Shari Barrett - Page 16

Told in three separate one-act stories, the World Premiere of Leda Siskind's play THE SURVEILLANCE TRIOLOGY explores the ways in which private citizens have become victims of ever-present eavesdropping by forces able to be kept secret until the damage has been done. Directed by Amanda Conlon at Theatre 40, ultimately you may just walk out at the end wondering just how you are being watched and for just what purpose, especially when you turn your cell phone back on and begin interacting with it.

During the thought-provoking 90-minute play, made even more visually intense via attention-grabbing historical projections of news headlines to forward the progression of time on Rachel Myers exquisitely transformational scenic design, Feldshuh and Faracy fully embody not only the physical presence of Ginsburg and O'Connor but also their dependency on each other to get their voices heard over the gender-biased male members of the Court. Their dedication to justice and the law was solid, although O'Connor felt the need to take it slowly like a tortoise while Ginsburg always felt the need to charge ahead like the hare when it came to issues of sexual harassment towards women.

IN CIRCLES is a feast for the eyes, even if Gertrude Stein's texts as lyrics seem nonsensical at times. Just go with the flow and let the atmosphere of the avant-garde 1968 theatre scene set your mind free! If only Stein's lover Alice B. Toklas was there to hand out her special recipe brownies to enhance the 80-minute experience!

Hudson emerged from the darkness as himself with nary a trace of his Poe essence to be seen. Soon he opened the suitcase placed on the stage and as he shared how his adoration of Poe's work began, he transformed himself before our eyes into the Master of the Macabre in all his glory. And by the time Poe's signature long black coat graced his frame, the actor was no longer there and before us stood the physical essence of Edgar Allan Poe.

Sacred Fools Theater Company is launching its 23rd season with the World Premiere of the musical DEADLY by Vanessa Claire Stewart with Music by Ryan Thomas Johnson and directed by Jaime Robledo. Taking place in 1893, a time of hope and optimism as the World's Fair turns the globe's eyes toward Chicago and the cultural explosion of art and technology on display. But it is also a time when a demon lurks beneath, taking advantage of the adventuresome spirit of modern-thinking and very independent women. It just wouldn't do to forget who they were.

While I find Beckett's plays often too intensely intellectual for my comprehension, this was not the case with Irwin's seemingly effortless way of donning a bowler hat (or 2 or 3), juggling them until the perfect one is atop his head, and then going on to flop around the stage in his baggy pants and oversize shoes as a quintessential clown while explaining his interpretation of passages reflecting a?oethe noise of lifea?? in Beckett's a?oeText for Noting,a?? a?oeWatt,a?? a?oeWaiting for Godot,a?? a?oeEndgame,a?? and a?oeThe Unnamable.a?? It was an extraordinary evening of watching a master of the stage interpret the life and brilliance of a theatre legend.

Imagine my surprise, even before the September 15 DIRTY TRICKS with The New Bad Boys of Magic monthly event, when I walked into The Three Clubs to find the room where I have seen dozens of shows over the years now completely remodeled to look and feel like a real cocktail lounge performance space! And what a perfect place to sit up close and personal during the ongoing monthly comedy-magic variety s featuring Chicago natives and Los Angeles residents, now headliners at the world-famous Magic Castle, Daniel Donohue and Eric Siegel, collectively known as The New Bad Boys of Magic, along with a rotating cast of the world's foremost professional prestidigitators and other adult variety acts, making it an entertaining evening for the over 21 crowd.

Deaf West's THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER features Sandra Mae Frank (the extraordinary deaf actor who starred as Wendla in all three of their Spring Awakening productions at Inner-City Arts, at the Wallis and on Broadway) as Alice, who uses ASL to communicate along with deaf actor Tad Cooley who portrays Phil, although his character was not written as hearing-impaired in the script. Speaking actors Natalie Camunas and Nick Apostolina give voice to Alice and Phil's most private thoughts, both in and out of bed, by shadowing the actors and often portraying other characters being described during Alice and Phil's ASL conversations, with the quartet's true partnership presenting both characters visually and verbally to perfection.

Led by Brad Ford, who has starred as CCR's lead singer John Fogerty since 1994, on guitar and harmonica, FORTUNATE SON band members include Mike Franceschini (Aka 'The Butcher') on Guitar/Vocals, Ron Ota (Aka 'The Deacon') on Bass /Vocals, and Dan Murdy (Aka 'The Matrixx') on Drums/Percussion, all of whom bring the excitement, spirit and grit of America's Favorite Rock & Roll Band, who personifies the turbulent late 60s in their music, alive in each and every song performed.

Pacific Opera Project (POP) was founded in July of 2011 with the purpose of bringing accessible, affordable, and entertaining opera to audiences across Los Angeles, with productions that are incredibly modern in format, performed with traditional music although on occasion POP has been known to change a few lyrics to reflect our current society. Such was the case in their reprise of its popular 2013 production of Gilbert and Sullivan's THE MIKADO at The Highland Park Ebell Club. I was in the audience on closing night along with a very appreciative packed house, enjoying POP's colorful production, called a?oeabout the most fun one can have in a Los Angeles theater right now,a?? with cleverly modernized Harajuku costumes for the 28 singers designed by Maggie Green, inspired by the district of Tokyo famous for its wild mix of eye-popping colors and styles.

It's very rare for a play to leave me in tears, the first to stand to applaud a cast during their curtain call. But this was the case when I attended the World Premiere of DOPE QUEENS, brilliantly written and directed by Grafton Doyle at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre, which takes us to real places inhabited by real characters inspired by real people, grappling with hardcore real-life problems tempered by the only practical survival strategies available to them on the gritty streets of the infamous Tenderloin District in San Francisco.

Here's your first look at the cast of Neil LaBute's romantic comedy REASONS TO BE PRETTY, which takes a truthful look into the fragilities, fears and vulnerabilities we all feel in love while making a case for being yourself, standing up for what you believe in, and making brave choices. Directed by Cherry Norris as the first theatrical production of Cherry Productions and Five Acre Films, opening September 12 at New Collective Theatre, 6440 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038.

Staged on a brilliantly creative two-setting, split-level scenic design by Dane Laffrey which includes a scene-dividing projected face on a screen on which the most extraordinary, ever-changing, light-flashing and color-changing eyes appear, this inventive retelling of a sharp, subversive fable debates how much our souls are worth when hope is hard to come by beginning when a charming Devil (Evan Jonigkeit, a black-clad, roguishly perfect scene stealer) arrives in the quiet village of Edmonton to bargain for the souls of its residents in exchange for their darkest wishes. But which of the five inhabitants will agree to sell their soul to attain whatever it is they think will make them happiest?

I'M NOT A COMEDIANa?? I'M LENNY BRUCE focuses on the life and battles of the undisputed comic legend, one of the greatest stand-up artists of the 20th Century. His life and work have had an impact on poetry, politics, music, film and, of course, comedy, becoming a true inspiration for hundreds of comics who followed his lead in speaking the truth about our out-of-whack society. During the 90-minute show, now more tightly presented so scenes seem to flow effortlessly, Marmo authentically inhabited the great passion and great pain Bruce endured in his tempestuous personal and professional lives, as well as his unwavering commitment to free speech which led to numerous obscenity charges and arrests.

I was unaware of how Anzu's personal history inspired Ono's spirit to speak so directly to her until I was in the audience at her World Premiere solo show, DEAR YOKO, in which Anzu opened her heart and soul as she revealed how her personal history of non-acceptance as an Asian woman and her overwhelming depression was turned around when she discovered Ono as she studied her story and writings. During her 90-minute performance, directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson at the Whitefire Theatre, Anzu not only portrayed Ono with her signature dialect, hat and sunglasses, but also personal family members, rock musicians she met while touring as a singer/songwriter, agents and entertainment moguls who brought on the need for the #MeToo movement, and others who assisted her in turning her life around and accepting herself as the person she really was meant to be. And that road was never easy but so worth the journey.

Appropriately called the Jimi Hendrix of Rock Ukulele, Jake Shimabukuro's records have topped the Billboard World Music Charts on numerous occasions, and as a live performer he has become one of the hottest tickets around. He's played with world-renowned orchestras and at prestigious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House, and has dazzled audiences at music festivals including Bonnaroo, SXSW, the Playboy Jazz Festival and Fuji Rock Festival. He even performed for that rarest of audiences: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Now local fans have an opportunity to experience Shimabukuro's wholly unique approach to the acoustic ukulele during his current nationwide tour stop on Thursday, October 3 at 7:30pm at The Broad Stage, 1316 11th Street in Santa Monica 90401.

Audience members traverse memories, dreams, emotional and real battlefields, coming in contact with a multitude of characters from Dalton Trumbo's life and novel, as we re-visit Johnny's childhood loves, family members, war room generals, soldiers, nurses, and even major religious figures, each performed to perfection while maintaining the ability to guide and interact with audience members who are often asked to participate and/or share comments during each scene. Soon it becomes apparent in THE JOHNNY CYCLE that each character, whether intentional or not, has sent Johnny to his destiny as he desperately struggles to be heard, trapped between the living and the dead without a voice. Immersive theater at its best!

Sibling rivalry between brothers goes back to the Bible story of Cain and Abel, with one pitted against the other due to jealousy, often resulting in a deadly game of one upmanship. Such is the case between Lee and Austin, two estranged brothers at the center of Sam Shepard's TRUE WEST, who reunite at their mother's rustic home in the San Bernardino foothills about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Sparks fly and passions rage as the two erratic characters, apparently from totally opposite ends of the success spectrum, nearly reach the end of their troubles by catching a glimpse of paradise just around the corner, which turns out to be totally unattainable.

The Torrance Theatre Company's production of Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST features a live twelve-piece orchestra conducted to perfection by Bradley Hampton, and a cast of 44 actors from all over Southern California, who donate their time and talent to bring high-quality theatrical performances to Torrance and the South Bay. Assisted by a team of backstage wonder workers, from the stage hands to the costume and wig dressers, the cast is brilliantly led by brunette beauty Brianna Liddi as Belle and Christopher Tiernan who brings just the right mix of brutality and humanity to The Beast, highlighted during his Act 1 closing solo a?oeIf I Can't Love Her.'

William Shakespeare's rollicking and ever-popular comedy of mistaken identity, TWELFTH NIGHT, brings its magical combination of mischief, madness and romance into the outdoor amphitheater at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum this summer where it plays in rep through September 28. Written in 1601 and first seen in the Inns of Court shortly after Christmas (hence, the title), the holiday was celebrated as a festival during which everything was made delightfully topsy-turvy, much like the world of the play's Illyria. And you could not ask for a more ideal cast of characters to bring The Bard's non-stop, high energy hijinks to life.