LA STAGE INSIDER by Julio Martinez

Westside news, more premieres, and a new play about Obama's mother in this edition of LASTAGEInsider.

Dance Scholarships for Emerging Artists by La Stage Alliance

The Princess Grace Foundation USA announces availability of the 2011 Dance (Scholarships and Fellowships) and Choreography Fellowships in all forms dance, theater and film. One unique aspe…

Supply and Demand in the Arts by Rocco Landesman

Last week, as part of a gathering at Arena Stage in Washington DC, I was able to finally spark a conversation that I have been wanting to have for more than a year now.

Moonlight and Magnolias: Movie Making at the Colony by Gary Ballard

Playwright Ron Hutchinson wrote Moonlight and Magnolias, a comedic retelling of how the final film script came into being. It had its world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2004 an…

Directing Jump/Cut Is Terrifying and Exhilarating by Paul Millet

This production of Jump/Cut will be the West Coast premiere. Jump/Cut was first produced in Washington in 2003. Think about that. This play is eight years old and has never been produced on …

Katey Sagal: Outside Her Comfort Zone by Deborah Behrens

Katey Segal discusses her return to the legit stage after 25 years in Randy Newman's "Harps and Angels"at the Mark Taper Forum, the long road between being one of Bette Midler's Harlettes to…

Opening Night Photos for Dangerous Beauty at Pasadena Playhouse by La Stage Alliance

Celebrities traveled to Renaissance Italy for the opening night of Dangerous Beauty at the Pasadena Playhouse including stars of the 1998 movie, Jacqueline Bisset and Rufus Sewell, plus dir…

Tim Crouch is “The Author” and the Actor at Kirk Douglas by Rebecca Kinskey

So that you and I are on the same footing, I will tell you everything I know about The Author, a play opening at the Kirk Douglas on Feb.17 as part of Center Theatre Group's DouglasPlus seri…

Brian Pugach Tells His Fairy Tale at Celebration by Tom Provenzano

What�s a magic mirror to do? Once every century, the mirror is responsible for choosing which �hero�s quest� is to become the next classic fairy tale. A perfect handsome prince, Cope…

David Elzer is Having It All by Tom Provenzano

Of the professionals who have turned Los Angeles small theater into a living laboratory of artistic and even commercial success, few have had the impact of uber-publicist and award-winning p…

Pantages Awakening, Clybourne Calling, Wrong Theater for 33 Variations? by Don Shirley

Which theater company attracts the most young adults? Why can't Clybourne Park coincide with A Raisin in the Sun? Would 33 Variations fit the Taper better than the Ahmanson?

Annie Hendy: Still Looking for Mr. Right by Cynthia Citron

"Every day I walk in here I feel so lucky!” Annie Hendy, bubbling over, sits in the lobby of the Falcon Theatre in Burbank to talk about her personal odyssey as she presents it in her …

Darin Dahms Directs Alceste for NOTE’s 30th by Cindy Marie Jenkins

“The story of Alceste is a love story and that's the thing I keep coming back to,” director and actor Darin Dahms says of Alceste, written by B. Walker Sampson and produced by …

A Tennessee Williams House Built by Simon Levy by Gary Ballard

LA STAGE Insider: February 10, 2011 by Julio Martinez

From the Marvelous Wonderettes, to Harold Pinter and Ray Stricklyn, Julio Martinez covers it all in this weeks LASTAGE Insider.

Steve Cisneros' Phantom Projects for Young Adults by Tom Provenzano

In Southern California the Phantom Projects Theatre Group has a long history of touring schools with important issue-driven productions. Over the past decade Phantom has developed a solid re…

Pinocchio Marks Deaf West’s 20th Birthday by Cindy Marie Jenkins

“Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.” That is a modest start for the classic tale of the world's most famous fabricating puppet, first serialized in a magazine from 1880…

Jelks and Chimo Keep It Goin' ‘Til Break of Noon by Darlene Donloe

John Earl Jelks and Tracee Chimo talk about crossing the country to continue the premiere production in L.A. of Neil LaBute's play Break of Noon, at the Geffen.

Ballroom With a Twist by La Stage Alliance

Cast members of Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance come together on one stage at the historic El Portal Theatre in the LA premiere of Ballroom with a Twist.

Fine Dining with The Hollywood Chef by Lee Melville

LA STAGE Times Editor-in-Chief Lee Melville shares his memories of former mentor and friend Vern Lanegrasse, "The Hollywood Chef," who died January 19.

Take Cyclops, Add Dionysus, Add Ukulele by Louis Butelli and Chas Libretto

Louis Butelli and Chas LiBretto of Psittacus Productions interrogate each other on their lates creation, Cyclops, A Rock Opera.

David Lee's Date with Gigi at Reprise by Steve Julian

Gigi, the movie, swept the Oscars in 1959 including Best Picture. The script was adapted in 1973 for the stage, but what you may see this month by the Reprise Theatre Comapny at UCLA's Freu…

Being Belarus Free Theatre by Bari Hochwald

On February 25

Annie Potts: Empty Nester Returns to Her Theatrical Roots by Deborah Behrens

Annie Potts is an actress film and television audiences have come to trust. From Janine Melnitz (Ghostbusters) to Mary Jo Shively (Designing Women) to Mary Elizabeth “M.E.” Sims …

Carmen Argenziano: Proof is in the Performance by Julio Martinez

"Now this is what's so wonderful about the theater: Carmen Argenziano is playing a math genius instead of a hood or a cop." TV and film vet admits luxuriating in the opportunity to inhabit…

Rock of Ages: '80s Love Letter to Music and Sunset Strip by Lee Melville

"As long as i can remember I was always into music," says Janet Rich, one of the producers of the musical Rock of Ages, opening Feb. 15 at the Pantages Theatre. "It was always something tha…

Creating a White House Comedy by Karen Zill

We're very fortunate to live in a country where our elected representatives make up words like "refudiate," send bare-chested photos of themselves to young ladies via the Internet, and somet…

Native Voices Opens Carolyn Dunn's The Frybread Queen by Steve Julian

Part Cherokee, Seminole and Muskogee Creek on her father's side, Carolyn Dunn is among a growing cadre of Native American playwrights. Her play The Frybread Queen opens Saturday in the Autry…

Helen Hunt: Much Ado About Shakespeare by Deborah Behrens

Helen Helen discusses the joys of playing Beatrice in The Shakespeare Company of Los Angeles' "Much Ado About Nothing", her bi-coastal theatre roots and why she's not suited to stage direct.

Horton Foote's Young Man Casts Light on Past and Future by A.r. Cassell

After making its debut Off-Broadway in 1995, Horton Foote's The Young Man from Atlanta will finally have its Los Angeles premiere on March 11. Presented by the Production Company and staged …

Director Lisa Peterson Tells a Story In Mother Words by Darlene Donloe

Director Lisa Peterson describes her latest show, In Mother Words, as a "compilation or quilt play" made up of 15 short pieces by 15 different writers, all describing what it means to be a m…