York by storm in 2009 caused Time Out New York to call her 'one of the best experimental playwrights in America.' As characterized by The New Yorker, Young Jean Lee 'does whatever she can to get under our skin-with laughs and with raw, brutal talk that at times feels gratuitous, and is meant to.'