All stories by Ed Rampell on BroadwayStars

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Julian Sands Returns on Radio to “A Room with a View” by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Julian Sands, who played George Emerson in the 1985 Merchant Ivory film version of to E.M. Forster’s 1908 novel A Room With a View, returns to the Italy-set romance a third…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 05:00PM

The Stage’s Scourge of the Status Quo: Tim Robbins on “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Since first taking the stage in 1982 with Alfred Jarry’s Ubu the King, The Actors’ Gang has, in terms of form and content, specialized in a subversive edge and wit. Direct…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 04:50PM
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Oh My God!: Ed Asner Plays the Title Role in “God Help Us!” by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell God Help Us! deals largely with news personalities and comes at a time when reportage is under attack. It also stars the actor who portrayed one of television’s most famous …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 02:11PM
Tuesday, February 19, 2019

“Ragtime” Remains Timely at the Pasadena Playhouse by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell E.L. Doctorow’s 1975 novel Ragtime is a panoramic political period piece featuring fictitious and real characters in early 20th century New York. Doctorow’s progressive pa…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 04:08PM
Sunday, February 3, 2019

Gender Parity is the Theme and “Fuck” is the Word at 29th Annual Ovation Awards Ceremony by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Hosted by The Kilroys, an L.A.-based, pro-gender balance collective of playwrights and producers, many presenters and winners stressed equality between the sexes on the stage …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 03:36PM
Thursday, January 24, 2019

Alfred Molina Reflects on Acting, L.A. Theater, and “A Walk in the Woods” by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Alfred Molina personifies the talent pool that makes Los Angeles theatre so rich and vibrant. For his movies the British-born actor has been nominated for BAFTA and Independen…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 10:36AM
Wednesday, November 14, 2018

French Stewart on “Finks”, the Hollywood Blacklist, and Working with his Wife for the First Time by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Actor French Stewart may be best known to national audiences for his roles in TV sitcoms, including as Harry Solomon in 3rd Rock from the Sun and as Chef Rudy in the current s…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 04:06PM
Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Fight the Power, Tell the Story: Tim Robbins on ‘Johnny Got His Gun’ by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell The Actors’ Gang’s “2018/19 Hellzapoppin Season” opens with an adaptation of Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun, an anti-war classic about a World War I s…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 05:10PM
Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Patriotism of Resistance: George Takei Pledges Allegiance to Human Rights by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Star Trek’s Sulu From the Screen to the Stage George Takei may be best known for playing helmsman Lt. Sulu in the original Star Trek sci-fi series and six of the franchis…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 10:47AM
Thursday, February 8, 2018

2017 Ovations Awards Ceremony and Winners Stress L.A. Theatre’s Diversity by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell “I thought it was a great show, all of the presenters were fun, the music was great,” gushed award-winning costume designer Michael Mullen about the 28th Annual LA STAGE A…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 05:18PM
Monday, January 22, 2018

Ovations Profile: John Perrin Flynn of Rogue Machine Theatre by Ed Rampell

by Ed Rampell Since 2008 John Perrin Flynn has produced all of the main stage productions of Rogue Machine Theatre, one of 2017’s most Ovation-nominated intimate theatre companies, which …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 09:02PM
Friday, December 1, 2017

Rent Control: The Battle of the Sexes Goes Rogue in “bled for the household truth” by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell A Timely Take on Sexuality (Or Lack Thereof) In yet another era when sexual scandals rock America’s cultural and political power centers, Ruth Fowler’s disturbing drama…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 10:36PM
Friday, September 1, 2017

Enlightened Émilie: The 18th Century Feminist Before Feminism by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Of Femmes, Physics and Philosophes There is some encouraging chatter about the steady closing of the gender gap in the sciences, despite a 2012 Yale University study which …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 08:36PM
Friday, August 4, 2017

All the World’s a Spectrum: Ambiguity and Diversity in Antaeus’ As You Like It by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Gender Bender Bard on the Boards? Some may regard Shakespeare’s comedy, As You Like It, as a mere merry, frothy confection. And to be sure, it is highly entertaining …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 08:48PM
Friday, July 28, 2017

Ionesco’s Anti-Fascist Rhinoceros Timelier Than Ever by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell   Tackling Totalitarianism with Absurdity Eugène Ionesco’s 1959 parable about pachyderms belongs to the Theatre of the Absurd. Yet, the production of Rhinoceros, now at…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 06:09PM
Friday, July 21, 2017

Gang Meets Lit: A Spoken Word Adaptation of Dante’s Inferno by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Canto I: From Page to Stage The Actors’ Gang has teamed up with the Los Angeles-based nonprofit group Get Lit - Words Ignite to present Dante, a spoken word musical…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 04:30PM
Wednesday, July 5, 2017

More Equal: Botanicum Brings Orwell’s Fable from Stable to Stage by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Still Relevant After All These Years Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum’s (WGTB) current production of Animal Farm is based on George Orwell’s famed 1945 Novella. Sir P…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 04:45PM
Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Shakespeare’s Shylock for the Age of Trump by Ed Rampell

By Ed Rampell Shakespeare in the Park's Julius Caesar has sparked controversy with the Public Theater's outdoor production in Manhattan's Central Park of Julius Caesar featuring a Trump l…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 05:04PM
Friday, April 14, 2017

ARULA Encourages Audiences to Resist, Rise Up by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL national theater community fired its first shot at the incoming Trump regime November 18, when Hamilton’s cast admonished then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence after a per…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 08:03PM
Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Aristophanes’ Frogs Leaps Onstage at Getty Villa via Culture Clash Spoof by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL Clash is just wild about Ari — Aristophanes, that is. Sapo (which means “Frogs” in Spanish) is the comedy trio’s latest send-up of the Greek playwright, who wrote T…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 09:52AM
Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Enter, Stage Left at the Ovation Awards: Passions & Politics by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL 1989, LA STAGE Alliance founded the annual Ovation Awards ceremony “to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production and design in the Greater Los Angeles ar…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 05:36PM
Thursday, June 30, 2016

Additional Dialogue: The Purpose of the Post-Play Talkback by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL play’s the thing,” says the melancholy Dane in the second act of Hamlet. But sometimes, the plays themselves are not the only thing that theaters offer. Rather, it’s…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 02:01PM
Monday, June 6, 2016

Pro-Worker Parallels Between Oona O’Neill’s Playwright Father and Filmmaker Husband by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL first play I saw in Los Angeles upon my return from Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, was Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape, playing at the Odyssey Theatre through July 17. …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 06:15PM
Monday, April 4, 2016

[INTERVIEW] A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the LATC: Evelina Fernández Adapts Plautus by Ed Rampell

interview by ED RAMPELL   Why did you write this updated version of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus’ The Pot of Gold? EVELINA FERNÁNDEZ: The Latino Theater Company was appr…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 01:48PM
Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Docu-Theatre Talks Terrorism at Art of Acting Studio by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL -Theatre” gives form to the truism “truth is stranger than fiction” on the boards. Don. K. Williams, Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company’s Associate Director, …

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 09:21PM
Friday, October 23, 2015

The Brecht Effect and The Exit Interview by Ed Rampell

by ED RAMPELL the curtain lifts on live stage productions in Los Angeles, thesps sometimes deliver a garden variety of announcements: Locations of fire exits; pleas for donations; reques…

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 08:39PM
Friday, July 10, 2015

Of Osage and Indians: Stage Stereotypes, Indigenous Authenticity, Diversity by Ed Rampell

The significance of a native character (and actor) in August: Osage County.

SOURCE: thisstage.la at 04:43PM
Friday, January 10, 2014

Fleming Rides Rudnick’s Tale of a Day Trader and His Daughter by Ed Rampell

Eric Rudnick's "Day Trader," opening at the Bootleg, features another role for recent Ovation winner Brighid Fleming. She plays opposite Danton Stone in his LA stage debut.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 01:45PM
Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Artistic Directors Discuss Diversity Dilemmas by Ed Rampell

A panel discussion on diversity at Pasadena Playhouse attracted a group of top Southern California artistic directors but grew livelier when audience members asked questions.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:21PM
Friday, December 13, 2013

Free Holiday Entertainment at the Music Center on December 24 by Ed Rampell

The annual December 24 Holiday Celebration, presented by LA County Arts Commission at the Music Center, features music, dance -- and diversity.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:43PM
Monday, November 11, 2013

Stayin’ Live Summit Ponders Viability of Theater in Hollywood by Ed Rampell

Can theater survive in the Hollywood neighborhood? That was the topic at Stayin' Live, a gathering last Saturday at the Montalban Theatre.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:32PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards