Shari Barrett - Page 48

MUCKRAKERS is a searing examination of modern journalism in an age when nothing seems to be worth keeping private anymore. In the play, the two characters caught up in the political espionage drama are Mira, a young female activist who brings Stephen, a famous and slightly older British political journalist, home to her Brooklyn apartment to spend the night. But as they start to expose each others secrets, personal and political desires collide, testing the limits of privacy in the modern world.

The San Pedro Theatre Club presents CABARET, a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The production is directed by Drew Fitzsimmons and Victoria Miller, who also choreographed, with music directed by Leslie Sharp. The intimate 78-seat theater allows the actors to interact with the audience on several occasions, making it really feel as if we are inside the small German cabaret rather than watching a show about it.

The Spare Change Series presents 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' Hollywood's new charitybased play reading series, The Spare Change Series, will be presenting their very first production on Monday, June 2, 2014 at 7pm at the Art of Acting Studio, located at 1017 N. Orange Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90038.

Theatre Palisades is presenting Tennessee Williams' original script of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF opening June 6. Since this script is rarely produced and differs from the well-known movie version featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, I decided to speak with the show's director, Michael-Anthony Nozzi, for more information about the production, the first time the original script is being presented in Los Angeles.

AGAINST THE WALL was started as a workshop back in 1986, based on playwright Charlie Mount's experiences performing in the basements and on the stages of New York's comedy clubs as a stand-up and magician, working alongside other newcomers like Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, and Ray Romano. Presented as part of a series called Writers In Rep, in which playwrights from Theatre West's Writers' Unit have developed plays for full production, the current engagement marks its World Premiere as a completed, fully-produced work at Theatre West.. It's both romantic and very funny.

Not Man Apart Physical Theatre Ensemble opens its 2014 season with a Los Angeles premiere of AJAX IN IRAQ by award-winning playwright Ellen Mclaughlin, directed and choreographed by NMA artistic director John Farmanesh-Bocca. The play intertwines the important and timely issue of sexual abuse against women in the military with the parable of the great warrior Ajax, which is said to be one of the first and oldest stories to openly portray the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Highly theatrical in style, HOLDING THE MAN runs the gamut from absurdism to magical realism (including unique puppets designed by Alex "Jurgen" Ferguson) to naturalism to farce to deep drama. It is a celebration of love that speaks across generations, sexual preference and culture. It will grab your attention from the start and take you along for the roller coaster ride of your theatrical life.

DiPrieto's play is affectionately written and deftly sketches the growing attraction between two lonely seniors, Ralph and Carol, providing some nicely observed character comedy. Perry Shields' deft direction keeps the action moving at a fast clip, with all four actors perfectly cast. Ralph's cute flirtations with Carol will warm your heart and drive women to the nearest dog park, hoping someone just like him will be there waiting.

Beneath the genteel suburban surface in A DELICATE BALANCE, the real questions raised are existential, abstract, and dangerous - from the unknown fear that taunts their neighbors to the response they receive from Agnes and Tobias, a couple who has been living in separate bedrooms for years in their own home. 'The play is concerned with the isolation of people who have turned their backs on participating fully in their own lives and therefore cannot participate fully in anyone else's life,' explained Albee to biographer Mel Gussow.

On August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were found bludgeoned in their family home. Lizzie was arrested for murder and the trial date set for June 5, 1893. The trial lasted 14 days and caused a national sensation as it was the first public trial in the United States to be covered extensively by the media. Although Lizzie Borden was acquitted, the question still remains: "Did she or didn't she?" We challenge you to make your own decision after seeing BLOOD RELATIONS.

It's ALIVE!!! A hilarious, high energy Broadway musical based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. A Tony award-winner in 2008, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is just what the doctor ordered - a real prescription for outlandish humor, now onstage at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.

The show is a celebration of the life of Maurice Hines, his brother Gregory, and their parents who Maurice fondly remembers throughout the show. Adding to emotional content, moveable screens that divide the orchestra from the performing area were often used to display photographs of the Hines family in their early days. And throughout the show, Hines, now a young 70 years old, expresses sheer joy in entertaining his audience, singing and dancing with a passion from deep within his soul. You can't help but be pulled into the magic!

Samantha Barrios and Kiah Gordon have joined the Kentwood Players cast of Agatha Christie's THE HOLLOW, opening at the Westchester Playhouse on May 16 for a six-week run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm with Sunday matinees at 2:00pm through June 21, 2014.

In her world premiere comedy COMING OUT KINKY: A GROWN-UP STORY, Jean Franzblau portrays some 20 characters in her sexual memoir adventure story for curious and open-minded adults to enjoy. She began writing the play in 2009, not knowing how she would ever be able to share it. Thanks to her collaboration with director Karen Aschenbach, Jean's complex journey and commitment to keeping it real is now onstage at the Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica.

First produced in 1939, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE by American playwright Joseph Kesselring is a farcical black comedy revolving around the Brewster family, descended from the 'Mayflower,' but now composed of insane homicidal maniacs. This classic play has been produced around the world and will continue to be done as long as audiences love to laugh at the outrageous situations and over-the-top characters, especially the eccentric, and frequently murderous and disturbed, family.

FAT PIG tells the story of Tom (Jonathan Bray), a young career guy who hits it off with Helen (Deidra Edwards), a bright, sexy woman who happens to be plus-sized. As he reluctantly finds himself falling in love, Tom's colleagues (Kirsten Kollender and Nick Stabile) are brutal in their assessment of his new love. LaBute probes our carb-counting, extreme makeover nation by asking tough questions. How much has our relentless pursuit of beauty turned us into an uglier species?

Adapted from two Anton Chekhov short stories, Man in a Case and About Love, MAN IN A CASE is a pair of haunting love stories - one of an officious, anti-social man and his involvement with an extroverted woman. The second, a tale of moral ambiguity in which the protagonist forgoes his love for a married woman. Though seemingly different, both are tales of fear trumping the pursuit of life's most promising possibilities, with Baryshnikov playing the two very different leading men.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE offers audiences a toe-tapping trip back to the golden age of musicals, and took Broadway by storm, winning five Tony Awards. It spoofs musical-comedy fanatics and the genre itself, as well as the extravagant musicals of the 1920s. Critics have called 'The Drowsy Chaperone' one of the wittiest, craziest shows ever to hit Broadway. It's all fluff and fun!

In FALSE SOLUTION, Anton Seligman (Daniel J. Travanti) is a renowned architect, working on his designs for a new Holocaust museum to be built in Poland. He encounters Linda Johansson (Amanda Saunders), a beautiful young intern and first-year architecture grad student, who challenges his conceptions. The tensions created by their differing ideas are complicated by their mutual attraction to each other:

Kentwood Players proudly presents Agatha Christie's 'THE HOLLOW' from May 16 to June 21, 2014 for a six-week run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm with Sunday matinees at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue, Westchester, CA 90045. The production is directed by George Kondreck.