The end is near: Here are three more installment in the seemingly neverending series. Enjoy. 5. Q: How many non-union stagehands does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: Two. One to hold it and the other to hammer it in. 4. A theatrical agent is walking down Broadway late one night when he […]
Pasadena Playhouse calls Twist a new musical. But the Prohibition era, New Orleans-set permutation of Oliver Twist actually has been in development since the ‘90s. Back then, I caught a promising fully staged version at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and was intrigued to see how it has evolved, now under the directorial/choreographic supervision […]
An actor is in bed with a woman when her Hollywood agent husband walks in. “What have you been doing?” screams the agent. “Well,” says the actor, “I just did a CSI and I’m doing a play in Sudio City. If you’re not busy this weekend, I can put aside a pair of tickets.” — […]
What should be one of the best-known theater companies in America doesn’t seem to ever come up in discussions of outstanding theaters. And if I were a Vegas oddsmaker (and if Vegas oddsmakers cared about theater) I’d call its chance of winning a regional theater Tony any time in the near future a longshot. I’m […]
Thinking about launching your very own theater? Here’s some sound advice from Reginald Nelson, author of How to Start Your Own Theater Company and co-founder of Congo Square Theatre in Chicago.
How many theater directors does it take to change a light bulb? None. She gives a note to the stage manager to fix it. — Look for more theater jokes soon. That’s a threat. —Lou Harry=
A couple is thrilled to be taking their seats for The Book of Mormon. Next to the man and woman, though, is an empty seat. “This is the hottest show in town,” the guy says just before curtain. “I can’t believe someone is wasting a ticket.” The show begins. It’s hilarious. But all the guy […]
We’re hearing a lot this week about RADAR L.A. co-director Mark Russell…not to be confused with political humorist and PBS stalwart Mark Russell. Since such confusions are increasing likely in a Googled world, we at Engine28 supply the following as a helpful guide to differentiating the two: RADAR’s Mark Russell can often be found at […]
An architect, a surgeon, and a theater’s props manager are brought together for an experiment focused on the spatial-cognitive processes of intellectuals in various professions. Each specialist is taken into an isolation booths, completely from from external stimuli. Each booth contains a trio of baseball-sized metal balls. The booths are then sealed off. After two […]
During the Culture Monster-hosted “Is L.A. a theater town?” conversation on June 14 (see live-blog here), playwright Beth Henley and producer Marc Platt talked about a recent play of Henley’s directed by a “Hollywood director.” Since they were clearly indicating that the situation was not a positive one, they refrained from naming names. We have […]
Q: How many L.A. actors does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: One hundred and one. One to climb the ladder and screw in the bulb and the other hundred to say “That should be me up there.” Look for #9 soon. –Lou Harry
Perhaps the organizers of the “Is L.A. a Theater Town” panel discussion were being a bit presumptuous. No, I’m not talking about the big theaters/little theaters controversy reported here. I’m talking about the assumption that Los Angeles is the only town with the initials L.A. What about Los Alamos, New Mexico? Or….okay, what about Los […]
Yes, Los Angeles County has a far-flung theater community. But how far does it fling? Well, depending on your route, there are 30 miles of road separating Boston Court Theatre in Pasadena and Pacific Resident Theater in Venice. For our New York friends, that’s about the distance from JFK Airport to Newark Airport. (And for […]