Here are the five shows you must see This Weekend in LA (4/6-4/8)
Sleepless: The Music Center After Hours – Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
April 6 – April 7
If you ever wondered what the 70s Disco era was like, but are either too young to have lived through it, or you did live through it and frankly can’t remember (and you know who you are), then this two-night Disco extravaganza at the venerable Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is for you. From 11 PM both nights to 3 AM the next morning, relive the glory days of disco with multiple dj’s spinning classics and rare tracks, art installations, watch roller skaters (hopefully wearing satin), get your face made-up, see live disco in a Studio-54 inspired setting and more. So if you have night fever, you don’t stop ’til you get enough and you just want more, more more, then hustle your way over to this hot stuff.
Bellina Logan’s Confessions of a Mulatto Love Child – Davidson/Valentini Theatre
April 6 & April 8 with additional performances April 13, 14, May 4, 5, 6)
When Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner revisited their show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, they called on Bellina Logan to tackle the role Tomlin created. Now Logan has her own solo show and it opens Friday at the LGBT Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center in the Davidson/Valentini Theatre. Confessions of a Mulatto Love Child depicts the relationship between an idiosyncratic mother and her daughter while on a cross-country trip. Logan, who also wrote the show, is familiar to television audiences for roles on Sons of Anarchy and Enlightened. The show is directed by Maggie Soboil.
Bedlam: Hamlet and Saint Joan – The Broad Stage
Now – April 15th
Two of the most highly regarded plays in the history of theatre are Shakespeare’s Hamlet and George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. Both of these two masterworks are now in repertory at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica courtesy of the theatre group Bedlam. The unique component of these performances is that these two dense and large plays are being performed by just four people. With Hamlet, four actors play all 25 roles in the play. For Saint Joan the four actors perform 24 parts. The company’s productions are considered wildly inventive and utterly compelling.
A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique) – REDCAT
Now – April 15th
The Wooster Group is one of the most highly-acclaimed ensemble/theatre groups in America. With this new project they explore the work and legacy of Polish artist/writer/director Tadeusz Kantor through the eyes of his daughter Dorota who wants one more chance to see her father. This work had its premiere at Bard College in 2017. Actress Kate Valk talked to us about the revisions the play has undergone since that first performance and she also discusses the significance of Kantor. You can see her interview here.
Twisted Broadway – Upstairs at Vitello’s
April 8th
Susan Grace, who has appeared on stages around the country, has long had the idea of doing a twisted version of Broadway songs where performers take songs out of context and put them in a new context by making them songs a character would sing in a different musical. This Sunday afternoon she realizes her 15-year dream of putting a new kind of show together with Twisted Broadway. The show features Ilene Graff, Barrett Foa, Fay DeWitt, Kevin Spirtas, Cynthia Ferrer, Josh Finkel, Ashley Fox Linton, Rena Strober and more. The event is also a fundraiser for the Times Up Legal Defense Fund. For more details, see our interview with Susan Grace here.
