Who doesn't love Shakespeare (or LA Area Dopers, come see my Play!)

Cafe Society
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I asked Tuba for permission to post this thread. She mentioned that it should go in Cafe Society, but feel free to move it if you think it is more MPSIMS.
I am directing a production of KING LEAR for a small theater company in hollywood, and you should all come to see it if you are in Los Angeles durring the next 8 weeks.

It is very exciting for me, because this will be my first professional production as a hired gun director (I get paid and everything :smiley: ) So come out and support.

The show opens June 30th and runs untill August 5th. It is particularly cool in that it will be performed both in a traditional theater space ($18 a ticket) AND outside in a park in Studio City FOR FREE!

It should be a great time so come on down!

If you are interested in details go to the company website. We are also putting on a production of HAMLET with the same actors so if you like Shakespeare you should come to that too.

Hope you can make it!

Thanks

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Well… I just might go check that out… the outside show of course… I’m cheap.

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By all means feel free to come to the outside show. Make sure to bring blankets and a picnic lunch of some sort, adds to the ambiance.

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I only get one bump so I am trying to make it count. COME SEE MY PLAY! It opens TONIGHT!

Seriously, I would love to know that some dopers came down and saw some of my other obsession.

I know, I am mostly a lurker. I have a post count of about 250, but this community is important to me and I would love it for some of you to come out.

Beyond that, LA is a shitty theater town mostly because no one cares. But there is some great theater being made out here, and while I am not going to say that my show is part of that (although it is), I strongly believe that theater is an inegral part of our society and that without it the world becomes a bad and scarry place. (see Europe circa the middle ages). So come out to support me, come out to support small theater, or just come out to have a good time.

The park shows should be a blast, we are trying hard to make them more than just a theatrical performance, but actually turn them into an event. And the indoor version is, if I do say so myself, kind of magical. My cast is brilliant, the play is possibly Shakespear’s best, that alone should get you in the door.

Besides, if you don’t have a good time, I will buy you a coke.

Here is the relevant show info.

Show Dates:

*Indoor Venue (see notes below)

Friday, June 30, 2006, 8:00pm

Sat. 7/1 8:00pm, Sun. 7/2 3:30pm

Sat. 7/8 8:00pm, Sun. 7/9 7:00pm

(dark: 7/14-16)

**Outdoor Venue (see notes below)

Sat. 7/22 4:00pm, Sat. 7/29 4:00pm

Sat. 8/5 4:00pm

Locations:

*Indoor Venue:

The Flight Theatre

(at The Complex)

6472 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90038

**Outdoor Venue:

Moorpark Park

Corner of Laurel Canyon Blvd. and

Moorpark St., Studio City, CA

Tickets:

*Indoor Venue:

Call: (323) 428-5678

$18.00 (general admission)

$12.00 (Students, Seniors, &

Active Military)

Special Offer: When you

purchase tickets for both

Hamlet and Lear at the same time

you will receive a 16% savings –

$30.00 (general admission),

$20.00 (students, seniors, active

military.

  • Tickets can be purchased at the

    theatre one half hour prior to

    any show.

**Outdoor Venue:

(Details to be determined)

Information:

(323) 428-5678

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You’re right – theater is an wonderful thing and shouldn’t be allowed to die out. That said, I’m not so sure I agree that L.A. is a shitty theater town or that no one cares. It seems more to me like there’s so much theater that the patrons are spread more thinly here.

We’ve been going to the Hollywood Bowl, the Los Angeles Opera and the Orange County Performing Arts Center for the past several years, though not as subscribers. However, we do see at least 8 to 10 shows a year between them even without subscribing, and the venues always seem fairly full when we attend. Last year we finally bit the bullet and became patrons of the Mark Taper Forum and have seen some phenomenal plays there with some pretty heavy-hitting stars (Lynn Redgrave, Annette Benning and Laurence Fishburne to name some). And this year we’ve switched our subscription over to the Ahmanson because we like the lineup for next season better than what’s coming to the Taper.

We’d love to see more, but we can only do so much! There’s a LOT of theater in this city. Growing up in St. Louis, we had The Muny in the summer and The Fox in the winter. Other than community theater, that was (and I believe still is) it.

Aaaanyway, all that being said, we’d LOVE to come see your play! This weekend is out, as we’re getting out of town for the holiday. The 22nd and 29th we’re actually going to the Bowl those nights, which precludes doing a late afternoon matinee those same days, and we’re in Denmark on the 5th. That leaves next weekend, either the 8th or the 9th, though we’re divided on which night we’d rather come (he says Sunday, I say Saturday). Perhaps if we can organize a Dopefest around it – have dinner somewhere first, then go see your play – that would help us solidify a date, depending on when others say they’d be interested and/or available.

What say the other Dopers? Dopefest and a Play on either July 8th or the 9th?

(Either way, we’ll be there for one of your shows, even if it’s just us!)

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Thanks for comming out Shayna!

I suppose that you are right, LA shouldn’t be a shitty theatre town, we have TONS of great theatre here all the time. That being said, from this side of the stage, it really does feel like no one cares about theatre out here. That could be because it is such a film town, it could be because LA is just oversaturated with theaters (I read somewhere that we have more theaters per capita than any other US city. Not sure that it’s true, but it is interesting.) Mabye its just that our big theaters have failed to catch the public imagination for too many years. I am hoping that with Michael Rithcie as the artistic director of CTG that we will start getting an upswing in the level of excitment the big plays generate.

Anyway, I don’t want to turn this into a rant. Thanks to anyone who comes out to see the show. I wish I was able to offer you something other than my gratitude (and a coke if you don’t like it), but it is not to be. But do let me know that you are in the audience, just ask for the director someone will find me.

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Well LA is a shitty theater town in my opinion because of the sheer number of really shitty productions put on and the fact that everyone on those stages really wants to be up on those screens.

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You’re welcome! We’re looking forward to it, and we hope others will join us. I’ve posted a thread in MPSIMS to try to organize a Dopefest around it (with permission from Tuba, so it’s not considered cross-posting). Hopefully we can get at least a small group of comers!

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So. . . how was opening night?

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I dunno, Shaw?