SCENE IN LA
BY
STEVE ZALL AND SID FISH
With only one month left in Summer, you may find yourself obsessing about getting your share of fun in the sun - but don't forget that you can have lots of fun in the dark too, especially if your sitting in the audience at one of these wonderful shows, such as:
"Young Frankenstein" When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma: continue running from his family's tortured past or stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead while in the process, falling in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga? Written by Mel Brooks and directed by Susan Stroman, it runs through August 8 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. For tickets call 800-982-2787 or visit www.broadwayla.org.
"King Lear" A timeless masterpiece of domestic tragedy, this is a tale of fathers and their unloved sons and daughters, of catastrophic change, and of the individual at the mercy of a hostile world. Written by William Shakespeare and directed by Bart DeLorenzo, it runs through August 15 at THE ANTAEUS COMPANY @ Deaf West Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets call 818-506-1983 or visit www.Antaeus.org.
“Procreation” When Hope hosts a birthday party for her alcoholic mother, Ruby, the stage is set for a family reunion from hell where the liquor (and shocking revelations) are served up by the half-gallon. Written by Justin Tanner and directed by David Schweizer, it runs through August 15 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in
Los Angeles. For tickets call 310-477-2055 or visit www.odysseytheatre.com.
"The Hasty Heart" A surly Scottish soldier named Lachie is admitted to a convalescent ward in Burma during World War II. There he meets seven fellow soldiers who try to befriend him. Heading the ward is the kind Nurse Margaret, who begins to fall in love with Lachie. During his time at the ward, while healing his wounds, his life begins to change as he realizes the importance of friendship and opening your heart. Written by John Patrick and directed by Amick Byram, it runs through August 21 at the Glendale Centre Theatre in Glendale. For tickets call 818-244-8481 or visitwww.glendalecentretheatre.com.
"Engagement" A dramedy about relationships in the age of social media, covering two intense years in the off-center romantic entanglement of a sharp-witted political conservative man, and an apolitical, tolerant and artistic woman, as it takes aim at a contemporary social fabric frayed by technology’s relentless attack on the fragile connection between people. Written and directed by Allen Barton, it runs through August 22 at The Beverly Hills Playhouse in Beverly Hills. For tickets call 310-358-9936 or visit www.katselastheatre.org.
“Eat, Drink And Be Merry” is the theme for the 2010 Pageant of the Masters, Laguna’s world-famous celebration of art in the form of living pictures as real people don complex costumes and makeup to pose as three-dimensional characters on elaborate sets designed to produce breathtaking re-creations of inspirational artworks. Directed by Diane Challis Davy, it runs through August 31 as part of the Laguna Art Festival at the Irvine Bowl in Laguna Beach. For tickets call 949-494-1145 or visit www.LagunaFestivalofArts.org.
"A Walk In The Woods" is the story of an impossible friendship between a young American nuclear arms negotiator and his cynical Soviet counterpart during their private walks in the hills above Geneva, as the two nations attempt to avert a nuclear holocaust in spite of the forces pushing them toward it. Written by Lee Blessing and directed by Richard Alan Woody, it runs through September 4 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets call 818-700-4878 or visit www.thegrouprep.com.
"String Of Pearls" explores the possibilities that open up in the lives of an array of women as they come into contact with a certain strand of pearls which are stolen, bought, bestowed, unstrung and nearly lost. Over 35 years, the pearls touch the lives of mothers and daughters, sisters and friends, even husbands and wives as they weave a deeply affecting story of love and loss. Written by Michele Lowe and directed by Sherry Netherland, it runs through September 5 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets call 818-700-4878 or visit www.thegrouprep.com.
"Shake" is a dramatic/comedic exploration of deeply troubled people struggling to survive an unfamiliar, sorrowful and shaken world. Set in post-9/11 Manhattan, the play happens backwards over 12 months, starting in August, 2002 and going back to September, 2001. Written by Joshua Fardon and directed by Kiff Scholl, it runs through September 5 at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood. For tickets call 323-856-8611 or visit www.theatreofnote.com.
“Just 45 Minutes From Broadway” a family of actors and their showbiz friends all live together in a house 45 minutes away from Broadway until their world is upset by the return of the only daughter not involved in showbiz and her new fiancée who have secret plans for change in the family. Written by Henry Jaglom and directed by Gary Imhoff, it runs through September 19 at the Edgemar Center For the Arts in Santa Monica. For tickets call 310-392-7327 or visitwww.edgemarcenter.org.
“Bedroom Farce” Four couples, three bedrooms, two celebrations, one blazing argument and an illicit kiss or two, shines a brilliant spotlight onto the trials and tribulations of suburban marriage. Written by Alan Ayckbourn and directed by Ron Bottitta, it runs through September 26 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in
Los Angeles. For tickets call 310-477-2055 or visit www.odysseytheatre.com.
"Speak Of Me As I Am" A tribute to an American hero, it looks at the life and struggles of Paul Robeson, who fell into political disfavor, blacklisting and then non-personhood, because he refused to remain silent about the economic and racial inequities in the world. Written and directed by K.B. Solomon, it runs August 6 through September 5 at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood. For tickets call 323-960-5772 or visit
www.plays411.com/speakofme.
"Eat The Runt" A satirical piece which turns its eye on office politics, sexual harassment, religious persuasions, political correctness, and societal and cultural norms, of which the actors will forge their own unique interpretations in any one of the 40,320 possible casting combinations that could confront them based upon suggestions from the audience at the start of the show. Written by Avery Crozier and directed by Tom Beyer, it runs August 10 through September 9 at Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood. For tickets call 323-856-8611 or visit www.theatreofnote.com.
“The Good Negro” the arrest of a woman doctor and her 4-year-old daughter for using the wrong restroom and the murderous violence of the Ku Klux Klan, cause three brave but flawed Black leaders to transcend their own personal shortcomings and organize a boycott of merchants and protest marches against segregation. Written by Tracey Scott Wilson and directed by Sam Nickens, it runs August 12 through September 19 at the Stella Adler Theatre, Gilbert Stage, in Hollywood. For tickets call 323-960-1054 or visit www.Plays411/com/goodnegro.
“The Exercise” an actor and an actress who share an intimate past are in preparation for a rehearsal, which leads them to explore the depths of their most terrifying inner secrets, as the bickering, love, tenderness, and passion, embroil them in a life-and-death struggle. Written by Lewis John Carlino and directed by Kenn Schmidt, it runs August 13 through August 29 at The Lounge Theatre in Hollywood. For tickets call 323-960-7724 or visit www.Plays411.com/exercise.
"On the Fritz: An Evening With Fritz Coleman" An inside look at LA weather, lifestyle, and television news told by the wittiest broadcaster on the West Coast! The affable honorary Mayor of Toluca Lake and long-time award-winning NBC 4 broadcaster entertains with his acerbic, incisive, yet seemingly gentle comedy and answers any and all questions from the audience about the news business, the weather, a certain late night talk show on NBC, and anything and everything under the California sun in a laugh-filled look at life in the public eye. It runs August 19 through August 22 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets call 818-508-4200 or visit www.elportaltheatre.com.
“Greater Tuna” depicts a day in the life of Texas’ third-smallest town, as we meet an assortment of characters in Tuna as they go about their day: A mom with two troubled teenagers and a philandering husband, the head of the local humane society, a reform school graduate, a wanna-be cheerleader, a fiddle player, a woman who is deadly in the kitchen, an investigative reporter, a poetry contest winner, and more. Written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, and directed by Guilford Adams, it runs August 20 through September 25 at the Sierra Madre Playhouse in Sierra Madre. For tickets call 626-355-4318 or visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org.
“Topdog/Underdog” Two African-American brothers named Lincoln and Booth who were abandoned by their parents to fend for themselves at the respective ages of 16 and 11, are now in their thirties. Booth wants to be a master at a con game which his brother has already mastered, and sibling rivalry between them threatens to develop into a dangerous explosion. Written by Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by James Reynolds, it runs August 21 through September 18 at the Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena. For tickets call 866-811-4111 or visit www.fremontcentretheatre.com.
I got a feelin (woo hoo), that tonight's gonna be a good night, when you go to a show that's alright, and you tell all your friends it's out of sight!
