Looking for some live (and prerecorded) entertainment this month? Local theaters have a wide range of new offerings. Here are some highlights.
The Skylight Theatre
The Skylight Theatre’s 2021 Season opens with The Shot starring Sharon Lawrence as Katherine Graham. The first showing is on Saturday, April 24 at 5:00 pm; that night, there’s a post-performance Q&A with the creative team and other guests. Viewing of the show is available any time through Sunday, May 2, including a recording of the live chat.
Access the show with a minimum donation of $10 to benefit the Violence Intervention Program and Skylight Theatre Company. See the show link above for more information.
Neo Ensemble Theatre
SOL: Sex…Love…Obsession, a collection of scenes and monologues written and performed by the members of Neo Ensemble Theatre, plays live on Zoom this weekend. Performances are Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 pm (click here for the link) and Sunday, April 18 at 4:00 pm (click here).
The Geffen Playhouse
April 23 is the virtual opening night for the Geffen’s Someone Else’s House, a thriller by multimedia artist Jared Mezzocchi and based on his family’s experience in a 200-year-old New England house. The Zoom audience is limited 40 households per show. As with previous Geffen “Stayhouse” productions, ticketholders receive a box of items to help them set the scene for the performance, as well as artifacts to use during the show. Shipping charges are included in the ticket price.
Tickets are $75 and are selling fast. You can purchase them here.
Center Theatre Group
CTG recently announced the upcoming season at the Ahmanson Theatre—yes, the actual, physical building—beginning on November 30 with a performance of the Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol. The seven-show lineup also features Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, The Lehman Trilogy, Hadestown, Dear Evan Hansen, The Prom and Oklahoma! But until that glorious time, there’s plenty of virtual gold to mine.
On Center Theatre Group’s Digital Stage: Black Feminist Video Game, a mashup of live performance, video game design and online interaction, centers on Jonas, a biracial teenager with autism. Jonas broadcasts all aspects of his life online, including a disastrous first date with his crush, Nicole. He dusts off a classic 2D “Black feminist video game,” hoping to win her back. But Jonas soon discovers that, with only the Game Master and his friend Sabine to guide him, he must confront his own misperceptions of the women in his (real) life, or risk losing not only the game but also his first chance at love.
Jonas and Sabine stream their play, video-chat with each other and find their path through the game together. Along the way, at-home viewers will help (or hinder!) their progress by responding in real time to the choices they make.
Tickets for the livestream performances are $10 and can be purchased here. The shows are April 27-May 2 at 5:00 pm. From May 2-May 9, a recorded version will be available on demand.
Also available on demand from CTG is the second episode of Not a Moment, But a Movement, entitled Black Nourishment. The video will be offered free to the public through April 30 in honor of National Poetry Month, after which it will remain free to Center Theatre Group subscribers and supporters and cost $10 for all others. Watch here.
Associated Content for Not a Moment, But a Movement is a panel discussion, available on You Tube: “Sustaining the Movement: Elevating Black Artists.” Panelists include Zhailon Levingston (Broadway Advocacy Coalition), Jamila Webb (First Fifteen), and Courtney Peck (Cast Black Talent) and moderator Bruce A. Lemon, Jr (Watts Village Theater).
And finally from Center Theatre Group, Until the Flood, commissioned and produced by The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and performed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in January 2020, explores a community in turmoil following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. It’s available free through next year here.
Associated Content for Until the Flood is a conversation with writer/performer Dael Orlandersmith, director Neel Keller and student artists representing theatres across the country. Moderated by Center Theatre Group’s Teaching Artist, Christine Breihan. Participating student artists include Alex W. (Milwaukee Repertory), Fletcher J. and Sonia-Sofia R. (Center Theatre Group), Mikayla A. (Portland Center Stage), Ariel B. (Goodman Theatre) and Marie-Antoinette B. (Denver Center for the Performing Arts). The discussion is available here.
The Groundlings
The Groundlings Theatre presents Sh!t My Folks Don’t Know, a virtual show in which Groundlings performers and their guests tell all their dirtiest and funniest secrets. (Don’t tell their parents). The 70-minute show is $5 on Zoom on Tuesday, April 20 at 7:00 pm. For more information, see the show link above.
International City Theatre
In Slow Food, a vacationing couple heads to a Greek restaurant in Palm Springs for their anniversary dinner — but will the marriage survive the terrible service? International City Theatre in Long Beach will stream the production April 29 through May 16 Thursdays through Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
Theatre 40
Theatre 40 presents a Theatre Appreciation Spring Seminar Series, conducted for Beverly Hills Unified School District’s Adult Education on Zoom. Readings of contemporary plays are followed by discussions. To receive the Zoom link and attend, e-mail [email protected] or leave a message at 213-385-5515. These events are free, but donations to the non-profit Theatre 40 will be gratefully accepted.
The theme of this series is The Truth Will Set You Free?: plays that examine lies, misunderstandings and revelations. Here’s the schedule:
Monday, April 26 at 7:00 pm: The Correspondent by Ken Urban. A grieving husband hires a dying woman to deliver a message to his recently deceased wife in the afterlife. When he receives letters describing events that only his wife could know, he must determine if the correspondence is from a con artist or if his wife has returned from the grave.
Monday, May 10 at 7:00 pm: Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan. When Jeff, a luckless young security guard, is drawn into a local murder investigation, loyalties are strained to the breaking point. as Jeff’s tightly wound supervisor is called to bear witness against his troubled brother, and an attractive rookie cop finds she must stand up to her seasoned partner, truth becomes elusive and justice proves costly.
Monday, May 24 at 7:00 pm: Natural Shocks by Lauren Gunderson. Angela is trapped in her basement, waiting out an approaching tornado. Though a self-proclaimed unreliable narrator, she begins to reflect on a lifetime of trauma, illuminating the truth behind her endangerment.
Monday, June 7 at 7:00 pm: Holmes and Watson by Jeffrey Hatcher. Three men claim to be the missing Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson is called upon to do some sleuthing.
LA Theatre Works
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LA Theatre Works (LATW) is releasing two audio theater recordings about the Japanese-American experience. LATW commissioned the world premiere of For Us All by Jeanne Sakata; No-No Boy by Ken Narasaki was adapted from the novel by John Okada. Each play features a large ensemble cast
In For Us All, an experienced civil rights lawyer teams up with a group of young Japanese-American attorneys to use a little known legal writ to overturn the convictions of men unjustly sentenced for resisting the Japanese-American internment. No-No Boy is set during the aftermath of the U.S. government’s incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II. Ichiro returns to Seattle but finds it difficult to transition to post-war life.
The shows are $20 each and will be available May 5
. Purchase of For Us All also includes access to a bonus Zoom interview hosted by L.A. Theatre Works producing artistic director Susan Loewenberg and playwright Sakata in conversation with the real-life attorneys who worked on the Korematsu case.
Doyle’s Stage & Screen Auction
It’s not LA, but it’s oh so theatrical: On April 28, Doyle will auction off the collection of Celeste Holm, the Costume Industry Coalition and more. Host is Christine Baranski. For information, to peruse the objects or place a bid, see the auction link above.
