Shari Barrett

For over a decade, The Getty has hosted its Villa Theater Lab series, an exciting forum for reinterpreting classical theater. These workshops feature new translations of Greek and Roman plays and contemporary works inspired by ancient literature. Their latest offering, Aristotle/Alexander, explores the real-life relationship between Aristotle and a teenaged Alexander the Great in 342 BC. As a former teacher of Greek Mythology and history, I could not resist asking Alex Lyras, the play’s writer and director, about his background studying the two great men, the play’s creation, and what audiences can expect to discover about these two ancient heroes.

Founded in 1993 by Adilah Barnes and Miriam Reed, the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival holds the distinction of being the oldest Annual Solo Festival in Los Angeles celebrating powerful women performers. The 31st annual Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson, has a roster of accomplished co-hosts as well as performers during its six programs March 28-31, beginning with a Gala on Thursday night. I decided to speak with Jessica to find out more about the event and the honor being bestowed upon her at the event’s Gala.

Leo Frank led a comfortable life as a Jewish American in New York City who transferred to Marietta, Georgia to manage his wife’s uncle’s pencil factory. In 1912, he was accused of raping and murdering one of the young factory girls during the town’s July 4th parade, and was brought to trial where he was unjustly convicted. I decided to speak with actor Aaron Ellis on what it means to him to be taking on the role of Leo Frank, especially since the resurgence of racism and antisemitism are running rampant in the world today.

Catya McMullen (pictured), a native New Yorker, now finds herself at home in Los Angeles. While working in film and television, her life-long love of theater inspired her to write plays. The world premiere of Arrowhead is her first being presented here, produced by IAMA at Atwater Village Theatre, directed by Jenna Worsham. I decided to speak with Catya about her journey to writing the play, why she set it in Arrowhead, its themes, and how it speaks to different generations of women about love and sexual identity.

Renee O’Connor is perhaps best known as Gabrielle from the popular TV Show Xena Warrior Princess. Along with her roles in many movies, she is now stepping into the role of director for Encore Production’s Matilda, a musical extravaganza featuring cast members of all ages and backgrounds at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center on Friday, January 19 at 7:30pm, Saturday, January 20 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday, January 21 at 2:00pm. I decided to speak with Renee about directing the production, her search for the young performers needed in it, and to find out more about her other entertainment ventures.

The Verdi Chorus, the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus, continues to celebrate its 40th Anniversary season by presenting its first full-length opera, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana for one performance only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on January 20, 2024, followed by a wine and dessert reception. I decided to speak with Audrey Babcock about taking on the challenging role of Santuzza as well as her history of performing opera around the world.

During the Hollywood Fringe Festival this past June, I twice attended the award-winning The Collective, the first Last Call Theatre immersive production directed by Riley Cole who is also directing the group’s upcoming immersive production called The Harvest, opening this December in downtown Los Angeles. I decided to speak with them about the show as well as how its creation compares to the other.

Zachary Reeve Davidson is the Founding Artistic Director of Coin & Ghost, the group presenting Mama Mama Can’t You See, an explosive new play about human connection and the mythology of war written by ex-Marine Stan Mayer and Cecilia Fairchild. Davidson is directing and choreographing, opening November 10 at Studio/Stage. Since the new play tells the story of being involved in a war from the viewpoint of a Marine, I decided to speak with Zachary about its creation and relevancy to our world today in which wars seem to be constantly in the news.

Each Halloween Season, many horror and science fiction offerings hit our stages. This year, David P. Johnson is bringing his Sally Spectre: The Musical back to Theatre West weekends through October 29. A combination horror and morality play, it centers around the ghost of a 5-year-old girl trying to escape from her locked bedroom where she was brutally murdered. But is this musical really for children? To find out, I decided to speak with David P. Johnson who not only wrote the book, music, and lyrics but also directs and co-produces it, and appears onstage accompanying the cast on keyboard during every performance.

Their 2023/2024 season opens on October 28, 2023, with A Beatles Celebration featuring the Classical Mystery Tour band who will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the first Beatles U.S. tour in 1964 as well as the Beatlemania they inspired. I spoke with the group's president Kelly Ruggirello about the upcoming season.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Verdi Chorus, the group’s Music Director and Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, pianist/vocal coach Victoria Kirsch, and actor Linda Kelsey created This, and My Heart, A Portrait of Emily Dickinson and Her Worlds Through Text and Song, to be presented as a unique theatre/concert piece by the Verdi Chorus and the Sahm Family Foundation at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on October 15, 2023. I decided to speak with Anne Marie about how she decided to create the event and her plans to represent and honor Emily Dickinson.

In her tribute cabaret/theater act, Ms. Tucker Will See You Now, Los Angeles native Laural Meade shares her admiration of Jazz great Sophie Tucker by performing her rollicking songs, bawdy stories, and dirty jokes at the historic Gardenia Supper Club in Hollywood. It’s your chance to travel back to the glory days when such intimate settings were common place, both during and after Prohibition, where regular folks could hang out with Hollywood greats to enjoy an evening of dinner, drinks, music, and laughter in the presence of The Last of the Red Hot Mamas, a moniker Ms. Tucker earned throughout her lifetime.I spoke with Laural about the creation of her Sophie Tucker tribute show.

Those who attend the Hollywood Fringe Festival (HFF) surely know the married couple, Matthew Quinn and Bertha Rodriguez, producers and venue managers who have been putting together many selections since HFF began in 2010 via their company Combined Artform and Asylum venues. Continuing the celebration of independent plays, the duo has created the Hollywood Independent Theater Festival (HITFEST) https://hitfest.stagey.net/ opening in September featuring encore performances from this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival. I interviewed the power couple to find out more about the new HITF.

Prolific writer Garry Michael Kruger is bringing the world premiere of his latest play, Walking In Space, to Theatre West for a five-week run beginning September 8, directed by Arden Teresa Lewis. It centers on a family in crisis with a drug-addicted single mother needing the assistance of her children to overcome her demons.

Seventeen years ago, Susan Priver starred as Flora opposite Henry Olek as Edward with Shelly Kurtz as the match seller in Harold Pinter’s A Slight Ache, a tragicomedy of manners that takes a funny, ominous, and unsettling journey into the human psyche. All three actors will reprise their roles in a visiting production of Pinter’s play, directed by Jack Heller at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A. from August 26 through October 1. I decided to speak with Susan about her experience with both productions of Pinter’s play.

The world premiere of Graf’s play Exit Wounds is taking place at International City Theatre in Long Beach for a three-week run, August 25 through September 10, directed by ICT producing artistic director caryn desai [sic]. I decided to speak with Wendy on her process for creating the play, being acknowledged as a best new play in such a prestigious competition, why she decided to hold the world premiere at ICT, and how she hopes audiences will connect with its story about healing, hope, and compassion when someone you love has committed a terrible crime.

David Hunt Stafford (pictured) is the Artistic Director and Managing Director of Theatre 40, posts he has proudly held since 2000 at the professional theater company located on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. I decided to speak with David about the current plays running in rep during July and August: Doris and Ivy in the Home, in which he appears, and One Moment of Freedom which he produces; and the group’s ongoing Reading Series showcasing new and well-known plays read by company members.

Top stories: Learn more about what's coming to Broadway in Summer/Fall 2023, plus read our interview with New York, New York star Clyde Alves, and more!

Given recent events and political drama, including propaganda used to sway the public, nothing should surprise modern audiences when it comes to politics. But perhaps the most well-known dramatic representation of political intrigue takes place in Shakespeare’s classic play Julius Caesar, which centers around the events that led to his assassination by Roman senators on the 'Ides of March' (March 15) 44 B.C.E.  I decided to speak with David Melville about how the production will differ from more traditional staging and why he decided it would be a good fit for audiences.

Writer and performer Susan Leslie is probably best known in the theatre world for her long association with writer/director, Del Shores, having appeared in six of his plays. And this month, she will be directing Martyna Majok’s play Ironbound, with three performances July 14-16 at The Broadwater Second Stage. I decided to speak with Susan about her decision to direct this play and why the short run is being presented as a benefit for WomenShelter of Long Beach.