Showing results by publisher "L.A. Theatre Works" in All Categories

As the '20s roared and the Harlem renaissance thrived, a young woman from rural Florida became the toast of literary New York. Jump At The Sun chronicles the passionate life of Zora Neale Hurston (author of Their Eyes Are Watching God), who went from spinning tales on the front porch of a country store to writing prize-winning stories, novels, and plays. Imbued with the rhymes and rhythms of the Jazz Age, Hurston's story reveals a woman's ferocious appetite for life, literature, and love.

This tale of illicit passion, set among the lush cane fields of the Hawaiian islands in 1919, was inspired by a true incident. Beautiful 16-year-old Yachiyo reluctantly leaves her impoverished parents to live with sophisticated relatives. As she acquires civilized graces, she also struggles with a passion for her hostess' husband.

On November 24, 1947, the most powerful men in American film met in New York’s plush Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to decide how to address the Communist witch-hunt being carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Twenty-four hours later, they emerged having created the Hollywood Blacklist. The Waldorf Conference dramatically speculates on what went on in that room.

Hailed by The Boston Globe as "a gem," The Ruby Sunrise begins when a 1920s tomboy feverishly works to develop her latest invention - a little something called "television." Twenty-five years later, her daughter will stop at nothing to bring her mother's incredible story to life during TV's Golden Age. But will it get the truth it deserves? An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Asher Book, Katharine Leonard, Kate McGregor-Stewart, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Ritter, Kate Steele and Henry Winkler.

A deeply affecting and genuinely funny journey through the medical juggernaut of DES, and anti-miscarriage drug given to millions of pregnant women and later discovered to cause cancer and reproductive problems in their children. Picoult as journalist and DES daughter reveals the strength of mothers and daughters fighting together for their lives with guts, humor and love. A one-woman performance featuring Darci Picoult..

In the final play of a trilogy that began with Pretty Fire and continued with Neat, In Real Life finds Charlayne Woodard pursuing her dreams in New York City. From early days as a stuggling actor to being nominated for a Tony Award, the harsh realities of Broadway are balanced by the unusual and comforting characters that touched her life.

Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates turns her satiric eye to Tobias Harte, a man obsessed with perfection in everything from ethics to egg salad. Rollicking comedy ensues as Harte struggles with his highly imperfect family and friends.

In Deborah Zoe Laufer’s End Days, a suburban family is undergoing a spiritual crisis following the September 11th attacks. Sylvia Stein has turned to Christianity to save her disaffected husband Arthur and her rebellious teenage daughter Rachel. But as Sylvia races around preparing for the Rapture, Rachel is learning that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in her philosophy.

Beware the gossips! Lady Sneerwell and her hireling, Snake, are certainly up to no good in this timeless send-up of hypocritical manners. Thanks to their scandal-mongering, the comely Lady Teazle must fend off the slanderous barbs that have caught the ear of her elderly husband - as well as every other gossip in London! What follows is a torrent of mistaken identities and sex-crazed scheming in which the upper classes have never looked so low class.

A wistful look back at a young Hispanic woman’s “MGM”, which stands for “My Grandmama”. The narrator often channels “MGM” for advice as she tries to succeed as a second-generation American. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Yolanda Lloyd, Tony Plana, Rose Portillo, Ruben Sierra and Renée Victor. Directed by Peggy Shannon. Recorded before a live audience in June 1992.

Of One Blood is a poignant and disturbing play about the infamous murder of three civil rights workers - James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner - in Mississippi in 1964. The broadcast includes an interview with Rita Bender, Michael Schwerner's wife in 1964.

Adapted from the diaries of Richard Wagner, Beethoven’s music soars in the background as a poor young composer named Richard Wagner struggles toward Vienna to meet the composer he idealizes.

L.A. Theatre Works' exclusive dramatization of Joyce Carol Oates' best selling novel shows a close-knit group of prestigious scholars in the affluent '80s blown apart by tragedy and scandal. A sophisticated, witty, and chilling tale.

A quartet of aging retirees tee up for a witty and incisive reflection on love, faith, time, and (of course) golf. Over 18 holes, the four men face truths ranging from the quotidian to the cosmic as they bicker and bond on the putting green. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring John Astin, Charles Durning, Richard Hoyt Miller, John Randolph and William Schallert. Directed by Robert Robinson. Recorded before a live audience in Santa Monica, CA in December, 1992.

This is a timely docudrama about The Washington Post's decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, a top secret study documenting U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The subsequent trial tested the parameters of the First Amendment, pitting the public's right to know against the government's desire for secrecy. This new 2008 tour edition features a new cast and a revised script.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic masterpiece The Scarlet Letter is set in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, and concerns the public condemnation of Hester Prynne, who bears an illegitimate child. However, the story is not about adultery, nor is it specifically about sin. Rather it traces the effect of actual and symbolic sin on the mind and spirit of each character.

The dreary aspects of Soviet housing and one family’s attempt to “exchange” its tiny Moscow apartment for a larger one. Adapted from a novella by the respected Russian writer Yuri Trifanov, as translated by playwright Michael Frayn. Translated and adapted by Michael Frayn. Directed by Robert Robinson. Recorded before a live audience in Santa Monica, CA in April, 1992.

Director David Fishelson transforms Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot into spellbinding drama that illuminates both titanic novels. In The Brothers Karamazov, the passionate brothers spring to life, led by their roué of a father ¿ who entertains himself by drinking, womanizing, and pitting his three sons against each other. The men have plenty to fight over, including the alluring Grushenka.

Jason Alexander, Mary Gross, Edward Asner, and a full cast of unforgettable characters emerge from the steam, in this hilarious supernatural bathhouse.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard's classic comedy is a story of estranged brothers Austin and Lee. Shepard compares and contrasts the reality of the two brothers by forcing them to come to terms with each other, with themselves, and with family.