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Entertainment Editor “Red Noses”, written by British playwright Peter Barnes has been chosen as the premiere play of the Actors’ Gang’s 30th season. Barnes was known for his dark comedy using shocking and biting, social satire. His Holocaust play is titled “Laughter”. “Red Noses” was written in 1978 but not performed until 1985 due to the newness of the AIDS epidemic and lack of information concerning it. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production in London that year won the prestigious Olivi...
Observer Editor I like country music, so it pleases me that ‘I’ve Never Been So Happy” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre is a two-hour musical with a Western theme. The near capacity crowd at the Sunday matinee agreed if we can judge from the frequent applause and occasional ovations. But if you object to raw language that isn’t necessary it may not be for you. I thought the play would have been better without the four-letter words. However, I’ve seen a lot of plays at the Kirk Douglas and this one...
By Mitch Chortkoff Observer Editor Shortly after I entered the Kirk Douglas Theatre Saturday afternoon to see “The Method Gun” ushers approached the audience with a pencil and slip of paper. We were asked to write the name of a teacher who had inspired us early in life, someone who made a difference. The play began and for the next 90 minutes there was no mention of the request. The play was about a popular teacher who suddenly departed for South America, leaving her students and former stu...
Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group, has set the 2011-2012 season at CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. The new season is the eighth at the theater in Culver City and will feature four productions and the popular DouglasPlus programming. It will run from September 17, 2011, through June 2012. The new season will include the poignant storytelling of Charlayne Woodard in her newest play, “The Night Watcher”; the riveting Ebony Repertory Theatre production of Lorraine Hansb...
“PARADE” With book by Alfred Uhry, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown From Friday, March 18 to Saturday, April 23, 2011 At the Westchester Playhouse Kentwood Players presents the Tony Award winning musical "Parade” with book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown from Friday, March 18 to Saturday, April 23, 2011 with performances on Friday and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Los Angeles, CA 90045. The produ...
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the J. Paul Getty Trust are pleased to announce their joint acquisition of art and archival materials by or associated with Robert Mapplethorpe, one of the great photographers of the second half of the twentieth century. The vast majority of the acquisition comes in the form of a generous gift from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and the remainder from funds provided by The David Geffen Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Trust. This significant acquisition establishes Los Angeles as the center...
“Venice,” the world premiere production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre which had its opening on Sunday, is a mash-up of styles that works on so many levels. The show was co-written and produced by two masterminds - wunderkind Matt Sax and Kansas City Rep artistic director Eric Rosen. Sax first came on the scene with Rosen’s first show with the Rep, “Clay,” which also ran at The Kirk a few years ago to rave reviews. Rosen found Sax at Northwestern University and recognized his potential, working w...
Entertainment Editor In 2008 at the International Center Theatre in Long Beach a test audience of 349 people saw a staged reading for a musical comedy which was titled “Garbo…the Musical”. They were to determine whether the play was worth polishing and being included in the theatre’s Silver Anniversary Season. Now almost two years later the project has come to fruition with the musical “When Garbo Talks” which premiered on October 15. Recounting the show’s journey to the stage Honorary Producer,...
The Academy of Visual & Performing Arts at Culver City High School recognizes the following 50 program graduates on their achievements and scholarly pursuits. The Academy operates after school and is open to all high school students, not only those enrolled in Culver City High School. AVPA Theatre Senior Graduates Joey Guthman ~ Emerson College, Boston; Jeanette Carl Memorial Scholarship Scholarship Angie Harvey ~ Santa Monica College; El Rincon PTA Scholarship Sarah Hattem ~ American University DC Ben Klemes ~ New York University; Culver City...
“THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST” by Oscar Wilde From Friday, May 7 to Saturday, June 12, 2010 At the Westchester Playhouse Kentwood Players continues its 60th Anniversary Season with Oscar Wilde’s immortal classic "The Importance of Being Earnest" from May 7 to June 12, 2010 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester. The production is directed by Drew Fitzsimmons and produced by Jim Crawford and Alison Mattiza. Featured in the cast are Marcy Agreen, Lorenzo B...
The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) will welcome young filmmakers from around Los Angeles County to participate in the 12th Annual Frost Film Festival. The festival runs Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m. to 10 in the Sony Black Box Theatre, Room 9 in Robert Frost Auditorium, 4401 Elenda Street, Culver City. General Admission each night is $10 and $8 for ASB/Seniors/ Children/Faculty. Seating is very limited; we recommend that you purchase tickets prior to the screening. Tickets can be purchased online at avpa.org or in person...
Every year the Southern Region of CETA (California Educational Theatre Association) holds a High School Theatre Festival. The festival showcases four mainstage shows which have been selected from each of the four regions of Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and San Diego County. This year CETA selected Culver City High School's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) cast and crew of Nicholas Nickleby as the first place winners in all of Los Angeles County. Nicholas Nickleby, directed by Sheila Silver,...
Culver City High School 's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) presents "Music for the Holidays" on Tuesday, December 15 at the Robert Frost Auditorium ( 4401 Elenda Street ). Doors open at 6:30 pm with pre-concert entertainment by the Chamber Singers and Jazz Combo. The concert will begin at 7:00 pm . Admission is a suggested donation of $5 and up, but no one will be turned away. The annual winter concert, directed by Dr. Tony Spano and Lisa Michel, will feature the AVPA Chamber Singers and Jazz Ensemble, along with the Culver City...
Holiday Celebration to be held at Skirball Cultural Center, Sunday, December 20, 4 PM Join the Culver City Chamber Orchestra for a concert celebration featuring the works of Corelli and Vaughn Williams, plus Christmas and Chanukah songs. Listen to “T’was the Night before Christmas,” narrated by Philip Lester. The holiday celebration will include sing-a-longs and a special performance by a young musical troupe, the Mark Twain Ringers. The Mark Twain Ringers are under the direction of Mr. Ron Thiele who teaches English Handbells at Mark Twain...
I recently attended a DouglasPlus workshop for “Next Stop Amazingland” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Because this production was being presented by the same creators of the critically acclaimed dreamscape vaudeville “All Wear Bowlers” (2005), I was interested to see it. Trey Lyford and Geoff Sobelle teamed up with world-class magician Steven Cuiffo to form this mix of half-theatre, half-magic show. The idea was to combine the magic with glitz, humor, and bizarre, off-the-wall characters. Overall,...
The performance by the Get-Lit Players, teen poets, is another unique and stellar offering from The Actors” Gang and co-sponsored by LA Weekly in the WTF?! Series. The troupe studies and recites classic poems and then writes responses, which are showcased in explosive, live shows. It is a writing program for at-risk teens from 13 to 19 years-old in Los Angeles with 75% of these teens being Title 1, who face school dropout rates of up to 70%. In 2008 in Washington, D. C. they scored in the Top T...
Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music stands almost alone in the grand sweep of his works for musical theatre – though set in the perpetual twilight of a Scandinavian summer night, A Little Night Music is perhaps his lightest show. Far better known for his work roaming in the shadows, Sondheim here takes a less tragic view of love and its foibles. Although, Night Music starts with pairs of lovers – some mismatched, some not remembering why they matched in the first place – the romantic, waltz-...
The Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) Theatre Department presents their first production of the season production calendar: Nicholas Nickleby, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and directed by Sheila Silver, AVPA’s new Creative Director of Theatre. The show opened to a full house on Thursday, November 12, and continues through November 22 with 7 p.m. performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 1:00 p.m. matinee on Sunday at the Sony Pictures Theatre (The Blackbox), behind the Robert Frost Auditorium,...
Students from Culver City High School 's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) Film Department, along with their parents, are sponsoring a Giant Garage Sale from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 21, at the corner of Garfield and Elenda, across the street from Culver City High School . For information about how to donate items to the Garage Sale or to make a monetary contribution to the AVPA Film Program, contact AVPA Foundation Film Rep Jean Ballantine at 310-398-4200 or [email protected]@ca.rr.com, or the Film...
A troop of young actors from Culver City High School's Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) attended the DTASC Fall Theatre Festival (Drama Teachers Association of Southern California) on Saturday, October 24 at Carson High School. Actors Jesse Pilchin, Conor Murphy and Kevin Mitchell, directed by Louie Chavez, won a first place trophy for their performance in a scene from The Lonesome West by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. All first place winners will perform at "Salute to the Winners" on Sunday, November 15 at the Barnsdall...
The Actors' Gang WTF?! Festival continues with sScheduled events including Documentary Tuesdays, Film Wednesdays, Theater Thursdays, Fun Fridays, and Music Saturdays. All proceeds benefit The Actors' Gang's community outreach programs. Visit the website at www.wtffestival.comfor the most up-to-date schedule and line-up. This week: Thursday, November 5 at 8 pm (Bar opens at 7 pm) - Dance troupe, MENTAL HEAD CIRCUS and HOOPDAWGZ, create an intoxicating vaudeville circus that pulses with dance, humor, hula hoops and bawdy allure. - $15 Friday,...
The Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) Theatre Department presents their first production of the season production calendar: Nicholas Nickleby, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and directed by AVPA’s new Creative Director of theatre, Sheila Silver. The show runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, November 12 to November 21 at 7 p.m. with 1 p.m. matinees Sundays, November 15 and 22 at the Sony Pictures Theatre (The Blackbox), behind the Robert Frost Auditorium, 4401 Elenda Street in Culver City. Tickets a...
Kentwood Announces Auditions for “SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION” Kentwood Players announces auditions for "Six Degrees of Separation" by John Guare on Saturday, November 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, and Sunday, November 8 from 7 p.m. to 10 at the Westchester Playhouse located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester. The production is directed by Don Schlossman and produced by Jordan Bland and Meredith M. Sweeney. Performance dates are January 8 to February 13, 2010 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2. Six Degrees of Separation refers to...
Tim Robbins nonchalantly sauntered on stage at the Actor’s Gang Theatre last Saturday night and welcomed the packed house as if he were inviting them into his living room. The crowd loved it and responded as if they were dear friends at a guitar pull in Nashville. Tim started several songs over, laughing at his mistakes and endearing himself even more to the audience. He did three songs solo and then was joined by his son, Miles, his brother, guitarist David Robbins, accordion player Chris S...
In this time where "change" is the word of the year, artist Elana Mann and 30 art students from the Culver City High School Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) program will be throwing "Retirement Bash," an interactive performance event, in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). AVPA art students will present, "Retirement Bash," on Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 at The Culver City Senior Center located at 4095 Overland Avenue in Culver City. The event is free and open to the public. During a ten-week...
