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Joel Beers on Muck Rack

Joel Beers

Verified
Fullerton
As seen in: LA Weekly, American Theatre, Voice of OC, Fullerton Observer, Stage and Cinema, Culture OC, Orange Curtain Review
Covers:  theater, news, sports, features, politics, human interest, all of it
Writer, Reader, Explorer, Journalist, Internet ninja, Educator, Reluctant cell user, Catlover, Footsoldier in #waragainsttheimagination #question #dothework

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Joel Beers’s Biography

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Journalist, playwright, teacher, bon vivant.

Joel Beers’s Journalist Portfolio

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The Santa Ana River Is Ready for Its Renaissance | OC Weekly

The Santa Ana River Is Ready for Its Renaissance | OC Weekly

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great fl…

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Fat Like Me | OC Weekly

Fat Like Me | OC Weekly

Photos by Mark StoufferJohn B. Good, Fullerton bartender and aspiring magician, strolls through Disneyland's …

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Our Theater Critic Went to Trump's Orange County Rally to Review the Spectacle of It All | OC Wee...

Our Theater Critic Went to Trump's Orange County Rally to Review the Spectacle of It All | OC Wee...

When you are dealing with such a yuge primordial force like Donald J. Trump, apparently not even an Internet …

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Our Theater Critic Went to Trump's Orange County Rally to Review the Spectacle of It All | OC Wee...

Our Theater Critic Went to Trump's Orange County Rally to Review the Spectacle of It All | OC Wee...

When you are dealing with such a yuge primordial force like Donald J. Trump, apparently not even an Internet …

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"Dear Harvey" Shows That We All Still Need Milk | OC Weekly

"Dear Harvey" Shows That We All Still Need Milk | OC Weekly

Patricia Loughrey wrote Dear Harvey in 2008, in large part because Dan Kirsch, the former director of the Div…

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Joel Beers' Rube! Returns to an OC Stage for a Third Time After 15 Years

Joel Beers' Rube! Returns to an OC Stage for a Third Time After 15 Years

A locally written and produced play, which is about one of the most colorful characters in Major League Baseb…

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Articles

The Show Goes On: Camino Real Playhouse Readies to Open Its New Home

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By Joel Beers Verified
| Culture OC Verified
At a time when other theaters are closing their doors, the San Juan Capistrano company will open ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ on Sept. 11 in a new home. The new Camino Real Playhouse is located in suite C5 in the Plaza Del Obispo Shopping Center, about a half-mile from its former home across from the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Photo by Heide Janssen, Culture OC A few months ago, Leslie Eisner thought she might finally have run out of juice.
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Fullerton’s Day of Music Turns 11 With 200+ Performers and a Story Worth Knowing

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By Joel Beers Verified
| Culture OC Verified
How a French festival tradition and a city in crisis gave birth to one of SoCal's biggest free music celebrations. The Altar Billies play on the balcony at the Fox Theatre in Fullerton during the 2025 Day of Music.
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Where to Watch the World Cup in Orange County

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By Joel Beers Verified
| Culture OC Verified
From biergartens and butcher shops to food halls and fan-filled bars, watching the games is a countywide cultural crawl. Chapter One in downtown Santa Ana is the home base of the OC Gooners, a group of devoted Arsenal football fans, and will draw huge crowds for the World Cup. Photo by Joel Beers, Culture OC The World Cup is many things: a massive business enterprise, political event and global media spectacle.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Sports reporter.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

yes.

How is social media changing news?

for the worse.

Awards

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Orange County Press Club

2020 - Best arts and culture story

Had to write an obituary for STAGES Theatre, the place where all but a handful of my plays were first produced.

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Southern California Journalism Awards

2021 - Entertainment News

Third place (and don't tell anyone, but it's for the same story that I won first place for in Orange County...)

Orange County Press Club

2015 - REal OC

An award given out to the one story that best captures some aspect of Orange County. In this case, it was the story I may have been born to write: a trek along the path of the Santa Ana River from the San Bernardino Mountains to the ocean and all spots in between. I grew up about nine football fields from the river in Riverside.

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Southern California Journalism Awards

2015 - Environmental Reporting, second place

The Santa Ana River story

Southern California Journalism Awards

2013 - Sportwriting, 2nd place

Profile on the fascinating Muffin Spencer-Devlin.

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National Association of Alternative Weekly Awards

2012 - Arts criticism, Silver Medal

Basically second place. National award though...

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Southern California Journalism Awards

2008 - Arts Criticism first place

Don't remember what reviews I won for. But I still have the plaque!