Let’s hope March showers lead to April flowers, and a theater-filled springtime. Los Angeles has so many plays and musicals, classics and world premieres, indoors and out, that it’s undeniably time to buy tickets and head on out.
NOW PLAYING
Through March 26 – Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival
The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival celebrates 30 years of bringing solo women’s performances to LA. This weekend’s lineup is extensive. Previews were a highlight of the anniversary gala celebration last night at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, including Alina Cenal (Cuba, My Return), Dee Freeman (The Poison Gun) and Bellina Logan (Confessions of a Mulatto Love Child).
Tickets range from $30 for a group of performances to $150 for a full three-day pass.
Through April 2 – Let Me In
At the Theatre 68 Arts Complex in North Hollywood. Reviewed by the Buzz. Tickets are $20 with code 415.
Through April 9 – Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike
Pacific Resident Theatre presents this 2013 Christopher Durang play about two siblings who mourn their lives as they recover from 15 years of caretaking for their dementia-suffering parents. Sister Masha and her new love, Spike show up to create rivalries galore.
At PRT, 703 Venice Blvd. in Venice. Tickets are $15 Suggested Donation.
Through April 24 – The Thin Place
Abigail Deser directs the California premiere of The Thin Place by playwright Lucas Hnath for The Echo Theater Company. Reviewed by the Buzz.
At Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave, Los Angeles. Tickets are $34.
Through April 30 – The Lonely Few
At the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood. Reviewed by the Buzz. Tickets are $ 49-$149.
OPENING SOON
March 24-April 22 – Heavenly Country
Nemo, a moving company employee from Minneapolis, would like to be a modern-day cowboy. When he meets Lily he asks her to tutor him in the cowboy lifestyle. But Lily would rather turn him into a Southern gentleman. Featuring country, gospel, blues, bluegrass and rockabilly music.
At Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604. Tickets are $30.
March 26-April 23 – Kiss of the Spider Woman
Manuel Puig’s pinnacle creation is set in a South American prison cell in a country under authoritarian rule. There, two polar opposites discover that love may spring in the most unlikely of places.
At A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena. Tickets are $25-72.
March 28 & 29 only – Love Letters by A.R. Gurney
Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Courtney R. Hall and April Stewart), two childhood friends, share a lifetime of correspondence.
At the Theatre 68 Arts Complex, 5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Tickets are $25.
April 4-May 7 – Ava: The Secret Conversations
Elizabeth McGovern wrote Ava: The Secret Conversations and stars as Ava Gardner, talking to her biographer. Gardner is having a moment; she was the subject of Twelve O’Clock Tales with Ava Gardner earlier this year. Her jam-packed life makes her well worth the attention.
At the Geffen Playhouse. Tickets are $30-105.
Bonus: A documentary on Ava Gardner is available on the Geffen website.
April 5-May 14 – Blue
Rogue Machine presents the world premiere of Blue by June Carryl. The play explores the links between power, violence, and the conflict between guardianship and enforcement. It asks, “What happens when those granted the power to protect us see us as the enemy?
In the Henry Murray Space upstairs at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave. Tickets are $30.
April 6-May 7 – Private Lives
Independent Shakespeare Company presents Noel Coward’s classic play. A divorced couple honeymooning with their new spouses ends up in adjoining suites—and reignite their spark.
At the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., Ste 130 in Atwater Village. Tickets are $27.50-35.
April 7-May 7 – The Pilot Who Crashed the Party
This offbeat homage to the drawing room dramas of the ’30s is set in the Santa Monica Mountains on a stormy night. Sally is celebrating her 50th birthday when the pilot of a small, single-engine plane literally crashes the party. Written and directed by Tony-winning actor Paul Sand.
At the Broadwater Theatre Main Stage, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. Tickets are $35.
April 9 only – Tribute to Paul Robeson
The Robey Theatre Company is inspired by Paul Robeson, the Black social activist, humanitarian, actor, singer and athlete. On Sunday, April 9 from 1:00-7:00pm, The Robey will celebrate his legacy on the occasion of his 125th birthday. Robey co-founder Danny Glover will give opening remarks and co-founder Ben Guillory will perform a dramatic monologue as Paul Robeson.
At the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Tickets have a suggested donation of $10 and can be reserved by emailing [email protected] or calling (213) 489-7402.
April 11-May 7 – Ahmanson Theatre – 1776
The national tour of 1776 comes to the Ahmanson in a new production from directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus. This story of the Declaration of Independence and what it took to get it signed.
Tickets are $40-155.
April 14-30 – Midnight Screening
Write LA presents a funny and moving new play about being emotionally stuck. Two strangers are accidentally locked in an old movie theatre overnight; both can’t avoid the other’s curious probing despite their masterful deflection techniques.
At the Zephyr, 7456 Melrose Ave. Tickets are $38.
April 15-June 25 – Why Worry? Jews R 2 Much Fun!
In this new comedy by Jerry Mayer, Jewish Stanley and Catholic Kathy meet, fall in love, and get ready to present their upcoming nuptials to the family. Little do they know that their fathers, once boyhood besties, are now bitterest enemies.
At the Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 Fourth St. Tickets are $35.
April 20-May 28 – Whittier Boulevard
In 2042, years of fires, torrential rain, anarchy and bloodshed have led to a totalitarian city-state where the elderly disappear. When authorities make a surprise visit to the home of faded Chicana starlet Veronica Del Rio on the eve of her 75th birthday, how will it end?
At the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street, downtown. Tickets are $48-58, with $10 preview tickets April 20-28.
April 26-May 14 – Under the Skin
The West Coast premiere of Under the Skin, a comedy by Michael Hollinger that asks what we owe our parents and our children. A father needs a kidney from his estranged daughter. Does he deserve it?
At the International City Theatre in the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, 330 East Seaside Way in Long Beach. Tickets are $37-55.
April 28 & 29 only – South Pacific
The Rogers & Hammerstein World War II classic, in which Nellie Forbush, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with French planter Emile de Becque but refuses to marry him when she learns that the mother of Emile’s children was an island native.
At the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Tickets are $50-89. There are a limited number of VIP Experience “Meet & Greets” available for an additional $75, which include a post-show reception with the lead cast and directors.
April 29-June 24 – A New Brain
Composer Gordon Schwinn collapses and awakens in the hospital, surrounded by their lover, mother, co-worker, doctor, and nurses. Coming face to face with their own mortality, Gordon sees their greatest fear: will they die with their greatest songs still unwritten?
At the Davidson/Valentini Theatre at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, 1125 N. McCadden Place north of Santa Monica Blvd.
Performances are Thursdays, Fridays & Saturday at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets are $35.
May 4-May 14 – Pueblo Espiritu and Las Diosas Subterráneas
Latino Theater Company presents two new works by Mexico City’s interdisciplinary, experimental ensemble Organización Secreta Teatro.
Pueblo Espíritu (“Spirit Town”) explores a post-pandemic dystopian society in which humans renew their faith in the spiritual world as a means of survival. It is is performed without dialogue.
In Las Diosas Subterráneas (“Subterranean Goddesses”) the Greek myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, kidnapped by Hades, god of the underworld, is intertwined with the story of Luz García, a character based on real-life women kidnapped by human traffickers, to tell the story of mothers looking for their missing daughters who find strength in community. It features minimal dialogue with English suptertitles.
At the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St. downtown. Tickets to both Pueblo Espiritu and Las Diosas Subterráneas are $22–$48. Opening night (May 3) is $58 and includes both pre- and post-show receptions.
June 10-September 23 – Macbeth
Shakespeare’s most infamously lethal couple feed each other’s ambitious passion. Ellen Geer directs.
At Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N Topanga Canyon Blvd. Tickets are $30-60, with pay-what-you-wish pricing available at the 7:30 performance on July 21. A discussion with the cast will take place before the show at 6:30pm on August 26.
June 11-September 21- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Kick off summer with Theatricum’s signature production in the perfect outdoor setting. Melora Marshall & Kellen McDaniel direct.
At Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N Topanga Canyon Blvd. Tickets are $30-60, with pay-what-you-wish pricing available at the 3:30 pm performance on July 9th. A discussion with the cast will take place before the show at 2:30pm on July 2.
