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The Craziest Fall Theater Season in History is About to Start

Brick-and-mortar theaters are dark right now, but virtual curtains are poised to rise on a bevy of new virtual productions this fall. (Photo by Rob Laughter on Unsplash)

September typically means new plays and musicals, from Center Theatre Group to Broadway and beyond. This year, with venues closed, theater companies are scrambling to find ways to make meaningful work and get it seen. Here are some virtual productions worth checking out, plus some extra fun events.

 

Revolutionary Genocide starring Danny Glover
Sunday, September 6, 3:00 p.m.

Danny Glover and Ben Guillory of the Robey Theatre Company

The Robey Theatre Company presents a staged reading of a new play, Revolutionary Genocide, featuring the co-founders of The Robey Theatre Company, actor Danny Glover and the Robey’s Producing Artistic Director Ben Guillory. The two play attorney and activist William Lorenzo Patterson (portrayed by Glover) and actor and activist Paul Robeson (played by Guillory), who presented papers to the United Nations in 1951, accusing the U.S.A. of the attempted genocide of Black Americans, due to its failure to pass legislation against lynching and its failure to bring its perpetrators to justice.

Register at http://robeytheatrecompany.org. You will be sent an exclusive Zoom link. Suggested donation: $10.

 

FIDM Roundtable with Emmy-Nominated Costume Designers
Tuesday, September 8, 5:00 pm

Emmy-nominated costume designer Michelle R. Cole (left), and costume designer Natalie Bronfman (second from right) will participate in a FIDM roundtable of Emmy nominees

Join a roundtable discussion with four Emmy-nominated costume designers moderated by FIDM Curator Kevin Jones. The designers talk about their careers, their work on the nominated shows and the innovations needed to work safely and take audience questions. The designers are:

Michelle R. Cole (black-ish); Lou Eyrich and Sarah Evelyn (Hollywood); Zaldy (RuPaul’s Drag Race); and Natalie Bronfman (The Handmaid’s Tale). Also check out FIDM costume exhibits.

Register here. Free.

 

She by the Latino Theater Company
Thursday, Sept. 10 and Friday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m. through Sunday, Sept. 20 at 11:59 p.m.

Enjoy a sneak-peek reading of a new coming-of-age drama, She, by Los Angeles-based, emerging playwright Marlow Wyatt, presented by the Latino Theater Company. In a small town filled with poverty and neglect, 13-year-old She escapes by re-imagining her reality through poetry, until she discovers the cost of dreams cost. The reading on Friday will be preceded by a live, online conversation with the artists on Thursday; each will be available for 10 days.
Streaming at www.thelatc.org/. Free.

 

Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone live from Florence, presented by the Wallis
Sunday, September 13 at 5:00 p.m. through Sunday, September 20 at 11:59pm

Hershey Felder as George Gershwin

Live from Florence, the Wallis Theatre in Beverly Hills presents Hershey Felder as George Gershwin Alone, which tells the story of America’s great composer, who with the groundbreaking Rhapsody in Blue made a “Lady out of Jazz.” The show incorporates the composer’s best-known songs from “The Man I Love” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” through the hits of An American in Paris and Porgy and Bess, to a complete performance of Rhapsody in Blue. Hershey Felder brings George Gershwin to life, with over three-thousand performances from California to Broadway to London’s West End.

Tickets: $55 per household. Purchase here. Price includes the live broadcast and access through Sunday, September 20th at 11:59pm.

 

Fish Out of Water, a Moth GrandSlam
Monday, September 14, 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7:15 p.m.)

 

Fish Out of Water, The Moth‘s first multi-city, virtual Pacific GrandSLAM Showdown is a battle of wits and words with contenders from eight different StorySLAM cities—including Los Angeles—competing for the crown. Listen as eight StorySLAM champs tell tales of being out of their element: dressed for the opera at the clambake, out of the loop, the odd one out.

Tickets: $15  per household, available here.

 

L.A. Intersections: Music, Language, Movement at The Broad Museum
Thursdays starting in mid-September

The Broad will host a wave of digital programming leading up to and marking the museum’s fifth anniversary on Sept. 20th. Included is a series called L.A. Intersections: Music, Language, Movement in which L.A.-based musicians, poets, and dancers perform in the galleries and other public spaces of the Broad.

Videos will be released on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Free.

 

Let Us Entertain You, an Actors Fund Fundraiser
Wednesday, September 23, 4:00 p.m.

Frontline workers are the stars of Let Us Entertain You

In Let Us Entertain You, talented frontline workers perform to support The Actors Fund, with cameos by stars including Annaleigh Ashford, Ann Harada, Annette Bening, Bebe Neuwirth, Bernadette Peters, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Chita Rivera, Harvey Fierstein, Jessie Mueller, Laurie Metcalf, Lea Salonga, Megan Hilty and Billy Porter, among others. Watch the trailer here.

Streaming on Playbill.com.

Tickets: Free, with donations encouraged to the Actors Fund.

 

Blood/Sugar One-Woman Show at Boston Court, Pasadena
Friday, September 25, 7:00 p.m.

Diana Wyenn in Blood/Sugar. Photo by Koo Mae.

Diana Wyenn created and performs this live virtual experience about the roller coaster of diabetes, with projections, movement, text, and innovative theatricality. She explores the historical perspectives and staggering statistics. Presented by Boston Court, Pasadena.

Tickets are available here. They are free but donations are requested. The performance is immediately followed by a conversation between Wyenn, the audience, and local diabetes educators and nutritionists.

 

Romantics Anonymous Livestream via the Wallis
Saturday, September 26, 1:00 p.m.

 

The U.K. musical Romantics Anonymous will be performed live on stage at the Bristol Old Vic and streamed via the Wallis of Beverly Hills. The love story follows Angelique, a gifted chocolate maker who finds love in a chocolate factory.

Tickets: $20.96-53.71, available here.

 

Inside the Box at the Geffen Stayhouse
Previews begin Tuesday, September 29, 6:00 p.m.

The Geffen Stayhouse premiers Inside the Box with puzzlemaster DAvid Kwong

On the heels of its successful world premiere run of The Present, the Geffen Playhouse (a.k.a right now as the Geffen Stayhouse) is launching another live, interactive theatrical experience. Inside the Box was written and will be performed by magician and puzzlemaster (and New York Times crossword constructor) David Kwong. He’ll tell stories about historic puzzle-makers, with interactive puzzle-solving, multi-layered games and more. A maximum of 24 participants per show will gather on Zoom. Each participant will receive an advance email with a link to download and print a packet of puzzles they will use to participate and interact with Kwong during the live performance.

Tickets are $55-$65 per household and are available here.

 

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Laura Foti Cohen
Laura Foti Cohen
Laura Foti Cohen has lived in the Brookside neighborhood since 1993. She works as a freelance writer, editor and consultant. She's also a playwright affiliated with Theatre West.

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