SCENE IN LA
BY
STEVE ZALL AND SID FISH
July 2022
Most theaters have returned to normal operations again. Covid protocols vary from venue to venue, so you may still have to show proof of vaccination, and/or wear a mask during the show, so please check with the theater before you attend an event to find out what their policy is. The information presented in this column is the latest available at the time of printing, however you should check with the theater to confirm it before making definite plans. Here are the shows that have announced opening dates for this month, or are already running at this time:
OPENING
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Open Fist Theatre Company presents a provocative new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream set in the Antebellum South. Intrigued by the Mechanicals’ line “That would hang us every mother’s son,” director James Fowler has moved the action from Athens, Greece to Athens, Georgia circa 1855. There, with Shakespeare’s text unchanged, we enter a world where the magic of an enslaved people plays out in the lives of those to whom they remain invisible. Written by William Shakespeare, and directed by James Fowler, it runs July 2 through August 13 at the Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater Village. For tickets call 323-882-6912 or visit www.openfist.org.
“Saturday Night Fever” Tony Manero doesn’t have much going for him during the weekdays. He still lives at home and works as a paint store clerk in his Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood. On the weekends, however, he is the king of the dance floor at the local disco where he and his friends go to dance the night away. When a big dance competition is announced, he wrangles the beautiful and talented Stephanie to be his partner. As the two train for the big night, they start to fall for each other as well. Packed with disco classics including the Bee Gees’ hits “Stayin’ Alive,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” “Night Fever,” “Tragedy” and “More Than a Woman,” the musical is filled with explosive energy and sensational choreography. Written by Nik Cohn, adapted for the Stage by Robert Stigwood in collaboration with Bill Oaks, with music by The Bee Gees, and directed by Karen Babcock Brassea, it runs July 3 through July 17 at the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach. For tickets call 949-497-2787 or visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com.
“Pretty Woman: The Musical” centers around a free-spirited Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward, who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him. Written by Garry Marshall and J. F. Lawton, with music by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and directed by Jerry Mitchell, it runs July 5 through July 17 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. For tickets call 714-556-2787 or visit www.SCFTA.Org.
“Clownfish” Newly released from a mental hospital, Erica is trying hard to be a good bridesmaid but is finding that everyone is treating her differently...and it's getting really annoying. The only thing that could make this reunion worse? The wedding reception might just be being held in a haunted cabin. A dark comedy about mental illness, social stigmas, and the misguided desire to be “normal.” Written by Amy Dellagiarino, and directed by Laura Stribling, it runs July 7 through August 6 at the Theatre of Note in Hollywood. For tickets visit www.theatreofnote.com.
“42nd Street” Come along and listen to the lullaby of Broadway! Tap along as aspiring chorus girl Peggy Sawyer comes to the bright lights of New York City from Allentown, Pennsylvania, armed with her tap shoes and big dreams. Peggy’s talent catches the eye of legendary Broadway director, Julian Marsh, who gives her a spot as a chorus girl in Pretty Lady, his newest show. However, Pretty Lady’s leading lady, Dorothy Brock, the classic Broadway diva, is not pleased with the new girl in the cast. When Dorothy breaks her ankle during the show’s previews, Pretty Lady looks like it will have to close before it even opens, unless a new girl talented enough to lead the show can be found…perhaps someone like Peggy Sawyer? Will Peggy be able to step in and become a star? With a score chock-full of Broadway standards, including “You’re Getting to Be A Habit With Me,” “Dames,” “We’re In the Money,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” and the titular song “Forty-Second Street,” do not miss your chance to experience the glitziest, toe-tapping musical coming to Orange County this Summer! Written by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, with music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubn, and directed by Tim Nelson, it runs July 8 through July 24 at the Rose Center Theater in Westminster. For tickets visit www.rosecentertheater.com.
“Cinderella” Almost 4 decades after its world premiere at Santa Monica Playhouse, the beloved Rudie-DeCarlo musical CINDERELLA is getting a stunning multi-media makeover to kick off the 2022 Open-Again Summer Twilight Theatre Series. It’s Cinderella like you’ve never seen her before, with new songs, hilarious special FX, a silent movie segment that will have you falling out of your seat, dazzling costumes, amazing magical prestidigitation, and a story about being true to your dreams and loving yourself as you are that's as true to today as it was then. Written by Chris DeCarlo & Evelyn Rudie, and directed by Graham Silbert from original direction by Chris DeCarlo, it runs July 8 through August 26 at the Santa Monica Playhouse, The Other Space in Santa Monica. For tickets call 310-394-9779 or visit www.santamonicaplayhouse.com/cinderella.
“Ayano” Ayano is a woman who came to Los Angeles from Japan with a dream that she shared with many young women who come here from around the world: the dream of becoming a successful actress in Hollywood. With her charm and delicate beauty, she embodied a fantasy that many Western men projects onto Asian women: that of an object of desire. Things happened quickly for her: she landed several roles in quick succession, and acquired an American husband, an ex-Marine who was a Purple Heart recipient in Afghanistan. It’s five years on, and the Industry has not been kind to Ayano. She’s had to waitress, and husband Charlie has been laid off. Her brother-in-law despises her. She’s being pursued by a lecherous producer, to whom she owes money. Filled with guilt, she sees apparitions of her recently deceased father. Can Ayano and Charlie hold on until better times arrive? Can their devoted friends pull them through these times of intense challenge? Written by Chris Collins, and directed by Kiff Scholl, it runs July 9 through August 7 at the Other Space @ The Actors Company in West Hollywood. For tickets visit www.onstage411.com/ayano.
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Divorce” Three couples, each intent on getting divorced, find themselves sharing the same meeting room waiting for the same divorce mediator. Once, each of these couples were in love. What happened to bring each of them to this point? While they’re waiting, Brian and Carol, Doug and Angie, and Ken and Tanya share their stories of love that went wrong. Their tales are by turns hilarious and heartbreaking. Written by Jeff Gould, and directed by Marc Antonio Pritchett, it runs July 9 through September 11 at the Two Roads Theatre in Studio City. For tickets visit www.divorce.brownpapertickets.com.
“Grease” will tell the classic love story of Danny and Sandy, featuring a talented cast that reflects the diversity of a typical Long Beach high school. The contemporary cast includes RuPaul's Drag Race Season 12-star Darius Rose, aka Jackie Cox in the fabulous featured role of Teen Angel! The rest of Rydell High’s senior class of 1959 will represent the welcoming, melting-pot community of Long Beach. Written by Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey, with music by Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey, and directed by Snehal Desai, it runs July 9 through July 24 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of Cal State Long Beach in Long Beach. For tickets call 562-856-1999 or visit www.musical.org.
“Trouble the Water” tells the remarkable story of Robert Smalls, born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, who carried his family and others to freedom by commandeering a Confederate warship into Union waters. Upon delivering the ship—including an arsenal of rebel weaponry—to the Union army, Smalls was declared a hero, awarded $1500, and introduced to Abraham Lincoln, influencing the President to allow Black men to fight for the Union. Smalls went on to be elected to five-terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. He helped found the Republican Party of South Carolina and authored state legislation creating the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States. Written by Ellen Geer from the novel by Rebecca Dwight Bruff, and directed by Gerald C. Rivers, it runs July 9 through October 2 at the Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga. For tickets call 310-455-3723 or visit www.theatricum.com.
“Freestyle Love Supreme” Before Hamilton, before In the Heights, there was freestyle love supreme, a 2020 Special Tony Award Recipient. Now - direct from Broadway - the hip-hop musical phenomenon from Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale arrives at Pasadena Playhouse! Using cues from the audience, the cast takes you on a hip-hop comedy ride where no two performances are the same. Written by Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale, and directed by Thomas Kail, it runs July 12 through August 7 at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena. For tickets call 626-356-7529 or visit www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.
“Disney’s Newsies” STOP THE PRESSES! Based on the 1992 Walt Disney film and inspired by the true story of the 1899 New York City newsboy strike, this rousing musical is about standing your ground and fighting for what’s right. It follows a scrappy band of ink-stained street kids as they push back against the corporate greed of Big Apple media barons Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. NEWSIES features a Tony Award-winning score by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Sister Act) and Jack Feldman and a book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots). Songs like “Carrying the Banner,” “Seize the Day,” and “Santa Fe” deliver a powerful, timeless message: “Wrongs will be righted, if we’re united!” Written by Harvey Fierstein, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and directed by Richard J. Hinds, it runs July 15 through July 24 at the Kavli Theatre at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks. For tickets call 800-745-3000 or visit www.5startheatricals.com.
“Men, Money and Madness” The song-filled show is packed with tunes from The Great American Songbook, with the addition of a few songs by our favorite modern European composers for good measure. Singer-actor Tessa Bell returns to the radical roots of cabaret, moving away from the mere aggregation of sentimental love songs, and confronting and commenting on the world as it is today with humor and compassion, making sense of the chaos that surrounds us by the strength and beauty of her vivid rendition of classic songs. Written by Tessa Bell, and directed by Victoria Lavan, it runs July 15 through July 17 at the Theatre West in Los Angeles. For tickets call 323-851-7977 or visit www.theatrewest.org.
“Remembering the Future” What would your 18-year-old self say to your 58-year-old self if it had the opportunity? How would that person judge the life you are living? This question hangs over Lefcourt’s world premiere comedy that deals with love, life, and the tinted prism of memory. Two sets of actors, representing the same couple at two different ages, meet for dinner after not seeing each other for nearly 40 years. There’s a lot of water under the bridge with both having unresolved feelings about the past. Is it too late to change direction? Can they? Should they? Written by Peter Lefcourt, and directed by Terri Hanauer, it runs July 16 through August 21 at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets call 310-477-2055 Ext. 2 or visit www.OnStage411.com/Future.
“King Liz” It’s good to be king. Liz Rico is a powerful sports agent who represents NBA superstars, having fought her way to the top of a male-dominated profession with her skill for cutthroat negotiations. Given the chance to sign Freddie Luna, a once-in-a-generation high school talent with a troubled past, Liz sees an opportunity to take her career to the next level. But when accusations start swirling around the young phenom, Liz must attempt to rebound Freddie’s career or protect her own crown. Written by Fernanda Coppel, and directed by Jesca Prudencio, it runs July 21 through August 14 at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. For tickets call 310-208-2028 or visit www.geffenplayhouse.org.
“The Metromaniacs” Would-be poet Damis has fallen in love with the works of a mysterious Breton poetess, not knowing that she is really Francalou, a middle-aged gentleman. Meanwhile, Damis’s non-literary friend Dorante has fallen in love with Francalou’s daughter, Lucille, who mistakes her new suitor for her favorite poet—Damis! Add to the chaos some scheming servants, pseudonyms, and disguises, and there is much to untangle before love-plots are resolved and a happy ending found. With his sparkling wit and brilliant sense of comedic timing, David Ives brings a new shine to this lost classic. Written by David Ives, and directed by Marjorie Hayes, it runs July 21 through August 21 at the Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets call 310-364-0535 or visit www.theatre40.org.
“18 Minutes of Fame: A Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus” You’ve seen her ---a lot: On stage, on screen and especially on television. Other than the fact that she never became famous, she’s had what most performers would consider an enviable career. Because she started out as, and remains, an accomplished singer, her show business memoir is a musical one. Her road hasn’t always been an easy one. She faced physical challenges. She had to conceal her stage mother’s ongoing infidelities. Aspiring early on to sing opera, Barbara found her audiences steering her in the direction of musical comedy. Gaining a foothold in national media, she worked with the show business greats. She appeared 25 times as a raconteur and singer on The Merv Griffin Show; Appeared on TV with Danny Kaye and Jerry Lewis; 27 episodes of Love, American Style as a variety of characters; stints on Tosh O; Getting On; The Tonight Show. Her stage career has included the touring company of Funny Girl (as Fanny Brice); a starring role on Broadway in The Education of Hyman Kaplan; Off-Broadway roles in Picon Pie (as Molly Picon); Don’t Leave It All to Your Children; Rondelay. She starred locally as Jennie Grossinger in Saturday Night at Grossinger’s. She also had roles in eleven feature films. Along the way, she found true love. A trip to Israel with her husband brought her closer to her Jewish roots. Written by Susan Morgenstern and Barbara Minkus, and directed by Susan Morgenstern, it runs July 22 through July 24 at the Theatre West in Los Angeles. For tickets call 323-851-7977 or visit www.theatrewest.org.
“Laughter on the 23rd Floor” follows the rollercoaster antics that catapult a not-your-average 1950s writers’ room into the comedy fray, as they frantically attempt to please their larger-than-life boss of a weekly comedy variety show. Locked in an ongoing battle with NBC executives, who fear the show’s humor is too sophisticated for Middle America, the writing and fighting of the team expose the social and political undercurrents of the 1950s—reflecting back the ongoing tensions in today’s America in this updated, reimagined production. Written by Neil Simon, and directed by Stanley Brown, it runs July 22 through August 6 at the Westchester Playhouse in Los Angeles. For tickets call 310-645-5156 or visit www.kentwoodplayers.org.
“If I Forget” Levenson, the Tony Award-winning book writer of Dear Evan Hanson, drew from conversations with his own family to write this play that explores the lasting impact of the Holocaust on a Jewish family at the beginning of the 21st century. Set in the years following the dissolution of the Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and Palestine, If I Forget is a funny, powerful tale about a family—and a culture—at odds with itself. Written by Steven Levenson, and directed by Jason Alexander, it runs July 23 through September 10 at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets call 323-663-1525 or visit www.FountainTheatre.com.
“Get It Together” The play follows Mary, an aspiring poet, and Harold, a computer science professional, who find themselves in the spare bedroom of a Philadelphia house party. They haven’t seen each other in years, but they know what they’re heading towards. After a night of confession, teasing and tension, we see their story two years later and what that night has wrought: an unconsummated romance and an affection they apprehend but can’t have. It’s a story of growing into a tangled relationship and finding out what we take from relationships that we know aren’t meant to last. Written and directed by Michael Quinn, it runs July 29 through August 7 at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets visit www.eventbrite.com/e/get-it-together-a-new-play-tickets-294111604727.
“Million Dollar Quartet” On Dec. 4, 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins gathered for one night to play music and ended up making history. This Tony Award-nominated musical takes us inside one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll jam sessions ever recorded with four legendary musicians doing what they loved most: expressing life’s joy and sadness through song. Described as “dazzling” by New York Magazine and “wildly entertaining” by Hollywood Reporter, Million Dollar Quartet will have you rocking down memory lane with more than 20 chart-topping hits like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “I Walk the Line” and “Who Do You Love.” Written by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, and directed by James Moye, it runs July 30 through August 21 at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano. For tickets call 714-709-5555 or visit www.scr.org.
CONTINUING
“The Funny Man” is set in a lecture hall at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where Perelman was invited to speak as a guest lecturer in 1976. During the course of his lecture, he dispenses writing advice and talks about some of the colorful figures in his life, such as Groucho Marx, Dorothy Parker, Mike Todd, and Bert Lahr. He also describes his comic misadventures while writing travel articles about such exotic locales as China, India, and The Garden of Allah (Hollywood). S.J. Perelman first came to prominence as the writer for the early Marx Brothers movies. He later became a bellwether writer at The New Yorker, which published his comic sketches and parodies for some four decades. Perelman was also a successful playwright (“One Touch of Venus”), a television personality, and an Oscar-winning screenwriter (“Around the World in 80 Days”). Written by Willard Manus, and directed by Judith Rose, it runs through July 17 at the Brickhouse Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets call 800-838-3006 Ext. 1 or visit www.brownpapertickets.org.
“The Colored Museum” is set in a fictional museum where a collection of 11 “exhibits” have been mounted for public viewing. The sketches explore themes of slavery, stereotypes, Black identity, generational trauma, and intracommunal conflict. Celebration, satire, and subversion, Wolfe called his play “an exorcism and a party.” Written by George C. Wolfe, and directed by Jazmine Nichelle, it runs through July 24 at the Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood. For tickets call 818-452-3153 or visit www.loftensemble.org.
Our local theme parks are operating at full capacity. Most require advance reservations online, as well as advance ticket, and possibly food, purchases. You will need an app in some to be able to take full advantage of all attractions and restaurants. Please check their websites for details, restrictions, and availability before planning a visit:
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Disneyland Resort Disney’s California Adventure |
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/
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Knott’s Berry Farm
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Legoland California |
https://www.legoland.com/california/
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SeaWorld San Diego |
https://seaworld.com/san-diego/
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Six Flags Magic Mountain |
https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain/
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Universal Studios Hollywood |
https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/
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Some theaters still provide online offerings in addition to or in lieu of live performances, with many events you can experience on a virtual basis. A few of these online events are only available on a one-time basis, while others are ongoing and can be viewed on-demand anytime. Visit each of the web sites below to see what they are currently offering. You will find free content as well as pay-per-view to choose from. Here are the links to web sites with online offerings:
Our best wishes go out to all of our readers as always, and we want to wish everyone a Happy Father’s Day this month! We also want to send heartfelt thanks to our Public Relations representatives who supply us with this great information, and to our editors and publishers who continue to publish these columns. We hope this year will be a safe and healthy one for theatergoers, reviewers, and everyone everywhere.
Sincerely,
Steve Zall, Publisher
Sid Fish, Co-Publisher and Editor