Summer Stages: Los Angeles Summer Theatre 2015

There's a fascinating mix of familiar and not- so-familiar plays and musicals that will grace Los Angeles stages this summer. LA editors Don Grigware (DG), Ellen Dostal (ED), Shari Barrett (SB) and Gil Kaan (GK) have chosen their favorites in the list below. Enjoy!

Tarzan the Musical/3-D Theatricals
After seeing this musical on Broadway, I'm curious to see what the folks at 3D Theatricals will do with it! Tarzan is the story of a fearless young boy raised among wild apes, who grows up to become an open-hearted, accomplished, intelligent young man. It's a very physical musical that delivers the moral that "family" provides unconditional love. 3DT's production will also feature a Stephen Gifford scenic design which is always impressive, whether large or small. Show runs July 11 - 26 at Plummer Auditorium and August 1 - 9 at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. www.3dtshows.com (ED)

Romeo & Juliet/Shakespeare/Summerfest Orange County
Why another production of Shakespeare's most popular love story, you ask? Because this one looks to be as imaginative as their extraordinary staging of last summer's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Romeo & Juliet will star Vietnamese-American TV star Trieu Tran as Romeo, and will also feature Santa Ana's renowned Mexican Folklórico troupe Relámpago del Cielo, led by Marlene Peña-Marin. This is a co-production with The Vietnamese American Arts and Letters Association and reflects today's multicultural society not as one race against the other, but as the amazing melting pot we've become. With the music of students from Orange County School of the Arts, cultural dance, and dazzling fight sequences, it may be one of the hottest tickets this summer. Playing July 2 - August 1. http://shakespeareoc.org/ (ED)

Matilda the Musical/Ahmanson Theatre
One of the most anticipated Broadway shows since Newsies, Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical, winner of 50 international awards, including four Tonys, tells the story of an extra special little girl who with a vivid imagination and sharp mind dares to take a stand and change her own destiny. This first national tour plays the Ahmanson May 29-July 12. www.centertheatregroup.org (DG)

Murder for Two/Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater of the Geffen Playhouse
Everyone is a suspect in Murder for Two, a hilarious musical murder mystery with a twist. One actor investigates the crime. The other plays all the suspects. And they both play the piano. Featuring Original New York cast Jeff Blumenkrantz and Brett Ryback. Plays the Geffen in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater May 26-July 5. http://geffenplayhouse.com/ (DG)

Brighton Beach Memoirs/Kentwood Players
Brighton Beach Memoirs is Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical play. It is the first chapter in his Eugene Trilogy, followed by Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. This first play centers on 15 year old Eugene Jerome who lives with his family in Brighton in 1937during the height of the depression. Presented by Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Ave., Los Angeles July 10 to August 15. www.kentwoodplayers.org (SB)

Broadway Bound/ Theatre Palisades
Continue following Eugene's journey in part three of Neil Simon's acclaimed autobiographical trilogy which finds Eugene and his older brother Stanley trying to break into the world of show business as professional comedy writers while coping with their parents break-up and eventual divorce. Plays Theatre Palisades 941 Temescal Canyon Road, Pacific Palisades September 4 to October 11. www.theatrepalisades.org (SB)

Stanley Ann: The Unlikely Story of Barack Obama's Mother/The Los Angeles LGBT Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center
Stanley Ann chronicles the extraordinary life of Stanley Ann Dunham, President Obama's mother. A world-traveling mother of two bi-racial children who earned her PhD in anthropology, Dunham made painful sacrifices to find fulfillment for herself and her family on her own terms. Drawing on real events, the play follows Stanley Ann's journey from single motherhood, to international adventure, to a crisis of conscience at the farthest edge of the American Empire. Plays Los Angeles LGBT Center July 9 - 26. www.lalgbtcenter.org/theatre (GK)

Shiv/The Theatre @ Boston Court
Portrait of a young immigrant Indian girl grappling with American assimilation and dealing with her South Asian poet father, with themes of Shiv the Hindu destroyer god interwoven throughout. Plays Theatre at Boston Court July 02 - August 09. www.bostoncourt.com (GK)

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