By

Steve ZALL and Sid FISH

May 2018

Here are some of the shows you can catch in our local theatres this month:

         OPENING        

“Soul Doctor” tells the fascinating story of the father of popular Jewish music, Shlomo Carlebach. A modern-day troubadour, Carlebach ignited the spirit of millions around the world with his soul-stirring melodies, engrossing storytelling and boundless love.

                  Written by Daniel S. Wise with music by Shlomo Carlebach, lyrics by David Schnechter, and directed by Gabriel Barre, it runs May 3 through May 13 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (866) 448-7849 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.

“Cardboard Piano” Against the backdrop of Uganda’s civil war, the union of the daughter of an American missionary and a local teenage girl is disrupted by violence.

                  Written by Hansol Jung and directed by Caryn Desai, it runs May 4 through May 20 at the International City Theatre Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. For tickets, call (562) 436-4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.

“Solo Must Die: A Musical Parody” Han Solo crash lands in Cloud City and is torn between his smuggler past and his new status as a galactic hero as he sings and dances his troubles away, all while trying to make it out alive.

                  Written by Jordan & Ari Stidham, with music by Hughie Stone Fish and Ari Stidham, and directed by Ari Stidham, it runs May 4 through May 27 at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 960-7788 or visit www.plays411.com/hansolo.

“Sholom Aleichem” This new musical, performed in English with just a taste of Yiddish, follows the life of this beloved Yiddish story-teller.

                  Written by Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie, with music by Ben Weisman, Emery Bernauer, Evelyn Rudie and Sholom Aleichem, and directed by Arthur R. Tompkins, it runs May 5 through June 24 at the Santa Monica Playhouse in Santa Monica. For tickets, call (310) 394-9779 Ext. 1 or visit www.santamonicaplayhouse.com/aleichem-sholom.

“Seminar” Four aspiring writers hire a world renowned writer, editor and teacher for a 10-week “seminar” to teach them how to be better writers and help move their careers along.

                  Written by Theresa Rebeck and directed by Melanie Weisner, it runs May 10 through June 2 at the Thymele Arts Theater in Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.thepopuptheater.org.

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” A young woman in a provincial town falls in love with a Beast, who is actually a handsome young prince, who lives in a luxurious castle in France.

                  Written by Linda Woolverton, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and directed by Rigo Tejeda, it runs May 11 through June 10 at the CASA 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights. For tickets, call (323) 263-7684 or visit www.casa0101.org.

“Forever Bound” A rare book dealer’s desperate scheme to avoid bankruptcy goes shockingly awry in this darkly funny literary thriller with a surprise twist.

                  Written by Steve Apostolina and directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, it runs May 11 through June 16 at the Sankalpa Productions Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater Village. For tickets, call (323) 960-4429 or visit www.plays411.com/foreverbound.

“The Giant Void in My Soul” A quixotic quest, between friends, leads to new adventures in temptation, self-examination, sensation and even procreation.

                  Written by Bernardo Cubría and directed by Felix Solis, it runs May 11 through June 3 at the Pico in Los Angeles. For tickets, visit www.thegiantvoid.eventbee.com.

“Match” An interview with Tobi about his life as a dancer and choreographer soon reveals an agenda as multilayered as the life story being told.

                  Written by Stephen Belber and directed by Bruce Starrett, it runs May 11 through June 16 at the Westchester Playhouse in Westchester. For tickets, call (310) 645-5156 or visit www.kentwoodplayers.org.

“Red Speedo” An endorsement deal with Speedo is threatened when a stash of performance-enhancing drugs is found in the locker room fridge.

                  Written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Joe Banno, it runs May 11 through July 1 at the Road on Magnolia in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 761-8838 or visit www.roadtheatre.org.

“Violet” Violet boards a bus and travels through the segregated South to be healed by a minister, convinced he can heal her scar.

                  Written by Brian Crawley, with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Brian Crawley, and directed by Richard Israel, it runs May 11 through June 17 at the Actors Co-op Crossley Theater in Hollywood. For tickets, call (323) 462-8460 or visit www.ActorsCo-op.org.

“West Side Story” The streets of New York City belong to two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, and their feud is about to reach a fever pitch.

                  Written by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and directed by Jan Glasband and Caroline Esposito, it runs May 11 through May 13 at the El Portal Theatre – Debbie Reynolds Mainstage in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 508-4200 or visit www.elportaltheatre.com.

“Antigone, or We Are Rebels Asking for the Storm” Creon has considered Polyneices a political rival, and so decrees that he should remain unburied on the battle field, to be devoured by worms and vultures.

                  Written by Sophocles, translated by Kenneth Cavander, adapted by Matt Minnicino, and directed by Amanda McRaven, it runs May 12 through June 2 at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (330) 209-7711 or visit www.fugitivekind.org.

“Sex” Margy LaMont, an entrepreneur as well as a prostitute, is the most successful sex worker in Montreal until a society matron attempts to frame her for a crime she did not commit.

                  Written by Mae West and directed by Sirena Irwin, it runs May 12 through June 17 at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.dime.io/events/buzzworks-sex.

“Mr. Pim Passes By” This delightful comedy tells of what happens when appealing Mr. Pim, who has much trouble with names, drops in one day.

                  Written by A.A. Milne and directed by Jules Aaron, it runs May 17 through June 17 at the Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 364-0535 or visit www.theatre40.org.

“Ripe Frenzy” submerges us in the before, during and after of a mass shooting at a small-town high school theatre during opening night of its 40th production of Our Town.

                  Written by Jennifer Barclay and directed by Alana Dietze, it runs May 17 through June 17 at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 673-0544 or visit www.GreenwayCourtTheatre.org/RipeFrenzy.

“The Last Schwartz” It’s the first Yahrtzeit of family patriarch Manny Schwartz, and the Schwartz clan has gathered for dinner prior for the unveiling of the deceased’s tombstone scheduled for the following day.

                  Written by Kiff Scholl and directed by Howard Teichman, it runs May 19 through July 1 at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica. For tickets, call (310) 392-7327 or visit www.edgemar.org.

“Lost & Found: A Guilt Trip through Show Business” is the show business memoir of Steven Shaw.

                  Written by Steven Shaw and directed by Joan Darling, it runs May 20 through June 10 at the Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, visit www.theatre40.org.

“Wiesenthal” As Holocaust survivor and the world’s most renowned hunter of Nazi war criminals Simon Wiesenthal is about to retire, he recounts for an audience the stories of his most famous cases of bringing wrongdoers to justice. Playwright Tom Dugan portrays Wiesenthal.

                  Written by Tom Dugan and directed by Jenny Sullivan, it runs May 22 through June 13 at the Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 364-3606 or visit www.theatre40.org.

“Cult of Love” is a black comedy that explores the sin of “pride” through one family’s feverish clash over who is right and who is crazy.

                  Written by Leslye Headland and directed by Annie Tippe, it runs May 24 through June 24 at the Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater. For tickets, call (323) 380-8843 or visit www.iamatheatre.com.

“Her Portmanteau” A family rifles through their literal and emotional baggage in this taut and poignant drama about relatives, legacy and connection.

                  Written by Mfoniso Udofia and directed by Gregg T. Daniel, it runs May 24 through June 30 at the Boston Court Performing Arts Center in Pasadena. For tickets, call (626) 683-6801 or visit www.BostonCourt.com.

“Wood Boy Dog Fish” The cricket is killed, a blue poltergeist haunts us all, the legendary Dogfish monster preys on our greatest fears and a little wooden puppet struggles to discover what it means to be real.

                  Written by Chelsea Sutton with Rogue Artists Ensemble, with music by Adrien Prévost, and directed by Sean T. Cawelti, it runs May 24 through June 24 at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank. For tickets, call (818) 955-8101 or visit www.GarryMarshallTheatre.org.

“Bordertown Now” is an irreverent sometimes hilarious exploration of the regions and people at the center of one of America’s most hot button and controversial issues.

                  Written by Ric Salinas and Herbert Sigüenza, with new material by Richard Montoya, and directed by Diane Rodriguez, it runs May 29 through June 24 at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena. For tickets, call (626) 356-7529 or visit www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org.

“Death before Cocktails” When your famous twin sister’s suicide letter instructs you to put together a makeshift wake in a Palm Springs cocktail lounge, what can you do but grant her final wish?

                  Written and directed by Laureen Vonnegut, it runs through May 13 at the Theatre 68 in North Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.buytickets,.at/deathbeforecocktails/155994.

“The Columbine Project” A retelling of the events leading up to, during and following the April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine High School.

                  Written by Paul Storiale and directed by Bree Pavey, it runs through May 20 at the Loft Ensemble in Sherman Oaks. For tickets, visit www.artful.ly/store/events/14848.

“West Side Story” tells the ageless tale of Romeo and Juliet set against the backdrop of NYC gang warfare of the 1950s.

                  Written by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and directed by Danny Michaels and Orlando Alexander, it runs through May 26 at the Glendale Centre Theatre in Glendale. For tickets, call (818) 244-8481 or visit www.glendalecentretheatre.com.

“Bad Jews” A beloved grandfather has died and a treasured family heirloom with religious significance is up for grabs — but who is the most deserving?

                  Written by Joshua Harmon and directed by Dana Resnick, it runs through June 17 at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (310) 477-2055 Ext. 2 or visit www.OdysseyTheatre.com.

Enjoy life more – see a show tonight!