Denitsa Bliznakova News

In 1960 the famed "Mercury Seven" trained at NASA to become the first American astronauts. But they weren't alone. Thirteen women also underwent the same rigorous psychological and physical testing.

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon. The first of two shows in the 2018-2019 Globe Season developed in the Globe's Powers New Voices Festival, it wowed Festival audiences with the story of the powerful forces that kept one woman from reaching orbit. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, They Promised Her the Moon will run April 6 - May 5, 2019 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run April 6-10. Opening night is Thursday, April 11 at 8:00 p.m. Single tickets start at $30.00 and are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. They Promised Her the Moon will also have a short Globe for All Spring tour to several of our Community Partner venues following performances at the Globe, details to be announced shortly.

When San Diego Opera General Director David Bennett realized earlier this year that the scheduled Vancouver-derived production of Hansel and Gretel wouldn't fit comfortably on the Balboa Theater stage, All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 was an obvious holiday-season alternative. He'd already been thinking about it for the company's Detour Series of less traditional works.

Can a musical drama set on a grim WW I battlefield make an audience feel good? Those working on the San Diego Opera's staging of All Is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 are certain it can. The work tells the true story of the spontaneous unofficial truce between WWI enemies who left their trenches and entered the no-man's land between them to join in a celebration of the Christmas holidays. Peter Rothstein wrote the drama for his Minneapolis-based company Theatre Latte Da, and based it on material from the period, the most important of which is the verbatim text of letters and war journals written by soldiers who participated in the truce.  The cast sings many songs popular during the war and a few traditional Christmas carols. All were arranged by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach, and are sung a cappella in the English, German and French languages of the soldiers. Vanessa Dinning has taken on the challenge of coaching in nearly 20 different dialects.

Boston Court Pasadena presents the world premiere of Everything That Never Happened written by Sarah B. Mantell and directed by Jessica Kubzansky, September 27 - November 4 (press opening October 6).  The production stars Leo Marks (Shylock), Erika Soto (Jessica), Paul Culos (Lorenzo) and Dylan Saunders (Gobbo).

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its west coast premiere production of QUEENS, by Martyna Majok, winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Cost of Living. Directed by Carey Perloff(Playhouse's The Orphan of Zhao), the show runs July 3 - 29 in the Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its west coast premiere production of QUEENS, by Martyna Majok. Directed by Carey Perloff, the show runs July 3 - 29. The cast features Jolly Abraham (Off-Broadway's Cost of Living) as "Aamani/Yara," Leslie Fray (TV's Elementary) as "Pelagiya/Dragana," Rae Gray (TV'sFear the Walking Dead) as "Inna/Tanya," Brenda Meaney (Off-Broadway's Party Face) as "Renia," Melissa Miller (Roundabout Theatre's Tartuffe) as "Agata" and Xochitl Romero (Playhouse's Kill Local) as "Isabela/Glenys."

Despite being birthed in the early 1990's, THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG-the late Pulitzer Prize-winning Wendy Wasserstein's acerbically witty and vibrantly poignant play about a trio of fascinating, strong-willed Jewish-American sisters-has a remarkably timeless, relatable quality, evidenced by South Coast Repertory's delightful and beautifully-acted OC revival production now continuing performances in Costa Mesa through June 2. Thanks to its naturally appealing characters that don't feel like stock archetypes trapped in a retro bubble, the play-under the keen direction of Casey Stangl-comes across as a contemporary-leaning, very thoughtful theatrical piece populated by strong, three-dimensional female characters.

Wendy Wasserstein's witty, award-winning comedy, The Sisters Rosensweig, wraps up the 2017-18 season at South Coast Repertory. The production, directed by Casey Stangl, runs May 5-June 2 on the Segerstrom Stage. Tickets are now available at www.scr.org.

South Coast Repertory concludes the 2017-18 Theatre for Young Audiences series with Amos & Boris, adapted from the classic children's book by William Steig. This theatrical retelling has been adapted for the stage by Sofia Alvarez with music and additional lyrics by Daniel Roland Tierney. The world premiere will be directed by Jessica Kubzansky on the Julianne Argyros Stage, May 19-June 3. Tickets are available now at www.scr.org.

La Jolla Playhouse presents THE CAKE, which opened February 6th and runs through March 4th. THE CAKE follows conservative baker Della, whose traditionalist values are put to the test when she is asked to bake the wedding cake for a friend's daughter - who is marrying another woman.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its upcoming production of The Cake, by Bekah Brunstetter (TV's This Is Us), directed by Casey Stangl (Playhouse's The Car Plays), running February 6 - March 4, 2018 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

Boston Court will produce the West Coast premiere of With Love and a Major Organ. Written by Julia Lederer and directed by Jessica Kubzansky, the West Coast premiere will begin previews on September 28 with an October 7 opening.

CARMEN, the title character in Georges Bizet's opera, is a young woman who wants the social freedoms nineteenth century men simply took for granted. Sung magnificently by Ana Maria Martinez, Carmen is suave and self-confident, but enroute to certain destruction. Currently, L A Opera is offering an excellent performance of this beloved opera that Angelinos should not miss.

Boston Court will produce the West Coast premiere of With Love and a Major Organ. Written by Julia Lederer and directed by Jessica Kubzansky, the West Coast premiere will begin previews on September 28 with an October 7 opening.

The Los Angeles Premiere of Constellations, Nick Payne's award-winning Broadway sensation, will extend for one week in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse and run through Sunday, July 23.

What a difference one decision makes. Turn a corner, say hello, say nothing, leave - even the smallest of choices has the power to alter our future. In CONSTELLATIONS, Nick Payne's exquisite play for two, now on stage at Geffen Playhouse, we watch the various stages of a couple's relationship play out as a series of overlapping alternate realities.

Playwright Rajiv Joseph, best known for his critically acclaimed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo has done it again with his world premiere play Archduke now onstage at the MTF through June 4. Based on fact and meticulously researched in Sarajevo where Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 by Joseph and his director Giovanna Sardelli, the play has the ring of truth, but what catapults it into the sphere of brilliance is its dark humor that masks the gravity beneath.

Center Theatre Group's world premiere production of 'Archduke,' written by Rajiv Joseph, began previews April 25 and will continue through June 4, 2017, at the Mark Taper Forum. Opening night is set for May 7, BroadwayWorld has photos from the festivities below!

Performances have begun for Center Theatre Group's production of "Archduke." Written by Rajiv Joseph, the world premiere of "Archduke" began previews April 25 and will continue through June 4, 2017, at the Mark Taper Forum. Opening night is set for May 7. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, the cast includes, in alphabetical order, Josiah Bania, Joanne McGee, Ramiz Monsef, Patrick Page, Stephen Stocking and Todd Weeks. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the company onstage below!