By Steve ZALL and Sid FISH

March 2024

Our local theaters have lots of new offerings. It’s time to treat yourself to the magic of live theater by going to see a show!

COVID protocols continue to be dictated by each individual venue so bring a facemask to wear during the show in case the venue requires it. It’s a good idea to check with the theater before attending a show to find out what is their current policy.

The information presented in this column is the latest available at the time of printing; however, is should be verified with the theater before making definite plans.

Here are the shows that have announced opening dates for this month or are already running:

Opening

 “Power to the Queendom” Four women of the 1970s Black Panther Party find themselves in hot water after a protest goes awry, causing them to hold a Houston police officer hostage in the chapter headquarters. The cops assaulted an unarmed Black man and the ladies won’t release their hostage until he answers their questions.

Written by ShaWanna Renee Rivon and directed by Diane Reneé, it runs through March 24 at the Sawyer’s Playhouse at Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 452-3153 or visit www.loftensemble.org.

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast the Broadway Musical” An arrogant young prince (Robby Benson) and his castle’s servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong village girl Belle enters the Beast’s castle after he imprisons her father, Maurice. With the help of his enchanted servants, including the matronly Mrs. Potts, Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation.

Written by Linda Woolverton, with music by Alan Menken, Tim Rice and Howard Ashman, and directed by Victoria Koenig and Kevin Frank Myers, it runs through March 10 at the Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga. For tickets, call (909) 477-2775 or visit www.cityofrc.us/news/beauty-and-beast.

“Footloose: The Musical” Moving in from Chicago, a newcomer is in shock when he discovers the small Midwestern town he now calls home has made dancing and rock music illegal. As he struggles to fit in, he faces an uphill battle to change things. With the help of his new friends, he might loosen up this conservative town if the local reverend will get out of the way.

Written by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie, with music by Tom Snow, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, with additional music by Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins and Jim Steinman, and directed by Barry Pearl, it runs through March 17 at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. For tickets, visit www.colonytheatre.org/footloose.

“Stew” tells a captivating, funny and intimate story about the relationship between mothers and daughters and the realities that bind them together.

Written by Zora Howard and directed by Jade King Carroll, it runs March 7 through March 24 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 964-9766 or visit www.ebonyrep.org.

“Ybor City” Ybor City in Tampa, Florida, which dates from the 1880s, was founded by Vincente Martinez-Ybor who moved his cigar factory from Cuba to Florida; others followed. Ybor built the community including housing for cigar factory workers, then a highly specialized trade. The area was populated by thousands of Cuban immigrants in addition to immigrants from Spain, Italy and other countries – and for the next half century, it annually stocked the world with hundreds of millions of cigars. The entire enterprise – a town owned and populated by immigrants – was highly successful and had a strikingly multi-racial and multi-ethnic population.

Written and directed by Mariana Da Silva, it runs March 7 through March 30 at the Actors’ Gang in Culver City. For tickets, call (310) 838-4264 or visit www.theactorsgang.com.

“Faithless” On a snowy winter night this family starts its journey towards possible reconciliation. John Idakitis as Gus (seen at the Victory in “A Terminal Event”), his stepson Jon Sprik (recently seen as Bottom in Theatricum Botanicum’s “A Midsummers Night’s Dream” and on TV in Lifetime’s series “As Luck Would Have It”), his stepdaughter Melissa Ortiz (seen as Regan in SF Shake’s “King Lear” and as Sofia in Circle X Theatre’s “Do You Feel Anger?”), and Joseé Gourdine taking on the role of Rosie, Gus’ 16-year-old adopted daughter – all four star in this comedy drama.

Written by Jon Klein and directed by Maria Gobetti, it runs March 8 through April 14 at the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank. For tickets, call (818) 841-5421 or visit www.thevictorytheatrecenter.org.

“A Froggy Becomes” This coming-of-age story is told through the eyes of Bumpy Diggs (Sandra Kate Burck), a scrappy little weirdo struggling to survive the troubles at home and the horrors of seventh grade. Through a rinky-dink science fair project gone awry, she ultimately discovers how she wants to live her life. It is a memory play steeped in magical realism replete with an ogre (Peter Breitmayer), flying priests, satan worshippers, beer, Dorito’s bags and, of course, Madonna. A tale for grownups, Froggy is written from a middle schooler’s perspective. The world seems stacked against Bumpy, but her fight for self-determination inspires us to celebrate our own awkwardness and failures.

Written by Becky Wahlstrom and directed by Pat Towne, it runs March 9 through April 13 at the Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater Village. For tickets, call (323) 882-6912 or visit www.openfist.org.

“Our Dear Dead Drug Lord” This play explores themes of friendship, rebellion and the complexity of adolescence with a fresh and unapologetic voice. Set against the backdrop of an abandoned treehouse, four teenage girls embark on a mystical journey to summon the spirit of notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. As their intense and unpredictable séance unfolds, the lines between reality and fantasy blur, leading to unexpected revelations and self-discovery.

Written by Alexis Scheer and directed by Alana Dietze, it runs March 13 through March 23 at the CSULB Studio Theater in Long Beach. For tickets, visit www.tix.com/ticket-sales/csulb-theatre-arts/6797.

“A Shayna Maidel” (which means “a pretty girl” in Yiddish) is a touching memory play about two sisters reconnecting after years of separation and a hopeful story about the resiliency of the human spirit. The play, set in New York City in 1946, explores family, faith and forgiveness in the pursuit of a better future.

Written by Barbara Lebow and directed by David Ellenstein, it runs March 13 through March 31 at the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach. For tickets, call (949) 497-2787 or visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

“Million Dollar Quartet” offers an extraordinary twist of fate when Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley come together at Sun Records in Memphis for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions ever. “Million Dollar Quartet” brings that legendary December day to life with an irresistible tale of broken promises, secrets, betrayal and celebrations that is both poignant and funny. Relive the era with the smash-hit sensation featuring an incredible score of rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, R&B and country hits, performed live onstage by world-class actors and musicians.

Written by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, and directed by Tim Seib, it runs March 15 through March 24 at the Kavli Theatre at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks. For tickets, call (805) 449-2787 or visit www.5startheatricals.com.

“Steel Magnolias” follows the trials and tribulations of six sassy and formidable women in 1980s Chinquapin Parish, Louisiana. Truvy’s Beauty Salon is where all the ladies who are anybody in town meet every Saturday to have their hair done and exchange news and gossip. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle, the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to Ouiser, the town’s rich curmudgeon; Miss Clairee, an eccentric millionaire with a raging sweet tooth; and M’Lynn, the local social leader whose daughter Shelby, the prettiest girl in town, is about to get married.

Written by Robert Harling and directed by Jon Sparks, it runs March 15 through April 6 at the Westchester Playhouse in Inglewood. For tickets, call (310) 645-5156 or visit www.kentwoodplayers.org.

“A Weekend with Pablo Picasso” Pablo Picasso was (among many things) an obsessive creator, self-proclaimed clown and a flamboyantly opinionated philosopher – whose passionate views about love, death, war, beauty, eternity and creativity are captured in this beautiful work depicting a weekend of intense work prior to a looming Monday deadline for delivery of several new works to his art dealer.

Written by Herbert Sigüenza and directed by Anna Lyse Erikson, it runs March 15 through March 16 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For tickets, call (310)( 434-3200 or visit www.broadstage.org.

“Into the Breeches!” is set during World War Two. Oberon Playhouse’s director and leading men are off at war with the Axis. Determined to press on, the director’s wife sets out to produce an all-female version of Shakespeare’s “Henriad,” assembling an increasingly unexpected team united in desire, if not actual theatre, experience. Together they deliver a delightful celebration of collaboration and persistence when the show must go on!

Written by George Brant and directed by Louis Fantasia, it runs March 21 through April 27 at the Theatre Forty in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 364-0535 or visit www.theatre40.org.

“WE ❤ BOY BANDS!” is a tribute to boy band legends of the 1990s – *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Boyz II Men; recent chart-toppers – One Direction and BTS; and the timeless – Bee Gees, The Temptations and The Beatles! Classic four-part harmonies will explode with energy and joy when 200 voices perform brand new arrangements as we sing and dance for the boys we love! If ever there was a perfect pop cannon of songs for GMCLA, this is it!

Directed by Ernest H. Harrison, it runs March 23 through March 24 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, visit www.GMCLA.org.

“The Witness Room” This searing life and death drama centers around the confines of a witness room in Manhattan Criminal Court as four hardened New York City police officers, led by a calculating prosecutor, battle each other over charges of corruption, racism, morality, loyalties and the blue wall of silence.

Written by Pedro Antonio Garcia and directed by Bryan Rasmussen, it runs March 23 through April 27 at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks. For tickets, call (818) 687-8559 or visit www.whitefiretheatre.com.

“Power and Light” is the story of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla and how the battle for the development of electricity between these two great minds created sparks of tension as they illuminated the world.

Written by John Strysik and directed by Jeff G. Rack, it runs March 28 through April 30 at the Theatre Forty in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 364-3606 or visit www.theatre40.org.

“Could I Have This Dance?” This award-winning comedy-drama looks at modern love, complicated relationships, working-from-home and a family that is actually functional. This play was voted by the American National Critics Association as the Best Regional Play of 1992. What starts as a delicious, fast-paced romantic comedy pivots as a medical crisis forces the family members to ask serious questions, and not everyone wants to know the answers.

Written by Doug Haverty and directed by Kathleen R. Delaney, it runs March 29 through May 5 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre – Main Stage in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 763-5990 or visit www.thegrouprep.com.

“A View from the Bridge” Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman, makes room in his home for two of his wife’s cousins that have been smuggled into the country. When one of the men falls in love with Catherine, Eddie’s teenage niece he raised as his own, a jealousy takes hold in Eddie that can only lead to tragedy.

Written by Arthur Miller and directed by Cate Caplin, it runs March 29 through April 28 at the Theatre Palisades Playhouse in Pacific Palisades. For tickets, call (310) 454-1970 or visit www.theatrepalisades.org.

Continuing

“Coney Island Land or The Great Existential Actuality at The End of The Universe” It is Memorial Day weekend 2021, and two high school sweethearts are meeting in person for the first time in 30 years. They have come to the Best Western Plus Brooklyn Bay Hotel in Coney Island to see what the future holds for them. “Coney Island Land” is about memory, nostalgia, middle age and love in the time of a pandemic. Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission.

Written by Timothy Braun and directed by Lucy Smith Conroy, it runs through March 17 at the Theatre 68 Arts Complex in North Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.Onstage411.com/ConeyIsland.

Steve Zall, Publisher

Sid Fish, Co-Publisher and Editor