By Steve ZALL and Sid FISH

 October 2022

Most theaters have returned to normal operations; however county mandates for mask requirements are still being decided as we go to press, so please check the current guidelines before you leave to attend any performances. COVID protocols also vary from venue to venue, so you may still have to show proof of vaccination and/or wear a mask during the show, so please check with the theater before you attend an event to find out what is their current policy.

The information presented in this column is the latest available at the time of printing; however, always check with the theater to confirm before making definite plans.

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

Opening 

“To the Bone” is a darkly funny comedy about family, baseball, genetics – and the unexpected vagaries of life. Twenty years after the Red Sox lost their chance at the pennant when a Yankees fan bounded onto the field in the ninth inning to void what would have been the game-winning out, Sisters Kelly Moran and Maureen Dugan still live on the “Irish Riviera” south of Boston where they were known as “hard girls” back in high school.

Written and directed by Catherine Butterfield, it runs through Nov. 5 at the Open Fist Theatre Company – Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater Village. For tickets, call (323) 882-6912 or visit www.openfist.org.

“Nina Simone: Four Women” Following the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four young girls, Simone shifted her considerable talents to activism. The result was some of the most powerful, impactful civil rights anthems ever written. Ham’s intensely personal play with music takes theatregoers into how the iconic chanteuse gave voice to countless other Black women fighting to overcome stereotypes and racism.

Written by Christina Ham and directed by Logan Vaughn, it runs through Oct. 23 at the South Coast Repertory – Julianne Argyros Stage in Costa Mesa. For tickets, call (714) 708-5555 or visit www.scr.org.

“Basement Folly” A couple ponders what to do when they discover that an unknown person is living in their basement. A normal couple would take swift action. But not these people. They have to discuss it: Call police? Kick the person out with so many people homeless? Give priority to an old family friend who appears, homeless and needing shelter? What about their adult daughter, who wants a temporary place? What if it’s the wife’s unstable sister? What’s moral? What’s safe? And who’s down there, anyway? All fodder for the family’s greatest talent: bickering.

Written by David Datz and directed by Carol M. Becker, it runs through Oct. 26 at the Theatre 40, in the Reuben Cordova Theatre in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 364-3606 or visit www.theatre40.org.

“Mother Sisters” This docu-play is curated and constructed by Makaela Vogel based on interviews she conducted with her eight aunts. Looking back over their varied and fascinating lives, these women affirm the strength and transformative power of their bond as sisters and female travelers of the late 20th century.

Written by Makaela Vogel and directed by Sky Paley, it runs through Oct. 27 at the Echo Theater Company – Atwater Village Theatre in Atwater Village. For tickets, call (310) 307-3753 or visit www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.

“The Mousetrap” Seven strangers are stranded at Monkswell Manor during a blizzard when a police sergeant unexpectedly arrives, worried that a murderer-at-large is among the guests. Before he can investigate, one of them is killed. Will the police be able to solve the case before another “mouse” falls?

Written by Agatha Christie and directed by Jules Aaron, it runs through Nov. 13 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre – Main Stage in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 763-5990 or visit www.thegrouprep.com.

“Cindy & The Disco Ball: The Musical” time-travels back to a decade that was dy-no-mite! Colorful fashion, sensational songs and disco dance moves bring an all-new Cinderella story to life. The story unfolds at a SoCal High School in 1976. On the flip side, a glittering Soul Sister with magic up her sleeves is keeping tabs on Cindy and her “messy” relationship with her stepsister. It’s a fun and fabulous journey through teenage self-discovery, high school romance, and four friends who dream up something big for the future ­– you know … the 1980s.

Written by Joseph Leo Bwarie and Lori Marshall, with music by Rachael Lawrence, lyrics by Joseph Leo Bwarie and Lori Marshall, and directed by Joseph Leo Bwarie and Christine Lakin, it runs Oct. 7 through Oct. 30 at the Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank. For tickets, call (818) 955-8101 or visit www.garrymarshalltheatre.org.

“A Day in the Death of Joe Egg” In this highly theatrical, very funny, but ultimately devastating tragic – comedy, married couple Bri and Sheila use irreverent humor as a way to cope with the daily struggle of caring for their 10-year-old severely brain-damaged daughter whom they’ve affectionately nicknamed “Joe Egg.” The result is an immensely moving and profound play about love and marriage.

Written by Peter Nichols and directed by Ethan Maniquis, it runs Oct. 7 through Nov. 21 at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (310) 477-2055 Ext. 2 or visit www.OdysseyTheatre.com.

“Staring Into Nothing” is a new musical/rock opera that explores the impact of mass media, social media and the digital information age on the quality of our lives. It asks and attempts to answer the age-old philosopher’s question: “What Is Good and What Is Not?”

Written by Steve Rogers, with music by Steve Rogers and Kurt Barabas, and directed by Jeffrey Polk, it runs Oct. 7 through Oct. 9 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 508-4200 or visit www.elportaltheatre.com.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Divorce” Three couples, each intent on getting divorced, find themselves sharing the same meeting room waiting for the same divorce mediator. Once each of these couples were in love. What happened to bring each of them to this point? While they’re waiting, Brian and Carol, Doug and Angie, and Ken and Tanya share their stories of love that went wrong. Their tales are by turns hilarious and heartbreaking.

Written by Jeff Gould and directed by Marc Antonio Pritchett, it runs Oct. 9 through Nov. 20 at the New Collective Theater in Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.divorce.brownpapertickets,.com.

“Inconceivable” Based on personal experience and written by the performing actress Atlanta/Israel native Meirav Zur, everything seen in this comedic solo production is true and resonates with audiences. This is a hilarious and real fertility journey. Those who are “inside” infertility can never truly explain it and those who are “outside” of infertility can never truly understand it. This show bridges that gap with many laughs along the way.

Written and directed by Meirav Zur, it runs Oct. 10 through Dec. 12 at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, visit www.onstage411.com/inconceivable.

“The Addams Family” embraces the wackiness in every family and features an original story, every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

Written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by Andrew Lippa, and directed by Kirsten Chandler, it runs Oct. 14 through Oct. 23 at the Kavli Theatre at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks. For tickets, call (800) 745-3000 or visit www.5startheatricals.com.

“Daddy Issues” How far will a gay guy go to please his overbearing Jewish parents? Mr. and Mrs. Moscowitz are in denial about their son’s gay lifestyle, disapprove of his career choice and question his flair for decoration. To get his family to stop kvetching, Donald needs a son. With the help of his ballsy best friend Henrietta and rising drag queen Levi, Donald hires the 10-year-old kid from downstairs.

Written and directed by David Goldyn, it runs Oct. 14 through Nov. 13 at the Dorie Theatre @The Complex in Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.daddyissuestheplay.com.

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“(Un)Documents” The multiple award-winning solo work lyrically depicts Valles’ journey across both sides of a river with two names, moving between languages to find their place in a nation that demands sacrifice at the altar of citizenship. In doing so, they create a new kind of documentation written with anger, fierce love and the knowledge that what makes us human can never be captured on a government questionnaire.

Written by Jesús I. Valles and directed by Rudy Ramirez, it runs Oct. 14 through Nov. 20 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (213) 489-0994 or visit www.latinotheaterco.org.

“The Atheist Mother” Based on the fictionalized life of Madelyn Murray O’Hair, the woman who led the fight to ban prayer in America’s public schools, O’Hair’s battle to take God out of the nation’s classrooms became a cause célèbre in 1961. The legal case was contested bitterly over the next two years, culminating in the 1963 Supreme Court decision holding that Bible reading and prayer recitation in public schools were impermissible under the doctrine of separation of church and state articulated in the first amendment to the U.S. constitution. O’Hair’s enraged enemies in religious and political circles denounced the high courts’ decision and called her the most hateful woman in America.

Written by Willard Manus and directed by Judith Rose, it runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 13 at the Brick House Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets,.com/event/5573882.

“The Inheritance Part 1 & Part 2” (Note: This production is presented in two separate plays, Part 1, and Part 2, that alternate days in the theater. A separate ticket is required for each show.) In contemporary Manhattan, Eric and Toby are 30-somethings who seem to be very much in love and thriving. But on the cusp of their engagement, they meet an older man haunted by the past and a younger man hungry for a future. Chance meetings lead to surprising choices as the lives of three generations interlink and collide – with explosive results.

Written by Matthew López and directed by Mike Donahue, it runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 27 at the Geffen Playhouse – Gil Cates Theater in Westwood. For tickets, call (310) 208-2028 or visit www.geffenplayhouse.org.

“According to the Chorus” In the basement quick-change room of a Broadway theatre in the mid-1980s life is full of angst as the long-running production may close at any time and the chorus women are at war with the wardrobe department. Will the new dresser, with her own sad past and uncertain future, be able to navigate this minefield? This story is a funny, nostalgic behind-the-scenes look at a pivotal period in the history of Broadway where women’s issues and the AIDS crisis play out through the everyday lives of Equity performers and union dressers.

Written by Arlene Hutton and directed by Emily Chase, it runs Oct. 21 through Dec. 11 at the Road Theatre in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 761-8838 or visit www.RoadTheatre.org.

“Lend Me A Tenor” Culture-climbers in provincial but pretentious Cleveland are threatened with embarrassment when “Il Stupendo,” the Italian tenor they’ve imported to sing Pagliacci, may prove to be indisposed (or even worse) at the last minute. In this quintessential farce replete with six slamming doors and a phone that never stops ringing, members of the Cleveland Opera Company frantically try to keep the show going when the star can’t go on. The antics accelerate at full tilt, with one case of mistaken identity after another in this hilarious combination of slapstick, word play, romance and great opera music!

Written by Ken Ludwig and directed by Todd Nielsen, it runs Oct. 21 through Nov. 6 at the International City Theatre – Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. For tickets, call (562) 436-4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.

“Man’s Favor Devil’s Plan” CONSUMER ADVISORY: This play deals with adult content including violence and racism. It is unsuitable for small children.

  Los Angeles, California, 1938, Mr. Avery’s Hotel – a microcosm of a nation that has been steep in a vicious hypocritical quagmire so pervasive that it has become a reflection of the consciousness of a country. The owner is a victim of his own diabolical abuse and in denial of the consequences even though he is surrounded by them. Laddie, DD, and the rest in his employ navigate in a way that creates two worlds, one that allows them existence and the other that forces murderous results.

Written by Kwik Jones and directed by C. Julian White, it runs Oct. 22 through Nov. 20 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (213) 489-7402 or visit www.therobeytheatrecompany.org.

“Radio Golf” Harmond Wilks, Pittsburgh’s first Black mayoral candidate, finds himself on the verge of the business breakthrough of a lifetime. The arrival of an unexpected visitor with surprising news forces Harmond to choose between his personal aspirations and his integrity. With humor and courage, Radio Golf challenges the steep price progress can exact upon the soul.

Written by August Wilson and directed by Gregg T. Daniel, it runs Oct. 22 through Nov. 13 at the A Noise Within in Pasadena. For tickets, call (626) 356-3100 or visit www.anoisewithin.org.

“WET: A DACAmented Journey” is the story of what it means to be an American in every sense of the word except for one: on paper. Chronicling the story of Anner Cividanis’ journey as an undocumented American, the play captures the desperation that DREAMers experience with limited options of adjustment of status under a broken U.S. Immigration System.

Written by Alex Alpharaoh and directed by Daphnie Sicre, it runs Oct. 22 through Nov. 13 at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323) 673-0544 or visit www.GreenwayCourtTheatre.org.

“EISENHOWER: This Piece of Ground” Tony-winning theatre, television and film star John Rubinstein will portray General Eisenhower. Rubinstein had the honor of meeting “Ike” at the White House when he was a boy. Rubinstein, a lifelong Ike aficionado, has a deep commitment to the material and brings strength, humanity and humor to the role. This play is a fiction, a piece of history. It is adapted from a range of General Eisenhower’s memoirs, speeches and letters. The author is grateful to David Eisenhower and the Eisenhower family for permission to quote as needed.

Written by Richard Hellesen and directed by Peter Ellenstein, it runs Oct. 28 through Nov. 20 at the Theatre West in Los Angeles. For tickets, call (323º 851-7977 or visit www.TheatreWest.org.

“Love Among the Ruins” When wealthy widow and socialite Jessica Medlicott is sued for breach of promise by her money-seeking ex-fiancé, will her past as an actress help or haunt her? As highly respected, strait-laced lawyer Sir Arthur Granville-Jones steps into the picture, he is driven to hilarious distraction by her larger-than-life personality. Based on the 1975 ABC Theater Presentation with Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier, this world premiere adaptation of the courtroom classic “Love Among the Ruins” is every bit as charming and delightful as the original film, which garnered a Peabody Award and multiple Emmys.

Written by James G. Hirsch and Robert A. Papazian and directed by Michael Arabian, it runs Oct. 30 through Nov. 13 at the Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach. For tickets, call (949) 497-2787 or visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

Continuing

“Lost Lake” is a tense, carefully wrought drama about the surprising, complicated friendship formed by two very different people with no one else to turn to. The lakeside rental Veronica has managed to afford is a far cry from the idyllic getaway she and her children so desperately need and the disheveled property owner Hogan has problems of his own … problems that Veronica is inevitably and irrevocably pulled into. An engrossing and revealing portrait of two strangers bound together by circumstance, “Lost Lake” is a vivid play about the struggle for connection in an imperfect world.

Written by David Auburn and directed by Faye Viviana, it runs through Oct. 9 at the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Beverly Hills. For tickets, call (310) 855-1556 or visit www.crimsonsquare.org.

“The Wild Party” tells the story of one tragic, decadent night in a New York apartment shared by Queenie and her menacing lover Burrs. The couple decides to throw the party to end all parties where Queenie meets a handsome stranger who wants to lure her away. Lust, jealousy, deception, drugs, sex and violence all play out against the backdrop of Manhattan during the Roaring ’20s and Prohibition, just one year before the Crash of 1929. This darkly brilliant show won a slew of awards and its thrilling, pitch-perfect score has become a modern-day classic. Contains adult situations and language, for mature audiences only.

Written by Andrew Lippa, with music by Andrew Lippa, and directed by Kristin Towers-Rowles, it runs through Oct. 9 at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. For tickets, call (310) 828-7519 or visit www.morgan-wixson.org.

“Mass Graves” A group of men, struggling with the consequences of their past actions, try to recover their lives inside a confined halfway house. As their cohabitants and families start closing in, each is forced to confront the crimes they committed. Can they redeem themselves or will the past keep pushing them to the edge?

Written by Cris Eli Blak and directed by Matt Lorenzo, it runs through Oct. 23 at the Sawyer’s Playhouse at Loft Ensemble in North Hollywood. For tickets, call (818) 452-3153 or visit www.loftensemble.org.

Steve Zall, Publisher
Sid Fish, Co-Publisher and Editor