Audrey Liebross - Page 5

Desert Theatreworks has opened its 2018-19 season with a hilariously funny production of SOUTHERN FRIED FUNERAL. A clever script, great acting by the ensemble cast, great direction, and great set and costume designs ensure that audiences will have a great deal of fun at the dysfunctional Frye family's send-off for their husband and father.

One of the newest community theatres in the area is the Encore Theatre District, which is about to open its second season. Its first show is a one-night only reprise performance of a staged reading of LYDIA, featuring last year's cast.

MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL is coming to San Bernardino for one performance, at the California Theatre, 562 W. 4th St., on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 2 p.m. Prices are $38.50 - $77.50.

Encore Theatre District is providing a welcome addition to the Coachella Valley theatre scene. The cast of its current play, Durang's BEYOND THERAPY, is filled with talented performers who all do a fine job with their roles and who provide a great deal of laughs. Director Tiffanie Patscheck has the actors engage in some very funny visual business, much of it involving glasses of water and a yoga-obsessed therapist, which alone are worth seeing. 

Riverside's May the 4th Fest - the annual unofficial party for 'Star Wars' fans - returns, when else, on Friday, May 4, 2018, at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium 3485 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA.

DAMN YANKEES is one of those fun, classic musical comedies with no message and familiar tunes. The show is a bit too long, and many of the lyrics are dated. Still, in the hands of a company such as Palm Canyon Theatre, a community theatre with the expertise to present large-cast musicals, the feel-good, dance-intensive show will leave the audience smiling and humming. 

The final production of Dezart Performs' 10th anniversary season, MOTHERHOOD OUT LOUD, is an anthology of sketches and monologues by different writers about the trials and tribulations of motherhood, with a few fatherhood ideas mixed in. The writing is funny and touching, and Susan R. Rose and Joan Stein, who conceived the show, which ran off Broadway, wisely avoided anything truly upsetting. Michael Shaw's expert direction and the charismatic ensemble cast's top-notch performances contribute to a laugh-out-loud, feel good couple of hours, that will have audience members nodding in recognition; director Shaw and all of the cast members successfully deliver the pacing and timing that are key ingredients in a production like this.

There is much to enjoy in Coyote Stageworks' production of THE COCKTAIL HOUR, by A.R. Gurney: the script is funny, the directing is top-notch, and there is a great deal of excellent acting. Unfortunately, one actor was sick at the performance I attended, resulting in problems for the show that night.

CVRep's production of Albee's THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? is worth seeing for those who don't mind weirdness. However, theatregoers need to be aware that this is a disturbing play.

Desert Rose Playhouse's current production of Tennessee Williams' SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER is a must-see for all audiences, thanks to the fine acting, directing, and design work. 

Desert Ensemble Theatre (DETC) is presenting Tony Padilla's new play, THE THESPIAN RADIO HOUR. Thanks to the laughs in the script, Mr. Padilla's direction, and fine acting by most of the company, this cross between a Mel Brooks movie and a British drawing room comedy is highly enjoyable.

Desert Theatreworks' (DTW's) production will make you reevaluate everything you thought you knew about ON GOLDEN POND -- it has many comedic moments. Here, the play is expertly performed and directed.

Desert Ensemble Theatre's production of Josh Tobiessen's off-Broadway comedy, ELECTION DAY, is a winner. All five actors deliver howlingly funny performances, full of mostly impeccable timing and seemingly effortless physical comedy.

Coachella Valley Repertory (CVRep) has a winner in ROMANCE ROMANCE, two one-act musicals by Keith Herrmann (music) and Barry Harman (book and lyrics). The superb cast makes the most of the material; it is a pleasure watching these four Equity performers own the stage.

Desert Rose Playhouse's 2017-18 'gay heritage production' is Lanford Wilson's FIFTH OF JULY, which the company pulls off admirably except for some pacing problems.

Desert Theatreworks has mounted a high-quality production of THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK CHRISTMAS MUSICAL, with a superb cast and excellent design. If you're looking for laughs, toe-tapping melodies, corny albeit raunchy jokes, and great performances, you won't want to miss this show.

Desert Rose Playhouse's director, Jim Strait, and musical director, Joel Baker, have added popular numbers and Christmas songs to Charles Busch's TIMES SQUARE ANGEL to create what the playbill calls a musical pastiche. Their fine work, along with the terrific acting and singing, result in a production that provides laughs, while tugging at the heartstrings.

MAME has opened at the Palm Canyon Theatre, starring Se Layne and Morgana Corelli. The musical will run through Dec 17th.

THE HIP-HOP NUTCRACKER, a dance spectacle set to Tchaikovsky's music, is coming to Fox PAC in Riverside.

Coachella Valley Repertory's (CV Rep's) first offering of its 2017-18 season is David Ives' Tony-nominated VENUS IN FUR. Primarily a drama, the play hooks the audience with comedy in the early minutes. Later, as things get more serious and more disturbing the script introduces a mystery, and eventually, a thriller. Towards the end, the plot veers towards the supernatural. The director and the two actors do a top-notch job with the difficult play, which is presented in one long scene, without intermission.