Here are the new shows burning up our theatres this month:

“Yohen” James and Sumi Washington are an interracial couple struggling to maintain their 37-year marriage after James retires from the U.S. Army. The dramatic change in routine prompts questions about life, love and aging as the couple attempts to repair what’s broken and decide what is worth saving. Danny Glover and June Angela star in the revival.
Written by Philip Kan Gotanda and directed by Ben Guillory, it runs through Nov. 19 at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center of the Arts in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

“Caught” You walk into a gallery hosting District 798, a show of new work inspired by a legendary Chinese dissident artist who was imprisoned in China for a single, epic work of art. Recently profiled in The New Yorker, the Chinese artist himself is present, and begins his presentation by sharing the details of an ordeal that breaks your heart and stirs your sense of justice.
Written by Christopher Chen and directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, it runs Nov. 3 through Dec. 10 at the Think Tank Gallery in Los Angeles. For tickets, visit www.thinktank.gallery.

“The Man Who Came to Dinner” A noted radio personality is invited to dinner at the home of Ernest Stanley. After slipping on ice and claiming to have dislocated his hip, he becomes an intrusive and outrageously demanding houseguest.
Written by Moss Hart and George F. Kaufman, and directed by Linda Kerns, it runs Nov. 3 through Dec. 17 at the Actors Co-op David Schall Theatre in Hollywood. For tickets, call (323) 462-8460 or visit www.ActorsCo-op.org.

“Driving Miss Daisy” takes place in the 1940s through 1970s at the height of the Civil Rights movement. The play delicately explores racial tensions when a warm friendship evolves between an elderly Jewish woman and her black chauffeur.
Written by Alfred Uhry and directed by Heather Provost, it runs Nov. 4 through Dec. 10 at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. For tickets, call (866) 811-4111 or visit www.colonytheatre.org.

“I’m Not Famous – a Musical Journey with Barbara Minkus” Join us for a funny, poignant and powerful evening of theatre as film, television and Broadway star Barbara Minkus shares private moments, personal tidbits and a plethora of musical delights.
Written by Barbara Minkus and directed by Susan Morgenstern, it runs Nov. 5 through Nov. 26 at the Santa Monica Playhouse in Santa Monica. For tickets, call (310) 394-9779 Ext. 1 or visit www.SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com/im-not-famous.html.

“Chasing Mem’ries: A Different Kind of Musical” Tyne Daly stars as a woman not quite ready to let go of the life she’s loved and the love of her life.
Written and directed by Josh Ravetch, with music by Bill Cantos & Mari Falcone, Dave Grusin, Marvin Hamlisch, Michel Legrand and Johnny Mandel; lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman. It runs Nov. 7 through Dec. 10 at the Geffen Playhouse, Gil Cates Theater in Westwood. For tickets, call (310) 208-5454 or visit www.geffenplayhouse.org.

“King Charles III” The Queen is dead. After a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne. A future of power, but how to rule? Camilla, William, Kate and Harry join Charles in Mike Bartlett’s “future history play,” exploring the people beneath the crown.
Written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Michael Michetti, it runs Nov. 8 through Dec. 3 at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena. For tickets, call (626) 356-7529 or visit www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org.

“BIG FISH – 12 Chair Version” is a fantastical new musical that follows the life of Edward Boom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest. Edward’s larger-than-life stories delight everyone around him – most of all, his devoted wife Sandra. But their son Will, about to have a child of his own, is determined to find the truth behind his father’s epic tales of witches, giants and mermaids.
Written by John August, based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, with music by Andrew Lippa, and directed by Cathy Thomas-Grant, it runs Nov. 9 through Nov. 18 at the Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University in Malibu. For tickets, call (310) 506-4522 or visit www.arts.pepperdine.edu.

“Avenue Q” is an irreverent and hilarious musical that tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton, who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that, although the residents seem nice, it’s clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood. Together, Princeton and his newfound friends struggle to find jobs, love and their ever-elusive purpose in life. Not appropriate for children under 16 years of age.
Written by Jeff Whitty, with music by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, and directed by Susan Goldman Weisbarth, it runs Nov. 10 through Dec. 16 at the Westchester Playhouse in Westchester. For tickets, call (310) 645-5156 or visit www.kentwoodplayers.org.

“DeLEARious” Ron and Phil are writing about King James I and Shakespeare – who in turn is writing about the legendary King Lear. Phil gets sick of Ron’s laziness and womanizing; King James gets sick of Shakespeare and demotes him to working on the Bible; and King Lear gets sick of everyone and goes crazy.
Written and directed by Ron West, with music by Phil Swann and Ron West, it runs Nov. 10 through Dec. 16 at the Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater. For tickets, call (323) 882-6912 or visit www.openfist.org.

“Letters from Home” This play examines the life of Kalean Ung through the stories her father (acclaimed composer Chinary Ung) told her of arriving in America in the 1960s as a young music student, and his subsequent quest to rescue family members.
Written by Kalean Ung, with music by Chinary Ung, and directed by Marina McClure, it runs Nov. 10 through Nov. 18 at the Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex in Atwater Village. For tickets, call (818) 710-6306 or visit www.iscla.org.
“The Secret in the Wings” is a witty, magical and darkly mysterious collage of lesser–known fairy tales that explores simple parables in the context of a surreal, tempestuous dream. Written by Mary Zimmerman and directed by Joseph V. Calarco, it runs Nov. 11 through Dec. 16 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (323) 944-2165 or visit www.coeurage.org/sitw.
“Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily” England’s greatest actress and national treasure Lillie Langtry is the target of blackmail in a sex scandal that threatens to bring down the British monarchy. The perpetrator of this extortion is the vilest fiend ever to walk the streets of London: Professor Moriarty. Three men team up in an attempt to thwart the foul misdeed. Can they succeed in stopping the arch-villain when Scotland Yard cannot?
Written by Katie Forgette and directed by Jules Aaron, it runs Nov. 16 through Dec. 17 at the Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 364-0535 or visit www.theatre40.org.

“A Christmas Story” Back in the 1960s, humorist, writer, raconteur and TV and radio personality Jean Shepherd was the undisputed king of late night radio on the East Coast. His live broadcasts from the Limelight Café in Greenwich Village late on Saturday nights on WOR-AM became appointment listening for millions of fans.
Written by Philip Grecian, based on the screenplay by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark, and directed by Christian Lebano, it runs Nov. 17 through Dec. 31 at the Sierra Madre Playhouse in Sierra Madre. For tickets, call (626) 355-4318 or visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” finds the Roman slave Pseudolus scheming his way to freedom by playing matchmaker for his master’s son, Hero, who is smitten with the blonde and beautiful Philia. However, things don’t go at all according to plan.
Written by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, with music by Stephen Sondheim, and directed by Joseph Leo Bwarie, it runs Nov. 17 through Dec. 31 at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank. For tickets, call (818) 955-8101 or visit www.garrymarshalltheatre.org.

“Levi!” is a classic fit new musical based on the life of Levi Strauss.
Written by Larry Cohen and Janelle Webb Cohen, with music by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, and directed by Bruce Kimmel, it runs Nov. 17 through Dec. 2 at the Los Angeles City College Camino Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 953-4999 Ext. 2990 or visit www.red.vendini.com/tickets,oftware.html?t=tix&e=b3d784085302c0056f5583711938c080.

“End of the Rainbow” In a London hotel room, with both her new young fiancé and her adoring accompanist, Judy Garland struggles to get “beyond the rainbow” with her signature cocktail of talent, tenacity and razor-sharp wit. Featuring some of Garland’s most memorable songs by one of the most beloved figures of our time.
Written by Peter Quilter, with music by Jon Steinhagen, and directed by Michael Matthews, it runs through Nov. 12 at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada. For tickets, call (562) 944-9801 or visit www.lamiradatheatre.com.

“Is He Dead?” It’s 1846. Talented French artist Millet feels honor bound to save his fiancée and her father from financial ruin. Millet soon realizes that great paintings make much more money after the artist dies. In desperation, he fakes his own death and becomes … his sister.
Written by Mark Twain and directed by Todd Nielsen, it runs through Nov. 18 at the Glendale Centre Theatre in Glendale. For tickets, call (818) 244-8481 or visit www.glendalecentretheatre.com.

“Mrs. Warren’s Profession” explores what happens to a family when Cambridge-educated Vivie discovers that her genteel upbringing has been funded by her mother’s illicit (but successful) business dealings as a prostitute and madam.
Written by George Bernard Shaw and directed by Michael Michetti, it runs through Nov. 18 at the A Noise Within in Pasadena. For tickets, call (626) 356-3100 or visit www.anoisewithin.org.

Enjoy life more – see a show tonight!

Steve Zall and Sid Fish of Scene in L.A. know a lot about L.A. theatre and are ready to share with CV Weekly readers. You can read more at CVWeekly.com/LEISURE.

  Sid FISH, Steve ZALL