Photos: First Look at the Group Rep's MOTEL 66
All new production photos have been released for The Group Rep's production of MOTEL 66, running Sept. 21 - Oct. 22, Upstairs on the second floor of the Lonny Chapman Theatre, in North Hollywood, CA. Check out the photos here!
BWW Interview: Songwriter and Performer Harriet Schock Talks About Her Active Career
Singer/actress/songwriter/author/teacher Harriet Schock has had an incredible career in composing for TV and film. She still performs in live concerts around the globe, gives master classes in songwriting and is lauded for her great skill and humanity in writing songs that resonate with the human spirit. 'Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady' and 'First Time on a Ferris Wheel' are but two of her magnificent hit pop songs. In our conversation she really digs deep to help us understand and feel the songwriting process.
BWW Review: Theresa Rebeck's LOOSE KNIT Is a Winner at Group Rep
Loose Knit/by Theresa Rebeck/directed by L Flint Esquerra/Group Rep, NoHo/through September 8
Will the play be like Steel Magnolias? I queried. But...there are two male actors onboard. Well, as it turns out Loose Knit provides far more entertainment than I expected and presents a myriad of thought provoking ideas, not only about dating, but about the politics of America and how it works or does not. Currently onstage at Grou Rep, Loose Knit should be a great big winner, because of the astute writing, the dynamite seven member ensemble and superior direction from L Flint Esquerra.
Five women meet regularly at Gina's (Lisa McGee Mann) apartment to knit...actually, some to knit, some to talk. Gina is a lawyer and professes to want to knit only, but is keeping a secret deep down that is about to rattle her nerves. Two sisters Lily
LOOSE KNIT Comes To Lonny Chapman Theatre, 8/2 - 9/8
The Group Rep presents LOOSE KNIT, written by Theresa Rebeck, directed by L. Flint Esquerra, produced by Katelyn Ann Clark, a seductively smart, dark comedy about women who, once a week gather to knit. As the sweaters pile up, their lives fall apart. August 2 - September 8, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm, Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm, at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood.
BWW Interview: Director L Flint Esquerra Talks LOOSE KNIT
Director L Flint Esquerra has directed two Tennessee Williams' plays A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Group Rep Theatre in NoHo in the last few years to great acclaim. He is currently directing their next production Loose Knit set to open August 2. In our conversation Esquerra talks about the play in detail.
Did you direct Loose Knit before? I understand that this is a revival production.
No, have never directed this show before. I think 'revival' may be a bit of a misnomer, in the sense that, yes, it was done somewhere else sometime before and now it's being done here, but no, none of our cast or crew has ever worked on it prior.
Tell our readers what the play is about.
GRT Brings A Fresh Twist to ROMEO AND JULIET
The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.
GRT Brings A Fresh Twist to ROMEO AND JULIET
The Group Rep presents ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Shira Dubrovner, produced by Patrick Burke and Janet Wood, choreographed by Stan Mazin. A fresh twist on Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers, set in pre-World War II, Berlin where Romeo is a German boy and Juliet is a Jewish girl. A relationship between these two would be highly forbidden, and the consequences too severe to imagine. The love story is as fresh and relevant today as it was more than 450 years ago.
Oscar Winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Create Original Theme Music for THE FOURTH ESTATE
Academy Award winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have composed the original theme music for the highly anticipated new SHOWTIME documentary series THE FOURTH ESTATE, directed and produced by Emmy(R)-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?). This marks the second time the duo have created music for SHOWTIME programming, having appeared in the 18-part limited event series TWIN PEAKS performing the original song 'She's Gone Away,' which is featured on their 2016 album Not the Actual Events.
Oscar Winners Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Create Original Theme for Upcoming Documentary THE FOURTH ESTATE
Academy Award® winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have composed the original theme music for the highly anticipated new SHOWTIME documentary series THE FOURTH ESTATE, directed and produced by Emmy®-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?). This marks the second time the duo have created music for SHOWTIME programming, having appeared in the 18-part limited event series TWIN PEAKS performing the original song "She's Gone Away,' which is featured on their 2016 album Not the Actual Events.
BWW Review: GROUP rep Knocks LOST IN YONKERS Out of the Park
Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning dramedy Lost in Yonkers followed his autobiographical trio Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. Critics started to take him seriously as a playwright with these plays for he was writing about his own family's life experiences. Lost in Yonkers is set in 1942 in Yonkers, New York where Grandma Kurnitz (Loraine Shields) and her daughter Bella (Roslyn Cohn) run the family confectionery store and live in a modest apartment upstairs. Now in a stunning production at the GROUP rep, Larry Eisenberg directs a perfectly cast ensemble who make the play shine brightly through October 22.
Humor is Simon's best suit. This is drama, but... there is plenty of comedy emanating
Japan Society Gallery Announces A THIRD GENDER Exhibition
Two amorous figures sit seaside, intimately entwined on a cozy bamboo banquet and making music from a shared shamisen. With nearly identically coiffed tresses, flowing robes and delicate, demure features, the figures seem paradigms of female beauty in classical Japanese art.
BWW Review: Rarely Seen in the US CALENDAR GIRLS Sheds a Delicious Naughtiness at Group rep
The 2003 film Calendar Girls was produced in the US with a British cast starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters. It is a delightful comedy and a sweet ode to women, who, dissatisfied with many lifestyle choices, try quite earnestly to raise the bar. In 2008 it was made into a play and has been a best seller in the UK, probably because it takes place in and pays homage to Yorkshire. Now under Larry Eisenberg's keen and caring direction, Calendar Girls, rarely produced in the US, has a sturdy production with a sterling cast at Group rep in NoHo through October 9.
Photo Flash: First Look at CALENDAR GIRLS at The Group Rep
The Group Rep presents Tim Firth's comedy CALENDAR GIRLS, based on the motion picture by Juliette Towhidi and Firth, directed by Larry Eisenberg, and produced for the Group Rep by Drina Durazo. The show runs tonight, August 26, through October 9, 2016, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!