Jonathan Fox News

This April, Ensemble Theatre Company will present five live-streamed performances of the critically acclaimed 90-minute one-act play An Iliad. Each live performance will be aired and may be watched on computers, smart TVs, iPads, and iPhones.

This Valentines' Day, Ensemble Theatre Company will present performances by renowned artists that look at love and healing. This free on-demand streaming event will feature Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Gregory Harrison, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Amanda McBroom, and others who will present an evening of short tales and music that are haunting, comic, bittersweet and uplifting.

This December, Ensemble Theatre Company will offer two holiday events the entire family can enjoy. First, ETC welcomes back Porgy and Bess cast members Elijah Rock and Frank Lawson for a rockin' musical Christmas variety show LIVE from Las Vegas.

 On Saturday, December 5 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Theater for the New City (TNC), 155 First Ave., will present the fourth installment of 'Open 'Tho Shut,' its afternoon of 'walk-by theater' that is staged in its set shop and visible from East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues.

Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara has launched its new Extraordinary Times Campaign, a $400,000 fundraising campaign that will enable ETC to remain open and active during the COVID-19 pandemic.    

Works by over 2 dozen literary artists will be performed in Theater for the New City's 25th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which will be mounted virtually for the first time May 22 to 24, 2020.

Theater for the New City has currently scheduled over 150 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and film makers for its 25th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts.

With the roster still building, Theater for the New City has currently scheduled over 150 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and film makers for its 25th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which will be mounted virtually for the first time May 22 to 24, 2020.

In these crazy, safe-distancing times; I reached out earlier this week to various heads of Los Angeles theatres to see how they and their theatre families are holding up. The replies were amazing in their quickness, numbers and uniform positivity.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the third show of its 2019-20 Season, with a musical adaptation of the gloriously romantic comedy, JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA, book, music and lyrics by Paul Gordon (Daddy Long Legs, Jane Eyre), adapted from the novel by Jane Austen, musical direction by Brent Schindele, choreography by Jean Michelle Sayeg and directed by Andrew Barnicle.

Ensemble Theatre Company presents the third show of its 2019-20 Season, with a musical adaptation of the gloriously romantic comedy, JANE AUSTEN'S EMMA, book, music and lyrics by Paul Gordon (Daddy Long Legs, Jane Eyre), adapted from the novel by Jane Austen, musical direction by Brent Schindele, choreography by Jean Michelle Sayeg and directed by Andrew Barnicle. 

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald.

Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, currently on stage at the New Vic Theater, has been noted as a 'problematic' play due to a murky tone that's neither overtly comedic nor tragic. Director Jonathan Fox's production of this story of corruption and temptation is brazenly menacing, with a stylized Gotham City vibe that reads more like a cautionary parable than an exercise in realism. It's a complicated tale that, especially in a particularly sensitive culture, parades examples of that most glorious and horrific tradition of powerful men exploiting, humiliating, and silencing women.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the first show of its 2019-20 season, a contemporary look at William Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by ETC Artistic Director Jonathan Fox. MEASURE FOR MEASURE begins previews on Thursday, October 3, opens on Saturday, October 5 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, October 20, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

Shakespeare's story of powerful men exploiting their authority seems less outlandish with each modern headline about abuse and harassment, especially in terms of the power differential between the genders. Lily Gibson, who plays Isabella, describes the play as 'almost disturbingly modern,' and Richard Baird, who plays Angelo, calls Measure for Measure an examination of human nature and how power corrupts. 'Particularly in light of the #metoo movement,' he says, 'this play isn't just relevant--it's true.'

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY presents the first show of its 2019-20 season, a contemporary look at William Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by ETC Artistic Director Jonathan Fox. MEASURE FOR MEASURE begins previews on Thursday, October 3, opens on Saturday, October 5 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, October 20, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara. 

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the first show of its 2019-20 season, a contemporary look at William Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by ETC Artistic Director Jonathan Fox.

ETC to present a free talk with  Simon Williams on MEASURE FOR MEASURE   September 4, 2019a??Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) is proud to present a free talk with Simon Williams, Professor Emeritus of Theater and Dance at UC Santa Barbara, titled a?oeMeasure for Measure: Learning to Mistrust the Law,a?? at The New Vic at 5:30pm on Monday, September 9.  

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the fifth and final show of its 40th Anniversary Season, the heartwarming play DANCING LESSONS, written by Mark St. Germainm, choreography by Jean Michelle Sayeg.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY presents the fifth and final show of its 40th Anniversary Season, the heartwarming play DANCING LESSONS, written by Mark St. Germainm, choreography by Jean Michelle Sayeg and directed by Saundra McClain. DANCING LESSONS begins previews on Thursday, June 13, opens on Saturday, June 15 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, June 30, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.