Darrell Larson

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble joins with Tony Abatemarco to produce Thresholds of Invention, a new series of first looks at pieces-in-progress by prominent L.A. visionaries working in pop-up form.

Sleep, awakeness, psychosis, enlightenment, coma. How thin is the veil that separates them? Odyssey Theatre Ensemble artistic director Ron Sossi explores some of the many states of human awareness with an evening of short “mind excursions” by Harold Pinter with Robert Coover and Hermann Hesse. Collectively titled Wakings!, the metaphysical adventure begins Saturday, April 30, with performances continuing through June 5.

The ability to totally transform yourself into the physical, emotional and intellectual persona of another person so believably that audience members will see the character and not the actor is one of the most fascinating elements of live theatre to me. This is especially true for actors I follow, seeing them in several productions and always being surprised at the new person presented in front of me, often having nothing in common with the real personality of the actor. One such actor is Ron Bottitta, an English-born actor who has called the USA his home since 1980, who I spoke with about his characters in WAKINGS! at the Odyssey Theatre,

Sleep, awakeness, psychosis, enlightenment, coma. How thin is the veil that separates them? Odyssey Theatre Ensemble artistic director Ron Sossi explores some of the many states of human awareness with an evening of short “mind excursions” by Harold Pinter with Robert Coover and Hermann Hesse. Collectively titled Wakings!, the metaphysical adventure begins Saturday, April 23, with performances continuing through June 5.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble re-opens its re-envisioning of the Odyssey's 1969 West Coast premiere of The Serpent, the Obie award-winning play by Jean-Claude van Itallie. The production initially opened in March, 2020 as part of the Odyssey's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season, but was shuttered five days later by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

NYACK CENTER'S 25TH ANNUAL MUSIC AND READINGS IN A HOLIDAY SPIRIT at The Nyack Center

Sam Shepard, who left this world in 2017, was an American playwright and actor whose plays adroitly blend images of the American West, pop motifs, science fiction, and other elements of popular and youth culture. His settings are often a kind of nowhere, notionally grounded in the dusty heart of the vast American Plains. His characters are typically loners, drifters caught between a mythical past and the mechanized present; his work often concerns deeply troubled families, lovers or friends. Two of his plays centering on loners at the end of their rope, THE UNSEEN HAND coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious KILLER'S HEAD, joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception.

Go ahead a?" take the apple. Founding artistic director Ron Sossi directs a revival of The Serpent by Jean-Claude van Itallie a?" winner of the 1969 Obie award and arguably the most successful ensemble work ever created a?" as part of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season. Sossi previously directed the West Coast premiere exactly 50 years ago, in the spring of 1970, as the second production ever at the then brand-new Odyssey Theatre. The Serpent opens on March 7 at the Odyssey's current home in West L.A., where performances will continue through May 3.

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 25 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble has announced the schedule of rotating actors, including Shameless actor Steve Howey and film actor Dermot Mulroney, who will appear in Killer's Head by Sam Shepard, a monologue that makes up the first half of the Shepard double bill a?" the second half is his 1969 one-act The Unseen Hand a?" that is part of the Odyssey's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception. 

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 18 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.

Two venerable Los Angeles intimate theaters will each host a Mueller Report Read-A-Thon, offering Angelenos the opportunity to hear the Mueller Report read aloud, in its entirety, on either side of the City. The Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood will host a single, 15-hour event on Thursday, July 18 from 9 a.m. to midnight. The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in West L.A. will hold a separate marathon reading, breaking it up into two 8-hour sessions on Monday, July 22 and Tuesday, July 23, each from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission to both Read-A-thons is free and open to the public.

The Grammy Museum will be hosting NOTES ON LIVING: ALL-STAR JAZZ WITH TALES BY BRIAN DOYLE May 14, 2019 as a joint benefit for WordTheatre in the Schools (WITS) and the Grammy Museum. WordTheatre's artistic director Cedering Fox will be producing and directing this evening of selected stories by award-winning author Brian Doyle, read by a star-studded cast, and accompanied by an all-star jazz band led by Starr Parodi. Cedering opened up some of her early evening time to speak to me.

Promoted as a precursor to Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, comparisons to Albee's masterpiece does August Strindberg's THE DANCE OF DEATH, here adapted by Conor McPherson, a disservice. Having seen Dame Diana Rigg and David Suchet battle it out as Martha and George in 1996 at the Almeida in London (and, of course, the unforgettable scenery-chewing film version with Taylor and Burton), how can any pair of present-day actors measure up?

Deliciously dark, relentlessly brutal, fiercely funny. Lizzy Kimball, Darrell Larson and Jeff LeBeau form three points of a treacherous triangle in Conor McPherson's new version of The Dance of Death by August Strindberg, running Sept. 23 through Nov. 19 at the Odyssey Theatre.

Deliciously dark, relentlessly brutal, fiercely funny. Lizzy Kimball, Darrell Larson and Jeff LeBeau form three points of a treacherous triangle in Conor McPherson's new version of TheDance of Death by August Strindberg. Ron Sossi directs for a Sept. 23 opening at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Deliciously dark, relentlessly brutal, fiercely funny. Lizzy Kimball, Darrell Larson and Jeff LeBeau form three points of a treacherous triangle in Conor McPherson's new version of The Dance of Death by August Strindberg, running Sept. 23 through Nov. 19 at the Odyssey Theatre.

Deliciously dark, relentlessly brutal, fiercely funny. Lizzy Kimball, Darrell Larson and Jeff LeBeau form three points of a treacherous triangle in Conor McPherson's new version of The Dance of Death by August Strindberg. Ron Sossi directs for a Sept. 23 opening at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

The Gary Plays - Extended through June 10: Fans of seminal playwright and Padua Hills Playwrights Festival founder Murray Mednick are in for a treat: Open Fist Theatre Company presents Mednick's entire "The Gary Plays" series in one epic production. Originated by Padua Playwrights and developed in workshops over a two-year period by Open Fist, "The Gary Plays" chronicles the odyssey of unemployed actor Gary Bean in the years following the random murder of his son. An everyman/anti-hero, Gary has been hailed by KCRW as "a sort of L.A. Leopold Bloom." Audiences can choose to follow his journey over the course of three evenings - or view all six plays on a single Sunday.

Fans of seminal playwright and Padua Hills Playwrights Festival founder Murray Mednick are in for a treat: Open Fist Theatre Company presents Mednick's entire 'The Gary Plays' series in one epic production beginning May 4 at Atwater Village Theatre. Longtime Mednick collaborator Guy Zimmerman directs. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!