Los Angeles Spotlight: September 2005

The September lineup of L.A. theatre openings includes a rich harvest of titles. The biggest news is Nicholas Martin’s epic-scaled revival of Sidney Kingsley’s 1935 classic Dead End (opening September 7), which kicks off the maiden season of the Ahmanson Theatre’s new artistic director Michael Ritchie. The orchestra pit will be filled with over 10,000 gallons of water to create a dramatic simulation of the East River, while a cast of more than 40 actors — headed by Six Feet Under star Jeremy Sisto and Tom Everett Scott — will inhabit the huge stage, backed up by a 40-foot-high New York skyline. The play, which was parlayed into a fondly remembered film, explores the ravages of poverty in Depression-era Manhattan.

Two more major television names are also coming to town, both in acclaimed solo shows. Kate Mulgrew comes to the Pasadena Playhouse in Matthew Lombardo’s Tea at Five as the immortal Katharine Hepburn, while over at the Laguna Playhouse, Beth Broderick takes on the comedic chaos of Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates (opening September 17), directed by her old friend, Tony Award winner Judith Ivey. Rounding out the must-see list is another eagerly awaited solo vehicle, Heather Raffo’s Nine Parts of Desire (Geffen Playhouse’s production at the Brentwood Theatre, opening September 14), for which the Iraqi-American actress spent 10 years interviewing Iraqi women over four continents about their experiences under Saddam Hussein.

Multi-character dramatic works offer additional promise. The now-itinerant Open Fist Theatre Company, working in collaboration with (and at) Santa Monica’s Powerhouse Theatre, hosts the directorial debut of Tony-winning actor Stephen Spinella; he’s helming Andrew Bovell’s psychological thriller Speaking in Tongues (opening September 2), a play about seduction and destruction told through three overlapping stories of turbulent relationships. (The play was the basis for the film Lantana.) Noted Angelino playwright Dennis Miles also has an edgy new work to unveil at Hollywood’s Lillian Theatre: Von Lutz (opening September 24) is a black comedy about a dysfunctional family and the chain of tangled events that occur following the appearance of a long-lost nephew — or so he claims.

In a lighter vein, writer-director-producer Odalys Nanin offers Beyond Love (West Hollywood’s Globe Playhouse, opening September 17), which is being called a hysterical comedy about gay Cupids, goddesses, soul-mates, and making babies. The Road Theatre Company’s unveils the world premiere of Tom Johnson’s comedy Bunbury (opening September 30), a tale that borrows many elements from Oscar Wilde’s vintage drawing-room comedy The Importance of Being Earnest. In this variation, when Bunbury finds out that he is only a fictitious character who never appears in Earnest, he uses his double anonymity to infiltrate classic literature, starting by giving Romeo and Juliet a happy ending, and moving on to tamper with A Streetcar Named Desire, The Raven, The Three Sisters, and Waiting For Godot.

Vaudeville-flavored entertainment will be on hand throughout the month, thanks to The Glorious and Bloodthirsty Billy the Kid–The Greatest Serial Killer of All Time! A Wild West Show and Cabaret (Sacred Fools Theater, opening September 1), presented by Tricklock Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Janet Klein and Her Borscht Belt Babies (Hollywood’s Steve Allen Theatre, opening September 9), a schtick-filled entertainment said to emulate the style used in early-1900s revues (Teri Garr will be among the rotating babies!); and Trey Lyford and Geoff Sobelle’s award-winning all wear bowlers (Kirk Douglas Theatre, opening September 28), a two-man clown show, which combines silent film comedy with a modern multimedia performance concept.

Those with more traditional tastes in tuners probably will want to check out the seafaring Off-Broadway confection Dames at Sea starring an up-and-coming actress named — would you believe? — Bernadette C. Peters. Or you can take a jaunt to Santa Monica where Rodgers and Hart’s evergreen Babes in Arms (Ruskin Group Theatre at Miles Memorial Playhouse, opening September 19) takes us back to the glory days of Judy and Mickey and the MGM lion. And the month’s best bet will be at UCLA, where Reprise! Broadway’s Best production of On the Town (Opening September 20) will allow us to revel in old-fashioned musical comedy fluff courtesy of Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green — with a cast headed by David Elder, Kate Levering, and Tony Award winner Harriet Harris.

A couple of family offerings sound particuarly appealing. Alegre!, from Bob Baker Marionette Theatre, is a South American-flavored marionette musical extravaganza for children of all ages. And the venerable Santa Monica Playhouse is presenting Barnyard Madness with the Three Little Pigs, a 1940s-style musical romp, set to a country-western beat, about the showbiz wannabes the McPig Sisters.