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Articles by Ken Werther
GENA ROWLANDS | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles Richard Brody of The New Yorker once called Gena Rowlands, “The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus.” The revered and beloved actress passed away on August 14 after a five-year struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 94. Her career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades and made her a legend in her own time.
Patti LuPone | LAArtsOnline.com
Four words that excite: Patti LuPone in concert! Thanks to LA Opera, the legendary Broadway star is bringing her new show, A Life in Notes, to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for one night only on Saturday, April 20, with musical director Joseph Thalken. She returns to the DCP stage after her acclaimed performances in LA Opera productions of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2007) and The Ghosts of Versailles (2015).
JERSEY BOYS | LAArtsOnline.com
In the fall of 2004, I drove down to the La Jolla Playhouse to see a new musical that was making quite a splash. I was working in the press office at the Ahmanson Theatre and when I returned, I told my bosses they needed to get their hands on the show before it headed for Broadway. That didn’t happen, but on June 4, 2007, the first National Tour of Jersey Boys opened at the Ahmanson and ran for four sold-out months.
A BROADWAY BIRTHDAY
Listen up, lovers of Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber! Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa is presenting A Broadway Birthday: Sondheim, Lloyd Webber, and Friends for one night only on Thursday, March 28, at 8pm, in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
REMEMBERING GENE WILDER
The Producers, Silver Streak, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Stir Crazy, Hanky Panky, The Woman in Red, Haunted Honeymoon, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory … justsome of the films starring the beloved Gene Wilder. An actor, writer, and director, he died in 2016 at age 86 following a three-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Remembering Gene Wilder is a new biographical documentary film about his life, career, and his struggle with Alzheimer’s.
FOOTLOOSE | LAArtsOnline.com
Footloose, which in many ways enjoys cult status in American culture, was released on February 17, 1984 and became the seventh highest grossing film of that year. The songs “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins and “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” by Deniece Williams were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Fourteen years later, on October 22, 1998, a stage adaptation of Footloose opened on Broadway, ran for 709 performances, and received four Tony Award nominations.
CHITA RIVERA | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles February 2024 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 Chita Rivera, the legendary dancer, singer, and actress who leapt to stardom in the original Broadway production of West Side Story and dazzled audiences for nearly seven decades onstage, in movies, and on television, died on January 30 at age 91.
MACK & MABEL | LAArtsOnline.com
Okay, theatre fans … now this is exciting! All Roads Theatre Company, LA’s new Equity company, is presenting its inaugural production this month! It’s a fully staged and choreographed “in concert” presentation of the beloved and rarely produced Broadway musical Mack & Mabel, starring Dermot Mulroney (yes, he sings!), Jenna Lea Rosen, and Caroline O’Connor.
THE WIZ | LAArtsOnline.com
The Wiz, the Broadway musical that opened in 1975, actually has a much longer title — The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” — and was billed back then as “a soft rock musical version of the Oz story.” Forty-nine years later (yikes!), I’m guessing many people reading this weren’t even born yet! I, on the other hand, saw that original Broadway show! A brand-new production has been touring the country on its way back to Broadway, and LA is the last stop before it lands in NYC...
Abbott Elementary
Okay, everyone! School is back in session! It’s been eight long months since Quinta Brunson’s Emmy Award-winning Abbott Elementary aired its Season Two finale. With the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in the past, Season Three arrives on Wednesday, February 7 at 9pm with a special one-hour episode. The Philadelphia-set mockumentary’s sophomore season gave us everything from a Gritty cameo to wonderful holiday episodes to a magical first kiss.
Norman Lear | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles January 2024 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 Countless personalities are called legends. Norman Lear, who died at 101 on December 5, was the genuine article. He changed the face, tone, and breadth of TV comedy with acclaimed, hugely popular (and yes, legendary) breakthrough series throughout the 1970s. His shows tackled the issues of the day with wit, passion, and blunt, often controversial realism.
Ryan O’Neal | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles January 2024 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 Ryan O’Neal, dashing TV star and even bigger movie star, died on December 8 at the age of 82. I’m guessing most people don’t know (or remember) that prior to his career in show business, he trained as a Golden Gloves amateur boxer. With his mother’s help (she knew someone who knew someone!), he got gigs as a stand-in and a stuntman and became interested in being an actor.
Both And | LAArtsOnline.com
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Ars (aka The Wallis) welcomes 2024 with a unique theatre event — Both And (a play about laughing while black), written and performed by Carolyn Ratteray. Directed by Andi Chapman, Both And had its world premiere at the Theatre at Boston Court in Pasadena in 2022. Solo shows can be risky and hard to pull off, but this one is 100% solid.
POTUS | LAArtsOnline.com
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. It’s a play, and with a title like that how can you not want to see it?This rollicking, raucous comedy arrives at Geffen Playhouse this month after a 2022 Broadway run for which two of the stars, Rachel Dratch and Vanessa Williams, received Tony Award nominations for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. Previews begin on January 17 and opening night is set for January 24.
Wonka | LAArtsOnline.com
Get ready … the deliciously talented, Oscar-nominated Timothée Chalamet will arrive on movie screens in the USA (conventional and Dolby/IMAX) on December 15 as … wait for it … a singing and dancing Willy Wonka! Warner Bros. is presenting this new musical fantasy, telling the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, featuring Wonka’s early days as an eccentric chocolatier.
A Christmas Story
The Ahmanson Theatre is about to light up for the holidays! From the songwriting team behind the smash hit Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen and the critically acclaimed films La La Land and The Greatest Showman, comes A Christmas Story, The Musical.
AUDRA MCDONALD | LAArtsOnline.com
My first Audra McDonald experience was all the way back in 1994 at Lincoln Center in NYC when she played Carrie Pipperidge in the Royal National Theatre production of Carousel (and won her first Tony Award). A year later, she came to the Mark Taper Forum (where I was working in the press office) in Terrence McNally’s Master Class, prior to Broadway (for which she won her second Tony Award).
Flora And Son | LAArtsOnline.com
Flora (Eve Hewson), a single mother living in Dublin, is having trouble with her estranged son Max (Orén Kinlan), a rebellious teenaged petty thief who is also navigating his first crush. On a quest to find Max a hobby, Flora rescues an old guitar from a skip bin (what Ireland calls a dumpster) and, with the help of Jeff, a Los Angeles-based online guitar teacher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), discovers that one person’s rubbish can be another person’s salvation.
My Name Is Barbra
My dad used to tell me of the day in 1962 he saw I Can Get It for You Wholesale in Boston, prior to Broadway. “It wasn’t very good,” he’d say, “but there was this girl …” She was only 20 years old, and her name was Barbra Streisand! Barbra is now 81 (81!) and on November 7, her long-awaited memoir, My Name is Barbra, by the superstar of stage, screen, recordings, and television finally arrives.
SUZANNE SOMERS | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles November 2023 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 Suzanne Somers, who became a star by playing a ‘ditsy blonde’ on the sitcom Three’s Company (1977) and then gained a different kind of fame when she demanded equal pay with the series’ male star — died on October 15, one day before she would have turned 77. She had survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years.
MATTHEW PERRY | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles November 2023 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 Suddenly, emails were popping up from the LA Times, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter, People Magazine, The Washington Post — Matthew Perry was dead at 54. It took me a couple of minutes to fully digest this information … it just didn’t seem possible. Then the tributes started pouring in from friends, family, and many folks in Hollywood.
MY SON THE WAITER
Actor and comedian Brad Zimmerman returns to Southern California this month with his all-new solo showMy Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy & Still Not Famous! for four weeks only at the Colony Theatre in Burbank beginning October 19, and continuing through November 12.
MINX SEASON 2 | LAArtsOnline.com
Minx, the comedy series that premiered on HBO Max in March 2022 to both critical and audience acclaim, had been renewed and was in the middle of shooting its second season when it was suddenly, unceremoniously canceled! Ah, the wonderful world of streaming. Then, to the delight of its loyal fan base, Minx was picked up by STARZ. The second season premiered on July 21, 2023 and the final episode of season two will be released on Friday, September 8, 2023.
The Morning Show
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles September 2023 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 “The show is much juicier and sexier than it’s ever been,” promises executive producer and director Mimi Leder, talking about season three of The Morning Show on Apple TV+. The premiere is set for Wednesday, September 13.
PIPELINE | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER This month, following a four-year hiatus due Covid-19, the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company is returning to live production at the Art of Acting Studio in Hollywood with the Los Angeles premiere of Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau. Directed by Bryan Keith, the cast features Lou Acosta, Jon Gentry, Fadhia Carmelle Marcelin, Nate Memba, ArianaSucar, Jennifer Sorenson, and Omari Williams. The show will run for 12 performances only, August 2–19.
Red, White & Royal Blue
Okay, so here’s an idea: a story about the first son of the United States who gets into a romantic relationship with a British prince. Wait, what? It’s been done? Indeed, it has! First a novel by Casey McQuiston, published in 2019, and now a film. Red, White & Royal Blue will debut on Amazon Prime Video on August 11! When the book was released, it received positive reviews with special praise for the representation of a gay relationship. Okay, I know what you’re thinking … a story about what?
GROUP THERAPY | LAArtsOnline.com
Sweet Talk Productions, producers of last summer’s comedy hit Remembering the Future at the Odyssey Theatre, is presenting the world premiere of Group Therapy, a new play by Peter Lefcourt, at the Theatre 68 Arts Complex in North Hollywood through August 20. Directed by Terri Hanauer,the cast features Andy Hoff, Ashley Platz, and Marnina Schon, with Sawyer FullerandCat Mastersonserving as alternates.Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm.
Les Misérables | LAArtsOnline.com
Here it comes again! Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s musical theatre phenomenon Les Misérables returns to Los Angeles this month at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre (through September 10). Seen by over 130 million people worldwide in 53 countries, 438 cities, and in 22 languages, Les Misérables is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals. It has run on Broadway three separate times for a total of 8,167 performances.
STEW | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER Following The Pasadena Playhouse’s months-long Stephen Sondheim celebration, with included critically acclaimed productions of Sunday in the Park with George and A Little Night Music and Bernadette Peters in concert, comes Zora Howard’s play Stew. A finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this hilarious, haunting, and taut 90-minute drama has a lot cooking underneath the surface.
Theatre | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles December 2023 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 Holiday Spectacular So, apparently Pasadena has a new tradition. The Playhouse will be putting on another Holiday Spectacular! You better watch out, you better not cry, because something magical is coming to the Playhouse this holiday season.
JACKLYN ZEMAN | LAArtsOnline.com
All of us here at LAArtsOnline are mourning the loss of a dear friend — the talented, fun, loving, and all-around delightful Jacklyn (Jackie) Zeman, the Emmy-nominated actress who for nearly a half-century played the role of Nurse Bobbie Spencer on the long-running soap opera General Hospital (nearly 900 episodes!). She died of cancer at only 70 years old … way, way too young. Making her first appearance on GH in 1977, Jackie was among the longest-lasting cast members of any soap opera.
MACBETH | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER Currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum’s mission (as stated on its website) is to elevate, educate, and entertain audiences of all ages by presenting thought-provoking classics, socially relevant plays, and education programs in a beautiful, natural outdoor sanctuary for the arts. By passing on a sense of history to young people and adults alike, great works of art inform their present and inspire their future.
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
Go, go, go Joseph! La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts’ final production of its 2022–23 season is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical perennial, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This beloved family show opened at the Royale Theatre on Broadway in January 1982 and ran for 747 performances. Since that time, the show has been performed in over 80 countries and is a favorite of schools and amateur theatre groups.
NOW OR LATER | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER The 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival has arrived, and with it a production of Now or Laterby Christopher Shinn. Directed by Ann Bronston, the cast features Cherish Monique Duke, Brendan Farrell, Suzanne Ford, Samuel Garnett, George Kappaz, and Jack McKeever. The play had its world premiere in 2008 at the Royal Court Theatre in London — starring Eddie Redmayne! In the story, it’s the night of the US presidential election and success is imminent for the Democratic Party.
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
As part of its Stephen Sondheim Celebration, The Pasadena Playhouse is currently presenting A Little Night Music, one of the beloved composer/lyricist’s best loved musicals.
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’
By KEN WERTHER Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a three-time Tony Award-winning tribute to the music of Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller (1904–1943). Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano.
JACK CRADDOCK IS HAVING A PARTY
By KEN WERTHER Jack Craddock is Having a Party, and you’re invited!It’s always exciting when a brand-new play arrives on the scene. In this case, it’s at Moving Arts Theatre in Atwater Village. This world premiere byHarrison Harvey will play nine performances only beginning Friday, May 12 (the engagement ends on Sunday, June 4). Directed by Rachel McBath,the cast features Eric Patrick Harper, Sally Hughes, Andy Schirrmeister, and Morgan Thompson. Lighting and sound design are byJustin Huen.
ON A WING AND A PRAYER
By KEN WERTHER Photo Courtesy of PRIME I am not a happy flyer. From the time I was very young, I always thought (and would say quite often), “If God had meant man to fly, he would have given us wings!” The number of planes that take off and land safely every day, all over the world, without incident, is truly staggering. So … what could possibly go wrong?
1776 | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER Photo Courtesy of CENTER THEATRE GROUP If you’re a Hamilton fan and part of what you admire about the show is the musical history lesson it imparts, 1776 is for you! The popular and critically acclaimed Broadway musical is based on the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It dramatizes the efforts of John Adams to persuade his colleagues in congress to vote for American independence from Britain and to sign the document.
MENSTRUATION: A PERIOD PIECE
By KEN WERTHER Photo By Lex Ryan “It’s time to break the cycle of silence and shame around periods.” Okay, so now that I’ve got your attention … there’s a new show at the Los Angeles LGBT Center called Menstruation: A Period Pieceby Miranda Rose Hall. It’s a world premiere and it’s very funny.
MOVING ON | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER Photo Courtesy of ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS I often talk about little known facts, but here’s something that’s pretty well known — Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are besties! Late last year, they finished up a seven-season run of the incredibly successful and extremely popular Grace and Frankie on Netflix.
THE LONELY FEW | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER Geffen Playhouse became home of the epics last year! First it was 2020 Tony Award-winner for Best Play, The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez, a two-part event that could be experienced over two afternoons or two evenings or both parts in one day (each part was three acts with two intermissions). Then came The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II, an intense family drama that had a running time of almost four hours (three acts, two intermissions).
SHANGHAI SONATAS
By KEN WERTHER Photo Courtesy of THE WALLIS As the Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills continues its search for a new artistic director, things are really hopping on its stages. This month, in collaboration with the University of Delaware Master Player Concert Series, the Wallis is presenting Shanghai Sonatas: A New Musical In Concert in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.
TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992
By KEN WERTHER It was very late at night (or early in the morning, I suppose). Around 1:30am almost 31 years ago on April 30, 1992. I had been asleep for just a few minutes when I was awakened by what sounded like “snap, crackle, pop” magnified about a hundred times, right outside my bedroom window. Fire! A couple of hours later, although the fire department fought valiantly, my building was toast. Every material possession I had called mine was gone.
KATRINA | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble is now presenting the third production of its 10th anniversary season, this time in Sawyer’s Playhouse, the company’s black box theatre upstairs from the mainstage. It’s the world premiere of Katrina by LaDarrion Williams, directed by Jazmine Nichelle (director of last season’s critically acclaimed closing production, The Colored Museum).
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
By KEN WERTHER Photo Courtesy of PASADENA PLAYHOUSE Sunday in the Park with George opened on Broadway in 1984 and became an instant classic. The show garnered 10 Tony Award nominations, winning two, and then received the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985. With a book by James Lapine (he also directed) and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, it is hardly a conventional musical.
Barbara Walters | LAArtsOnline.com
Skip to content LAArtsOnline.com | Arts In Los Angeles Arts In Los Angeles January 2023 Celebrating the Arts since 2012 By Ken Werther Pioneering TV journalist and broadcast personality Barbara Walters, who passed away on December 30 at the age of 93, will always be remembered for blazing a trail for women in a male-dominated medium.
FINAL INTERVIEW | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER The Pico Playhouse in West LA will kick off the new year with the world premiere production of Go Theatrics’ Final Interviewby Gabriel Oliva. This gripping story of revenge set against the backdrop of corporate America is directed by Katierose Donahue-Enriquezand the cast features Dana Deryuck, Colleen Foy, Frank Martinelli, Gabriel Oliva, and Brian Stanton. There will be five performances only, on Fridays and Saturdays, January 13, 14, 27, and 28, and Sunday, January 29.
GREASE | LAArtsOnline.com
By KEN WERTHER La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment are getting the new year off to an electrifying start with the world’s best loved rock n’ roll musical, Grease.The 1972 Broadway smash ran for a whopping 3,388 performances and was nominated for seven Tony Awards.
Brothers Play | LAArtsOnline.com
By Ken Werther Photo By Jeff Lorch Photography Brothers Play by Matthew Doherty is a dark comedy (and I do mean dark!) about the long-term effects of trauma.
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