| The Adventures of Peter Rabbit |
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Theatre West |
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| Storybook Theatre's version of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale is hopping into Theatre West this Fall. As always at Storybook, there will be plenty of audience participation and singing and dancing. You can even expect audience members to join in a special version of “The Bunny Hop.” This funny version is specifically created to appeal to children and the whole family. |
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| Bad Habits |
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Ruskin Group Theatre |
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| The Sisters of St. Cyril’s are on a mission to prevent the closing of their convent and school. Might there be an “Almighty’ intervention to save them, in the form of a miraculous young woman named Maria? Or might God just sit this one out, leaving the Sisters to rely on their annual Christmas pageant fundraiser, which will be featuring a particularly surprising number? High adventure comedy, second to nun! |
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| Between Riverside and Crazy |
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Fountain Theatre |
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| Walter “Pops” Washington is a retired New York City policeman. His wife has died and his son, “Junior,” has just been released from jail. They live in a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive in New York City. Junior’s girlfriend, Lulu, and Oswaldo, a recovering addict, also spend time at the apartment. Walter has been pursuing a discrimination suit against the Police Department, because he was accidentally shot by another police officer. This is a Los Angeles premiere at the award-winning Fountain Theatre. The play won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the 2015 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, the 2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the 2015 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and the 2015 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best New Play. |
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| The Bluest Eye |
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Hudson Theatre |
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| Set in the 1940s, The Bluest Eye is about the tragic life of a young 11-year-old black girl from Ohio, named Pecola Breedlove. Pecola wants nothing more than to be loved by her family and schoolmates. Instead, she faces constant ridicule and abuse. She blames her dark skin and prays for blue eyes, sure that love will follow. With rich language and bold vision, this powerful adaptation of an American classic explores the crippling toll that a legacy of racism has taken on a community, a family, and an innocent girl. |
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| Charley's Aunt |
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Glendale Centre Theatre |
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| Charley's Aunt is a hysterical farce written by Brandon Thomas. Originally published in 1892, this show has been adapted many times throughout the years. |
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| Disposable Necessities |
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Rogue Machine at
Electric Lodge |
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| In the future, aging and death have become annoyances of the past thanks to a process of downloading the digitized soul into another host body, or Module. This is something only the very wealthy can afford and if you are rich enough you can be anyone you desire. A comedic look at greed, the value of life – and death. |
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| Disrobed |
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Studio C Artists |
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| Billed as “the ultimate Southern California experience”, the irreverent stage comedy “Disrobed: Why So Clothes-Minded?”, notorious for not only featuring an entirely naked cast, but for requiring audiences attend the show au natural as well, is returning to Los Angeles for an ongoing residency at the Studio C Theatre. Ages 18+ Includes nudity |
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| Earthquakes in London |
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Electric Lodge |
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| We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we are borrowing it from our children. Three sisters are left to raise and care for one another after their mother dies and their father abandons them. Now adults, the sisters find themselves navigating a 21st century London that is at the precipice of both an existential and an all-too-real environmental crisis. Will the sisters succumb to despair? Or will they find a way to face the crisis head-on, embracing both the inevitability of an imperfect future and the possibility of hope? Earthquakes In London, by one of the UK’s most searing of contemporary playwrights, Mike Bartlett (Cock, King Charles III, Bull), tackles our chronic inability to act in the interest of our future generations. |
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| Finding Neverland |
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Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza |
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| Based on the Academy Award winning Miramax motion picture by the same name, FINDING NEVERLAND follows playwright J.M. Barrie as he summons the courage to become the writer - and the man - he yearns to be. Barrie finds the inspiration he's been missing when he meets the beautiful widow Sylvia and her four young sons: Jack, George, Michael and Peter. Delighted by the boys' hilarious escapades, Barrie conjures the magical world of Neverland and writes a play unlike any the high-society London theatergoers have ever seen. It's a tremendous risk, but as Barrie himself has discovered- when you believe, you can fly. |
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| Frozen |
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Pantages Theatre |
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| A mysterious secret. A family torn apart. As one sister struggles with being an outsider and harnessing her powers within, the other sets out on a thrilling adventure to bring her family together once again. Both are searching for love, but they'll learn that to find it they'll have to look inside themselves first. |
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| The Giver |
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Westchester Playhouse |
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| The story is taken from one of the most influential YA novels of all time (hailed upon its 1993 release as a story “well worth telling, especially by a writer of Lowry’s great skill,” by The Washington Post), and now The Giver is coming to the Westchester Playhouse, delivering its thought-provoking premise in a stunning theatrical production. |
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| Groundlings Mix Tape |
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The Groundlings Theatre |
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| Every once in a blue moon a “Best of Sketch” show comes to town to delight audiences with its wild characters and only-seen-once-before sketch comedy genius. Come see what the brilliant cast of Groundlings and alumni unearth for this special four-week run when Groundlings Mix Tape comes to The Groundlings Theatre next month. Directed by Groundlings Michael Churven and Chris Eckert, Groundlings Mix Tape will feature a rotating cast of Groundlings and alumni, so no performance will be the same! |
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| The Last Ship |
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Ahmanson Theatre |
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| The Last Ship is the heartfelt and empowering musical by multiple Grammy Award winner Sting. Featuring original music and lyrics by Sting as well as a few of his best-loved songs — “Island of Souls,” “All This Time,” and “When We Dance” — The Last Ship is coming to Los Angeles after a critically acclaimed Canadian, UK, and Irish tour. Set in the shipbuilding community in Tyne and Wear, UK, The Last Ship tells the story of a young man who returns home after 17 years at sea. Tensions between past and future flare in both his family and his town. He finds that the local shipyard, around which the community has always revolved, is closing, and no one knows what will come next, only that a half-built ship towers over the terraces of working-class homes. With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as the foreman and his wife fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Sting star in this “thrilling and stirring musical” (The Guardian). |
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| The Little Match Girl |
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LOFT Ensemble-Sherman Oaks |
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| The Little Match Girl is a fantastical, heartfelt, piercing tale about love and forgiveness. This world premiere adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story reminds us of the importance of doing what's right, not what's easy. |
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| Matilda the Musical |
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Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center |
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| Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, the Tony Award-winning Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is the captivating masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare Company that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life. With book by Dennis Kelly and original songs by Tim Minchin, Matilda has won 47 international awards and continues to thrill sold-out audiences of all ages around the world. |
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| Musket and the Rat |
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The Arena Stage at Theatre of Arts |
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| Musket Cherry is a young woman who lives in a gritty, rugged, ungentrified neighborhood in Chicago. Her mom is a deadbeat alcoholic. Musket’s anchors are her beloved brother Weso, her best friend Gay Stevie, and her boyfriend Billy. Times are tough. Musket supports her family by selling heroin and comforts herself with lots of weed.
Bad things happen. Weso is arrested on a trumped-up charge and killed in jail. Billy is jumped and robbed. Musket decides to set things right by arming herself. In a world where justice does not exist, maybe those who wrong her will understand her gun. Can Musket prevail over the forces arrayed against her? Profanity, one sexual situation. Leave the kids at home. |
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| Neil Simon's Musical Fools |
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Open Fist Theatre Company at
Atwater Village Theatre |
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| A hilarious musical adaptation of the Neil Simon play, Fools, with book and lyrics by Simon, and music and lyrics by Phil Swann and Ron West (deLEARious, The People Vs Friar Laurence). In 1893 Ukraine, a young tutor arrives in Kulyenchikov after a harrowing journey — only to discover that the village is cursed, rendering every resident as dumb as a bag of rocks. Will he fall victim to the curse, or can he save himself and the village too? |
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| Not a Genuine Black Man |
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Stephanie Feury Studio (SFS) Theatre |
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| The longest-running solo play in San Francisco theater history and off-Broadway hit comes to L.A. for two special performances. In 1971, the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing called San Leandro, California “a racist bastion of white supremacy.” Newsweek and CBS covered the story. The US Commission on Civil Rights conducted hearings. And then, we moved to town." So begins Brian Copeland’s legendary tale of laughter tears and sociology. As a child, he was persecuted for being black. As an adult, he was persecuted for not being “black enough”. In this powerful show presented at the Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre in Los Angeles, Brian explores how our surroundings make us who we are. |
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| Nowhere On The Border |
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The Road on Magnolia |
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| A border watch volunteer confronts a Mexican man who claims to be looking for his missing daughter. Set in a hostile wasteland between nations, NOWHERE ON THE BORDER reveals the personal dramas that drive people to cross borders both physical and emotional. |
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| The Perfect Dog |
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Laguna Playhouse |
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| With all the wonderful kinds of dogs in the world, is there really just one kind that is better than all the rest? John O’Hurley’s delightfully charming and Seuss-like book answers that question with a surprisingly perfect answer. David Abbinanti (Broadway's Saturday Night Fever & Ring of Fire) & Jill Abbinanti (TV's LAW & ORDER: SVU and PAN-AM) have transformed this delightful story into a Theatre for Young Audiences musical about perfectionism, friendship and the acceptance of others. This heartwarming musical about man’s best friend and their people is sure to be treasured by dog lovers and non-dog lovers alike. |
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| Pick of the Vine |
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Little Fish Theatre |
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| Harvested from over 800 short plays submitted from around the world, Little Fish Theatre uncorks its 17th season of Pick of the Vine on January 10. This perennial best-seller is a perfectly blended bouquet of nine short plays where audiences will experience Magic Moments with such flavors as: an existential crisis in the frozen foods section; a scale that tells more than your weight; and a time-traveling farmer out for some rabbit-hating revenge. |
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| Salvage |
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Lounge Theatre |
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| “Having a dream is like running with scissors.” Harley, a singer-songwriter whose wife is expecting their first child, has decided to hang it up. On his way to pawn his guitar, he stumbles across the bar where his musical hero, Floyd Whitaker, died. Entering, he finds Johnson, the inhospitable bartender, and a single, surly customer, known as Preacher, who’s strumming the blues on an old guitar. Dueling words and songs ensue, dislodging uncomfortable truths, until an unexpected arrival turns everything on its ear. |
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| Steel Magnolias |
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Theatre Palisades |
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| How do you solve a problem like that child Shelby?! You don’t. A tender, funny, sad, funny play about the family tug of war between mother (M’lynn) and daughter (Shelby). And their friends who all come to the same beauty parlor where life and its issues get discussed and dissected in a very Southern and ladylike way. A perennial favorite of the American stage! |
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| Sunday Dinner |
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Theatre 40 at The Reuben Cordova Theatre |
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| Michael Matera, a young priest in the Chicago Archdiocese, returns to his parents’ home in the Bronx after his grandfather dies. The Matera clan is gathering at the family home for Sunday dinner. Soon after Michael arrives, his retired working-class father Eddie confesses a sin (more like a felony, really) to Michael. It’s a misdeed which could have serious consequences for other members of the family. To Eddie’s dismay, Michael refuses to grant him absolution. There are reasons for this (which won’t be given away here; You’ll have to see the play to find out). Eddie’s not the only one with secrets. Michael has a few of his own. He’s admitted to himself that he’s gay, but he hasn’t yet come out to his family. Things are about to get more complicated, as Michael’s female ex-lover (who is still interested in him) has also been invited as a guest for Sunday dinner. Can the Materas withstand the weight of so much sin, secrecy and shame? Would revealing all cleanse the family or destroy it? |
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| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
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Fremont Centre Theatre |
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| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is Broadway’s hit musical based on London’s urban legend with several stage adaptations dating as far back as 1847. Set in the 19th Century, Sweeney Todd is the tale of a man determined to seek vengeance. Framed and imprisoned by a corrupt judge whom he believes responsible for the death of his beloved wife, Todd returns to London after being rescued by a sailor. The sailor, Anthony, falls for the judge’s beautiful ward, in reality Todd’s daughter Johanna. She is smitten with Anthony. But Johanna is the subject of Judge Turpin’s vile lust, and he keeps her confined, intent on marrying her himself. Todd, meanwhile, returns to his former profession of barbering, a means of pursuing his revenge wherein he can slit the throats of his enemies. Entering into a partnership with a new friend, the baker Mrs. Lovett, his victims become the stuffing of her enormously popular meat pies. How far can Todd and Lovett go in their bloody pursuits? Can Johanna escape the evil Turpin and find true love in the arms of her Anthony? Will the wicked pay for their crimes? Will love and goodness prevail? The new production is presented by Young Stars Theatre, a resident company at Fremont Centre Theatre. Although the non-profit company is best-known for productions featuring young performers, this production features adult professionals in all of the major roles. The ensemble includes some young performers. |
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| Taboo II |
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Actors Workout Studio |
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| TABOO II is an evening of six short plays by six playwrights from around the U.S. Murderous impulses arise when a couple invites a friend over for dinner who has vastly different views. A teenager rants about his suicide from the afterlife. And a mother and son’s relationship gets even closer. These are just a few of the characters you’ll meet in this risqué, offensive, and often hilarious evening of adult-themed pieces. Absolutely no one under the age of 18 admitted. Show contains nudity. |
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| That's The End of Our Time |
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Second City |
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| When Steve – a failed marriage counselor – discovers his wife’s affair, he’s forced to confront his bitterness and belief in love when he becomes therapy leader for a unique group of raging addicts: the very real and very troubled Santa Claus (eating disorder), Tooth Fairy (an overworked thief), Easter Bunny (emotionally unavailable), Leprechaun (bitter, bar fights), and Baby New Year (stressed from living a whole life in a year.) This original premium show was written by Marc Warzecha. Directed by Ithamar Enriquez. Assistant Director, Lorna Silva. Cast: Dwayne Colbert, Amanda Blake Davis, Arnie Ellis, Rachna Khatau, Sam Kimbrell, and Michele Simms. This show will make your believe in yourself! |
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| Uncle Vanya |
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The New American Theatre |
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| Anton Chekhov's Comedic Drama about hope, courage, and the human responsibility to each other and to mother earth. |
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| The Unseen Hand and Killer's Head |
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Odyssey Theatre Ensemble |
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| What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? E.T. meets the Old West in Sam Shepard’s The Unseen Hand, a hilarious yet foreboding sci-fi Western about a trio of legendary cowboys resurrected to help a mutant extraterrestrial free his people from slavery. Called “a sixpack of vintage Shepard” by The New York Times, Shepard’s 1969 one-act joins the Odyssey ‘s 50th Anniversary “Circa ’69” Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company’s inception. The evening also includes Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer’s Head, a murderer’s monologue delivered as he awaits electrocution, performed by a rotating cast of prominent actors including Steve Howey, Dermot Mulroney and more TBA. |
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| The Water Tribe |
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VS. Theatre Company |
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| Claudia is young, parentless, minimally employed, and almost without family or friends but she remains upbeat about her future and confident in her quest to form a personal tribe for herself and her boyfriend Johnny. But Johnny has problems of his own. He has launched into adulthood but still struggles to cut the cord from his concerned mother while searching for a connection to his long-absent father. As the few people Claudia has in her life begin to fall away and the problems in her relationship are laid bare, she teeters on the brink of catastrophe in this searing, darkly funny tragicomedy about the critical importance of community, identity, and home. |
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| We Should Hang Out Sometimes |
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Santa Monica Playhouse |
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| Experience an interactive evening with Josh Sundquist, featuring a live performance of the hilarious storytelling and comedy that has earned him over 150 million views online. The bestselling author, comic and Paralympian tracked down all the girls he’d ever tried to date to ask why they rejected him. He shares the results of his semi-scientific investigation (and yes, it’s a true story) in this one-of-a-kind live performance that blends interactive storytelling with stand-up comedy. From a disastrous mini-golf date involving a backward prosthetic foot to a misguided “grand gesture” at a Miss America pageant, it’s a story about looking for love — or at least a girlfriend — in all the wrong places. Recommended for ages 13 and up. (Occasional innuendo and a few Dad jokes). |
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| What the Constitution Means to Me |
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Mark Taper Forum |
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| Direct from Broadway, the 2019 Tony-nominated Best Play and Pulitzer Prize finalist, What the Constitution Means to Me, by famed writer Heidi Schreck, arrives at the Taper for a strictly limited engagement. This boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will affect the next generation of Americans. The tour stars Tony-nominated actress Maria Dizzia (Orange is the New Black) and features original Broadway cast members Mike Iveson and Rosdely Ciprian. Fifteen year old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. Schreck’s timely and galvanizing play, directed by Oliver Butler, became a sensation off-Broadway last fall before transferring to Broadway where it received two Tony Award nominations among countless other accolades. See the play The New York Times hails as "not just the best play on Broadway, but also the most important.” |
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| Wild Son: The Testimony of Christian Brando |
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Whitefire Theatre |
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| Set under the white-hot glare of Hollywood and celebrity, Wild Son: The Testimony of Christian Brando tells the story of Marlon Brando’s troubled, headline-making son in his own words. Written by Champ Clark and featuring John Mese as Christian, this 59-minute one-act — based on personal interviews conducted by Clark and populated by the likes of Jack Nicholson, Michael Jackson, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Anjelica Huston, Robert Blake and others — is, most importantly, the story of father and son. Says Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley: “Champ Clark’s play is a burning jewel. John Mese is mesmerizing. A rare theatre experience where the magic shimmers.” This is a one night only performance as part of Solofest at Whitefire Theatre. |
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