Jessica Koslow

Santa Monica was once home to a thriving community of color, whose history is documented in the Quinn Research Center, an educational archive consisting of photographs, newspaper clippings, pamphlets and letters collected by educator Alfred Quinn in the mid to late 20th century.

It was the co-founder and steward of this archive, Carolyne Edwards, who helped artist Sage Ni’Ja Whitson conceive of “Revival_ _Revival,” a Black Trans Processional that they will conduct on Nov. 8 across sacred historic sites in Santa Monica, activating them through music, movement and ritual traditions.

“What folks will experience is a processional led by sound,” shared Whitson, a professor at University of California Riverside and artist in residence at 18^th Street Arts Center. “We move through a few neighborhoods of Santa Monica with music, with our embodiment, and there will be a few guest speakers, guest artists, who will share at different points during the processional.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Jesse Bliss, the founder and artistic director of the nonprofit The Roots and Wings Project, has spent a lot of time sitting and praying by the American River in Sacramento. It is her favorite place on the planet, and it inspired her to write her new play, “Realm of the River,” opening at The Rosenthal Theater at Inner-City Arts, running from Sept. 18-27.

“It took me nine years to develop because it wasn’t for a commission, it came from my heart,” Bliss shared. “I kept getting commissioned pieces that I would set it down for and then finally last year, I couldn’t take it anymore. It was not convenient. I’m a single parent. I run a company, and we’re constantly in production. I said, I don’t care. I’m going to do what it takes.”

Bliss woke at 4 a.m. and found herself writing in weird places at weird times. She completed it, and when she finally heard a run through as part of her organization’s Women at Work new works reading series, she realized just how much she believed in the piece. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Suzy Williams and Brad Kay enjoy each other’s company immensely and have great respect for each other. They’re not married, but they do share what Williams refers to as “her big baby”: The LIT SHOW, which is celebrating its 19^th anniversary on July 18 at Beyond Baroque in Venice.

Williams actually calls Kay “boss.” It’s a Hollywood meet-cute sans the romance.

In 2001, Kay, a professional pianist and composer, placed an ad for an assistant, to which he received more than 300 responses. He narrowed his picks to 30 based on the voices he liked on his answering machine. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

David Chiu is the marketing and communications manager at The Braid theatre company, the nation’s leading Jewish storytelling theatre. He is the son of a Litvak, a Lithuanian Jew, and an immigrant from Hong Kong. He is also one of the writers of the true stories that make up “L’Chaim America!,” a touring production featuring a wide range of voices from a racially, culturally and geographically diverse community.

“L’Chaim America!” is one of many projects supported by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of AMERICA 250, the national nonpartisan organization tasked with engaging every American in celebrating and commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary. 

Chiu joined the project when The Braid’s artistic director/founder and story curator/adapter Ronda Spinak asked if he had a story to share. He had written works for The Braid in the past and was one of the co-producers of “What Do I Do with All This Heritage?” about Asian American Jews. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Nina Rancel did not think she would ever step into the shoes of theatrical producer. A professional actor, she arrived to Los Angeles from Venezuela in 2019, having experienced a measure of success — “a fruitful enough career” — in Latin America. 

She moved to the U.S. with the sole intent of making it in the film industry. After five months, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“The career I’ve dreamed of my whole life is currently on hold because of the current state of our industry,” Rancel said. “So, I devoted myself to doing theater. I’m on a path to build my own opportunities.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

In 1946, a group of theater lovers united to launch the Santa Monica Theatre Guild. They incorporated on March 25 and produced eight shows in their first year at the Miles Playhouse. One of those shows was “You Can’t Take It With You.”

Eighty years, a few locations and a new name later, on March 27, Morgan-Wixson Theatre is toasting to its longevity at the opening night of …drum roll… “You Can’t Take It With You.”

“Last year when we were picking shows, we looked at what was available from that very first season,” said Michael Heimos, the theatre’s president and resident historical expert. “As it turns out, ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ holds up. It is funny as can be. We’re really proud of it.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

The story of “Three Coconuts,” West Coast Jewish Theatre’s dramedy now playing at Miles Memorial Playhouse, is a true tale mined from Howard Teichman’s life.

“It’s the story of my mother when she divorced my father, she decided to put an ad in the Jewish newspaper to audition men to become my father,” Teichman, who wrote and directed the play with Steven G. Simon, said. “She would make dinners for them, and this one particular night when she did this, we all got busted, and we were all thrown in jail.”

This is West Coast Jewish Theatre’s first production at Miles Memorial Playhouse since the pandemic. The nonprofit performed at the Pico Playhouse from 2005 to 2016 and then relocated to Miles Memorial Playhouse from 2017 to 2020. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

In 2018, the city of Santa Monica ordered assessments on all the buildings on Airport Avenue in the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. One of those buildings housed Ruskin Group Theatre, founded by John Ruskin in 2001.

Ruskin was having a good run at 3000 Airport Avenue. When he first launched his acting school, Anthony Hopkins taught the masterclass. Its productions have starred such celebrities as Rob Morrow (“Northern Exposure”) and Ray Abruzzo from “The Sopranos.”

“I knew that those assessments would lead to the demolition of many of the buildings on Airport Avenue,” explained Michael Myers, producing artistic director and Ruskin’s managing director since 2002. “When the assessments came back, lo and behold, it was going to take a lot of money to bring 3000 Airport Avenue to code.” Myers and his team contemplated the situation before them, but every scenario in their current location seemed too costly. They were also hoping to remain in Santa Monica, a city where Myers was born and raised and Ruskin had grown to love ever since he relocated from New York and rented an apartment at The Shores on Neilson Way. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Laura Vega never saw Fernando Valenzuela, the legendary Mexican Major League Baseball pitcher, play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the time, the team did outreach at local high schools, and Vega was lucky enough to have the players sign her glove.

“I am 62,” said Vega, of Pasadena. “I remember when this giant came to the Dodgers. I was a huge Dodgers fan (and of players) Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Tommy Lasorda.”

Vega is now a professional actress who will return to CASA 0101 in “Fernandomania,” a collection of 10-minute world-premiere plays focusing on the MLB legend’s effect on the city. “Fernandomania” is part of CASA 0101 Theater’s 25th anniversary season, presented by founding member Josefina López and Emmanuel Deleage, executive director. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

When the Latino Theater Company chose Rickérby Hinds as one of its 10 playwrights commissioned to write works on Latinidad, or its Circle of Imaginistas, the professor of theater, film and digital production at UC Riverside was stuck. He started one play, then stopped. He started another, but the words did not flow.

“One day it just hit me,” Hinds explained. “What if I wrote a play about trying to write a play, which is something I vowed I would never do: writing about writing.”

What he did write, “The Last Play by Rickérby Hinds,” opens on Saturday, April 26, at The Los Angeles Theatre Center and runs through Sunday, May 25, with six previews from Thursday, April 17, through Friday, April 25. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.