Matt Gottlieb

Three new short plays from writers Shira Gorelick, Matt Gottlieb, and Lauren Schaffel are receiving a staged reading at Downtown LA's Der Nister on September 10.

Jason Alexander directs L.A. premiere of Steven Levenson’s funny, powerful ‘If I Forget’ at Fountain Theatre

Next up at the Fountain Theatre, the L.A. premiere of Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson’s If I Forget beginning July 23, 2022 (with previews starting July 20th). Jason Alexander (also a Tony Award-winner) directs the cast of Síle Bermingham, Caribay Franke, Matt Gottlieb, Samantha Klein, Leo Marks, Valerie Perri, Jerry Weil and Jacob Zelonky. I had the opportune occasion to throw out a few queries to Jason, the well-known TV actor and respected L.A. Theatre community denizen.

The Fountain Theatre presents a deeply personal play about history, responsibility, and what we're willing to sacrifice for a new beginning. Tony Award-winning actor Jason Alexander, widely known from TV's Seinfeld, directs the Los Angeles premiere of If I Forget by Steven Levenson, running July 23 through September 10 on the Fountain's indoor stage. Previews begin July 20.

Padua Playwrights world premieres poet/playwright Murray Mednick’s Three Tables April 23, 2022, at the Zephyr Theatre. The playwright himself directs the cast featuring Steve Apostolina, Eric Stanton Betts, Raquel Cain, Matt Gottlieb, Laura Liguori, Dennis Renard, Corey Rieger and Michael Uribes. I got the chance to throw a few questions at Murray on Three Tables, Padua Playwrights and his long history with Los Angeles theatre.

Rogue Machine, known for its mission to present original and provocative programming, is now presenting the West Coast premiere production of FINKS, a New York Times Critic's Pick which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The play brings together writer Joe Gilford and director Michael Pressman, friends since childhood and both children of Blacklisted artists. In it, Gilford documents the struggle his parents, entertainers Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, endured when they were called to testify, with actual testimony or published statements by those who appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee used in the play.

The Pasadena Playhouse (Danny Feldman, Producing Artistic Director) continues it FOUR BY TENN: A TENNESSEE WILLIAMS READING SERIES in celebration of Tennessee Williams with CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Performed in association with East West Players and directed by Snehal Desai, the reading will feature Suzy Nakamura of ABC's DR. KEN as Mae Pollitt. Also joining Nakamura are Laura Kai Chen, Ryun Yu, C.S. Lee, Amy Hill, Dana Lee, Jenapher Zheng, Greg Watanabe and Anil Kumar Bhardwarj. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF will be read on Monday, March 13 at 8:00 PM at The Pasadena Playhouse (39 S. El Molino Avenue, Pasadena).

Actress Judith Light certainly needs no introduction. A familiar face to television audiences, she co-starred in the soap One Life to Live winning two Daytime Emmy Awards and in prime time with Tony Danza in Who's the Boss?She has also won two Tony Awards for her stellar work on Broadway. She is a gay rights activist and she and her husband Robert Desiderio have contributed greatly to the gay community in Los Angeles over the years. Co-starring in Amazon's web series Transparent, she is currently performing double duty: the TV show by day and at night a workshop play God Looked Away at the Pasadena Playhouse sharing the stage with none other than icon Al Pacino. I caught up with her this week, and she talked briefly but joyously about the play, her role in it and working with Pacino.

The Pasadena Playhouse presents their first development production, under the theater's new play development program PlayWorks, Dotson Rader's GOD LOOKED AWAY starring Academy Award- and two-time Tony Award-winner Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) as 'Tennessee Williams' and co-starring two-time Tony Award-winner Judith Light (Transparent) as Williams' close friend 'Estelle' and Miles Gaston Villanueva (CBS's The Young and the Restless) as 'Baby.'

The story of FUGU, a world premiere play written by Howard Teichman and Steven G. Simon which Teichman also directs and produces, takes place at a time just prior to the United States' entry into World War II. Suggested by true events, it recounts the efforts of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who assisted in getting 6000 Lithuanian Jews rescued from the clutches of the Nazis and relocated to Kobe, Japan, and the choices which had to be made to ensure their safety.

The Pasadena Playhouse presents its first developmental production, under the theater's new play development program PlayWorks: Dotson Rader's GOD LOOKED AWAY starring Academy Award- and two-time Tony Award-winner Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) as 'Tennessee Williams' and co-starring two-time Tony Award-winner Judith Light (Transparent) as Williams' close friend 'Estelle' and Miles Gaston Villanueva (CBS's The Young and the Restless) as 'Baby.'

The Pasadena Playhouse has announced a new partnership with TodayTix, the theater ticket app, to launch a mobile Rush program for Dotson Rader's GOD LOOKED AWAY, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, and starring Al Pacino and Judith Light.

The Pasadena Playhouse announced today that their first development production, under the theater's new play development program PlayWorks, will be Dotson Rader's GOD LOOKED AWAY starring Academy Award- and two-time Tony Award-winner Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) as 'Tennessee Williams' and co-starring two-time Tony Award-winner Judith Light (Transparent) as Williams' close friend 'Estelle' and Miles Gaston Villanueva (CBS's The Young and the Restless) as 'Baby.'

'Woyzeck' is lovely and horrible; a narrative, musical dream cycle of moments that represent the tragic realities of love and loss; and damaging effects of social hierarchy and human brutality.

'Woyzeck' has evolved beyond original playwright Buchner's vision. It's an evocative production that emphasizes the importance of dignity as a defining aspect of humanity-and the price paid when that humanity is stripped.

Tonight, Oct. 17, immediately following the 8 p.m. performance of The Normal Heart at The Fountain Theatre, guest speakers Timothy Kordic, Project Manager of the LAUSD HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit, and Nancy Ramos, Positively Speaking Facilitator, will host a special talkback with high school students and audience members about the reality of AIDS in 2013 and living with/preventing the disease. Director Simon Levy will moderate the discussion.

This Thursday, Oct. 17, immediately following the 8 p.m. performance of The Normal Heart at The Fountain Theatre, guest speakers Timothy Kordic, Project Manager of the LAUSD HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit, and Nancy Ramos, Positively Speaking Facilitator, will host a special talkback with high school students and audience members about the reality of AIDS in 2013 and living with/preventing the disease. Director Simon Levy will moderate the discussion.