News And Blogs

In politics, it’s cliché to say that “image is everything,” but in Jon Robin Baitz’s newest play—which is set to have its World premiere at the Kirk Douglas Theatre October 23 – November 20, 2016—image is the only thing. At the center of Vicuña is a real estate tycoon and reality TV star turned presidential candidate and his tailor,...

A World Premiere Ripped from the Headlines

Critics and audiences have lavished praise on the cast of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre through October 16, 2016. With a minimalistic set, spare costumes, hardly any props, and no intermission, this production focuses on the performances—as if taking on iconic roles in the American theatre weren’t dau...

Getting into Character for ‘A View From the Bridge’

“God can kiss my ass,” says Levee, the young, ambitious, and angry trumpet player in August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through October 16, 2016).

Two Levees in Conversation

Lillias White has wanted to play Ma Rainey for a long time.

Lillias White Plays the Mother of the Blues in August Wilson's 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (onstage at the Mark Taper Forum September 1 – October 16, 2016) was written shortly after August Wilson moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1977. There, Wilson worked as a cook for a social services agency, earning $88 a week. It was enough money to give him the freedom to write, and from that freedom sprang the story of a...

Coming Full Cycle

Projection designer Jason H. Thompson saw and admired director Michael Wilson’s production of Grey Gardens last summer at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theater. But when Wilson asked him to come onboard for Center Theatre Group’s Grey Gardens (onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre through August 14, 2016), Thompson hesitates. “I wasn’t quite sure how...

‘Grey Gardens’ Melds Stage and Movie Magic