Shari Barrett - Page 4

ArtsUP! LA is presenting the world premiere of Volun-Tears, a powerful play by Korean War Veteran Lester Probst, based on the true experiences of women who have suffered sexual harassment and sexual abuse while serving in the United States Armed Forces, performed by U.S. Veterans. I decided to speak with Lester Probst on what inspired him to write the play and what message he hopes to instill in audience members to start the road to achieving equality within the ranks of our military, especially for women.

The Actors' Gang is excited to present their family friendly holiday show, Shambles, an unbridled concoction of seasonal charm and sassy cunning all rolled up in a cirque-infused panto, blurring the lines between audience and performers. When I read that this immersive experience will drop theater goers into a 60's NASA holiday party complete with alien abductions, ugly Christmas sweaters, and free-flowing champagne offered as theatergoers meander through curated rooms of wonder, I knew I had to speak with the production's creator and director, Cirque du Soleil's Stefan Haves about his vision to bring such fun family fare to the stage.

Jim Leonard has published eight plays, including The Diviners, And They Dance Real Slow in Jackson, and Battle Hymn, with his theatrical honors including the Outer Critics Circle Award, an Ovation Award, the Dramatists Guild Award, and an LA Weekly Award for best play.

John Mabey's three-person play A Complicated Hope centers around Marie and her daughter Rose Marie who are left adrift after their husband and father, Michael, passes away. But it's how he leaves that alters the lives of the family forever, especially after they meet Arnie, Michael's boyfriend. Mirroring the erratic path of grief itself, A Complicated Hope flashes between the moments in time that changed them all, exploring the challenges of both finding a family of choice and letting yourself be found. Earlier this year, Kentwood Players presented a reading of Mabey's play in which Shawn Lefty Plunkett portrayed the role of Arnie. I was curious to find out what led to his decision to produce the fully-staged West Coast premiere of A Complicated Hope as well as take on the role of Arnie again.

As an early holiday present for opera lovers, On November 12 and 13, the Verdi Chorus’ 39th season culminates with a Verdi Puccini Fest for two performances only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica. Under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, who promises the program will include “some of the most exciting moments from two of the greatest operatic composers who ever lived,” I decided to speak with her on its inception, creation, and what makes the Verdi Chorus such a special part of our city.

A serial killer's backstory always seems to fascinate people more so than that of their prey. But what is it about these vicious murderers that inspires works of art being written about them? That question popped into my head when I heard about the West Coast premiere of Cyndy A. Marion's play Broken Story, which was inspired by the murder of writer Susan Berman and her close relationship with serial killer Robert Durst. I knew I wanted to find out what inspired Cyndy to create the play and how she conducted her research.

Tony Award winning playwrights Edward Albee and Harold Pinter, who have left indelible marks in world theatre, both give voice to the outlandish and amusing behavior of humans in many of their dark comedies. Pacific Resident Theatre is offering a retrospective of two of their early one acts in tandem, both first produced in 1960. Albee's Fam and Yam, set in an upper Eastside penthouse, examines an encounter between two unnamed playwrights, one famous, one not, offering Albee's biting wit and incisive satire at its best. In Pinter's The Dumb Waiter, two working-class hitmen wait in a basement for their next assignment. I decided to speak with Pacific Resident Theatre's Artistic Director, Marilyn Fox, about the production.

Even though I was very young, I still remember the tension in the air at school and at home during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. And just today, news of the current Cold War going on between Russia and the rest of the world regarding Ukraine, with even Elon Musk warning the world about possible nuclear war breaking out. So it seems very fortuitous that Peter Knell and Stephanie Fleischmann have created a heart-stopping experience set in a submarine during the crisis of 1962. Their new opera ARKHIPOV is based on the true story of the man who saved humanity from nuclear annihilation during a tipping point between Russia and the United States in the Cuban Missile Crisis. But what motivated them to create an opera about such a terrifying moment in world history? I decide to speak with them and find out.

Open Fist Theatre Company is presenting the world premiere of To the Bone, a darkly funny comedy about family, baseball, and genetics, written and directed by Catherine Butterfield. The play centers on sisters Kelly Moran and Maureen Dugan from the 'Irish Riviera' south of Boston, where they were known as 'hard girls' back in high school. And since the adage says that it's better to write about the things you know, I decided to ask Catherine Butterfield about how much of her own personal life is reflected in the play and what it's like to write and direct it herself.

Carla Ching is among the first three recipients to win the Los Angeles New Play Project Award, which supports playwriting and producing in smaller Los Angeles theaters. Her new play, Revenge Porn or the Story of a Body, opening September 23 at The Pico, directed by Bernardo Cubría for Ammunition Theatre Company, was originally developed as part of the 2021 Ammo Writers' Lab. It takes a very public look into the private lives of people who hurt the ones they love most, and how or if revenge should be taken to offset the pain. I decided to speak with Carla Ching about the play and how it was developed for its world premiere.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is presenting the Los Angeles premiere of what may be Henrik Ibsen's most controversial play, Ghosts, adapted by acclaimed British director Richard Eyre and directed by Bart DeLorenzo, a Los Angeles-based theater director and producer who is the founding artistic director of the Evidence Room theater, a 17-year-old company renowned in Los Angeles for contemporary theater productions. I decided to speak with Bart about what led him to direct this new adaptation at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

Dragons... fairies... knights... enchanted meadows... spooky caves... all part of an immersive experience into your favorite childhood fantasies in Spy Brunch's site-specific adventure, Dragon Show: The Extended Tail. Filled with original songs and a memorable cast of characters, just 12 audience members will be admitted into each performance to enjoy the kind of intimate and memorable experience that immersive theatre delivers best. As a true fan of the genre, how could I resist a production such as this? So, I decided to speak with Katelyn Schiller and Nick Rheinwald-Jones, writers/producers/directors from Spy Brunch to find about more about them and the creation of their immersive fantasy world.

VALLEY SONG by South African master playwright Athol Fugard is two-actor, three-character play in which Michael A. Shepperd takes on the roles of Abraam Jonkers, a mixed- race old man who has been a pumpkin farmer his entire life, and The Author, a White man who wants to buy the land where Abraam lives and works, potentially leaving him homeless. And since these roles were originally doubled by Fugard himself, I decided to speak with Michael A. Shepperd about preparing for such a challenging artistic endeavor.

Panic! Productions, along with Born To Perform Studios and BarCinBoo Productions, Inc. have announced that Barry Pearl will once again direct their late summer teen musical 13, this time at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. This will be Pearl's third time working with Panic! Productions and also his third time directing the musical on the West Coast. I decided to speak with Barry about his connection to the teen musical and what inspired him to direct it for the third time, as well as how it may differ from his previous incarnations.

Prior to pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an actor, Meg Lin was a former K-12 teacher, school principal, college professor, and non-profit CEO. But along the way, she struggled finding her true identity as a Chinese American as the first in her family born in the U.S. In her original solo play What am I, Chopped Suey? Meg shares how she struggled to defy cultural norms to 'save face' while coping with challenges she went through to overcome stereotypes and redefine what it means to be Asian in America. I decided to speak with Meg about how universal her first-generation American tale will resonate with so many, as well as her plans to continue presenting it as an Encore selection from this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival.

The ability to totally transform yourself into the physical, emotional and intellectual persona of another person so believably that audience members will see the character and not the actor is one of the most fascinating elements of live theatre to me. This is especially true for actors I follow, seeing them in several productions and always being surprised at the new person presented in front of me, often having nothing in common with the real personality of the actor. One such actor is Ron Bottitta, an English-born actor who has called the USA his home since 1980, who I spoke with about his characters in WAKINGS! at the Odyssey Theatre,

Crimson Square Theatre Company is presenting the world premiere of Live at the Purple Lounge, a drama by five talented female playwrights featuring a cast of five women (plus a few men) involved at a stand-up comedy club. I decided to speak with playwright/director Elisabeth Tsubota about her experience working with the all-female writing team and almost exclusively female cast to bring the production to the stage.

During the darkest of times, surprise discoveries of childhood joy can allow the sunshine in on even the bleakest of situations. And with Ukrainian refugees in the news daily, when I heard about Sona Tatoyan's Multimedia Theatrical Experience AZAD ('free' in Armenian) which offers 'one woman's magical, multi-generational, healing journey from the Armenian Genocide to the Syrian war,' I decided to speak with her about her creative journey to, as she shares, 'find the brightest light from the deepest shadows, while living in an upside-down world.' And we can all understand living in that type of situation given the past two years. Performances April 21-22-23 at the Pico Playhouse.

GMCLA's next long-anticipated event, QUEEN of the night, featuring the greatest hits from the critically acclaimed legendary rock band Queen, mixed with opera and high-energy dance numbers performed by the Chorus, live, in-person at UCLA Royce Hall on Saturday, April 2 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 3 at 2:00 p.m. To find out more about the production, I spoke with GMCLA Executive Director & Producer Lou Spisto about the creation of this special event concert

After two years of most people living in at least semi-isolation, with many unemployed through no fault of their own, the Actors' Gang is returning to the stage with a re-mounting of Can't Pay? Don't Pay! written by Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and Franca Rame on March 19, 2022, with previews beginning March 12, exactly two years from the day the theater was shuttered and had to suspend this hilarious production. Fo's high-energy, satirical farce is again directed by Bob Turton, and I decided to speak with him about the journey he has taken with the production, especially what it's been like waiting for two years to bring the play back to its original location.