.

Everyone, it seems, is on edge. America feels like it is bracing for impact. THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS is the perfect expression of that. Set in a high school in the Midwest, a teacher, Judith, a very good and very dedicated teacher, fills her class notice board with PRIDE info to support Pride month. When she comes in the next morning, she discovers a large, vivid red swastika spray-painted across her work. She is understandably devastated. But she is also very angry and demands to know who is responsible. The school principal, her ex-husband, is trying to contain the situation, hoping it won’t explode. But, of course, it does, how could it not? Something like this was bound to create a firestorm in an already combustible climate. 

THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS is a searing examination of small-town anxiety and the kind of very human presumptions we all have about each other.

It’s set during Obama’s second term, which held its own stressors for us all. The world was changing and things we took for granted, such as fairness and tolerance and grace, were beginning to look like unsteady mirages rather than the towering edifices of hope we all thought them to be. 

This disturbing event rattles teachers and students alike, and when Judith’s school newspaper, one of the most honored in the country, needs the story to be told, the boy assigned to it has his own personal motivation to get it right. The play begins as a lecture as well and morphs into the retelling of history. This has the wonderful effect of bringing you back to the classroom. We are all students and bring with us what that meant to us individually at that time in our lives. Our insecurities, our foibles, our burdens, our whimsical ever ever-changing brains. Connecting us this way is a stroke of genius. We can instantly relate, especially to whoever painted the board. Teenage brains are notoriously ridiculous, I’m sure we can all remember that truth.

THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS is beautifully and thoughtfully written. The characters are flawed and also utterly perfect. Their myriad of motivations are achingly realistic and true. How would any of us react to something as personally brutalising as this? 

Judith’s classroom was a sacred space for her. She created what she considered to be the securest of environments for those few who helped her tell truths in her fabled paper. This event tears through the school, separating friends and family alike. Judith is a lone liberal in a town full of conservatives, and we can all relate to how hard it can be to feel understood when those around us seem to be speaking an entirely different language. 

THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS is another phenomenal play in a long line of exceptional work at The Road Theatre. Peopled by the sublime acting skills of these fine actors, this play could never be anything but brilliant. 

Now, more than ever, we need understanding and empathy. We need to see each other and not to judge. Which is nearly impossible, I know. Perhaps this play is showing us that sometimes the most shocking event can be a catalyst for change, and sometimes it can show us that what we can no longer tolerate is a big part of who we are and who we wish to be.

Tickets: 

https://ci.ovationtix.com/35065/production/1231275

When: 

April 18 – June 7
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm.
There will be two captioned performances for the deaf and hard of hearing communities on Sunday, May 4 and Saturday, May 10

Where:

The Road Theatre
10747 Magnolia Blvd., NoHo Arts District, 91601

THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS Cast

Christina Carlisi as “Judith,” Meeghan Holaway as “DeeAnn,” Gloria Ines as “Ms. Carter,” Carlos Lacamara as “Principal Benson.” Gabriel Palma as “Gregg,” and Victor Kallett as “Micah.”

The Design Team

Scenic Design by Mia Okada; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Projection Design by Ben Rock; Sound Design by David B. Marling; Costume Design by Jenna Bergstraesser; Properties Design by Scottie Nevil.  The Production Stage Manager is Maurie Gonzalez.

The post THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Tuesdays with Morrie is a classic American book, play and of course, film starring Jack Lemon and Hank Azaria. Over the years, it has become a much-loved play, so I was thrilled to see that CASA 0101 had decided to host a production. The story is this: a successful sports journalist, Mitch Albom, hears his college mentor and professor of sociology, Morrie Schwartz, has Lou Gehrig’s Disease and rushes to see him before it’s too late. 

But what began as a quick trip to say goodbye becomes regular weekly visits and a deep, meaningful friendship that changes both of them. It’s sentimental, sure. However, there’s much more to this play than just heartbreak. These men love each other. Their connection when Mitch was at college was deep. But even though they haven’t seen each other for 16 years, they pick right up where they left off. There’s a kind of muscle memory we have with certain people in our lives, isn’t there? No matter how long it’s been. The heart is a muscle, after all. 

Tuesdays with Morrie is a story about love and also trying to understand one another, forgive one another, even if we disagree. Something particularly important for us all right now. 

Two men who are at totally different stages in their lives reconnect not because one of them is dying, although that was Mitch’s initial motivation, of course. But because the dying man is able to live his life with more authenticity than the living one. Mitch has become trapped by his own ambition. Afraid to be even a morsel of the musician he once was. As if becoming who he longed to be would overwhelm him. It is for Morrie to remind him that we have no time…literally.

At one point in the play, Mitch laments that there is no point in loving. “Loving is the point,” says Morrie. Quite right! The lesson is pertinent at any time, but it feels more so now with our collective angst. The actual Mitch and his Morrie were Jewish and Boyle Heights used to be full of predominantly Jewish families. So, perhaps it is fitting that these Tuesdays with Morrie roles are now played by Hispanic actors since the neighborhood is now mostly Hispanic. 

However you look at it, these wonderful actors take this simple story and fill it with pathos and truth. Masterful and nuanced performances give the story new life. Which is all that any playwright can wish for, surely.

Stripped back and subtle staging is all these engaging actors require to create the world they occupy for the time it takes for a man to die. As I looked around at my fellow audience, I could see they were captivated by this truly lovely production. While Morrie was dying, he was busy living…perhaps we can all take a page from his book. Bravo to CASA 0101 for bringing this play back to a new and hopefully thoroughly inspired audience! Bravo!

Tickets: 

https://casa0101.org/?shows=tuesdays-with-morrie

When: 

April 18 – May 11
Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 3PM

Where: 

CASA 0101
2102 E 1st St Los Angeles, CA 90033

The Cast of Tuesdays with Morrie

Vance Valencia (Morrie Schwartz) and Gilbert Reynoso (Mitch Albom).

****
To see what shows are playing, check out our theatre guide>>

The post Tuesdays with Morrie appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Jane Eyre is possibly the most perfect example of a bildungsroman in English literature. Namely, it is a story of hardship and self discovery, romance and loss, extreme heartbreak and redemption. If it were not so beautifully and compellingly written, it might be a fluffy romance novella. 

But Emily Bronte’s unmistakable brilliance as a writer elevates this dark, tempestuous, psychologically intense story to legendary status. It is considered to be one of the greatest novels in the English language with very good reason.

There have been many film adaptations and TV shows. Pick your favourite version…but a play always brings something more to a story, doesn’t it?  Something magical. An element of chance, a thread of electricity, an otherwise unattainable vividness. A play more closely resembles one’s imagination, as if we, as an audience are sitting in a darkened room, the book on our laps, the cold night at the window. A Noise Within has captured the romantic hearts of Los Angeles with forays into the greatest works of fiction. Kiss of The Spider Woman, or any number of the works of Shakepeare and Dickens come to mind. 

But this version of this particular epic and revelatory story is something altogether different. Jane Eyre moves passed performance. It effortlessly, almost imperceptibly, enters our hearts. I could have heard a pin drop throughout most of this astonishing performance, so utterly riveted was I and the audience all around me. 

Of course, we all know the story. Jane Eyre is an orphan, brought up in a school for children such as her, where she becomes a teacher once she graduates. But she yearns for more, and the story of this quiet young woman, all alone in the world, unwilling to settle for a small life, quite changed the world it was published in. It gave voice to hearts and thoughts and dreams. Jane Eyre in her simple bravery and passionate longing to be seen, gave substance to the lives of every woman in the crushingly patriarchal Georgian world.

The play distills the novel with complete perfection. The essence of the story and its urgent sense of longing and loss, with always the hovering impending sorrow on the edge of love. A Noise Within has cast from the very core of its company of actors for this wonderful play, and I was thrilled to see Frederick Stuart in the role of Edward Rochester. He fully captured the rakishness and the maddening arrogance of this broken lonely man. But it is Jeanne Syquia as Jane who is the heart of the story and the heart of this play. She is incandescent. Brittle yet sweet, removed yet kind and always intensely compelling. She brings a humor to the role, without being obvious. There is an almost alien quality to Jane Eyre. How else can she forgive everyone in her life who wronged her, including Rochester? Her heart, although repeatedly broken, remains open and unable to judge. It is that quality that bewitches Rochester and maintains that connection through time and distance, and is ultimately what reunites them. Jeanne Syquia stands on the stage, unblinking, unstirring, her eyes wide and deep and she is Jane Eyre.

But then the entire cast is quite unforgettable. All working together to create the world of Jane Eyre and its layers of pain and forgiveness with sublime dedication. All of this makes Jane Eyre an absolute triumph. Unquestionably one of the finest plays I have had the pleasure of seeing at A Noise within or anywhere else for that matter! 

Geoff Elliot directs with nuance and lightness of touch. He knows these actors so well and the connection they all have is palpable. The staging, the lighting, the music…all utter perfection and all designed to tell this beautiful story of devotion and love. A Noise Within has that magical ability to focus all and everything on the story they tell. Whatever is on the stage is absolutely everything to them and the result of this devotion is that an audience believes absolutely everything it sees. That is the exchange. A play is performed and an audience is transported. Who could wish for more…

Tickets: 

When:

Performances March 29 – April 20
• Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. / Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. (no Saturday matinee on March 29)

Where:

A Noise Within
3352 E. Foothill Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91107

The Jane Eyre Cast

Jeanne Syquia as Jane Eyre, Frederick Stuart as Edward Rochester .The cast also includes Deborah Strang as Mrs. Fairfax, and Bert Emmett, Julia Manis, Trisha Miller and Riley Shanahan, who each take on multiple roles. Young Stella Bullock plays Jane as a child, as well as Mr. Rochester’s ward, Adele.

The Creative Team

The creative team includes scenic designer Frederica Nascimento; costume designer Angela Balogh Calin; lighting designer Ken Booth; composer and sound designer Robert Oriol; wig and make up designer Tony Valdés; properties designer Stephen Taylor; dialect coach Andrea Odinov; and dramaturg Miranda Johnson-Haddad. The production stage manager is Candice Segarra-Stroud, assisted by Katelyn Hampton.

*****Enjoy the NoHo Arts District even more, see what shows are playing and check out our theatre guide>>

The post Jane Eyre appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Aristotle/Alexander is a new original play by Alex Lyras, who also directs. It was developed at the J. Paul Getty Museum for the Getty Villa Theater Lab and produced as a staged reading last spring. A young Alexander the Great, still living at home with his mother, requires a tutor. His mother, the brilliant and often historically overlooked Queen Olympias, chooses Aristotle, who was already a legend. Alexander is a typical teenager, headstrong and arrogant, heir to an enormous empire. But Alexander is also an accomplished tactician, a brilliant warrior and student, ambitious and driven, so his arrogance has some validity when you consider his future life path. 

Aristotle, a genius in any century, has his own baggage. At that time, philosophy was almost a contact sport and extremely competitive and poorly paid. Aristotle has mouths to feed and his old age to plan for, as well as a reputation to defend. Tutoring the future king of Macedon could certainly be considered a wise choice. In retrospect, it was one of the most brilliant trades in history. In return for his time, Aristotle’s hometown of Stageira was rebuilt and its population released from slavery by King Philip, Alexander’s father who had burned it to the ground years before. 

Aristotle/Alexander revolves around this crucial moment in history. Who’s to say who Alexander might have become if not for the questioning mind of Aristotle and the challenges made to his own narcissism? 

Rather than conquering most of the known earth and expanding his empire further than anyone could have imagined, his life and the history of our world might have gone in a totally different direction altogether.

What an inspired moment to dramatize then. Writer Alex Lyras studied ancient texts and took documented conversations and writings by both Alexander and Aristotle to create this fascinating and powerful play. As Aristotle and Alexander learn more about each other, their intellects expand in ways neither of them could ever have anticipated. Aristotle must have been as surprised as Alexander!

The action on stage is accompanied by some gorgeous, innovative video design, creating a huge cinematic backdrop for the story. The music is also ingenious, an original score made with the use of authentic instruments from the time. Subtle, atmospheric and utterly immersive. 

All these elements, along with a truly phenomenal cast, give Aristotle/Alexander a strangely contemporary feel, given the classical setting, costume and wonderful attention to detail. It feels as if this extraordinary relationship and the consequences of it could occur at any time, even right now. In many ways, the times are similar enough. Tyrants reign, burgeoning democracy is hanging on by a thread. Fortunes are spent and lost on wars whose only purpose it seems is to line the pockets of the already wealthy and decimate populations. History, even if written by the truth speakers rather than the victors, can teach but never change a man.

Centuries from now, will they write plays about our times? Maybe a few horror films? 

Aristotle/Alexander is an utterly sublime play, perfection from beginning to end, in fact. Narrated by Isocrates, who flits in to update us on the state of the world and the progress of these two strange brothers in arms. Which gives yet another layer to this wonderfully textured story. 

Andrew Byron gives us a stoic, dryly witty Aristotle and Nicholas Clary’s Alexander is positively inspired. Part brat, part psychopath and still somehow charming. John Kapelos’s grumpy scene-stealing Isocrates is adorable and slightly dangerous and Elyse Levesque is beautiful and more than a little scary as the woman with the ultimate agenda, Olympias. 

An incredible cast for an epic and disturbingly relevant story. Aristotle/Alexander is an absolute triumph. Who can resist ancient Greeks and their desperate deeds? Not I!! Bravo!

Tickets: 

https://www.aristotlealexander.com

When: 

March 29-May 4
Saturday at 8PM and Sunday at 3PM, with an additional matinee Saturday, April 19 at 3PM

Where: 

Company of Angeles
1350 San Pablo St., Los Angeles, CA 90033 

The Aristotle/Alexander Cast

The cast includes Andrew Byron (West End’s Night of the Iguana, Brighton Fringe Festival’s The Good Russian) as Aristotle, Nicholas Clary (Mountain Avenue Theatre’s Midnight Summer’s Dream, Acidman) as Alexander, John Kapelos (National Hellenic Museum’s The Trial of Socrates, The Breakfast Club) as Isocrates, and Elyse Levesque (CW’s The Originals, Fox Searchlight’s Ready or Not) as Queen Olympias.

The Creative Team

In addition to Lyras, the creative team for Aristotle/Alexander includes original score by Andreas Fevos, set design by Joel Daavid, visual design by Jon Bonk and Tim Kennedy from Immerse Studios video, video and lighting design by Matt Richter, costume design by Paula Davis, hair & make up by Heidi Lowry, fight choreography by Orion Barnes, technical direction by Justin Huen, digital content by Effie Samios, video editing by Peter Chakos, casting by April Webster, and stage management by Claire Dewar.

COMPANY OF ANGELS (Co-Producer) was founded in 1959 by Leonard Nimoy, Richard Chamberlain, Vic Morrow, and Vic Tayback, among others, is the oldest non-profit professional equity waiver theater in Los Angeles.

https://www.companyofangels.org

The post Aristotle/Alexander appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

It might not be the usual time of year for the macabre and the sinister, but in NoHo – which is, let’s face it, full of ghosts – the time is always ripe for a scare or two!

A HAUNTING REVUE is three plays: the iconic Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams, La Mano Del Mono, adapted from the short story by WW Jacob and the original, The Inheritance of Dracula. All deeply creepy, all fascinating examinations of the human inexplicable tendency to fear and danger and morbid curiosity.

Of course, Suddenly Last Summer is well known and frequently emulated. In this version, the performance of Violet Venable by Aditya Putcha in strange and eerie pale makeup, sitting toad-like in a wheelchair immediately brings a sickness to the stage. While the story revolves around Violet Venable, trying to convince a doctor to lobotomise her recently widowed daughter-in-law to prevent her from telling everyone how and why her debauched husband, whom his mother was suffocatingly devoted to, actually died. That is, beaten to death and partially eaten. The doctor instead believes the widow and prevents a further tragedy. It’s the telling of the horrific truth and the unfettered, twisted anger it unleashes that ‘haunts’ the audience. It’s a story about bigotry and the repellent nature of the southern elite family it chronicles. Weirdly wonderful!

La Mano Del Mono is a retelling of another vintage horror tale. The Monkey’s Paw. A traveller visits the family of his friend and brings as a gift a mummified monkey’s paw. The legend attached to it, something he is clearly very happy to be rid of, is that it will grant you three wishes, but in return for granting your desires, you will lose something dear to you. Not believing, the father asks for money and then throws the paw into the fire. In the morning ,he is visited by an insurance man who gives him a check for the death of his only son, who has been crushed beyond recognition. Mortified, he wishes his dead son back to life at the behest of his family. When an ominous pounding on their door wakes them from their sleep, he knows he cannot face the deformed, reanimated son outside and wishes for him to be gone. His final wish. And the hardest one of all. It’s a strange and chilling story very well played.

The final play is an original, The Inheritance of Dracula. Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee meet one evening and discuss their work, their lives and their legacy. It’s a really fascinating proposition, these two masters of their craft in a room together, two monsters, two actors, two men. We are so used to the myth and mystery of these larger-than-life humans that it’s easy to imagine them as they are here, in this wonderfully written and beautifully acted play. It’s an homage to their work, of course, but it’s also a lot like fan art. Which I loved actually. The actors were very entertaining, sincere and believable. This last play was a lovely way to round out the evening after the two much more frightening pieces. Bringing us back to the storytelling, so to speak. 

A Haunting Revue was very enjoyable and thoughtfully done. I would love to see more from this group of talented actors and writers, perhaps something in October during the season of ghosts and ghouls and monsters?

Bravo to all!!

A Haunting Revue Cast

Aditya Putcha, Brendan Getches, Victoria Vann, Christine Viviers, Debi Key-Velez, Richard James Page, Jean Murillo, Luc Rosenthal, Lola Buckland, Morry Schorr, Ari Litman-Weinberg.

A Haunting Revue Team

Directed by Richard James Page. Produced by Brendan Getches. Lighting and sound design by Jimmy Morgan.

The post A HAUNTING REVUE appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Elizabeth June is an award-winning actor, writer and singer and theatre director. You can tell from the moment she sets foot on stage that she knows what she is doing. Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is a travelogue through her life and as we journey with her we see it all through her own unique lens, that is a particularly difficult thing to do. Yet, somehow, with a mix of song, spoken word, monologue and a brilliant hybrid of all three, she accomplishes it a plenty.

Elizabeth was brought up in a very religious household, so much so that her mother moved them to Keene,Texas to live amongst the Seventh Day Adventist church members in an exclusive town dedicated to the church. Moving from kaleidoscopic New York City to Texas must have been a shock for her. However, when you are a kid, you go where you are taken. In Texas, she was among a minority as a black girl, but that became the least of her problems…

This beautifully written and beguilingly performed, Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is one of those almost indefinable life stories. It covers abuse, heartbreak and loss. But it also provides us a precious glimpse into a world most of us would never see and it does so with a woman whose incredible strength and adaptability probably prevented her from losing her mind after a childhood full of sexual abuse. 

Elizabeth June didn’t just survive her life, though. She has become who she is in spite of it. A highly creative force to reckon with. Brilliant, gifted, courageous and loved. This remarkable performance goes far beyond your typical biopic solo show. Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is a total rejection of victimhood. Not to say that victims are not worthy of anything, but that Elizabeth is not forging her story using that lens. She transcends her possible narrative and creates her own parallel universe. It’s as if there were a tear in reality and she stepped through it. Becoming herself in another existence almost, while still carrying that history with her. 

Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is a lesson in taking control of your life no matter what. She may not feel as if she is a guide, a model, a GOAT. But she is. Profoundly so in fact. Through abuse and cancer and all that these things do to your mind body and spirit. And still I was laughing and tearing up through most of the show. Incredible!

Elizabeth has taken all she has experienced, good and very bad and accepted it all. And through this acceptance, she has grown wings. I watched in astonishment as she sang and preached and performed her way through this story as if it were her final moments. And I can almost guarantee that she replicates this phenomenon each and every time she performs this truly life-changing show.

If you are able to see this show, and I truly hope that you are, I absolutely insist that you do. 

The Team

The design and production team includes projection and sound design by Jason Williams, and lighting design by Ian McDonald. Nicole Jesson and Malini Singh McDonald, founder of Theatre Beyond Broadway, as producers. 

https://www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com

The post Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Music and theatre are symbiotic. Sometimes blissfully so. Sometimes not so much. But, Showstopper is utterly sublime and musically blissful. It’s an examination of the life of a well-known composer of musicals, the fictional Jerry Rockwell, brainchild of the composer Gary Stockdale who also performs as Jerry, Spencer Green and Matthew Leavitt. Between the three of them, they are responsible for a multitude of successful musicals, theatre and even the occasional opera! 

What could these three master storytellers possibly cook up, with the use of a fictional character that they could not do justice to as themselves? Well, Showstopper, although it is far from parody, does explore the more brutal fringes of writing music as a job. The failures, the flops, the excruciating process of ideas and music and lyrics. The endless rejections, the highs and lows of fame and fortune. 

All this is done through a parade of wonderful songs, all taken from Jerry’s own remarkable canon of work. Songs that are full of the wisdom and whimsy and absolutely hilarious anecdotes. Songs that run the gamut of style and sensibility. 

From rock opera to a little light music. From brassy show tunes to introspective melodic acoustic cries in the dark. This Jerry Rockwell sure knows how to write…from every era, in every genre, and to every audience he can imagine. 

Is he the star of this show? Perhaps. He’s certainly hard to ignore, alone on stage with his keyboard vibrating wildly as he pounds it and his guitar sitting dutifully in its stand. But I spent a good part of the time sitting in the audience wondering about the three writers who created this truly entertaining and thought-provoking show. Why this format? Why this character? Why a solo show and not a more drama-driven play? And also, how were they able to make this one show feel as if it were about all three of them? For that is what Showstopper is for me at least. A play with music about the disparate dimensions of the talent of three men performed by one.

Showstopper is a really wonderful way of exploring the human side of being an artist. 

What on earth possesses someone to follow this path? The profound instability of the life. The rawness of it. Always searching for the perfection that a few moments of joy on stage can bring…and rarely finding it. I really felt that in this excellent show. The fragility of the artist, even as he belts out the song, his hands flitting flawlessly across the keys. Leaping from song to song with the ease of a high wire trapezist, with just as much nerve needed and only a little less chance of disaster and death.

Showstopper is a show about how to survive being a showman. But it is also about how to survive as a human being. 

We are all just trying to make it from one day to the next, one song to the next, one life to the next without humiliation and failure and hoping for love and admiration. Jerry Rockwell is all of us…put to song, and in this way, all of us can identify with every moment he is on stage. The self torture, the depreciation, lack of confidence and a life full of self doubt. But these are ofter the marks borne by artists. It is the search for something more that drives them to create and fills their every waking hour. Ultimately, Jerry Rockwell writes for himself. Which is why his audience is never satisfied and why his work is ultimately so incredibly good. 

Gary Stockdale performs as Jerry Rockwell, and he is astonishingly and often brutally authentic. Superb in fact. I absolutely loved this unique and heartrending play about an artist just being an artist. Beautiful, funny, real and highly entertaining! Bravo, Gary Stockdale, Spencer Green and Matthew Leavitt! Bravo!!!

Tickets: 

https://showstopper.ludus.com/index.php

Where: 

The Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

When: 

March 21-April 25, Fridays at 8PM

The Team:

Gary Stockdale – Composer, Lyrics, Book, and Star of the Show.

Matthew Leavitt – Book, Director

Spencer Green – Book, Lyrics

The post Showstopper appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Unreconciled is perhaps the most accurately named show I have ever seen. Written and performed by Jay Sefton, this solo play recounts Sefton’s adolescent abuse by a parish priest, his experience with the Catholic church’s reparations program and the turmoil of years of abuse by a man his family trusted.

Sefton plays himself from a sweet innocent young boy and on through the abuse. He also characterises the priest, some of the other boys of the parish, his mother and, most poignantly I think, his father. Who heartbreakingly faces the horror head on. Unflinchingly embodying the truth of it. A mirror. A shining light. Forcing us and them not to look away or deflect or in any way qualify this man’s betrayal of everyone. Child, parents, parish and god. 

It began when he was given the role of Jesus in the annual parish play. The play was written and directed by the parish priest and he kept a close hold on the proceedings. He was odd, but priests often are, aren’t they? And parents in communities that revolve around the church have minds that sometimes can’t quite grasp the obvious. Particularly in times past, before the scandals were so prevalent and before the flood of lawsuits and payoffs and Hollywood movies. 

Any home felt honored when the priest came for dinner, why wouldn’t it? Nowadays, those memories are wracked with guilt and disgust and a sickening that tore apart families and communities, and the hearts of children.

Unreconciled is beautifully, carefully and tenderly written. In spite of the subject. In place of the shadows, there is a kind of brightness to it. An illumination of what happened to so many. 

Sefton morphs from person to person without gratuitous affectation. He gives these people grace and love and kindness. All except the priest, of course. He gives him a cold, hard oddness and shark-like eyes. 

It’s difficult to say that I loved this play. And yet I did. Deeply.  The story unfolded with much more gentleness than it could have. And that I think was very intentional, to shield the audience in some way from the real tragic harm of all of it. And perhaps Sefton himself. 

Sefton and his co-writer Mark Basquill are both therapists, and it’s very clear that they took great care in constructing the story.  As if we are the children whose lives were wrecked and ravaged. The effect is profound. The poetic almost lyrical flow of it all, and the father so sweetly wrought and so achingly heroic. 

Unreconciled is utterly moving and thoughtfully made. Sefton’s magical visceral performance is truly one of the best I have seen on stage or screen for many many years. He is a phenomenal actor and chooses to bare himself completely, to give a voice to so many who have lost theirs, it is a precious gift indeed.

Unreconciled runs through Monday and I cannot recommend this unforgettable play more highly. Bravo. And thank you.

Where:  

Moving Arts
3191 Casitas Ave., Suite 100, Atwater Village

When:

Friday, March 21: 8 PM
Saturday, March 22: 2 PM
Saturday, March 22: 8 PM
Sunday, March 23: 2 PM
Monday, March 24: 8 PM
Friday, March 28: 8 PM
Saturday, March 29: 2 PM
Saturday, March 29: 8 PM
Sunday, March 30: 2 PM
Monday, March 31: 8 PM

Tickets: 

https://movingarts.ludus.com/index.php?show_id=200471467

https://www.unreconciledtheplay.com

The post Unreconciled appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

Drat! The Cat! is a wonderfully nostalgic romp, full of rousing songs and brilliant performances! 

Set at the turn of the 20th century in New York, the story revolves around New York high society and a series of wildly ambitious and very public jewelry thefts by a notorious cat burglar who leaves a signature “cat” card in place of everything they steal.

The chief of police retires and the major is desperate for someone to lead the investigation into the masterful “Cat” who seems to run circles around anyone who tries to stop them. The old chief’s son, out to make a name for himself, is given two weeks to make an arrest. However, as the investigation unfolds, he finds himself falling in love with the beautiful daughter of the richest man in the city…who just happens to be…yes, you guessed it!

It’s a fun story heavily populated with hilarious characters and roof-raising musical numbers. The valiant folks at the Group Rep give it their all and sing their collective hearts out, and the result is a brilliantly authentic and fun-filled production.

The supporting cast is, as always, wonderful. But I have to give high praise to the two leads, Sydney DeMaria (Alice Van Guilder) and Alec Reusch (Bob Purefoy). They are utterly sublime in their performances and the chemistry between them is palpable. Drat! The Cat! is written by Ira Levin, whose magical career is almost unrivalled in its variety, from Rosemary’s Baby, to The Boys From Brazil! Drat! The Cat! is his one foray into musical theatre and it is quite the ride, I can tell you!

Bravo to all at Group Rep for the all-singing all-dancing staging of this unforgettable American musical! Well worth seeing and don’t we all need something wonderful to distract us all from absolutely everything right now!!

Tickets: 

https://thegrouprep.com/show/drat-the-cat

When: 

March 21-April 27
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm. Sundays at 2pm.

Where: 

The Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre
10900 Burbank Blvd., NoHo Arts District, CA 91601

The Drat! The Cat! Cast

The Group Rep cast features the talents of Ben Anderson, April Audia, Riley Croman, Sydney DeMaria, Lareen Faye, Amy Goldring, Lee Grober, Doug Haverty, Angie Lin, Hisato Masuyama, Constance Mellors, Savannah Mortenson, Maxwell Oliver, Lloyd Pedersen, Alec Reusch, Rob Schaumann, Nicole Slatin, Melissa Strauss, and Steve Young.

The Team

The production team includes Audrey Szot (Set Design), Echo Brejcha (Lighting Design), Robbie Myles (Lighting Consultant), Shon Le Blanc (Costume Design), John Harvey (Sound Design), Cynthia Payo (Assistant Director), Denise Downer (Marketing), Art & Soul Design (Graphic Design), Cathy D. Tomlin (Sound Mixer), Krys Fehervari (Wig Design), Terrie Collins-Grant (Properties Design), Maria Kress (Artistic Council Liaison), Kristin Stancato (Webmaster & Online Marketing), Doug Engalla (Promotional Video & Photography), Jackie Shearn (Social Media), and Maxwell Petrie (Stage Manager).

****
To see what shows are playing, check out our theatre guide>>

The post Drat! The Cat! appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..

I saw this show last year, you can read my review here. I absolutely adore My Uterus: A Womb with a View. Dina takes a very tricky subject full of embarrassing details and potential sadness and makes it human, informative and incredibly, side-splittingly  funny. I have talked about this show to so many people, I’ve probably lots count at this point and I really cannot recommend it highly enough! 

Dina is a wonderful writer and performer and I have seen her other solo show, The Italian in me (review) which was also absolutely fantastic…she really is so talented and a superb comedienne. I always like to find out as much as I can about the shows I love the most, so I had a few questions for Dina that I thought would help explain the show a little more and perhaps encourage even more people to see it! Everyone should see this show!!!

Hi Dina! Thank you so much for My Uterus: A Womb with a View! This show has been produced several times now at Theatre West. Why do you think this show is so popular, Dina?

MY UTERUS: A WOMB WITH A VIEW was first staged at Theatre West but only as a one-off. I did a few more on-offs and have still not decided when I will do an actual run. This show speaks to so many things, and of course, the most glaring is a woman’s right to her own Uterus, which lives inside her body. I touch on so many things about the Uterus and what it means to have one, and I do feel that audiences go along for the ride with me because even if they feel differently than I do about this subject, I don’t lecture, I just lay out some facts, all done in a self-deprecating way, that brings a lot of humor to the piece. So, in the end, even though it is about a serious subject/organ, it’s a comedy. 

With each performance do you change anything or do things differently? 

Yes. I do change. I find myself growing into the piece – no pun intended. But I do grow as an artist into it. The characters become much more familiar, and I discover new things each time I rehearse and stage it. And then, of course, the audience is always a player in all theatre, especially solo shows and comedies. I learn from them and adjust things here and there. I find myself growing, also no pun intended, with this piece, the more I work on it. 

You are Italian…have you considered performing this show in Italy? 

I would love to perform this show in Italy. I lived in Italy for many years, and now that so many Americans are moving there or retiring, it might be the right time to go back and bring some of my work. An American couple who recently moved and retired to a small town near Umbria saw the show in LA. They told me there is a small theatre in their town and asked me to consider bringing it there. Sounds good to me!

Show business has changed so much over the years. How do you feel about the current situation in the Los Angeles entertainment business? Good or bad for theatre? 

I love that you can’t use AI in theatre. I do voiceovers, and even with that, AI is moving in. But on stage, in the spoken word, you must be present, and your audience has to be present. It’s you, your words, your actions, and you are LIVE. LA theatre is slowly starting to come back. Movie theatres and live theatre venues were both seriously affected by Covid. Seeing a movie in a large movie house with great sound on a large screen is the best way to see a movie. With theatre, it is always a living thing, and there is nothing like watching actors live and in the moment, sharing their soul and words with you, an audience. It’s all happening in real-time, and what you see, and experience will never be seen again, just like that, because it only happens once, like that version you just saw. 

Regarding the business of show business, with all the strikes, covid, fires, and all other kinds of factors, the business and many have suffered tremendously. Praying for all who lost so much, those who are not working, and that the business will come back stronger than ever before. 

How has the change in the political climate affected the show?

Wow. That is a great question. I feel that our voices need to speak up. Our voices, more than ever, are important. We need to share our feelings, we need to speak up, and we need to be proactive. 

It’s a scary time and we shall see what the future brings for all of us, especially women and their Uteruses, or should I say Uteri! 

What is next for Dina Morrone? Anything new in the pipeline?

I am working on a piece about my paternal grandmother that comes forward and connects to the present day. I also have a 5-person play I have been working on for some time, but it is time I buckle down and finish it. And, of course, I would like to keep performing this show and THE ITALIAN IN ME, which I miss performing and have put on the back burner so I can focus on MY UTERUS: A WOMB WITH A VIEW. 

Thank you, Dina!

Please go and see the My Uterus: A Womb with a View. You will have a lot of fun, guaranteed and possibly learn a few things about your bits a pieces that you didn’t know before!! This is also great for men…although it’s fair to warn them they may be changed forever…for the better!!

Where:

Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd W. Los Angeles

When:

Saturday, March 22 at 8PM, Sunday, March 23 at 2PM
Talk-back follows performance

Tickets:

https://theatrewest.org/on-stage/my-uterus-a-womb-with-a-view-2025

www.dinamorrone.com

www.theedenmagazine.com

www.theatrewest.org

www.TheMoosePlay.com

****
To see what shows are playing, check out our theatre guide>>

The post Meet Dina Morrone appeared first on NoHo Arts District - Theatre, Food, Bars, Shopping and a buzzing community..