‘Wendy’s Peter Pan’ brings
Neverland to life at Theatricum 

Calling all young-at-heart: Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum has transformed its uniquely beautiful outdoor amphitheater into the imaginary isle of Neverland for a magical production of Wendy’s Peter Pan. Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer directs her “retelling” of the 1904 play by J.M. Barrie, with performances running June 22 through October 4.

“This beloved, classic fairytale of a boy who refuses to grow up was written 120 years ago,” notes Geer. “Like Shakespeare, the adventures in Neverland will remain in our vocabulary and hearts forever. May our next generation never lose the innocence of belief in other worlds and other ways.”

All the familiar characters are present as now grown-up Wendy (Willow Geer) recounts her marvelous childhood adventure to her own children. The tale comes to life on Theatricum’s wooded stage as Wendy recalls how she and her brothers (Quinnlyn Scheppner as young Wendy, Jaz Bennassar as John, Julius Geer-Polin as Michael) flew off to Neverland with Peter Pan (Gabrielle Beauvais), cared for the Lost Boys (Cole Dechant, Emelie Dechant, Asher Edwards, Logan Filippi, Luther Geer-Polin, Schroeder Shelby-Szyszk, Aster Laine Smith, Georgiana Swanson, Aralyn Clare Wilson, Elliott Grey Wilson), and crossed paths with Tiger Lily (Ianthe Marini), a mermaid (Robyn Cohen), Captain Hook (Lynn Robert Berg), the pirates (Hunter James, Craig “Linc” Lincoln, John Ellsworth Phillips, Kevin Rauch, Adam Roberts, Sky Wahl) and, of course… Tinkerbell.

The creative team includes composer and musical arranger Marshall McDaniel, choreographer Lexi Pearl, and fight choreographer Cavin (CR) Mohrhardt. Costume design is by Tracy Wahl, lighting design is by Zach Moore, and sound design is by Grant Escandón. Ian Geatz is the prop master and Beth Eslick is the wardrobe supervisor. The assistant director is Hannah Froman. The production stage manager is Kim Cameron, assisted by Alex Penner.

Wendy’s Peter Pan will run in rotation every weekend with Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, each of which open earlier in the season. Upcoming, productions of Tartuffe: Born Again, translated and adapted from Molière by Freyda Thomas, and The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote, a new play by Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award-winning playwright Bernardo Cubría, will join the repertory season on July 13 and August 24 respectively. Unlike most theaters in the L.A. area that stage continuous runs of a single play, Theatricum will perform all five plays in repertory, making it possible to see them all in a single weekend once they are all up and running.

Other events taking place at Theatricum this season include comedy improv with Theatricum’s resident troupe Off the Grid at the end of each month (June 28, July 25, Aug. 30, Sept. 26); the Under the Oaks salon series on Fridays in September, and Theatricum’s fourth annual Holiday Family Faire on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Theatricum Botanicum has been named “One of the 50 Coolest Places in Los Angeles” by Buzz magazine, “One of Southern California’s most beguiling theater experiences” by Sunset magazine, and “Best Theater in the Woods” by the LA Weekly. “The enchantment of a midsummer night at Theatricum Botanicum [makes it] crystal clear why audiences have been driving up into the hills since Theatricum’s maiden season way back in 1973. Summer Shakespeare doesn’t get any better than this,” writes StageSceneLA. Says Los Angeles magazine, “The amphitheater feels like a Lilliputian Hollywood Bowl, with pre-show picnics and puffy seat cushions, yet we were close enough to see the stitching on the performers costumes. Grab a blanket and a bottle and head for the hills.” In 2017, Theatricum was named “one of the best outdoor theaters around the world” by the Daily Beast.

Theatricum’s beginnings can be traced to the early 1950s when Will Geer, a victim of the McCarthy era Hollywood blacklist (before he became known as the beloved Grandpa on The Waltons), opened a theater for blacklisted actors and folk singers on his property in Topanga. Friends such as Ford Rainey, Della Reese, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie joined him on the dirt stage for vigorous performances and inspired grassroots activism, while the audiences sat on railroad ties. Today, two outdoor amphitheaters are situated in the natural canyon ravine, where audiences are able to relax and enjoy the wilderness during an afternoon or evening’s performance. Theatricum’s main stage amphitheater sports a new and improved sun shade for increased audience comfort, installed with support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Ahmamson Foundation. Theatricum is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Margaret Harford Award for “sustained excellence,” which is the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s highest honor.

Wendy’s Peter Pan opens on Saturday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m. and continues to run in repertory through October 4. For a complete schedule of performances, scroll all the way down or visit the website. Tickets range from $15 to $48; premium seating is available for $60. Pay What You Will ticket pricing is available for the performance on Friday, July 26, which will also feature a prologue (pre-show discussion) from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The amphitheater is terraced into the hillside, so audience members are advised to dress casually (warmly for evenings) and bring cushions for bench seating. Patrons are welcome to arrive early to picnic in the gardens before a performance.

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 North Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Topanga, midway between Malibu and the San Fernando Valley. Please note: Topanga Canyon Blvd is currently closed between the theater and PCH; to access Theatricum from the Valley, exit the 101 at Topanga Canyon Blvd. South.

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 455-3723 or visit theatricum.com

‘Tartuffe: Born Again’ is hilarious, modern–day
adaptation of Molière at Theatricum 

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum presents a hilarious satire about greed, corruption and hypocrisy. In Tartuffe: Born Again, translator and adaptor Freyda Thomas puts a contemporary spin on the original French play, recasting Molière’s Tartuffe as a deposed televangelist who takes advantage of his naïve and gullible host to rook him and his family of their money. Performances run July 13 through October 13 at Theatricum’s beautiful outdoor venue in Topanga.

Moliere’s legendary comedic characters are wonderfully at home in this present day version, which is set in a religious television studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and written wholly in delightful modern verse. David DeSantos (last seen at Theatricum as Coriolanus) headlines in the title role, while Lynn Robert Berg (concurrently appearing as Captain Hook on the same stage in Wendy’s Peter Pan) stars as Orgon. Michelle Jasso (now on Theatricum’s stage as Emelia in The Winter’s Tale) plays Elmire; Jon Sprik (Richard III in last season’s War of the Roses) portrays Damis; Jonathan Blandino (multiple appearances at Theatricum, including Oberon in last summer’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) plays Cleante; Cynthia Kania (most recently seen at Theatricum in War of the Roses) is Mrs. Pernell; and Isabel Stallings (also starring as Helena in this season’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is Maryann opposite Ethan Haslam (Theatricum’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Trouble the Water) as Valere. Also in the cast are company members Blaire Battle, Ted Dane, Shoshanna Green, Rebecca Oca-Nussbaum, Sky Wahl and Timothy Willard. The production is directed by Melora Marshall.

“How do you stop an invasive, cultish worm who uses lies of Biblical proportions to wind his way into your family life, your town, your city… your country?” asks Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer. “Through the brilliant storytelling of Molière and Freyda Thomas’s clever adaptation in rhyming couplets, we watch a Southern family in the 1980s begin to recognize a taker in their midst. Hilarious mayhem ensues as they recognize the danger, rise up and remove the culprit.”

Set and props are by Ian Geatz, lighting is by Hayden Kirschbaum and costumes are by Vicki Conrad. Music is compiled and arranged by Kellen McDaniel and Marshall McDaniel, with sound design by Grant Escandón. Berber Heerema is the assistant director. Beth Eslick is the wardrobe supervisor and Amayah Watson is the assistant stage manager. The production stage manager is Karen Osborne.

Tartuffe: Born Again will run in rotation every weekend with The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Wendy’s Peter Pan, each of which open earlier in the season. Upcoming, The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latiné Vote, a new political comedy by Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award-winning playwright Bernardo Cubría, will join the repertory season on August 24. Unlike most theaters in the L.A. area that stage continuous runs of a single play, Theatricum will perform all five plays in repertory, making it possible to see them all in a single weekend once they are all up and running.

Other events taking place at Theatricum this season include comedy improv with Theatricum’s resident troupe Off the Grid at the end of each month (June 28, July 25, Aug. 30, Sept. 26); the Under the Oaks salon series on Fridays in September, and Theatricum’s fourth annual Holiday Family Faire on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Theatricum Botanicum has been named “One of the 50 Coolest Places in Los Angeles” by Buzz magazine, “One of Southern California’s most beguiling theater experiences” by Sunset magazine, and “Best Theater in the Woods” by the LA Weekly. “The enchantment of a midsummer night at Theatricum Botanicum [makes it] crystal clear why audiences have been driving up into the hills since Theatricum’s maiden season way back in 1973. Summer Shakespeare doesn’t get any better than this,” writes StageSceneLA. Says Los Angeles magazine, “The amphitheater feels like a Lilliputian Hollywood Bowl, with pre-show picnics and puffy seat cushions, yet we were close enough to see the stitching on the performers costumes. Grab a blanket and a bottle and head for the hills.” In 2017, Theatricum was named “one of the best outdoor theaters around the world” by the Daily Beast.

Theatricum’s beginnings can be traced to the early 1950s when Will Geer, a victim of the McCarthy era Hollywood blacklist (before he became known as the beloved Grandpa on The Waltons), opened a theater for blacklisted actors and folk singers on his property in Topanga. Friends such as Ford Rainey, Della Reese, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie joined him on the dirt stage for vigorous performances and inspired grassroots activism, while the audiences sat on railroad ties. Today, two outdoor amphitheaters are situated in the natural canyon ravine, where audiences are able to relax and enjoy the wilderness during an afternoon or evening’s performance. Theatricum’s main stage amphitheater sports a new and improved sun shade for increased audience comfort, installed with support from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Ahmamson Foundation. Theatricum is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Margaret Harford Award for “sustained excellence,” which is the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s highest honor.

Tartuffe: Born Again opens on Saturday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. and continues to run in repertory through October 13. A prologue (pre-show discussion) will take place on Sunday, Aug. 11 from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. For a complete schedule of performances, scroll all the way down or visit the website. Tickets range from $15 to $48; premium seating is available for $60. Pay What You Will ticket pricing is available for the performance on Monday, Sept. 9 (may be purchased online one week prior to the performance, or cash at the door).

The amphitheater is terraced into the hillside, so audience members are advised to dress casually (warmly for evenings) and bring cushions for bench seating. Patrons are welcome to arrive early to picnic in the gardens before a performance.

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is located at 1419 North Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Topanga, midway between Malibu and the San Fernando Valley. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 455-3723 or visit theatricum.com

DRAGON LADY
Part I of The Dragon Cycle
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
Written & Performed by Sara Porkalob
Directed by Andrew Russell
With Pete Irving, Jimmy Austin & Mickey Stylin

On the eve of her 60th birthday, Maria Porkalob Sr. fires up her new karaoke machine to regale her granddaughter Sara with her astonishing life story. As a lounge singer who escaped a gangster-controlled nightclub in Manila to become a free-range mother of five in the United States, Maria is a matriarch not to be trifled with. Broadway star and storyteller Sara Porkalob embodies dozens of characters in a trigenerational tour-de-force performance that fuses killer karaoke with laugh-out-loud comedy to tell her family’s incredible origin story.

September 4 – October 6
Gil Cates Theater

Tensions Erupt in

GOD OF CARNAGE

at the 905 Cole Theatre  

Thunderbird Garage Productions is thrilled to announce their inaugural production, Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage, will open September 13th in Los Angeles. Hoping to resolve the situation amicably, two married couples meet to discuss a violent altercation between their young sons. But as conflicting personalities and parenting styles collide, the polite facades unravel, revealing marital tensions and opposing life philosophies. God of Carnage is directed by Kim Quinn and will run for five weeks at the 905 Cole Theatre in Hollywood.

About the Show

God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, is a tragicomedy about two sets of parents who meet to discuss a physical altercation between their eleven-year-old sons. Initially cordial and respectful, the mood shifts, as discordant parenting styles, the burdens of marriage, and opposing philosophies of life are examined. Intelligently written with razor sharp wit and hilarity, God of Carnage is a searing look at relationships, parenthood, communication styles in the face of disagreement, and what happens when the masks we wear to hide our true identities come off. This production of God of Carnage was birthed when four friends who met in Larry Moss acting workshops decided to read the play during Covid. After months of continuing to work on the characters, and positive feedback from guests after an intimate reading of the play, the decision was made to put it on stage for LA audiences! “We felt these universal themes are as, if not more, important today than when the play was first produced,” says Kristian Kordula. “If the hope of an artist is to engender thought, conversation, and change, while also delivering an entertaining night of theater, then God of Carnage is our perfect vessel.”

Who

Director Kim Quinn is an actress, writer, producer and director. She recently produced and starred opposite Peter Dinklage and Shirley MacLaine in American Dreamer, seen now on Amazon. She is currently producing Ranger’s Apprentice with Skydance and The Goat, starring Melissa McCarthy and Kevin Hart for Netflix. Quinn also produced and worked opposite Mellissa McCarthy in the Humanitas Award Winning film, The Starling, and with Tim Allen, in the cult classic holiday film, El Camino Christmas, both on Netflix. She is proud to have also co-produced and starred in the Oscar Nominated film, Hidden Figures, opposite Kevin Costner, and the Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominated film, Saint Vincent, opposite Bill Murray. Quinn co-founded her production company Goldenlight Films alongside her husband, writer/director Ted Melfi. You can also catch her in the cult classics, Terriers, opposite Donal Logue and Gypsy, opposite Naomi Watts, both on Netflix.

Andrea Lwin (Annette) has built a career focused on storytelling as a powerful tool for connection. Her highly praised one-woman show Slanted – adapted into a TV pilot and web series – earned accolades as a semi-finalist at Slamdance Film Festival, notable awards at LAWebFest, and the “Rising Star Award” at Women’s International Film & Arts Festival. Most recently, Andrea wrote and directed the short film Biased with Industry Standard Films, winning Best Comedy at Noho Cinefest, Austin Comedy Film Festival as well as Best Director at Portland Comedy Film Festival and Georgia Comedy Film Festival. Her robust career on all sides of the industry includes professional experiences at New Regency Productions, Red Hour Films/Fox 2000, and NBC Universal. She is a graduate of Florida State University and company member of HERO Theatre. Theatre acting credits include The Super Sabado Show (HERO), Sun Sisters (CoA), Fentor (hereandnow). Film/TV acting credits include Better Start Running, White Orchid, This Last Lonely Place, Mini’s First Time, Validation, Criminal Minds, Class of Lies, Wisdom of the Crowd, 90210, Party Down, So Notorious, Alias. 

Kristian Kordula (Alan) is an actor originally from Northern NJ.  His film credits include Bride Hard, The Proposition, College Road Trip, The Weekend, and Give Me My Baby. On the small screen, he was seen in Season 4 of Hit the Floor, Seasons 2-8 of The Haves & The Have Nots, The Mindy Project and New Girl. On the LA stage, he was honored to appear in What We’re Up Against, A Raisin in the Sun and Parfumerie.

Olga Konstantulakis (Veronica) hails from Montreal, is an actor/writer/producer. Olga has recently been seen on stage as Logan in The Thanksgiving Play, Heidi Schreck in What the Constitution Means to Me, and Sonia in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, all spearheaded by Newstuff Productions. Some of her favorite roles include playing Jan in Fifty Words at the Lounge Theatre, and Seta in Beast on the Moon at the Lee Strasberg Studio (Ovation Recommended, Critic’s Pick Backstage and LA Weekly), both of which she also produced. She is currently workshopping her solo piece, Becoming Apparent.

Eric Larson (Michael) is an actor-producer most recently seen in The Dreamer Examines His Pillow at The Odyssey Theatre. He was also in the LA premiere of 50 Words at The Lounge Theatre which he co-produced with fellow God Of Carnage cast member Olga Konstantulakis. His previous productions in which he produced and acted in include the Ovation Recommended production of Blackbird at The Grove Theatre Center, as well as the Encore! Producer’s Award winning production of Time Stands Still at The Complex Theatre. He is also a Drama-Logue Award winner for his work in the original cast production of Toe To Toe which premiered at The Cast Theatre. His film credits include Little Darling which garnered a Best Actor nod at the Sixth Sense Film Festival in India, Elle, winner of the Platinum Remi Award for Best Short at the Houston International Film Festival, and Adagio winner of Best Short at the Arlington International Film Festival. His most recent film credit is Harbor which was featured in the Oscar- Qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival.

Where

905 Cole Theatre @ Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop – 905 Cole Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

When

God of Carnage will run five weekends from September 13th through October 13th. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm.

Tickets

Single price tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the box office or at https://carnage.brownpapertickets.com/

In light of recent legislation heavily restricting access to abortion care across the country, The Taylor Studio, in Burbank, CA is set to house the World Premiere of a powerful new stage production: “A Fundamental Right to Choose.”

Written and directed by Jennifer Taylor, the production aims to shed light on the mass impact the reversal of Roe vs. Wade has had on the American public – with a heavy emphasis on the effect it’s had on women’s reproductive rights, their healthcare, and their everyday lives.

Told through a series of connected vignettes, the play follows the stories of six different women, from six different states where abortion is now deemed illegal. Each of the women is faced with a dire need for abortion care, but are unable to obtain one due to the various challenges and obstacles presented by the legislation of their respective states. Audiences are taken on an emotional journey that explores the complexities and nuances of choice, autonomy, and the fatal consequences of restrictive legislation.

Featuring a talented cast of actors, including Delante Desouza of HBO’s Emmy Nominated series Winning Time & Eugenia Kuzmina of Universal’s Bad Moms, “A Fundamental Right to Choose” promises to engage and challenge audiences to consider the implications of constrained abortion laws. The production is a call to action for communities to stand up for women’s rights and advocate for access to safe and legal abortion.

Don’t miss the opportunity to experience this important and impactful play. Tickets are now available for performances running from Sept 13th to Oct 19th 2024 at Living-Truthfully Theatre at The Taylor Studio.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/c15205b8-8abb-4ac4-98a9-120c104ab778?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaa7ZFzLDEEGETEm-STz7AdTfHnr1qHWACjje0mBgGsBQQx_gez7dnlMK9o_aem_awLHc8LVcdq8REXuFIR8EA

Living-Truthfully Theatre is an intimate theatre located in Burbank, CA. Dedicated to producing thought-provoking and socially relevant works, and is committed to fostering dialogue and promoting positive change through the arts.

BOSTON COURT PASADENA PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF A GOING AWAY PARTY PLAY

Boston Court Pasadena opens the world premiere production of A Going Away Party Play, written by Keyanna Khatiblou and directed by James Fowler on Saturday, September 28.

A Going Away Party Play is a celebration of multicultural identities and an exploration of what it means to leave or lose your home country. The story centers on Mina, who is throwing a party for her closest friends – and the audience. Over the course of the party, the friends play games, reflect on the current American socio-political landscape, and discover truths about the story of Mina’s parents falling in love and staying in love while fleeing the Iranian Revolution.

A Going Away Party Play features scenic design by Stephen Gifford, costume design by Mylette Nora, lighting design by Gavan Wyrick, sound design by John Nobori, and properties design by Cindy Campos. The production is supported by production stage manager Camella Coopilton, dramaturg Adrian Centeno, casting director Julia Flores, cultural consultant Dr. Mehdi Faraji, and dialect coach Keri Safran.

Artistic Director Jessica Kubzansky says, “We are so excited to share this play with the world. Keyanna had moved to Los Angeles just six months prior to when she submitted the play to us through our Los Angeles Playwrights Open Submission Window, and when we read it, the entire artistic team knew we needed to program it in the 2022 New Play Reading Festival. And as the reading concluded, we all turned to each other and said, ‘we just found our next full production.’”

Director James Fowler first met Khatiblou in 2022 when Boston Court asked him to direct the New Play Reading Festival reading at BCP. The partnership was so exciting that two years later, he is back to direct the full production.

Fowler says, “Keyanna’s play is a love letter to this current generation. A mash-up of scenes that focus on multiculturalism, identity, and love. I am grateful to be trusted with a work of such thoughtful depth and intentionality. The joy I have working with this creative team and cast is beyond my wildest imaginings!”

Kubzansky adds, “Full of humor and delicious social commentary, Keyanna’s play is so powerfully speaking to our world today. It’s speaking to the complexity of what it means to be an immigrant in the United States right now, what it’s like to leave or lose your home country, and how we constantly have to define what home means…”

WHEN:
Preview Performances: September 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 at 8PM; September 22 at 2PM

Opening Night Performance: Saturday, September 28 at 8PM

Benefit Fundraiser Performance: Sunday, September 29 at 3PM

Performances:

Friday, October 4, 8PM

Saturday, October 5, 2PM (ASL Interpreted Performance)

Sunday, October 6, 2PM

Monday, October 7, 8PM

Saturday, October 12, 8PM

Sunday, October 13, 2PM

Saturday, October 19, 8PM

Sunday, October 20, 2PM

Monday, October 21, 8PM

Friday, October 25, 8PM

Saturday, October 26, 8PM

Sunday, October 27, 2PM

This production is partially underwritten by our very generous funders: The National Endowment for the Arts, the Pasadena Community Foundation, and the City of Pasadena. The Farhang Foundation is this production’s Cultural Partner.

————-

Located in Pasadena, California, Boston Court Pasadena is an intimate performing arts center that creates and nurtures innovative, boundary-pushing art that invokes the power of collective imagination to illuminate our common humanity. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jessica Kubzansky and Executive Director Manuel Prieto, the 70-seat Marjorie Branson Performance Space and the 99-seat Main Stage serve as homes for Boston Court’s season of adventurous theatre, its richly eclectic music series, the annual New Play Reading Festival, and a rotating visual art program, among other engagement and education offerings. Boston Court Pasadena was founded in 2003 by philanthropist Z. Clark Branson and Founding Producing Director Eileen T’Kaye.

Boston Court Pasadena is located at 70 N Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106. Parking is free in the on-site lot. For reservations and information, call (626) 683-6801 or go to bostoncourtpasadena.org.

“Jane Austen in 89 Minutes” by Syrie James.

Jane Austen in 89 Minutes  is a comedy in which a cast of madcap ladies and gents bring all six of Jane Austen’s beloved novels to comic life and includes modern day zingers about Jane Austen’s fame, fandom, movies, and TV series. The play takes place in a wrinkle in time, the present day intermingled with England’s Regency Era, 1811-1816. At several points, Jane Austen has to rein in her characters when they run amok and try to take over the show.

The cast includes Katyana Rocker-Cook, Holly Sidell, Michael Mullen, Shayna Gabrielle, Steven G. Frankenfield, Alison Blanchard, and Todd Andrew Ball. Understudy: Megan Deford.

Syrie James is the playwright and director. Produced for Theatre 40 by David Hunt Stafford.

Fri. & Sat. at 7:30. Sun. at 2:00.

http://theatre40.org

facebook.com/theatre40

The Roots and Wings Project presents
the World Premiere of

THE JOY RIDE: Through a reckoning comes the freedom journey…
Written and Directed by Jesse Bliss

Four dear friends gather to ride out together, but quickly realize they each have much to reckon with. How, in a time of deep grief, do they dare to claim joy? Strong language and content, 18 & over only.

This touring production is delivered out of a vintage convertible.

PLEASE NOTE: This immersive experience begins punctually, please plan to be in your seats 10 minutes before show time.

Starring (in alphabetical order):
Darian Dauchan*
Reginald P. Louis
Marlene Luna Castañeda
Ashlee Olivia

Produced by:
Jesse Bliss, Executive Producer
Roger Q. Mason
Gabriela López de Dennis
Jennifer Andrea (yAyA) Porras, Bay Area
Francisco “Franky” Carrillo

Production Team:
Stage Manager: Cameron Roper
Technical Director: Max I. Brother
Costume Designer: Abel Alvarado
Original Score: Audiopharmacy
Dramaturgy: Leon Martell and Jennifer Andrea (yAyA) Porras
Key Art Design: Mer Young
Casting Director: Jami Rudofsky
Social Media Manager: Nastassia Cordeiro
Publicist: Steve Moyer Public Relations

THE JOY RIDE Performance Dates:

Los Angeles Tour: September 20-October 12, 2024
Graff Angeles Gallery (Arts District)
1100 E. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Fri & Sat at 8pm; Sun at 5pm
Street parking available.

Bay Area Tour: October 18-20, 2024

Latino Center of Art & Culture (LCAC) on October 18, 2024 at 8pm
2700 Front St.
Sacramento, CA 95818
Free parking is available on site.

Calle 24 Placita on October 19, 2025 at 8pm
1 Lilac St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Limited parking available on site. Limited street parking available. Bart encouraged, exit 24 St. & Mission, right across the street from Placita, or rideshare.

La Peña Cultural Center on October 20, 2024 at 6pm
3105 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94705
Residential street parking is available 1-2 blocks away. Rideshare encouraged. Bart encouraged, exit Ashby St. (6 minute walk).

*****************************************************************
Tickets:
$25 General Admission
$20 Students & Seniors w/ID
$20 per ticket for groups of 10 (To order group tickets or for more information, please email [email protected])
Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
Performances will be outdoors, please dress accordingly.
Wheelchair accessible.

Q&A after the Los Angeles opening night performance on Friday, September 20, and after the closing LA performance on Saturday, October 12.

THE JOY RIDE is supported, in part, by the California Arts Council and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

Watch the trailer at: https://youtu.be/GkTTj7QaWps?si=761id-OX1zVku3jU

*Appears courtesy of Actors Equity Association.

WAITRESS

Book by Jessie Nelson
Music & Lyrics by Sara Bareilles

Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly

Musical Direction by Jennifer Lin

Choreography by Cost n’ Mayor

Direction by Abbey O’Brien

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIES START BAKING FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

AT LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS!

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & McCOY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT are thrilled to open its 2024-2025 season with the Southern California regional theatre premiere of the hit Broadway musical, WAITRESS, with book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles (based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly), musical direction by Jennifer Lin, choreography by Cost n’ Mayor, and direction by Abbey O’Brien.  WAITRESS will preview on Friday, September 20 at 8 pm & Saturday, September 21 at 2 pm, have its official Press Opening on Saturday, September 21 at 8 pm, and run through Sunday, October 13, 2024 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.  

Meet Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage.  Pouring her heart into her pies, she crafts desserts which mirror her topsy-turvy life, such as “The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie” and “Betrayed By My Eggs Pie.”  When a baking contest in a nearby county — and a satisfying run-in with someone new — show Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it.  Change is on the menu, as long as Jenna can write her own perfectly personal recipe for happiness.  Featuring music and lyrics by GRAMMY® Award winner, Sara Bareilles (“Love Song,” “Brave”), this hit musical is a little slice of Broadway heaven!

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

The Cast of WAITRESS features Desi Oakley as “Jenna,” Ben Jacoby as “Dr. James Pomatter,” Brian Krinsky as “Earl,” Cleavant Derricks as “Joe,” Dominique Kent as “Becky,” Brian Calì as “Cal,” Rianny Vasquez as “Dawn,” Jared Gertner as “Ogie,” Ashley Moniz as “Jenna’s Mother/Ensemble,” Ashley Támar Davis as “Nurse Norma/Ensemble,” Johnisa Breault as “Francine/Ensemble,” Annabelle Bergold & Layni Rose Cowden (at some performances) as “Lulu.”  The Ensemble features (in alphabetical order): Ricky Bulda, Michael Bullard, Grant Hodges, Michael James, and Tayler Mettra.  Swings are Emma Nossal and Alec Talbott.

SARA BAREILLES (Music & Lyrics) can be seen starring in the Emmy nominated series, “Girls5eva.”  Bareilles first achieved mainstream critical praise in 2007 with her widely successful hit “Love Song,” which reached No. 1 in 22 countries around the world from her debut album Little Voice.  Since then, she has gone on to receive seven GRAMMY®  nominations throughout her career, which include Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Love Song,” and won Album of the Year for her highly acclaimed third studio album, The Blessed Unrest.  Her book, Sounds Like Me: My Life (so far) in Song, was released in the fall of 2015 by Simon & Schuster and is a New York Times best-seller.  Making her Broadway debut, she composed the music and lyrics for Waitress, for which she received her first Tony nomination for Best Score and a 2017 GRAMMY® nomination for Best Musical Theater Album.  She also made her Broadway acting debut in 2017 by stepping into the lead role in Waitress.  2018 was a big year for Sara: she co-hosted the Tony Awards, was nominated for an Emmy and a GRAMMY® award for her role in “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” and was awarded with the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award.  She also teamed up with Apple TV as an executive producer for “Little Voice,” a 10-episode series, for which she created the original music.  The 2022 Broadway cast album for Into the Woods is available for streaming, as is Amidst the Chaos: Live from the Hollywood Bowl for which she joined forces with legendary Academy Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett.  Both albums spotlight her voice as a singer and storyteller like never before, while making an enduring statement.

JESSIE NELSON (Book) wrote Waitress with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles.  The show played on Broadway for four years and then moved to the West End in London.  Sara and Jessie went on to create the show Little Voice, which they executive produced with J.J. Abrams for Apple TV.  Jessie wrote, directed, and produced Corrina, Corrina and I Am Sam, starring Sean Penn, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.  Directing: “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Love, the Coopers with Diane Keaton.  Writing: Stepmom and The Story of Us.  Producing: Fred Claus and Danny Collins.  In London, Jessie directed Alice by Heart, which she co-wrote with Steven Sater, with music by Duncan Sheik at the National Theater Connections Program and again at MCC in NYC.  Jessie began her career as an actress at the New York Shakespeare Festival and at The Public Theater working with the award-winning experimental theater Mabou Mines.  She wrote the children’s book Labracadabra and has been the Artistic Director of the Sundance Screen Writers Lab.

ABBEY O’BRIEN (Direction) is currently the global associate director & choreographer of the original Broadway production of Waitress the musical.  She also just wrapped up her time as the associate director on the hit musical Moulin Rouge and the associate choreographer on the acclaimed Broadway show, Jagged Little Pill.  Her career in the entertainment industry has spanned more than 20 years, from being a Tony Award-winning cast member on the creative teams for Emmy-nominated TV shows and Tony-nominated Broadway shows, to directing original works, choreographing music videos, and collaborating with major corporations as a creative director.  Director: Never Be King, The Art of Life, The Rocky Horror Show, Meet Me in St. Louis, 13: The Musical, A Quarantine Cabaret.  Choreographer: Extraordinary (directed by Diane Paulus); Dreamgirls, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Big Fish, Rock of Ages (Theatre Raleigh); Mamma Mia! (Casa Mañana); American Idiot (TUTS); Sugarland (music video); “The Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS); “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” (NBC).  Associate: Is There Still Sex in the City, Odyssey (The Public Theater); Elf (Paper Mill Playhouse); Ragtime (Lincoln Center); Company, National Pastime (Bucks County Playhouse); A Taste of Things to Come (Broadway Playhouse).  Some of her favorite credits as a performer: Spamalot, Pal Joey (Broadway); Radio City Rockettes. Abbey is also the director of theatre at Perry-Mansfield. You can see more of her work at Abbeyo.com

COST N’ MAYOR (Choreography) Austin and Marideth Telenko are thrilled to bring their choreography to La Mirada Theatre.  The couple recently toured with the GRAMMY® Award-winning group Pentatonix and have brought their infectious movement to “Good Morning America,” “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” ABC’s “Home Economics,” and “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”  They’ve also choreographed campaigns for Apple, Lexus, Target, Disney, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and more.  Austin and Marideth want to thank their families for always cheering them on and their online community of over 9 million fans for supporting and following along on their journey! @cost_n_mayor

JENNIFER LIN (Musical Direction) is an L.A.-based music director and educator. Productions: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (La Mirada Theatre with McCoy Rigby Entertainment), On This Side of the World(East West Players), Matilda (5-Star Theatricals and La Mirada Theatre), The Last Five Years (After Hours Theatre), XY (NAMT Festival of New Musicals).  She teaches musical theatre at USC, LACHSA, and Geffen Academy.

The Design Team for WAITRESS is as follows: Lighting Design by Brian Gale; Sound Design by Josh Bessom; Costume Coordination by Adam Ramirez; Hair/Wig Design by Kaitlin Yagen; Make-Up Design by Madison Medrano; Properties Supervision by Kevin Williams.  The Casting Director is Julia Flores.  The Production Stage Manager is Jill Gold.      

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING

WAITRESS will preview on Friday, September 20 at 8 pm & Saturday, September 21 at 

2 pm.  It will open on Saturday, September 21 at 8 pm (Press Opening) and run through Sunday, October 13, 2024 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.  

Performances are Thursdays at 7:30 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 8 pm; and Sundays at 1:30 pm & 6:30 pm.  There is no performance on Sunday, September 21 at 

6:30 pm. 

There will be an Open-Captioned performance on Saturday, October 5 at 2:00 pm.  Talkbacks with the cast and creative team will be on Thursday, September 26 at 7:30 pm and Thursday, October 10 at 7:30 pm.    

Tickets range from $19 – $85 (prices subject to change) and can be purchased at La Mirada Theatre’s website www.LaMiradaTheatre.com or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310.  Group and military discounts are available.  

$19 Student Tickets are available.  Children under 3 will not be admitted into the theatre.  

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is located at 14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue where the 91 and 5 freeways meet.  Parking is FREE.                                                                           

Blood/Love
A new, all-original vampire rock popera

The Crimson, 6356 Hollywood Blvd., First Floor
Limited six week engagement September 26 to November 2!

Featuring
Cam Anthony (The Voice winner season 20), Brennin Hunt (Roger in RENT: Live),
and Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls)

Book & Music by Carey Sharpe and Dru DeCaro
Additional Music by Erin Boehme and Adam “Snake” Kobylarz

Choreographed Jonathan & Oksana Platero (DWTS, SYTYCD),
Directed and Produced by Daniel LeClaire

Tickets available now at bloodlove.com

Blood/Love is a new, all-original vampire rock popera featuring twenty-five songs that tell a tale of love, friendship, heartbreak, and redemption. Blood/Love will play The Crimson, a gothic nightclub in a truly immersive staging where vampires roam among the living at 6356 Hollywood Blvd (at Schrader Blvd), First Floor, 90028 from September 26 to November 2. Tickets are available at bloodlove.com.

Fusing vampire lore, pop music, choreography, and nightlife into one entrancing musical experience, Blood/Love offers an ultimate night out. The evening begins in The Crimson’s cocktail lounge with signature craft cocktails. Audiences then move to the intimate theater for the 75-minute immersive performance (VIP seating available). After the 9:30pm performances, a moonlit DJ after-party is available in The Atrium, the Crimson’s night club.

Blood/Love features Cam Anthony (The Voice winner season 20), Brennin Hunt (Roger in Fox RENT: Live), and Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls).

Blood/Love has book and music by Carey Sharpe and GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter/producer Dru DeCaro (Em Beihold’s platinum radio #1 “Numb Little Bug”) with
additional music by Concord Records artist Erin Boehme and Adam “Snake” Kobylarz.

The choreographers are Jonathan & Oksana Platero (DWTS, SYTYCD), and it is directed and produced by Daniel LeClaire (BOOK OF MORMON, HAIRSPRAY!).

Blood/Love had its original production in 2022 at The Howard in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, hometown theatre to Sharpe, LeClaire, and Boehme, where Sharpe and Boehme performed leading roles under LeClaire’s direction. They take the stage again to repeat their assignments in this new Hollywood production. Blood/Love also had a sold-out concert version in January 2024 at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre in New York City.

About Blood/Love

Vampires are ever-present in pop culture especially as the days get shorter: think Interview with the Vampire, The Twilight Saga, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Shadows, Dracula, and The Vampire Diaries.

Fans of vampires (and who isn’t?) will want to see this new incarnation, Blood/Love, that speaks as much to human nature as it does to the sultry glamorous lives of the undead. It tells the haunting tale of Valerie Bloodlove (Carey Sharpe), who has lived hundreds of lives across thousands of years. Satan’s former queen, the original vampire, she is condemned to wander Earth for eternity — living in the shadows and forced to survive off of the very humans she has longed to live among.

Valerie’s immortal life feels empty, even as her draconian companions, Cleo (Erin Boehme) and Demetrius (Cam Anthony), attempt to rekindle her desires to thirst and lust — and to remind her of the joys of being immortal.

On the brink of despair, Valerie has a chance encounter with mortal superstar Anzick (Brennin Hunt), who reignites her will to carry on. However, she learns he has his own deal with the devil: in exchange for his eternal soul, he was bestowed with supernatural musical talent, complete with success and stardom. Valerie finds a kindred spirit and a motivation to carry on – but is now forced to choose between love and survival, drawn to someone who also bears the burden of a wish turned into a curse.

Writer and producer Carey Sharpe said to Broadwayworld, “Everybody loves vampires. They’re always popular: they’re sexy, they’re cool. And they are ultimately human, or they at least were human. This is about when the conundrums of life are enlarged by having to negotiate a life going on forever — the amplification of human nature.”

“A pact with the devil takes on a new dimension – giving these creatures plenty to sing about, now influenced with pop and rock genres. It turns out that the emotional life for vampires is not much different than for those of us with shorter life spans — and the action and score were influenced by goings on in our personal lives, during COVID lockdown when we were creating Blood/Love.”

“The story then all fits together because it was really driven by songs about our feelings at the time. For example, ‘Dead to Me’ is basically a fight between two best friends that have been friends for eternity because they are vampires, the breakdown of their relationship with betrayal, anger and hurt. But it’s not of a romantic nature, it’s just their friendship and how painful that can be.”

For more information, please visit bloodlove.com

Is It Thursday Yet?

Created, choreographed and performed by Jenn Freeman

Created, choreographed and directed by Sonya Tayeh

Composed and performed by Holland Andrews

A life in ceaseless motion. A brain in dynamic discovery.

BroadStage presents Is It Thursday Yet?, a stunning tapestry of dance, live music, and home video footage that invites you into the unique complexities of dancer and choreographer Jenn Freeman’s mind following a life-altering revelatory diagnosis at age 33. Jenn found a way to embrace the uncertainty and rewrite her story using the language she knows best: Dance. This presentation is in association with La Jolla Playhouse.

Scored with original live music from composer and vocalist Holland Andrews with a set by Rachel Hauck (Tony Award® winner, Hadestown), this engrossing new work is co-created and co-choreographed by Freeman and the electrifying Sonya Tayeh (Tony Award winner, Moulin Rouge!), also on as Director.

October 3rd – October 27th at The Rosenthal Theater at Inner-City Arts

Preview performance is Thursday, October 3rd at 8:00 p.m.
Opening night is Friday, October 4th at 8:00 p.m. 
Remaining performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m., and *Sundays at 2:00 p.m. through Sunday, October 27th.

*Sunday, October 13th’s performance will be at 5:00 p.m.
*Sunday, October 27th will have an additional performance at 7:00 p.m.

‘Heading Into Night: A clown play about… [forgetting]’
gets West Coast premiere at Odyssey Theatre 

Cirque du Soleil clown Daniel Passer and award-winning director Beth F. Milles bring a clown ode to loss and remembrance to the Odyssey Theatre stage, exploring the unexpected humor and discoveries to be found in the loss of memory, and deeply honoring the experience of people whose memories are fading. The West Coast premiere of Heading Into Night: A clown play about… [forgetting] will run October 5 through November 17 at the Odyssey’s venue in West L.A., with two preview performances on Thursday, Oct. 3 and Friday, Oct. 4.

Longtime collaborators, Milles and Passer devised and developed this interactive piece as an investigation into the work being done at kinder, gentler care dementia villages based on Hogeweyk, an eldercare facility in the Netherlands where people facing cognitive loss are nurtured in a community. Preparing for the work, the two delved into cognitive science research about repetition, connecting the mental looping characteristic of cognitive loss with clowning and commedia dell’arte theater.

“Clowning is often built on repetition, so this seemed a very organic connection,” says Milles. “There is nothing less certain than not knowing. And there is a mystical, tenuous fragility in the state of losing one’s place, as well as an audacious power in just ‘being.’ This work is focused on the joy of rediscovery. Daniel and I want to be adventurers, to explore ways to give to our community each time we create a work.”

Heading Into Night premiered at The Cherry Arts in Ithaca, New York, where Milles is a member of the acting and directing faculty at Cornell University. As a director and theater creator, she specializes in new and devised work investigating the comic impulse. Milles has directed on Broadway and at theaters around the country, including award-winning productions with the celebrated Actors Gang in Los Angeles. Last season, she directed Iva Brdar’s And if I don’t behave then what at Open Fist Theatre Company.

“Looking through the lens of a clown, and bringing a sense of joy and childlike innocence to the theme of memory, has been a rich landscape to explore,” says Passer, who has been a clown and comedy conceptor for Cirque du Soleil and Dragone Entertainment for over a decade; has taught commedia, clown and improvisation at Moscow Art Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Brown University, Harvard, Cornell; and is currently on faculty and associate director of performance at CalArts. “I love collaborating with Beth and dreaming up the impossible and striving to bring it to life.”

Joining Passer on stage at the Odyssey are actor Peter Mark and musician Redfield Clipper Mills.

The creative team includes costume designer Márion Talán de la Rosa; lighting designer Russell Champa; projection designer Gabrieal Griego; technical consultant Pierre Clavel; and graphics designer Luba Lukova. The stage manager is Bella Peters. Beth Hogan produces for Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

Performances of Heading Into Night take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. from October 5 through November 17. There will be two additional weeknight performances, on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Wednesday, Nov. 6, each at 8 p.m.: Two previews take place on Thursday, Oct. 4 and Friday, Oct. 5, both at 8 p.m. Post-performance discussions are scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Friday, Nov. 1. The third Friday of every month is “Wine Night”: enjoy complimentary wine and snacks and mingle with the cast after the show.

Tickets to performances range from $20 to $40 on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Performances on Fridays are Pay-What-You-Can (reservations open online and at the door starting at 5:30 p.m.). The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 477-2055 or go to OdysseyTheatre.com.

ROAD THEATRE COMPANY 

Presents the First Show of its 2024-2025 Season!

The World Premiere of 

ROBBIN, 

FROM THE HOOD

Written by Marlow Wyatt 

Directed by Chuma Gault

Limited Engagement Opens Friday, October 11

at the Road Theatre in North Hollywood

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, announce the first show of its 2024-2025 season, the world premiere of ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD, written by Marlow Wyatt and directed by Chuma Gault.  ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD will begin previews on Tuesday, October 8; will open on Friday, October 11 at 8pm and perform through Sunday, November 10 at 2pm at the Road Theatre, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. 

In this re-imagined, classic tale, corporate greed dominates the deceptive game of capitalism. Robbin Woods, a 17-year-old math genius, is given the opportunity to enter that seemingly unattainable world. Once inside, she recognizes the massive inequities that exist and creates a plan to level the playing field. Because, sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason.   

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST 

MARLOW WYATT (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright and actor.  She received her BFA from Howard University College of Fine Arts. Her first full-length play She, debuted at the Antaeus Theatre with critical acclaim and is listed as one of the “12 Best World Premiere Plays of 2023/24” by StageSceneLA.  Her drama Robbin, from the Hood, developed in Moving Arts’ MADLab and Support Black Theatre’s first Pipeline play, premieres as Road Theatre Company’s 2024/25 season opener.  Wyatt is a 2022/23 LA New Play Project grant recipient, a 2022 Lower Depth Commission Fellow, 2022 AGE Legacy Grant recipient, Antaeus 2021 NEXT Commission Artist, Support Black Theatre’s 2021 “As We Grow We Sow” Awardee and a CTG/Humanitas Playwrights Prize finalist. Other works include: Listen, A Black Woman Is Speaking (2024 Ashland Play Festival finalist, 2023 Common Crow Theatre/Dublin, Ireland, Third Rail Repertory readings); Bread and Circus (2023 New Noise Reading Series – A Noise Within/Lower Depth Theatre Co. Cycle of Poverty Fellowship); Red Ribbons (2022 Voices for Victory Series, 2021 Headwaters New Play finalist); and The Things We Leave Behind (NEXT Commission).  

CHUMA GAULT (Director) is an actor, producer and director based in Los Angeles. Upcoming: That Kowalski Kidby Tony Abatemarco (LGBTQ Center Residency), Assistant director Fat Ham at Dezart Performs (Palm Springs); In 2022 he directed Gem Of The Ocean at the University of Georgia that presented a young and vibrant take on the August Wilson classic. He directed an episode of the multi award-winning web-series “In Search of A-P-I-G”. He was the video designer for EST/LA’s hit immersive production of Two Stop by David Johann Kim. Chuma has written, directed and produced for the William Inge Theater Festival. He has directed for The Car Plays at Segerstrom Center for the Arts and countless one act festivals with Moving Arts and EST/LA. “My directing always seeks to find that balance of collaboration that creates space for inspiration.” Chuma played Caesar in Gem of the Ocean (A Noise Within-LADCC award for Best Production). The Gun Show by EM Lewis (Moving Arts – Stage Raw Award nominated for outstanding solo performance nominee); Freedom Summer by Stephen Sachs (Fountain Theatre – Best Male Performance nominee); Tree by Julie Hébert (Ensemble Studio Theatre – LADCC nomination for Best Male Performance).  Chuma was a recurring guest star on “Girlfriends” (Amazon), a regular on the drama “Game of Silence” (NBC), guest starred on “The Rookie,” and recently had a notorious five-episode arc on “Days Of Our Lives.” 

The Cast of ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD features: Iesha M. Daniels as “Robbin,” Enrike Llamas as “Juan,” Geri Nikole-Love as “Margaret,” Rob Nagle as “Kyle,” Joshua R. Lamont  as “Charles,” and William L. Warren as “Percy.”  

The Design Team for ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD is as follows: Scenic Design by Amanda Knehans; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Projection Design by Nick Santiago; Sound Design by John Zalewski; Costume Design by Wendell Carmichael, and the Properties Design by Scottie Nevil.  The Production Stage Manager is Maurie Gonzalez.  ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD is produced by Danna Hyams, Taylor Gilbert and Cherish Monique Duke. 

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD will preview on Tuesday, October 8; Wednesday, October 9 & Thursday, October 10 at 8pm and will open on Friday, October 11 at 8pm (press opening) and perform through Sunday, November 10 at the Road Theatre, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. 

Performances are Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm. Tickets available online at roadtheatre.org: or or call 818-761-8838.   

Tickets: $15.00 (Previews); $39.00 (General Admission); $25.00 (Seniors); $17 (Students). 

Latino Theater Company and Mexico’s Organización
Secreta Teatro present ‘A Girl Grows Wings’

Latino Theater Company and Mexico’s Organización Secreta Teatro present the U.S. premiere of A Girl Grows Wings. Commissioned by Latino Theater Company and developed in the company’s Circle of Imaginistas playwriting group, this unique work by Chicana playwright Marisela Treviño Orta premiered earlier this year in an interdisciplinary production developed and devised by Mexico City’s Organización Secreta Teatro, directed by artistic director Rocío Carrillio. That production now makes its way back to Latino Theater Company for a two-week run, October 12 through Oct. 20 at The Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown L.A. (Following its initial two-week run, A Girl Grows Wings will see additional performances as part of Latino Theater Company’s upcoming Encuentro 2024 Latino/a/x theater festival, set to take place October 24 through November 10.)

Inspired by testimonials and essays written by young, undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers,” A Girl Grows Wings poignantly depicts one girl’s journey as she navigates the fallout her status inflicts on her hopes and dreams. The daughter of undocumented immigrants who fled violence in their home country, Alma’s parents cross the border when she is just an infant. At the age of 18, Alma begins to navigate the world of possibility in the only country she’s ever called home. However, learning of her undocumented status presents new challenges and betrayals. Alma goes on a journey to reconnect with her fractured cultural identity and her familial roots. Triumphing over adversity, she grows her wings in a touchingly beautiful and imaginative style.

Organización Secreta Teatro is renowned for its interdisciplinary style that blends theater, dance, video art, sound design and live music. The ensemble includes Mercedes Olea, Beatriz Cabrera Tavares, Ernesto Lecuona, Alejandro Joan Camarena, Jonathan Ramos, Stefanie Izquierdo, Brisei Pérez Guerrero and Paula Bucio on percussion. The creative team includes set, costume and production designer Erika Gómez, and composer sound designer José Luis Esquivel. Video art is by Miriam Romero, mask and prop design are by Arturo Vega, and lighting design is by the production’s director, Rocío Carrillo.

Orta is an award-winning playwright who graduated from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her work has been presented at Arizona Theater Company; Brava Theater; Kitchen Dog Theater; Milagro Theater in Portland, Oregon; Nashville Children’s Theatre; New Jersey Repertory Company; and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

The Latino Theater Company is dedicated to providing a world-class arts center for those pursuing artistic excellence; a laboratory where both tradition and innovation are honored and honed; and a place where the convergence of people, cultures and ideas contribute to the future. Now in its 39th year, LTC has operated The Los Angeles Theatre Center, a landmark building in Downtown’s Historic Core, since 2006. Earlier this month, the company was honored with six Stage Raw awards for four different plays produced in 2023.

Organización Secreta Teatro, founded in 1991, is a Mexican company dedicated to the exploration of interdiscipline and myth as scenic poetics in a permanent laboratory. It develops theater committed to the issues of women, sexual diversity, migration and the need for community ethics. Interdiscipline, as a horizontal dialogue between theater, dance, video art, sound design and live music, is a fundamental part of the company’s imprint, which has earned it recognition inside and outside the country. Find more information at organizacionsecretateatro.com/ | laboratorio escénico mexicano

A Girl Grows Wings opens on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m., with performances thereafter on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. through October 20. Two preview performances take place on Thursday, Oct. 10 and Friday, Oct. 11, both at 8 p.m. All tickets are Pay-What-You-Can in $5 increments: $10, $15, $20, $25. $30, $35, $40, $45 except the previews and the Thursday night performance, each of which is a flat $10.

The Los Angeles Theatre Center is located at 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Parking is available for $8 with box office validation at Los Angeles Garage Associate Parking structure, 545 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (between 5th and 6th Streets, just behind the theater).

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (213) 489-0994 or go to www.latinotheaterco.org.

 Ophelia’s Jump Presents The World Premiere of 

Second Death of a Mad Wife by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos, 

Directed by Beatrice Casagrán

October 12 through November 3, 2024

Ophelia’s Jump Productions (OJP) will present the world premiere of Second Death of a Mad Wife by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos and directed by Beatrice Casagrán. The production will be performed at Ophelia’s Jump, located at 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, in Upland, from October 12 through November 3, 2024.

This “wonderfully creepy and surreal ‘Northeastern Southern Gothic Noir” story brings another production to the OJP stage by this talented storyteller. Previous productions by McBurnett-Andronicos presented at Ophelia’s Jump include A Poison Squad of Whispering Women (2020) and The Hall of Final Ruin (2022). Producing Artistic Director Beatrice Casagrán explains the selection of Second Death for the OJP’s 2024 Season, “Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos is one of my favorite playwrights and people. She creates fantastical stories from historical nuggets. Her plays are populated by delightfully flawed, funny, weird characters with compelling and often dark motivations. Her talent in building darkly funny worlds rings all my bells!”

THE STORY: Whatever happened to Jack the Ripper’s wife? Bunny Maybrick began life in an opulent Alabama mansion and is ending it in a squalid shack full of cats in rural

Connecticut. She’s already given away most of her meager belongings, but the heavy contents of her soul are harder to leave behind. That is, until a local prep school boy, Theo Voss, becomes an accomplice in Bunny’s meandering, mad, death-bed confession that includes adultery, arsenic addiction, and murder.

Kelly McBurnett-Andronicos is a self-described “small town, American playwright raised in Alabama, New Mexico and West Texas. My aesthetic view is a fusion of Southern Appalachian and Southwest U.S. culture and heavily influenced by the literary genres of Magical Realism, Romanticism and Gothicism.” Her full-length plays include the Southern Gothic crime noir, To Tread Among Serpents (Off-Off Broadway production, Winner of the Southern Playwrights Competition, O’Neill Semi-finalist) and the dark comedy western, The Hall of Final Ruin (Stage Raw Los Angeles Playwriting Award, Renaissance Theaterworks Brink! Award, Great Plains Theatre Conference Finalist, Stowe Story Labs Finalist, Two-time Princess Grace Semi-finalist, BAPF Semi-finalist).

Other plays include A Poison Squad of Whispering Women (BAPF Finalist), Second Death of a Mad Wife, and Maria Rasputin in Spangleland as well as many 10-minute plays. Her short play, El Loro, El Gato Y El Espíritu Santo (or The Parrot, the Cat and the Holy Ghost) is published by YouthPLAYS.

SECOND DEATH OF A MAD WIFE

Written by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos

Directed by Beatrice Casagrán

Featuring: Billie Bryant, Jenny Buchanan, Preston Grant, Graham Kurtz, Jeff Sable, Robert Solomon and Hannah Whiteoak

Location: 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, Upland, CA 91786

Preview: March 7, 2024

Regular Run: October 12 through November 3, 2024

Curtain Times:

Saturday, October 12 8:00pm (Opening Night)

Sunday, October 13  4:00pm

Thursday, October 17 7:30pm “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward

Friday, October 18 8:00pm

Saturday, October 19 3:30pm

Saturday, October 19 8:00pm

Sunday, October 20 4:00pm

Thursday, October 24 7:30pm “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward”

Friday, October 25 8:00pm

Saturday, October 26 8:00pm

Sunday, October 27 4:00pm

Wednesday, October 307:00pm

Thursday, October 31 8:00pm “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward”

Friday, November 1 8:00pm

Saturday, November 2 8:00pm

Sunday, November 3 4:00pm

Ticket Information

All seats $35, $25 for college students with ID and children under 10. Thursdays are “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward” with a $20 minimum. Online ticketing available at opheliasjump.org. Please call 909-734-6565 for tickets and information on group discounts.

About Ophelia’s Jump

Ophelia’s Jump is an award-winning, non-profit regional theatre company based in Claremont and performing in Claremont and Upland. Ophelia’s Jump Productions was founded in 2013 by women and queer artists and educators who believe that the purpose of theatre is to create unending conversations, spark imagination, incite conscience, and elicit a visceral response. OJP aims to invigorate the creativity and intellect of our community by working with local and regional artists to tell compelling stories and educate new generations of theatre lovers.

Ophelia’s Jump is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Additional information available at opheliasjump.org or info@opheliasjump.org

Location: 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, Upland CA, 91786

The Funny Thing about Men

British-born playwright Mandy Williams returns to the Hollywood Independent Theater Festival with her one-woman show, The Funny Thing About Men, which won the “Best of Asylum” Award in the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2024.

Mandy Williams invites you into her home as she humorously explores domestic life and the inner thoughts of women. Through a comedic lens, she offers a poignant view of the serious dynamics of modern relationships, capturing the fun, faith, and frailty of becoming a middle-aged woman. Williams fearlessly performs using song, dance, roller skates, and the occasional ukulele solo to showcase her hilarious observations on life and love.

The Funny Thing About Men promises a playful and light-hearted insight into relationships, seen from the personal perspective of playwright Mandy Williams.

WHAT: The Funny Thing About Men

WHO: Starring: Mandy Williams. Music and Lyrics by Mandy Williams. Directed by Christian Levantino. Presented by Hollywood Independent Theater Festival.

WHERE: Stephanie Feury Studio Theater- 5636 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

WHEN: Monday, October 16th, 8:30 pm

Running time: 55 minutes.

[Additional dates will be added in the upcoming months.]

TICKET PRICE: $25.00 per show.

TICKET LINK: Hollywood Independent Theater Festival – HITFEST (stagey.net)

ADMISSION: 16+

Mandy Williams (Writer, Performer):
Originally from Essex, England, Mandy attended the Italia Conti Academy of Performing Arts in London. She began her career as a dancer, traveling the world before transitioning into comedic acting, singing, and audiobook narration, for which she has won numerous awards. She is also a published children’s book author, with two early reader books available on Amazon: Oh Charlie and Oh Charlie: A Day at the Beach.

To find out more visit https://www.facebook.com/mandy.williams.140/t or www.mandyjwilliams.com.

Odyssey Theatre’s ‘Music at the Odyssey’
presents Eleanora Owen in ‘Being Piaf’ 

WHAT:
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s ongoing “Music at the Odyssey” series presents a two-weekend engagement of Being Piaf. Actress, singer and writer Eleanora Owen channels the “little sparrow,” sharing her life story and repertoire with the audience. Tim Byron Owen directs this original solo play with music that highlights Piaf’s joie de vivre, resilience, and triumph over a life of abject poverty and despair.

WHO:
• Written and Performed by Eleanora Owen
• Directed by Tim Byron Owen
• Produced by Beth Hogan in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller and The Sarah Fulton Group
• Presented by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Ron Sossi Artistic Director

WHEN:
Oct. 18 – Oct. 27:
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 18* and Oct. 25
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 19 and Oct. 26
• Sundays at 4 p.m.: Oct. 20 and Oct. 27
*Wine Night Fridays: Enjoy complimentary wine and snacks after the show on the third Friday of every month.

WHERE:
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025

TICKET PRICES
$30 (plus $3 credit card fee if applicable)

HOW:
OdysseyTheatre.com
(310) 477-2055 ext. 2

“All These Women” by Melanie MacQueen.

Staged reading of a play.

When Woodrow Wilson arrived at the train station the day before his Inauguration in 1913, he found almost no people to greet him. A policeman told him, “They’re all at the Suffrage Parade”. That would be the first, but certainly not the last time, that President Wilson would find himself following or being followed by “all these women” pressing for Woman Suffrage in his Administration. Follow the drama of the last years of the battle for women to finally get the vote in America in this new play on a timeless subject – VOTING RIGHTS FOR ALL!

 Directed by Melanie MacQueen.

The cast includes Todd Andrew Ball, Alison Blanchard, John Leslie Meghan Lewis, Kristin Towers-Rowles, Michele Schultz, and Holly Sidell.

Saturday at 2 p.m.

http://Theatre40.org

facebook.com/theatre40

Blood/Love
A new, all-original vampire rock popera

The Crimson, 6356 Hollywood Blvd., First Floor
Limited six week engagement September 26 to November 2!

Featuring
Cam Anthony (The Voice winner season 20), Brennin Hunt (Roger in RENT: Live),
and Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls)

Book & Music by Carey Sharpe and Dru DeCaro
Additional Music by Erin Boehme and Adam “Snake” Kobylarz

Choreographed Jonathan & Oksana Platero (DWTS, SYTYCD),
Directed and Produced by Daniel LeClaire

Tickets available now at bloodlove.com

Blood/Love is a new, all-original vampire rock popera featuring twenty-five songs that tell a tale of love, friendship, heartbreak, and redemption. Blood/Love will play The Crimson, a gothic nightclub in a truly immersive staging where vampires roam among the living at 6356 Hollywood Blvd (at Schrader Blvd), First Floor, 90028 from September 26 to November 2. Tickets are available at bloodlove.com.

Fusing vampire lore, pop music, choreography, and nightlife into one entrancing musical experience, Blood/Love offers an ultimate night out. The evening begins in The Crimson’s cocktail lounge with signature craft cocktails. Audiences then move to the intimate theater for the 75-minute immersive performance (VIP seating available). After the 9:30pm performances, a moonlit DJ after-party is available in The Atrium, the Crimson’s night club.

Blood/Love features Cam Anthony (The Voice winner season 20), Brennin Hunt (Roger in Fox RENT: Live), and Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls).

Blood/Love has book and music by Carey Sharpe and GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter/producer Dru DeCaro (Em Beihold’s platinum radio #1 “Numb Little Bug”) with
additional music by Concord Records artist Erin Boehme and Adam “Snake” Kobylarz.

The choreographers are Jonathan & Oksana Platero (DWTS, SYTYCD), and it is directed and produced by Daniel LeClaire (BOOK OF MORMON, HAIRSPRAY!).

Blood/Love had its original production in 2022 at The Howard in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, hometown theatre to Sharpe, LeClaire, and Boehme, where Sharpe and Boehme performed leading roles under LeClaire’s direction. They take the stage again to repeat their assignments in this new Hollywood production. Blood/Love also had a sold-out concert version in January 2024 at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre in New York City.

About Blood/Love

Vampires are ever-present in pop culture especially as the days get shorter: think Interview with the Vampire, The Twilight Saga, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Shadows, Dracula, and The Vampire Diaries.

Fans of vampires (and who isn’t?) will want to see this new incarnation, Blood/Love, that speaks as much to human nature as it does to the sultry glamorous lives of the undead. It tells the haunting tale of Valerie Bloodlove (Carey Sharpe), who has lived hundreds of lives across thousands of years. Satan’s former queen, the original vampire, she is condemned to wander Earth for eternity — living in the shadows and forced to survive off of the very humans she has longed to live among.

Valerie’s immortal life feels empty, even as her draconian companions, Cleo (Erin Boehme) and Demetrius (Cam Anthony), attempt to rekindle her desires to thirst and lust — and to remind her of the joys of being immortal.

On the brink of despair, Valerie has a chance encounter with mortal superstar Anzick (Brennin Hunt), who reignites her will to carry on. However, she learns he has his own deal with the devil: in exchange for his eternal soul, he was bestowed with supernatural musical talent, complete with success and stardom. Valerie finds a kindred spirit and a motivation to carry on – but is now forced to choose between love and survival, drawn to someone who also bears the burden of a wish turned into a curse.

Writer and producer Carey Sharpe said to Broadwayworld, “Everybody loves vampires. They’re always popular: they’re sexy, they’re cool. And they are ultimately human, or they at least were human. This is about when the conundrums of life are enlarged by having to negotiate a life going on forever — the amplification of human nature.”

“A pact with the devil takes on a new dimension – giving these creatures plenty to sing about, now influenced with pop and rock genres. It turns out that the emotional life for vampires is not much different than for those of us with shorter life spans — and the action and score were influenced by goings on in our personal lives, during COVID lockdown when we were creating Blood/Love.”

“The story then all fits together because it was really driven by songs about our feelings at the time. For example, ‘Dead to Me’ is basically a fight between two best friends that have been friends for eternity because they are vampires, the breakdown of their relationship with betrayal, anger and hurt. But it’s not of a romantic nature, it’s just their friendship and how painful that can be.”

For more information, please visit bloodlove.com

‘Heading Into Night: A clown play about… [forgetting]’
gets West Coast premiere at Odyssey Theatre 

Cirque du Soleil clown Daniel Passer and award-winning director Beth F. Milles bring a clown ode to loss and remembrance to the Odyssey Theatre stage, exploring the unexpected humor and discoveries to be found in the loss of memory, and deeply honoring the experience of people whose memories are fading. The West Coast premiere of Heading Into Night: A clown play about… [forgetting] will run October 5 through November 17 at the Odyssey’s venue in West L.A., with two preview performances on Thursday, Oct. 3 and Friday, Oct. 4.

Longtime collaborators, Milles and Passer devised and developed this interactive piece as an investigation into the work being done at kinder, gentler care dementia villages based on Hogeweyk, an eldercare facility in the Netherlands where people facing cognitive loss are nurtured in a community. Preparing for the work, the two delved into cognitive science research about repetition, connecting the mental looping characteristic of cognitive loss with clowning and commedia dell’arte theater.

“Clowning is often built on repetition, so this seemed a very organic connection,” says Milles. “There is nothing less certain than not knowing. And there is a mystical, tenuous fragility in the state of losing one’s place, as well as an audacious power in just ‘being.’ This work is focused on the joy of rediscovery. Daniel and I want to be adventurers, to explore ways to give to our community each time we create a work.”

Heading Into Night premiered at The Cherry Arts in Ithaca, New York, where Milles is a member of the acting and directing faculty at Cornell University. As a director and theater creator, she specializes in new and devised work investigating the comic impulse. Milles has directed on Broadway and at theaters around the country, including award-winning productions with the celebrated Actors Gang in Los Angeles. Last season, she directed Iva Brdar’s And if I don’t behave then what at Open Fist Theatre Company.

“Looking through the lens of a clown, and bringing a sense of joy and childlike innocence to the theme of memory, has been a rich landscape to explore,” says Passer, who has been a clown and comedy conceptor for Cirque du Soleil and Dragone Entertainment for over a decade; has taught commedia, clown and improvisation at Moscow Art Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Brown University, Harvard, Cornell; and is currently on faculty and associate director of performance at CalArts. “I love collaborating with Beth and dreaming up the impossible and striving to bring it to life.”

Joining Passer on stage at the Odyssey are actor Peter Mark and musician Redfield Clipper Mills.

The creative team includes costume designer Márion Talán de la Rosa; lighting designer Russell Champa; projection designer Gabrieal Griego; technical consultant Pierre Clavel; and graphics designer Luba Lukova. The stage manager is Bella Peters. Beth Hogan produces for Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

Performances of Heading Into Night take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. from October 5 through November 17. There will be two additional weeknight performances, on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Wednesday, Nov. 6, each at 8 p.m.: Two previews take place on Thursday, Oct. 4 and Friday, Oct. 5, both at 8 p.m. Post-performance discussions are scheduled on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and Friday, Nov. 1. The third Friday of every month is “Wine Night”: enjoy complimentary wine and snacks and mingle with the cast after the show.

Tickets to performances range from $20 to $40 on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Performances on Fridays are Pay-What-You-Can (reservations open online and at the door starting at 5:30 p.m.). The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025

For more information and to purchase tickets, call (310) 477-2055 or go to OdysseyTheatre.com.

ROAD THEATRE COMPANY 

Presents the First Show of its 2024-2025 Season!

The World Premiere of 

ROBBIN, 

FROM THE HOOD

Written by Marlow Wyatt 

Directed by Chuma Gault

Limited Engagement Opens Friday, October 11

at the Road Theatre in North Hollywood

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, announce the first show of its 2024-2025 season, the world premiere of ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD, written by Marlow Wyatt and directed by Chuma Gault.  ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD will begin previews on Tuesday, October 8; will open on Friday, October 11 at 8pm and perform through Sunday, November 10 at 2pm at the Road Theatre, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. 

In this re-imagined, classic tale, corporate greed dominates the deceptive game of capitalism. Robbin Woods, a 17-year-old math genius, is given the opportunity to enter that seemingly unattainable world. Once inside, she recognizes the massive inequities that exist and creates a plan to level the playing field. Because, sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason.   

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST 

MARLOW WYATT (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright and actor.  She received her BFA from Howard University College of Fine Arts. Her first full-length play She, debuted at the Antaeus Theatre with critical acclaim and is listed as one of the “12 Best World Premiere Plays of 2023/24” by StageSceneLA.  Her drama Robbin, from the Hood, developed in Moving Arts’ MADLab and Support Black Theatre’s first Pipeline play, premieres as Road Theatre Company’s 2024/25 season opener.  Wyatt is a 2022/23 LA New Play Project grant recipient, a 2022 Lower Depth Commission Fellow, 2022 AGE Legacy Grant recipient, Antaeus 2021 NEXT Commission Artist, Support Black Theatre’s 2021 “As We Grow We Sow” Awardee and a CTG/Humanitas Playwrights Prize finalist. Other works include: Listen, A Black Woman Is Speaking (2024 Ashland Play Festival finalist, 2023 Common Crow Theatre/Dublin, Ireland, Third Rail Repertory readings); Bread and Circus (2023 New Noise Reading Series – A Noise Within/Lower Depth Theatre Co. Cycle of Poverty Fellowship); Red Ribbons (2022 Voices for Victory Series, 2021 Headwaters New Play finalist); and The Things We Leave Behind (NEXT Commission).  

CHUMA GAULT (Director) is an actor, producer and director based in Los Angeles. Upcoming: That Kowalski Kidby Tony Abatemarco (LGBTQ Center Residency), Assistant director Fat Ham at Dezart Performs (Palm Springs); In 2022 he directed Gem Of The Ocean at the University of Georgia that presented a young and vibrant take on the August Wilson classic. He directed an episode of the multi award-winning web-series “In Search of A-P-I-G”. He was the video designer for EST/LA’s hit immersive production of Two Stop by David Johann Kim. Chuma has written, directed and produced for the William Inge Theater Festival. He has directed for The Car Plays at Segerstrom Center for the Arts and countless one act festivals with Moving Arts and EST/LA. “My directing always seeks to find that balance of collaboration that creates space for inspiration.” Chuma played Caesar in Gem of the Ocean (A Noise Within-LADCC award for Best Production). The Gun Show by EM Lewis (Moving Arts – Stage Raw Award nominated for outstanding solo performance nominee); Freedom Summer by Stephen Sachs (Fountain Theatre – Best Male Performance nominee); Tree by Julie Hébert (Ensemble Studio Theatre – LADCC nomination for Best Male Performance).  Chuma was a recurring guest star on “Girlfriends” (Amazon), a regular on the drama “Game of Silence” (NBC), guest starred on “The Rookie,” and recently had a notorious five-episode arc on “Days Of Our Lives.” 

The Cast of ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD features: Iesha M. Daniels as “Robbin,” Enrike Llamas as “Juan,” Geri Nikole-Love as “Margaret,” Rob Nagle as “Kyle,” Joshua R. Lamont  as “Charles,” and William L. Warren as “Percy.”  

The Design Team for ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD is as follows: Scenic Design by Amanda Knehans; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Projection Design by Nick Santiago; Sound Design by John Zalewski; Costume Design by Wendell Carmichael, and the Properties Design by Scottie Nevil.  The Production Stage Manager is Maurie Gonzalez.  ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD is produced by Danna Hyams, Taylor Gilbert and Cherish Monique Duke. 

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD will preview on Tuesday, October 8; Wednesday, October 9 & Thursday, October 10 at 8pm and will open on Friday, October 11 at 8pm (press opening) and perform through Sunday, November 10 at the Road Theatre, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. 

Performances are Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm. Tickets available online at roadtheatre.org: or or call 818-761-8838.   

Tickets: $15.00 (Previews); $39.00 (General Admission); $25.00 (Seniors); $17 (Students). 

 Ophelia’s Jump Presents The World Premiere of 

Second Death of a Mad Wife by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos, 

Directed by Beatrice Casagrán

October 12 through November 3, 2024

Ophelia’s Jump Productions (OJP) will present the world premiere of Second Death of a Mad Wife by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos and directed by Beatrice Casagrán. The production will be performed at Ophelia’s Jump, located at 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, in Upland, from October 12 through November 3, 2024.

This “wonderfully creepy and surreal ‘Northeastern Southern Gothic Noir” story brings another production to the OJP stage by this talented storyteller. Previous productions by McBurnett-Andronicos presented at Ophelia’s Jump include A Poison Squad of Whispering Women (2020) and The Hall of Final Ruin (2022). Producing Artistic Director Beatrice Casagrán explains the selection of Second Death for the OJP’s 2024 Season, “Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos is one of my favorite playwrights and people. She creates fantastical stories from historical nuggets. Her plays are populated by delightfully flawed, funny, weird characters with compelling and often dark motivations. Her talent in building darkly funny worlds rings all my bells!”

THE STORY: Whatever happened to Jack the Ripper’s wife? Bunny Maybrick began life in an opulent Alabama mansion and is ending it in a squalid shack full of cats in rural

Connecticut. She’s already given away most of her meager belongings, but the heavy contents of her soul are harder to leave behind. That is, until a local prep school boy, Theo Voss, becomes an accomplice in Bunny’s meandering, mad, death-bed confession that includes adultery, arsenic addiction, and murder.

Kelly McBurnett-Andronicos is a self-described “small town, American playwright raised in Alabama, New Mexico and West Texas. My aesthetic view is a fusion of Southern Appalachian and Southwest U.S. culture and heavily influenced by the literary genres of Magical Realism, Romanticism and Gothicism.” Her full-length plays include the Southern Gothic crime noir, To Tread Among Serpents (Off-Off Broadway production, Winner of the Southern Playwrights Competition, O’Neill Semi-finalist) and the dark comedy western, The Hall of Final Ruin (Stage Raw Los Angeles Playwriting Award, Renaissance Theaterworks Brink! Award, Great Plains Theatre Conference Finalist, Stowe Story Labs Finalist, Two-time Princess Grace Semi-finalist, BAPF Semi-finalist).

Other plays include A Poison Squad of Whispering Women (BAPF Finalist), Second Death of a Mad Wife, and Maria Rasputin in Spangleland as well as many 10-minute plays. Her short play, El Loro, El Gato Y El Espíritu Santo (or The Parrot, the Cat and the Holy Ghost) is published by YouthPLAYS.

SECOND DEATH OF A MAD WIFE

Written by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos

Directed by Beatrice Casagrán

Featuring: Billie Bryant, Jenny Buchanan, Preston Grant, Graham Kurtz, Jeff Sable, Robert Solomon and Hannah Whiteoak

Location: 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, Upland, CA 91786

Preview: March 7, 2024

Regular Run: October 12 through November 3, 2024

Curtain Times:

Saturday, October 12 8:00pm (Opening Night)

Sunday, October 13  4:00pm

Thursday, October 17 7:30pm “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward

Friday, October 18 8:00pm

Saturday, October 19 3:30pm

Saturday, October 19 8:00pm

Sunday, October 20 4:00pm

Thursday, October 24 7:30pm “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward”

Friday, October 25 8:00pm

Saturday, October 26 8:00pm

Sunday, October 27 4:00pm

Wednesday, October 307:00pm

Thursday, October 31 8:00pm “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward”

Friday, November 1 8:00pm

Saturday, November 2 8:00pm

Sunday, November 3 4:00pm

Ticket Information

All seats $35, $25 for college students with ID and children under 10. Thursdays are “Pay What You Can/Pay It Forward” with a $20 minimum. Online ticketing available at opheliasjump.org. Please call 909-734-6565 for tickets and information on group discounts.

About Ophelia’s Jump

Ophelia’s Jump is an award-winning, non-profit regional theatre company based in Claremont and performing in Claremont and Upland. Ophelia’s Jump Productions was founded in 2013 by women and queer artists and educators who believe that the purpose of theatre is to create unending conversations, spark imagination, incite conscience, and elicit a visceral response. OJP aims to invigorate the creativity and intellect of our community by working with local and regional artists to tell compelling stories and educate new generations of theatre lovers.

Ophelia’s Jump is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Additional information available at opheliasjump.org or info@opheliasjump.org

Location: 2009 Porterfield Way, Suite I, Upland CA, 91786

World premiere, family–friendly ‘The Girl Who Made
the Milky Way’ is based on Khoisan myth

Imagine Theatre in partnership with The Colony Theatre presents a world premiere, family-friendly theatrical experience inspired by a Khoisan myth. An original commission by Imagine Theatre, The Girl Who Made the Milky Way is written by acclaimed playwright June Carryl and directed by Imagine artistic director Armina LaManna. Five public performances will empower girls and transfix boys ages five and up from November 9 through November 17 at Burbank’s Colony Theatre. Nine additional weekday matinees are available for school field trips November 12 through November 22.

The Khoisan, an ancient ethnic group with a long and intriguing history, are believed to be the oldest human inhabitants of southern Africa. In the play, a young girl, Little Sister (Stakiah Lynn Washington), evolves from struggling with her place and duties among her people to embracing her uniqueness, voice, courage, and identity. Supported by a cast of archetypal characters in the form of animals, trees, mountains and spirits (Jamela Asha, Edward Hong, Max Lawrence, Carter Michael and Makha Mthembu), Little Sister braves the dangers of the African savanna and confronts the unfair expectations the world has of her because she is a girl. Not only does she help find her father by creating the stars of the night skies, but she also discovers her true self.

“When I heard of this South African folktale about a young girl inventing the stars, it resonated with me,” says LaManna. “It fits right in with Imagine’s mission to immerse young people in theater that is cross-cultural and celebratory of gender equity, diversity, and inclusivity. All Imagine Theatre productions are newly commissioned works and spotlight a female protagonist.”

Imagine Theatre has previously presented critically acclaimed productions of Warrior Queen Anahit the Brave, based on an Armenian fairytale, and The Tale of Turandot, a modern version of a fable, perhaps best known as Giacomo Puccini’s final opera, set in China. Both took place at The Colony Theatre and were directed by LaManna. The Girl Who Made the Milky Way marks the first time the two companies have joined together as co-producers.

The multiple award-winning creative team for The Girl who Made the Milky Way includes scenic designer Tom Buderwitz; costume designer Dianne K. Graebner; projections designer Gabrieal Griego; lighting designer Gavan Wyrick and sound designer Rebecca Kessin. The production stage manager is Elna Kordijan. Griego and LaManna produce for Imagine Theatre.

A professional Actors’ Equity company dedicated solely to producing original and relevant theater for young audiences in grades K through 5, Imagine Theatre strives to build an empathetic and inclusive society across cultures by immersing young people in theater that celebrates gender equity, diversity and civic engagement. The Colony Theatre strives to stimulate, inspire, illuminate and celebrate our common humanity through the shared experience of live, professional theater.

The Girl Who Made the Milky Way will receive five public performances on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, November 17 at 4 p.m. In addition, there will be nine student matinees available for school field trips on weekdays November 12 through November 22; interested educators should email [email protected] for more information.

Tickets to the public performances are $30 for adults and $20 for kids ages 5 to 12 (children under 5 not admitted) except opening night (Nov. 9), for which tickets are $50 and $30 and include a post-performance reception. Group and other discounts are also available.

The Colony Theatre is located in Burbank Town Center at 555 N 3rd St. Burbank, CA 91502. Parking is free in the attached Burbank Town Center parking structure. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (818) 649-9474 or go to imaginetheatreca.org

Penelope: A Lesson in Drowning

By Baylee Shlichtman

Penelope: A Lesson In Drowning is a prequel to The Odyssey, centering Penelope.

As an autistic Spartan princess, Penelope has her life figured out: she weaves tapestries on her loom, which helps quiet the raging waters inside her. She has a system in which she prevents any of her many suitors from winning her hand in marriage. Life is not exactly good, but it’s tolerable. But, after Penelope’s cousin and best friend, Helen, sends a new suitor her way, things get complicated. Odysseus seems different from the other suitors somehow. Different enough that she starts to question how much she really likes her life of safe routines: her daily routine, but also the routine cruelty of her controlling father, the Lord Icarius. Penelope must decide whether the chance of happiness is worth the risk of losing everything she knows. Will she overcome her fear of a love-like drowning and a drowning-like love? Or will she forever be stuck on dry land, safe, but alone?

Directed by Jahnavi Aithal

November 15-17 (Fri-Sat 8pm, Sat-Sun 2pm)

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/secondarylocation/1351241

Instagram: @secondarylocation_