Whitefire Monday Night Musical Series Part 1

A veteran actor, writer and producer hailing from Colorado. Steven has credits in a slew of hit movies including Juno, Rebound, Blades of Glory and Little Miss Sunshine. He’s also had substantial roles on primetime television shows such as ER, Rizzoli and Isles, Fish Hooks, 90210, and PBS’s Mercy Street along with countless national commercials. Steven co-wrote and produced the highly successful theatre show Lost: The Musical. He had the pleasure of directing, co-writing and producing the Los Angeles, San Diego and Off-Broadway runs of ShameThe Musical. Currently Steven works as the managing director of the Whitefire Theatre’s musical theatre company. 

What challenges does it take to bring Shame of Thrones: The Musical to such a small space?to such a small space?

PARKER: This run will mark the fourth time we’ve

mounted this show, so at this point we’re incredibly

fluid in adapting the show to take advantage of the

space we’re in. We’ve been in everything from huge

auditoriums to small intimate spaces. It’s a challenge,

sure. But that obstacle allows us to think creatively

on how to optimize the environment to fully bring

our story (and comedy) to life.

I understand the cast is large with many returning

from the original. Is the production the same or have

there been changes?

PARKER: The production always changes bits and

pieces from city to city. We add new jokes to

accommodate the new episodes. We add characters

and interactive elements to engage the audience.

We allow a bit of improv to keep the material fresh

and alive. Luckily our wonderful cast are still bringing

the energy and talent that made us a success the

first time around. We’re very proud to say that many

of our large seventeen person cast are returning to

make this happen yet again.

Game of Thrones has been such a hit on film.

Did the original stage musical provoke a feverish reaction?

PARKER: YES! We had loads of cosplayers, GoT

 “activists”, and hard core fans come to see our show

on both sides of the country! It was GoT fandom at its

finest. But oddly enough, we actually had a fair amount

of people come to see the show who had never watched

an episode of Game of Thrones. Many told us that

our musical has inspired them to begin binging the

show on HBO.

What is the music like? It was a rock opera. Is it still

in that style or does it have new and varied music?

PARKER: The score is all rock (with a little pop added in)!

We always update songs to reflect what’s happening on

HBO, but we always stay true to our rock ’n’ roll roots.

I understand Lost is up after SHAME. You should also

consider doing something with Bates Motel. It would

make a very ghoulish rock opera. Did you see that

with Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore? They made

it great, very watchable and entertaining.

PARKER: Hmm, I can totally see that. It’s funny you

should mention it. Myself and the other creators of

Shame of Thrones actually made a Bates Motel parody

 sketch a few years back that went semi-viral. It never

occurred to us to turn that into a full blown musical.

Maybe we should have a production meeting about

that sometime soon.

Anything else you care to add?

PARKER: We’re thrilled to be back where it all began

in Los Angeles to celebrate the final season of our

favorite TV show. And just in case any GoT alumni

are reading — we have a standing rule that present

and former cast members of Game of Thrones can

stand in for a scene as their character in our musical.

That’s a promise. And a producer always pays their

debts.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Artistic director Bryan Rasmussen had this to say about the new Monday night project:

"I’m excited about our new musical theater company on 
Monday nights which is a new venture to bring more musical 
plays to our already jampacked schedule. 
Musical theater is a very well-loved institution and they’re very 
expensive to produce nowadays and less and less are being developed. 
So we wanted to create a situation that might help that. I’m working with 
Steven Parker on a couple of projects and his show “Shame of Thrones: The Musical” the Game of Thrones musical seemed perfect timing for us to begin the process with that production. “Lost:The Musical” is another example of the kind of work we want to do here because we live in Los Angeles so we have a huge film and television community that we wanted to reflect with some of our offerings. So the fact that Steven had “Lost: The Musical” up and ready to go just seems like a no brainer. I’m very excited about the prospect of having musicals on Mondays that if they are successful we can then move to other nights of our schedule."

www.whitefiretheatre.com

Interview with Thomas James O'Leary

 

Director Thomas James O'Leary is delighted to be back at Actors Co-op after receiving the 2018 Ovation Award for Direction of a Play for 33 Variations. Other recent directing credits include Sunday in the Park with George (Musical Theatre Guild), Next to Normal (Pico Playhouse), Flim Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter (Malibu Playhouse), Dusty de los Santos andBloodletting (Skylight Theatre), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Carrie, Nine, How to Succeed in Business… (AMDA), Reserve Champion and A Horse with a View (Hollywood Fringe Festival), and The Escape Artist’s Children (Celebration Theatre). 


As an actor, Thomas is best known for his three-year run as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway (over 1,000 performances) and Mason Marzac in Celebration Theatre’s Take Me Out. Thomas is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). 



Tell us in detail about The Christians. Do you like the way Lucas Hnath generates the controversy as if out of nowhere in the radical changing of the pastor's sermon? Be specific!

TJO: When I first saw The Christians at the Mark Taper, I was so impressed with Lucas Hnath’s writing. The debates that unfold are so smart, I found it easy to see both sides, and that’s what was so dramatic and even unsettling for me. And much of the drama comes because most of the debates unfold in the public forum of a mega-church service, in front of thousands of congregants.

What makes those debates or arguments gripping are the human relationships between the debaters. This is a play with such humanity – every character has love and respect for each other. And each is doing what he or she thinks is the morally right thing to do. The heartbreak comes from how much love and respect each character has for the other, as they duke it out.  

Why did you pitch this play to Actors Co-op? I must say, I think they are one of a few acting companies in town, including The Road and Antaeus, who can pull it off. I found the play thrilling to listen to when I saw it at the Taper a few years ago. In my mind, it's what good theatre should do – open up our minds to deal with both sides of the issue of the existence of God and Hell. 

TJO: Gosh, when I am lucky enough to pitch plays to a theatre company, I choose material based first on what inspires me, and second on what I think could be a good fit for that theatre company. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how the Co-op’s Production Committee would feel about this play because it poses a controversial question about Christianity. I am delighted they embraced it so fully and that we are about to open a beautiful intimate production of it this week.  I loved working with Actors Co-op on 33 Variations two years ago, and I knew that their actors would be great to work with on this material.

The play for me is a sort of parable of any organized institution, church or state, that uses its power over others, to get them to adhere to the rules set down or challenge them to decide for themselves. Do you feel freedom of choice is Hnath's main message?

TJO: That’s a wonderful response to the play. I think Lucas Hnath’s message is one of tolerance. There’s a great moment in the play when a character questions the pastor’s message of tolerance because he’s being intolerant of the intolerant. I love too that Hnath has the younger associate pastor fighting for the traditional views and the older pastor urging something more radical. So he flips our expectations. And each of his characters is truly doing the very best they can to do what’s morally right. There’s no bad guy. Everyone has integrity, while possibly making mistakes in a human way. So in these times of polarization that we live in, I think it’s an important play to open our minds to what “the other” is saying. Can we live in the grey? Can we live with not knowing? Do we have to cling so intensely to opinions and beliefs without really searching? In this play, everyone searches with an admirable commitment to what’s good and loving.

I was brought up a Catholic. I'm sure with the name Thomas James O' Leary, you probably were as well. As a young kid in catechism, I frequently had doubts about believing in a God that was all powerful and yet he allowed violent things to happen to innocent people who had to suffer for no apparent reason. I outgrew the church, but still love faith, as long as it can be viewed by standards of goodness. What are your feelings?

TJO: I was indeed raised Catholic and though I have a lot of gratitude for that upbringing, which gave me a foundation in believing in some sort of power greater than myself, my beliefs have grown quite a bit from those early days. The more I grow in my spiritual life, the more I can admit that I really don’t know very much, and the beauty is that I now believe that I’m not meant to know very much. And I like to think that I have a lot more acceptance of people as they are without feeling that they have to change to fit my expectations.

Again what I love about this play is that we can totally follow the opening argument and perhaps agree with it, but then we can go to the other side of the pendulum as the challenges to that argument unfold.

Did you ever read Miguel de Unamuno's short story San Manuel Bueno, Martyr? It is a brilliant look at a priest who has lost his fiath but keeps on preaching. He is kind of the opposite of the Pastor in The Christians, who says what he truly believes. Manuel preaches what he does not believe becasue the people want to hear it and he loses his own sanity to please them. It's an existentialist piece and bears looking into. Are you familiar with it? I believe it has been translated into many languages. It covers faith from old European culture to present day America. Shanley's Doubt also deals with present day loss of faith. Do you feel it may be more powerful than The Christians?

TJO: I love both plays a great deal, and both can help people become more open-minded.  I think that Doubt is a bit more character-driven by Sister Aloysius being so rigidly conservative and having more of a tragic flaw. What I love about The Christians is that everyone is clearly coming from a good place. Each character is human and might make mistakes, but I think that one can relate to and hopefully admire everyone in some way. And therefore it’s easier to see both sides – or all sides.

Tell us about your actors and their chemistry.

TJO: It has been a pleasure working with the actors from Actors Co-op on this play. The talent level is so high in this company. I wasn’t sure I’d luck out as well as I did with 33 Variations, but I’m working with an entirely new group of actors, all of whom are members, and it’s been just as fulfilling!  Everyone is so respectful of the work. And that’s where the money is in this play – the human relationships and the emotional journeys. I think I was very fortunate to find the actors I did for each role, as they suit their roles so well. Their relationships to each other seem to come very naturally.

Any challenges with directing the piece? If so, what?

TJO: Well, first I think this is an actors’ piece. Having acted for over 30 years, working with actors is one of my favorite things to do as a director. So a lot of our rehearsal time has been spent looking at specific moments and playing with the nuance of those moments. I think this is a very delicate piece, especially as we’re doing it in an intimate setting – it’s fascinating that one slight adjustment can make a big difference in the impact of a scene. We’re always walking a very fine line in this play, maintaining the character’s respect and care for each other, while standing up for their beliefs.

Working with my designers has a been a joy – we’re finding a way to make this experience immersive so that this small space can evoke the feel of a modern mega-church. And all my designers are on their A game in this production!

We have also put together two rotating choirs of 12 singers each for the play, and there has been quite a bit of work that has gone into arranging songs, teaching them, and then directing the choir within the play. In our intimate setting the choir has taken on a strong role of giving the audience a look at what this church’s congregation looks like.

Would you like to add anything? How do you feel audiences will react?

TJO: It will be fascinating to see how audiences react. I hope that we will make the audiences feel comfortable enough to just be present and go on the journey of the play. I think that the play will give people plenty to talk about afterwards. Some of the regular audience members at Actors Co-op are church-goers. I don’t think Lucas Hnath takes sides in the main argument posed in the play, but it’s possible that some audience members might not perceive it that way. I look forward to the Sunday matinee talk-backs.


May 10 – June 16.  Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm; Sunday Matinees at 2:30 pm.  Saturday Matinees May 18 and May 25 at 2:30 pm. Adults: $35.00.  Seniors (60+): $30.00.  Students with ID: $25.00.  Group rates available for parties of 6 or more.  For reservations and information please visit www.ActorsCo-op.org or call (323) 462-8460.  Actors Co-op Crossley Theatre. 1760 N. Gower St. 90028 (on the campus of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood) in Hollywood.

Actress Sandy Bainum and Director Brandon Baer Discuss BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW

Be a Good Little Widow starts previews as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre May 18. Actress Sandy Bainum, who has delighted audiences for several years in both musicals and plays in Los Angeles and her friend, director Brandon Baer recently sat down to talk about the play and what makes it tick as a dark comedy.

Tell our readers about Be a Good Little Widow. With a title like that, it must be hysterical.

Sandy: Well, it is a comedy, but hysterical is probably not the adjective I would use to describe it. In the author Bekah Brunstetter's own words, she calls it a melon (melancholy) comedy. It is a sad comedy, but it has levity and lightness...and real truth of sadness, as it encompasses a full gammit of emotions.

Brandon: It's really accurate because the story is about a 26-year old woman named Melody who is recently married and very suddenly her husband Craig, a lawyer, dies in a plane crash. The piece is about the direct aftermath of that and the relationship that exists between her and her mother-in-law who was also widowed at a young age. She tries to import her wisdom onto this younger woman.

Is she dictatorial, obnoxious?

Sandy: Yes. Hope is totally New England. She's by the book. There are rules and regulations, and Craig was her only child. Her huband died about 16 years prior, so it was Craig and his mother against the world, basically. 

Talk about the writer and her viewpoint. Is she participating in the mounting of this production?

Brandon: Bekah is a fantastic playwright who has worked in New York and LA for a number of years. She is currently writing on the television show "This Is Us". Thematically there are actually a lot of similarities to the show itself. They are both about family and coping with these incredibly extreme circumstances, but they're really normal folks. In the same way that "This Is Us" plays with time flashing back and exploring different periods of these characters' lives and how they all compound in order to create the people they are today, that's very much what she does with Be a Good Little Widow.  We see them coping with this horrendous tragedy but we also get glimpses into their lives from the past, so we see how they have landed where they are today. She's consistent as a writer and is able to write about people in a very relatable, grounded way that is both humorous and heartbreaking at the same time. She never quite waits for the joke, which is what I connected to when I read her writing. Sure there's a time and place for a sitcom, but theatrically in my opinion there's nothing better than seeing real people that have the humor and charm of life. As far as this production is concerned, she's been tremendously supportive and will be participating in a talkback after one of the performances.

She hasn't been sitting in on rehearsals?

Sandy: No. This play has been done. It hasn't been done in LA for five or six years, and she was very excited to learn through contacts that we are mounting it. This is probably one of the bigger productions that's been done of it. It's a one-act, four-hander. 

Tell us about your other cast members and your creative team.

We have a wonderful producer Christopher Sepulveda who is incredibly accomplished. He's been involved with Spring Awakening here and on Broadway and has also been involved in An American in Paris. He's a man about town, a rock. Brandon and I worked together last year at the Lyric Hyperion in a production of Barefoot in the Park. Adrienne Visnic who's playing Melody played Corie in that. We have a true love for each other. I've been trying to fix her up with my children for years. When we did Barefoot, we found the magic between Brandon, Adrienne and me. This play reminds me a little of Barefoot in the Park marrying "This Is Us".There's some irony and humor at the beginning of this play similar to Neil Simon's. It seems familiar in a way. I'm playing a mother-in-law this time.  I'm the old broad, the grande dame. Sterling Knight is playing my son Craig. He's charming, a wonderful human being. The other young man is Khylin Rhambo. This is his very first play. He's a TV actor and has a real interesting energy that is just perfect for the character he's playing. He'a a naturally grounded, honest actor.

Having chemistry at the beginning is a sure sign of a successful production.

Brandon and I decided we were cut from the same cloth. We think the same thing at the same moment. (she laughs)

Brandon, it doesn't sound like you have too many challenges at this point!

Brandon: There are always challenges. I am typically of the mindset where if you are diligent and do your homework and surround yourself with the best people possible, and you have a sense of the story you need to tell, that's the thing. Everyone reads the script and is going to have a different take on it, but as long as you know the story you're telling, listen to and hone in on that, leave yourself open to experimentation, and not have your eye on the final product. Leave yourself open to experiment. The biggest thing is finding what that tone is, because it is a very tragic piece. I think one of the traps of the play is that you could play the entire thing as a soap opera, but that's not how Bekah wrote it. There is humor at very dark moments, so find that grounded realism of grief  in the moment and allow the humor to shine through. Everyone processes grief differently; some get horrible news and they burst into laughter, because that is their coping mechanism. Find it, but find it from a truthful place.

Sandy: When you're doing a production of love and art, the cast and creative team have to love the piece, and everyone that has read this piece has loved it.

What do you want audiences to take away?

Brandon: At a time in the world where people are struggling with technological or political issues or otherwise, what drew me to the play is that this is very simply about people being put into a position of struggling to connect in a way that they never have before. They need to accept each other, their own flaws and really embrace their love for this man who has passed away and be able to take a step forward in a healthy way that he would have wanted for them.

Thank you, Brandon for you time and wonderful input. The next few questions are for Sandy. Sandy, describe your character in great detail.

Sandy:  This woman is very loving, always driven by the best intentions. She loves deeply, she obeys the rules, she wants to fit into the structure of the system. She had a very healthy, happy marriage and this son has been her world. My two sons are my whole world in my own life. There is nothing more important to me than my husband and my children, so I am coming to her with a lot of me. She's funny, charming and yet she's so surprised that her son has chosen someone that is so different. That throws me a little bit. Maybe she's lost him somewhere along the way; maybe there was something about me that wasn't so great. There's an appeal to try and win Medody over. They have come back to Connecticut with his job and part of his motivation was to be close to me, so I want this move to be successful. I do have moivation to like Melody, but I don't know her. Being so different, she is threatening to me. She's on my turf, so I can take control. I'm a control person, but always motivated by love.

Is there any character that you have played that is like her?

Ethel Banks from Barefoot in the Park. They are kissing cousins. She sees the funny side to things. She's funny, but takes her role very seriously, tries to stay on top of things. I usually play kooky people. I played Gertrude in Hamlet. She was also very loving and concerned, and motivated to do the right thing for her son without getting involved. There is a tendency with children, and I see it every day, that as boys age and approach adulthood, there's a pullback. It's hard as a mom to let go. I struggle with it as Sandy. It's a different energy that you bring to the table in dealing with your own children. Relating to them as adults, you need to find that new line to not cross. My own life doesn't always work out in a role, so I need to find new ways to relate to the show moments.

Apart from this and Barefoot in the Park you've done mostly musicals.

I haven't done as many plays. I'm so excited to be doing a play. It's so funny, because often times musical theatre actors get painted with a brush that they can't act. In this play, a true ensemble piece, every character has an interesting arc. For Hope, it runs every emotion that you can have as a human. It has guilt, it has remorse, it has loss, it has love, it has laughter, it has joy and it has tremendous sadness. I hope to do more plays.

I have always believed that a musical actress who can sing, dance and act, can do it all...and you certainly can.

Thank you, Don. From your lips to God's ears.

BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW

Written by Bekah Brunstetter

Directed by Brandon Baer

Previews: 

Saturday, May 18 at 8pm; 

Sunday May 19 at 2pm;

Wednesday, May 22 at 8pm

Thursday, May 23 at 8pm

Opens: Friday, May 24 at 8pm; 

Runs: Friday, May 24 – Sunday, June 9, 2019

Performances: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm;

Sundays at 2pm.

Writer Bekah Brunstetter will be participating in a talk-back following the performance on Saturday, June 1.  (Date subject to change).

Odyssey Theatre

2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA  

Tickets: $35.00 - $45.00

Tickets available online at OvationTix - https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1010034 or by calling the box office at 

(310) 477-2055 x2. 

spotlight on Katie Huffman

The Road Theatre on Magnolia is proud to present a female perspective on the controversial issue of gun ownership in America, in Stephanie Alison Walker's Friends with Guns playing Friday March 22 through Sunday May 11. Each week we will spotlight a member of the cast or creative team. This week the light shines on Kate Huffman.

What character do you play? How does she serve the play?

I play Shannon, a liberal real-estate agent and mother of two who suffers from the modern-day plague of desperately trying to balance everything and maintain sanity in that process. She's riddled with anxiety and has a fear of guns. The audience tracks the transformation she undergoes when she's presented with the other side of an issue. She thought she felt comfortable with the stand she had taken, but now faces doubt about her decision. We watch her conquer her fear and become more powerful and more comfortable in her own skin. Unfortunately, this causes rifts other places in her life. The audience tracks her husband's transformation, as well, and since the journey these two characters go on clashes... well, you know, dramatic tension is born!

What challenges have you faced as an actor in preparation to play this role?

Shannon's emotional life is fraught, which is both fun and challenging as an actor to explore. I have no idea what's it like to experience anxiety myself. KIDDING! But the specifics of her fears are different than my own, and the outcomes of facing her fears as the play goes on proved challenging to tackle. It's important not to let the heaviness of where the play winds up come home with me. That's always a challenge for actors.

Talk about your director and castmates.

Oh, those jerks? 😉  Talk about a dream team. Randee took such good care of us from moment one. She respects each of us so much and was so attuned to our needs at all times. She was constantly presenting us with more questions to explore. She utilized "intimacy training" in early rehearsals between the two married couples as well as with the two same-gendered friendships, and it truly set us up to trust and rely on each other through the whole process. I feel so safe onstage with any of my castmates. I know they'll be there, present in the moment as the character, and as a human as we encounter the specific challenges of LIVE THEATRE!

What for you is the theme or message of the play?

The message has less to do with guns and more to do with whether we, as individuals in a divided country, can have a dialogue about issues we disagree on. It's a huge challenge in society right now. This play doesn't solve the issue of guns or even offer solutions. It encourages us to ask questions about human relationships. The issue of control within relationships is also present in the piece. If we are so quick to cut out people from our lives when they stand on the opposite side of an issue, what happens when someone within our own household suddenly changes sides? 

What do you hope audiences will take away?

I hope they walk away with questions. I hope they are moved by the specific journeys of the characters but also that they look within themselves and ask whether they have any tendency to shut down or flare up when opposing viewpoints are presented. I don't imagine anyone will walk away with new feelings about guns, and that is great, because it's not the point. 

Friends with Guns plays Friday March 22 with an extension to Saturday May 11 at the NoHo Senior Arts Colony at 10747 W Magnolia Blvd in NoHo. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 2 pm. There is plenty of street parking but arrive early to guarantee a space.
Call 818.761.8838 for tickets and more information.

2019 Interview with Paul Rush

Paul Rush is the artistic director of Sixty-six Theater Co. located inside the Strasberg Institute in Hollywood. This past weekend April 26 - 28 he opened a play in the Marilyn Monroe Theater of the Institute entitled My Thing of Love. In our chat Rush talks about the play, the Sixty-six Theater Co. and why he started it three years ago.

Tell us about Sixty-six Theater Co. and its mission.

It was founded by myself and two of my friends (Maggie Cleary and Coleman Kelly) while we, new to LA, were in that typical Hollywood routine of asking people to look at us, and we got kind of tired of just humbly asking to be looked at. We thought we weren't giving to the community. We wanted to really create thought-provoking theatre with an intention of giving to our audience.

Do you look to do first-run or lesser known shows?

Not always, no. We have done material that has been produced before, but LA, in our short little experience here, has been notorious in that competition for popular productions, which has made it difficult.

I am a member of The Road Theatre in the valley and everything they do is first run.

They do great work up there.

You've been artistic director for three years in Hollywood, but where were you before? Tell us about your background in producing theatre.

I was in the military for six years on the east coast. While I was on the east coast I produced a few plays at my University. But professional productions really started when I transferred out here.

Whereabouts on the east coast?

Maine. The University of Maine.

I'm from Massachusetts. I took a workshop at Stage West in West Springfield. It's always fine to talk with a fellow New Englander.

Yeah, I read that in your bio. The theatre community in New England is really wonderful. I got immersed in it while I was growing up. There's a great book about Stage West and the kind of theatre they produced. Many Tony winning actors came out of there.

​

cast of My Thing of Love

Yes, Rae Allen was a Tony winner and she was artistic director there. Let's forge ahead to the play you're opening this week My Thing of Love by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros. It's gotten great reviews back east. Tell us about the play and why you find it so special.

There's a romantic triangle betweem a husband, wife and mistress. I find the play special because the female protagonist in the play, the wife, is unapologetic. She understands what'g going on in the world, while everybody else seems to really bring her into their tornado, their storm. And this woman just weathers it. There's a wonderful statement about how strong women are in American society...really what they represent and how they hold it together even when we don't want to be held together. It was originally done at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 1992. Laurie Metcalf did it on Broadway in 1995. When I read that, I thought, yes, of course, she did this play. She'd be an absolute powerhouse in it. This female protagonist is just a powerhouse. It's nice to see that kind of writing. The thing about female playwrights is they don't get produced very often. And they're really wonderful. They have a strong voice. I'm very happy they're able to do it.

Was the playwright nominated for a Pulitzer for it?

She was. She was a co-author with Theresa Rebeck, another great writer.

Expound a little more on the female character's strength.

The strength that the character shows is not only in the way that she handles all of the situations she's in, but it's also in her sensitivity. You very rarely see full-rounded characters like that, especially in comedies, like in this dark comedy.

What else can you say about the play without offering a spoiler alert?

(he laughs) I don't want to give anything away...(he laughs again)

You should get a good female audience.

It puts the female protagonist on the stage front and center. Alexandra does a great job of just throwing the world at her and having her deal with it.

What are your challenges as director of the piece?

The actors in LA are absolutely phenomenal. A lot of the good ones work. They book work all the time. They understand that theatre training and theatre acting are second to none. I'll Take That right into the dirt with me. It's hard work. Three, four, sometimes five rehearsals a week for five and a half weeks. It's a big commitment. The actors who I've worked with and who are able to dive in and stay there...they grow. The end result is there.

Are there standouts in your cast?

The female lead Liz Greig ... this is her west coast premiere. She's originally from Australia. She's just a powerhouse with the character Elly's sensitivity and strength. Her young antagonist Kelly, the mistress, is essentially the younger version of Elly. It's Elly when she was younger. Brittany Lewis who is playing Kelly...I give her a year before she breaks out on a TV show. She's quick. The other night at rehearsal, it was their final reheasrsal, so I wanted it to be a fun one in which they make each other laugh. I gave them a challenge to see if they couldn't break each other. She did something. I was in the lighting booth and I couldn't stop laughing for five minutes. It's just a matter of time for her. She does her work, but it's not really work, it's fun.

Do you have a favorite playwright?

​

scene from My Thing of Love

It fluctuates for sure, but Martin McDonagh is kind of my guy. His approach to comedy is just borderline to realism. I love how unapologetic he is. He does not apologize for his comedy. In my opnion he throws that mirror up to nature. Without the politics that sometimes interweaves itself into American theatre, he does not apologize for his writing.

Which of his plays do you appreciate most?

The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Pillowman are among his best, powerhouse stuff. I also like Sarah Ruhl. She's whimsical, but her writing is very theatrical. Eurydice, The Vibrator Play, In the Next Room are some of her best plays.

Do you prefer comedy to drama?

We have a tendency here at Sixty-six to do dark comedies. We don't like to do straight comedies. In a dark comedy, the focus is on realism. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis was very successful for us. We did the show last year and our lead actor...you know when you have one of those actors that bleed for you? ... this guy was a bleeder; he went up onstage and bled...it was really something...

In conclusion, what do you want our readers to experience at Sixty-six?

I would like to welcome people into the Marilyn Monroe Theatre. We haven't been there for too long; it's a beautiful, beautiful stage and we're getting the doors open, we're producing original content, and we're looking forward to becoming a staple here in West Hollywood. We want to grow with our community.We really do. We believe that acting asnd storytelling is for the audience, and we do it for them. We'd really like them to come in and visit our home.

For TICKETS: https://sixtysixtheater.com/tickets/

Spotlight on Randee Trabitz

The Road Theatre on Magnolia is proud to present a female perspective on the controversial issue of gun ownership in America, in Stephanie Alison Walker's Friends with Guns playing Friday March 22 through Sunday May 11. Each week we will spotlight a member of the cast or creative team. This week the light shines on director Randee Trabitz.

What is your overall feeling of this production?

The process of staging Friends with Guns has been a joyous one of true collaboration. I know one is supposed to talk of the “challenges” and difficulties but the truth is that we had all the right people in the room from the beginning.

Tell us in detail what makes this so joyous.

When the script is so poignant and well-crafted and the actors are so talented and committed and the producers are providing fantastic designers and plenty of time, the result is pretty damn satisfying. This is not to say that we didn’t work hard, make choices, try them out and then make better ones.

What do you feel is the key to the actors' success in the play?

Everyone, including our writer Stephanie Walker has been fluid in the process which makes hard work a delicious undertaking. I learned early on that the essential key for the actors in this show is to know what they come in with and then be utterly present to react to their partners onstage. ..

The delicate balance of Friends with Guns is that there is nowhere for an actor to hide. One faked or inauthentic moment upsets the world of this play. The story is like a balloon that they all four have to keep tapping to keep it aloft. If one of them looks away, it can hit the ground. I could not be more proud of my ensemble, who are all in and laying themselves bare for every performance.


Friends with Guns plays Friday March 22 with an extension to Saturday May 11 at the NoHo Senior Arts Colony at 10747 W Magnolia Blvd in NoHo. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 2 pm. There is plenty of street parking but arrive early to guarantee a space.
Call 818.761.8838 for tickets and more information.