Now Registered on the Better Lemons Calendar – June 18 – 25, 2019

June 25th, 2019

99 Seat Theater in LA, Featured, Musicals, Theater, Theatre

Monique LeBleu

Registered Critic, Writer, Editor

Theatrical shows registered on the Better Lemons calendar!
For more shows visit our Calendar. For shows with a LemonMeter rating, visit our LemonMeter page.

PEACH BOY – A Musical Staged Reading

“The Group Rep presents a musical staged reading of PEACH BOY, based on a 200-year-old favorite fairy tale character Momotaro, book and lyrics by Tony Pinizzotto, music by Phil Luna, directed by Hisato Masuyama. PEACH BOY is a timeless tale of love, adventure, and coming-of-age; crafted to excite as it restores your faith in never being told you’re too old to dream.”

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StoryTime

“The Group Rep presents StoryTime, a story salon produced by Patricia Willson, featuring fresh, live personal stories as entertainment – – an evening of joy, sadness, and a touch of comedy on Sunday, July 14 at 7:00 pm, at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, CA, at the edge of the NoHo Theatre & Arts District.”

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Tuesday Night Comics at North Coast Rep

“Tuesday Night Comics is arguably the funniest night of comedy in San Diego. Mark Christopher Lawrence taps into his extensive list of talented comedian friends and shares the North Coast Rep stage with them. The show is comprised of talent from all over the country with late-night television credits as well as credits from Comedy Central, HBO, SHOWTIME, ETC…RATED R.”

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Two Naked Angels

“Two Naked Angels – A Pair of Thought Provoking One-Act Plays
LOST VOICES – Three Women live ordinary lives. Behind their eyes lurks a secret each has kept buried in the deepest part of their souls until today. Today they can no longer hide their voices. Today, 7.6 Billion peoples lives hang in the balance and these three women don’t even know it.”

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We Should Hang Out Sometime

“’Experience an interactive evening with Josh Sundquist, featuring a live performance of the hilarious storytelling and comedy that has earned him over 200 million views online. Bestselling author, comic, and Paralympian Josh Sundquist tracked down all the girls he’d ever tried to date to ask why they rejected him. He shares the results of his semiscientific investigation (and yes, it’s a true story) in this one-of-a-kind live performance that blends interactive storytelling with standup comedy. From a disastrous mini-golf date involving a backward prosthetic foot to a misguided ‘grand gesture’ at a Miss America pageant, it’s a story about looking for love—or at least a girlfriend—in all the wrong places. ”

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Accidental Joy

“Joy Perkins, a 40-year old disgruntled underachiever, has resigned herself to a life of regret and unfulfilled potential. But when world-famous guru, Niev Lapel, comes to town, Joy is determined to take one final stab at getting what she deserves and becomes a guru herself. Laden with adult language and situations, catchy original songs, and four or five murders, Accidental Joy: A New Musical, is a visionary, third-eye-opening dark comedy that speaks to the central role we play in forging our own destinies.
The Montalbán is proud to partner with Infinity Grove Entertainment to present Los Angeles audiences with a special opportunity to experience an enhanced workshop production of Accidental Joy: A New Musical, coming to the theatre for one-night-only on Saturday, June 29, 2019. Book by Marcus Terrell Smith, music by Robbie McDonald, and lyrics by both, Accidental Joy is a dark comedy musical about one woman’s incredible journey to find the guru within, and the four or five hilarious murders that follow her along the way…Deviating from the standard theater development process, Accidental Joy invites audiences to take part in a completely unique and entertaining workshop production experience using minimal sets and costumes. While these presentations of new shows are usually done for small focus groups, Accidental Joy is changing the trend in LA fashion.”

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Sum Comedy – The Set Off

“Who has the funniest set in LA?
Come check out 7 comedians compete to be The Set Off Champ!
7 minute sets, 7 Comedians, 7 minutes to crack up the audience.
Special Guest Headliner Every Night!”

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Towne Street Theatre’s TST Summer Series Presents: Nights of Sum Poetry!

“Towne Street Theatre’s TST Summer Series Presents: Nights of Sum Poetry! We are calling all spoken word artists, writers, rappers, and wordsmiths of LA who are looking to perform and share their truths and narratives to push the culture. The showcase will consist of spoken word theatre performance themed Push The Culture followed by an open mic, available to audience members who would like to perform!”

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TST Literary Series: The Awakening of LA Muse

“Our next Literary Series selection is The Awakening of La Muse by S.R. Strickland…Excerpts from the novel will be performed by professional actors. The Awakening of La Muse is about Muse, a sixteen-year-old American slave, driven by a secret that nurtures her spirit but binds her to a crippling silence, is petrified when she travels with her owners to Europe. The journey sweeps her from the rocky dirt roads of a plantation to the elegant avenues of Paris. In 1855, she escapes but soon learns a French bounty hunter is in pursuit. When the day of reckoning arrives, she battles for the right to liberty. A short talkback with the author immediately following the performance.”

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Reflections On A Lifetime in Theater – Nicole Cassesso & Damien Lorton

“For the first time ever, One More Productions co-founders, Damien Lorton and Nicole Cassesso will take the stage together to share colorful stories and songs from a lifetime spent in the theater…Nicole is the co-founder and Executive Director of One More Productions [and] has produced over 60 award-winning theatrical productions and special events, including co-creating and co-writing the audience favorite, The Holiday Gem…You probably recognize Damien as the voice of The GEM, Damien has been the Artistic Director of One More Productions for the past 15 years…”

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Two Noble Kinsmen

“The Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company presents William Shakespeares The Two Noble Kinsmen, directed by Will Block. Kinsmen offers a simple, poignant message in the most gloriously messy wrapper: be good to each other says Block. Shakespeare and Fletcher channel Chaucer’s original work to tremendous effect, declaring Stop. Look around. Reach out…The Two Noble Kinsmen will be the Porters twenty-ninth production along the road to completing Shakespeare’s canon.”

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Double Falsehood

“The Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company presents Double Falsehood by Lewis Theobald, adapted from Cardenio, the lost play of Shakespeare and Fletcher, directed by Thomas Bigley…’Double Falsehood’ is produced with the Porters ambition of crossing every “t” and dotting every “i” along the road to completing Shakespeare’s canon.”

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Vote for Murder!

“A New Immersive Game Experience! Solve and collect clues, perform tasks, commit murders, save your fellow classmates, and interrogate suspects to find which candidate is trying to steamroll their peers on their way to the top. Are you in cahoots with a killer? Or is your candidate the next victim? This is a sandbox-style immersive experience co-operative game (RPG) inspired by Clue, Mafia, and other party games.”

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Bad Hamlet

“Coin & Ghost, LA’s theatrical home for remixed mythologies, is thrilled to announce its second season: MYTH-REMEMBERED. The emerging theatre company will launch its season with the World Premiere of Bad Hamlet, an irreverent, interactive, and inventive play that places Shakespeare’s masterpiece directly up against the many interpretations of it, whether accurate, misremembered, or re-invented entirely. Devised by the ensemble and directed by Rob Adler.”

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Permanent Collection

“Staged reading of a play. Written by Thomas Gibbons. Directed by Barbara Schofield. Sterling North, the new Black director of the Morris Foundation precipitates turmoil when he insists that the Foundation museum display its stored artworks of African origin with greater prominence and in greater quantity, dismissing those who oppose him as racist. He is even prepared to go to court to challenge the will of the museum’s founder, Alfred Morris, to pursue the objective of promoting the exposure of North’s beloved African artists. Nothing is as simple as it looks. Was Morris a racist? Who decides who should see art? Who decides what we can see? Who has that right? Can a museum itself be a unified work of art? Should the last will and testament of a private collector be sacrosanct?”

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Beauty and the Beast – Gem Theatre

“Spend the holidays at home at The GEM and step into the enchanted world of Broadway’s modern classic, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast!…The classic story tells of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed into his former self. But time is running out. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will doomed for all eternity. This “tale as old as time” is filled with fun for the whole family; with spectacular music, costumes, sets and grand production numbers. Be our guest and experience the magic of this timeless fairytale!”

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Crazy Horse: A Dream of Thunder

“”The American Dream has come to dominate the culture of this continent, but is it the only dream worth pursuing? Are there other dreams that might promote our success and survival better? Crazy Horse: A Dream of Thunder explores this through the lens of a single figure of the Wild West, the legendary Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who finds himself fleeing the Indian agency in 1877 even after his pivotal victory at Little Bighorn and the destruction of General Custer. Portraying other characters in his life with a feather, shawl, or war bonnet, this thoughtful hero takes the audience on a vision quest, gathering clues from his past to unlock a future for his people. Winner of a Kansas City Fringe award & a Best of Kansas City award, this solo show is written & performed by Sam Wright and directed by Nicholas Collett.”

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TST Variety Show

“Looking for a fun night out at the theatre? The TST Variety Show is the place for you! Singing, Dancing, Sketch and Audience Interaction.
About this Event TST presents a Variety Show like NO other! Singing – Check, Sketch – Check, Dancing – Check, Audience Interaction – Check
It’s Spectacular! It’s Amazing! It’s Incredible! It’s the TST Variety Show Night – One Night ONLY.”

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The Last Days of Don Juan

“The Classical Theatre Lab’s production of The Last Days of Don Juan is presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division.
The Last Days of Don Juan is the earliest known dramatic appearance of literature’s most famous (or infamous) romantic rogue. He is possibly the first of the red hot lovers. The Seducer from Seville goes from place to place, city to city, town to town, village to village, deceiving, deflowering, despoiling and devastating beautiful maiden after beautiful maiden. He is aided and abetted in his adventures by his loyal servant Catalina, who time and again helps Don Juan escape angry pursuers…This libertine lord of lust finds his fortunes begin to change after he slays the angry father of one of his conquests in a sword fight. Not long after, Don Juan finds himself opposed by supernatural forces that seek to punish him for his wicked, wicked ways. Can he seek repentance and find forgiveness in time?”

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Caucasian Chalk Circle

“Bertolt Brecht’s satiric comedy of war, love and justice. Deep in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, a humble kitchen maid named Grusha risks her life to rescue an abandoned baby from civil war. But when the child’s aristocratic mother returns to claim him, the entire social order of a corrupt and violent world is put on trial.”

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Conversations About the GIRLS! Yes, those GIRLS! – TST Summer Series

“As part of the Towne Street Theatre Summer Series, we are proud to present this wonderful play written and directed by Sonia Jackson
Conversations ‘Bout the Girls, a fresh, inspiring performance piece, is about the relationship women have with their breasts. It brings into view the mysterious, sometimes misunderstood, and often controversial realm of women’s bodies and body images. Only 2 days so be sure to see it while its up! Great way to spend a summer night or afternoon, in the heart of Hollywood!”

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You’re A Grand Old Rag

“Immigration and What it Means to Be an American
As seen through the works of the Theatre’s original
Yankee Doodle Dandy and iconic Patriot.”

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MAMMA MIA!

“Get swept away by the infectious music, uplifting story, and dazzling dance numbers that have made MAMMA MIA! a worldwide phenomenon. As wedding festivities commence on an idyllic Greek island, a young bride-to-be schemes to discover the identity of her father among three men from her mother’s past. With so many of ABBA’s timeless hits, including “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance,” “Money, Money, Money,” and “SOS,” this story of love and friendship is an unforgettable musical experience that will leave you dancing in the aisles! ”

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Shirley Valentine

“Known by many as the hit 1989 film starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti. Our heroine is an ordinary English housewife. As she prepares chips and egg for dinner, she ruminates on her life and tells the wall about her husband, her children, her past, and an invitation from a girlfriend to join her on holiday in Greece to search for romance and adventure.”

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Beyond Glory

“Set against the backdrops of the Vietnam War, World War II and the Korean War, Beyond Glory tells the stirring, emotional, and heroic true stories of eight recipients of America’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor, told by one actor. Beyond Glory gathers these men together in the present to look back on the defining moments of their lives and to examine the meaning of courage, duty, and ultimately, humility. ”

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APPLE SEASON

“APPLE SEASON is produced by Moving Arts as a part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other partnering theaters are New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ) and Riverside Theatre (IA). Mr. Anthony and E. M. Lewis are long time collaborators, he has directed three premiere productions of E. M. Lewis’ work, plus two “Car Plays” and a one-act for the Samuel French Ten Minute Play Festival in New York…Lissie returns to her family’s land after many years. A chance encounter with an old flame conjures memories she thought she’d escaped long ago. This striking new play explores family, desire, and whether to confront the tangled past — or burn it to the ground.”

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GOOD ENOUGH

“GOOD ENOUGH is the true journey of world renown author and story teller Ted McGrath. Playing 15 characters, McGrath takes us on an emotional roller coaster ride through addiction as he sabotages his family, his career and ultimately his life in the attempt to answer one question burning inside him his entire life: AM I GOOD ENOUGH? Now, having reclaimed his life and at the pinnacle of success, McGrath’s play asks each of us that same question: Are you ‘Good Enough?’”

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Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward

“BLITHE SPIRIT has continued to be a smash hit comedy since it first premiered on the London and Broadway stages in 1941. This hilarious supernatural farce centers on fussy, cantankerous socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric “kooky medium” Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira, who makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles’s marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost during the séance or afterwards. Boundless laughs and constant pandemonium ensue.”

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These Streets

“’These Streets’ is a new play with original music, including musical performances. It’s 1961 at the height of the folk music scene in Greenwich Village. Eve Wilson moves to New York City with dreams of becoming a singer/songwriter. She stumbles upon the local open mic scene, where she meets other aspiring artists Ben Phillips, a talented singer and bartender struggling with stage fright, and Nancy Tate a writer who falls for Ben, proving to perhaps be the challenge he needs. She also meets folk singer Dennis McKinley. When she meets Dennis sparks fly until his new found career success creates tensions between them. Dennis then must rediscover who he is and what it is that matters to him most.”

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Twelfth Night

“A beloved Los Angeles tradition, the Festival is freewheeling, inclusive and a bit anarchic. It’s an entire summer of mainstage performances, pre-show family events including workshops, a slate of extraordinary opening acts and diverting community events. Bring a blanket and a picnic to enjoy great theater in a great city. All free, all summer long. TWELFTH NIGHT. A cloud hangs over the country of Illyria as Countess Olivia mourns and Duke Orsino pines. But when Viola (a young woman with a big secret) washes onshore, it soon becomes clear that you can’t keep the human spirit down for long. Music, dance, and lovable misfits abound in one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time, all set against the backdrop of the jazz era.”

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Pericles

“A summer season of free performances like no other! A beloved Los Angeles tradition, the Festival is freewheeling, inclusive and a bit anarchic. It’s an entire summer of mainstage performances, pre-show family events including workshops, a slate of extraordinary opening acts and diverting community events. Bring a blanket and a picnic to enjoy great theater in a great city. All free, all summer long. PERICLES. Love is lost and found again in one of Shakespeare’s most spellbinding plays. The young Pericles sets out for adventure, but gets more than he bargains for. 25 years later, it’s his daughter’s turn to sail the high seas as she seeks to unravel the mystery of her birth. PERICLES is an epic tale, spanning continents and decades, complete with knights-errant, greek gods, pirates…and more than a little magic.”

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The Peter Sprague Trio at North Coast Rep

“Back by popular demand, the Peter Sprague jazz trio explores songs that resonate with the boomers. They start with The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, James Taylor, and Cream, and then for balance they play “Georgia” or add Cole Porter. The vibe is contagious and the sound pulls you in.”

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Swiped The Musical

“’SWIPED “APPily Ever After’ is a modern day love story about about the life of Polly, a meticulous planner that finds herself manifesting her very first relationship using online dating apps, and all the confusion, fear, and strangeness that comes along with it. Yes, it’s a comedy, and maybe we can even call it a contemporary fairytale, but really it’s story that every 21st century human being with dreams and goals and passions can relate to. Our main character, Polly, is just that 21st century human being. After Polly’s parents split up when she was nine years old, she decided that the only way she could control her destiny was to meticulously plan out every aspect of her life, but when her boss asks her to bring her boyfriend to the company mixer she realizes the one thing that she never meticulously planned for was a relationship. This is a girl that micromanaged and manifested her sleepovers, her line position in the nutcracker, her role in student government, and even the class senior prank. I mean who wouldn’t love to see 100 micro-pigs running down the halls of a high school on ditch day? Not anybody we’d like to know. How did she miss planning for a relationship? All of Polly’s dreams had come true and now it was time for her to find….ahem…. love…… the one thing that it’s kind of starting to look like she might have been avoiding this whole time. Do Polly’s master planning and manifesting skills find her the relationship that she’s set out to have? Come see SWIPED “APPily Ever After” to find out!”

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🍋

Monique A. LeBleu/Event Editor and Contributor.

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