Shari Barrett News

Dragons... fairies... knights... enchanted meadows... spooky caves... all part of an immersive experience into your favorite childhood fantasies in Spy Brunch's site-specific adventure, Dragon Show: The Extended Tail. Filled with original songs and a memorable cast of characters, just 12 audience members will be admitted into each performance to enjoy the kind of intimate and memorable experience that immersive theatre delivers best. As a true fan of the genre, how could I resist a production such as this? So, I decided to speak with Katelyn Schiller and Nick Rheinwald-Jones, writers/producers/directors from Spy Brunch to find about more about them and the creation of their immersive fantasy world.

VALLEY SONG by South African master playwright Athol Fugard is two-actor, three-character play in which Michael A. Shepperd takes on the roles of Abraam Jonkers, a mixed- race old man who has been a pumpkin farmer his entire life, and The Author, a White man who wants to buy the land where Abraam lives and works, potentially leaving him homeless. And since these roles were originally doubled by Fugard himself, I decided to speak with Michael A. Shepperd about preparing for such a challenging artistic endeavor.

Panic! Productions, along with Born To Perform Studios and BarCinBoo Productions, Inc. have announced that Barry Pearl will once again direct their late summer teen musical 13, this time at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. This will be Pearl's third time working with Panic! Productions and also his third time directing the musical on the West Coast. I decided to speak with Barry about his connection to the teen musical and what inspired him to direct it for the third time, as well as how it may differ from his previous incarnations.

Prior to pursuing her childhood dream of becoming an actor, Meg Lin was a former K-12 teacher, school principal, college professor, and non-profit CEO. But along the way, she struggled finding her true identity as a Chinese American as the first in her family born in the U.S. In her original solo play What am I, Chopped Suey? Meg shares how she struggled to defy cultural norms to 'save face' while coping with challenges she went through to overcome stereotypes and redefine what it means to be Asian in America. I decided to speak with Meg about how universal her first-generation American tale will resonate with so many, as well as her plans to continue presenting it as an Encore selection from this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Kentwood Players proudly presents the musical FUN HOME with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, opening Friday, May 13 through Saturday, June 11, 2022 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in Westchester, CA 90045. Please note there will be no performances over Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-28-29. 

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,

Crimson Square Theatre Company is presenting the world premiere of Live at the Purple Lounge, a drama by five talented female playwrights featuring a cast of five women (plus a few men) involved at a stand-up comedy club. I decided to speak with playwright/director Elisabeth Tsubota about her experience working with the all-female writing team and almost exclusively female cast to bring the production to the stage.

During the darkest of times, surprise discoveries of childhood joy can allow the sunshine in on even the bleakest of situations. And with Ukrainian refugees in the news daily, when I heard about Sona Tatoyan's Multimedia Theatrical Experience AZAD ('free' in Armenian) which offers 'one woman's magical, multi-generational, healing journey from the Armenian Genocide to the Syrian war,' I decided to speak with her about her creative journey to, as she shares, 'find the brightest light from the deepest shadows, while living in an upside-down world.' And we can all understand living in that type of situation given the past two years. Performances April 21-22-23 at the Pico Playhouse.

GMCLA's next long-anticipated event, QUEEN of the night, featuring the greatest hits from the critically acclaimed legendary rock band Queen, mixed with opera and high-energy dance numbers performed by the Chorus, live, in-person at UCLA Royce Hall on Saturday, April 2 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 3 at 2:00 p.m. To find out more about the production, I spoke with GMCLA Executive Director & Producer Lou Spisto about the creation of this special event concert

After two years of most people living in at least semi-isolation, with many unemployed through no fault of their own, the Actors' Gang is returning to the stage with a re-mounting of Can't Pay? Don't Pay! written by Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and Franca Rame on March 19, 2022, with previews beginning March 12, exactly two years from the day the theater was shuttered and had to suspend this hilarious production. Fo's high-energy, satirical farce is again directed by Bob Turton, and I decided to speak with him about the journey he has taken with the production, especially what it's been like waiting for two years to bring the play back to its original location.

Certainly, almost every American can talk about how we are descendants of immigrants who dreamed of living in a free country and did whatever was necessary to arrive on our shores. As a direct descendant of four grandparents and one parent who escaped from Eastern Europe in the early 20th Century, when I read about the Fountain Theatre presenting the world premiere of DETAINED, written by The Lily's 2021 Lorraine Hansberry Award-winning playwright France-Luce Benson, 'a gripping new docudrama composed of a compilation of true stories that explores the rippling impact of mass deportations on families,' I knew I wanted to speak with her about her inspiration and vision for the play.

Interview with award-winning playwright/director Sharon Yablon whose love of surrealism, noir and the darker side of Los Angeles led to the creation of A GARDEN OF TERRIBLE BLOOMS, which offers a dreamlike tour of short plays led by characters through a city that is vanishing, even as they move through it. Each play is set in a different part of L.A., or in nearby places where locals go to escape the city, but find themselves still haunted by it.

The world premiere of COLOROPOLIS, written by A.P. De La Caridad, directed by Travya Santos Gatz and Tor Brown, opens this Friday, February 11 at 8pm and runs through Sunday, February 27 only at Loft Ensemble, located at 11031 Camarillo Street in North Hollywood, 91602. Here is my interview with the talented trio on their vision for the production and the process of bringing it to the stage.

Michael Leoni, a writer, bi-coastal director, and founder of the production company An 11:11 Experience, has created productions both on stage and in film which have brilliantly focused attention on the pitfalls of modern society, especially in the entertainment industry and on homeless street kids. Since it's been over a year since I have spoken to him, I decided to reach out about the recent opening of his film Famous as well as what has been going on in his artistic world this past year.

Brian White is co-hosting this year's 62nd Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration to be broadcast live from the stage at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Friday, December 24 from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. The program will air on PBS SoCal on Friday, December 24 and stream on PBSSocal.org, KCET.org and holidaycelebration.org. Out of an abundance of caution given the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, there will be no live audience at the event. For more information, including a complete list of scheduled performers, please visit holidaycelebration.org

As a kid growing up in Los Angeles, the greatest movie town in the country (if not the world), I remember how special it was to attend Saturday movie matinees with my cousins in the late 50s and early 60s. But it was not until I attended the special Dapper Opening Night Fan Event on Thursday, December 9th just prior to the December 10th opening of WEST SIDE STORY at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood that those childhood memories were rekindled, thanks to the magical retro world created not only within the theater but the neighborhood itself.

In partnership, Skylight Theatre Company and Playwrights' Arena have launched the first of four World Premiere productions for the 2021/2022 Season with Inda Craig-Galván's play A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER. Read my interview with her about the process of bringing the play to life onstage at the Skylight Theatre.

Here is your first look at cast members Michael Mullen, Randy Oppenheimer and Bruce Schroffel in THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS SHOW (ABRIDGED) by Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse. This festive and fun holiday comedy revue by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, directed by Alison Boole with Assistant Director Jeremy Palmer, and produced by Rhonda Yeager-Hutchinson by special arrangement with Broadway Publishing Inc., opens Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 19 on Friday/Saturday at 8pm and Saturday/Sunday at 2pm.

Having a dream is like running with scissors. Just one false step and the journey, or even your life, can be over.  I asked SALVAGE director Damian D. Lewis about his own dream and how much he was willing to do to achieve it. The same theme runs through SALVAGE centering around Harley, a singer-songwriter whose wife is expecting their first child and his journey to deciding what is more important - pursuing his dream or accepting the responsibilities of family life.

Pacific Opera Project will continue its 2021-2022 fairytale-themed opera season with an outdoor, family-friendly production of Englebert Humperdinck's iconic opera HANSEL AND GRETEL. at one of its favorite venues, Forest Lawn Glendale, for performances on Saturday, November 13, 2021 at 5:00pm; Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 5:00pm; Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 5:00pm; and Sunday, November 21, 2021 at 5:00pm. Here is your first look at Kara Morgan as Hansel, Emily Rosenberg as Gretel, and Melanie Ashkar as the Witch.