All stories by Gary Ballard on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 25, 2015

Moonlight and Magnolias: Movie Making at the Colony by Gary Ballard

Playwright Ron Hutchinson wrote Moonlight and Magnolias, a comedic retelling of how the final film script came into being. It had its world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2004 an…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Sab Shimono Adds Wrinkles to a Prolific Resume by Gary Ballard

Sab Shimono, a veteran actor with East West Players for more than three decades, is adding a new wrinkle to his repertoire. He stars in East/West's premier of Wrinkles, by Paul Kikuchi, ope…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM[SHARE]

Daniel Henning's Blank Theatre Celebrates 20th Anniversary by Gary Ballard

Daniel Henning, founding artistic director of the Blank Theatre Company, tells how it began, “When I did a play at the age of four, that was sort of it. I was bit hard. It was Stone So…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 5, 2012

Galligan Guides Jordan's Gift of Gab in Fruit Fly by Gary Ballard

Will Leslie Jordan ever run out of material for his autobiographical solo shows? Probably not, if his mother has anything to say about it -- which she does. Director David Galligan helps Jor…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 04:25PM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 29, 2011

Greenway Court Theatre Loves Lucy by Gary Ballard

Staging  I Love Lucy episodes in a 99-seat theater is harder than it looks. The actors, producers and director Rick Sparks talk about the challenges in the Live on Stage version at Greenw…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:03PM[SHARE]
Monday, September 5, 2011

Burstyn and Castellino Honor Jolson by Gary Ballard

"You ain't heard nothin' yet!" Thus spoke Asa Yoelson"better known to the world as Al Jolson"so resoundingly it became his catch phrase, trademark and battle cry all rolled into one.  Tho…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:49PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Comedy Stylings of Toliver and Guidinger by Gary Ballard

If you were a teacher in grade school with both Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger in your class, you'd quickly learn to separate the two of them to opposite corners of the room.  Even then…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 06:05PM[SHARE]
Thursday, August 4, 2011

Santa Monica Playhouse Dolls Up For 50th Anniversary by Gary Ballard

Evelyn Rudie and Chris DeCarlo, the married team who have run Santa Monica Playhouse since 1973, continue the playhouse's 50th anniversary celebration with Dolls--Not Your Usual Love Story! …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 04:32PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 22, 2011

Independent Shakespeare Company's Zoo Stories by Gary Ballard

All the world's a stage.  You might not agree with that sentiment.  You might wish to argue or debate it.  But as you like it or not, you'd be foolish to deny its cultural impact gi…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:47PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 8, 2011

Tennessee Auditions Brando at Two Roads by Gary Ballard

According to an old cliche, you get only one opportunity to make a first impression.  That impression, however, can often assume folkloric dimensions or an iconic status when recounted nu…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:07PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Marilyn Fox Leads 25th Season at Pacific Resident Theatre by Gary Ballard

Pacific Resident Theatre's Artistic Director Marilyn Fox discusses her new show of J.M Barrie one-acts entitled Barrie: Back to Back, being invited to bring Vince Melocchi's Julia to New …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 07:58PM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 2, 2011

Michael Golamco and David Rose Commence Year Zero at the Colony by Gary Ballard

The Colony opens its 37th season June 4 with the West Coast premiere of Michael Golamco's Year Zero, centering around Cambodian American brother and sister Vuthy and Ra Vichea's efforts to …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:23PM[SHARE]
Monday, May 16, 2011

David Hunt Stafford Luvs the Theater and Theatre 40 by Gary Ballard

David Hunt Stafford loves theater. Talk to him approximately 15 minutes and you know it. Talk to him another five or so, and he'll tell you about Theatre 40 where he serves as Artistic and…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 06:36PM[SHARE]
Thursday, May 12, 2011

Les Hanson's Gypsy Life with West Coast Ensemble by Gary Ballard

Les Hanson, founding artistic director of West Coast Ensemble, is espousing the traditions of those wandering minstrels of yore with his next production. He opens Gypsy by Arthur Laurents,…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 12:06PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Elizabeth Swain Directs Rarely Seen Malcontent for Antaeus by Gary Ballard

Elizabeth Swain could fall prey to a whimsical journalistic labeling or libeling about how disaffected, displeased and distrustful she currently is, and nothing could be more distanced from …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 01:54PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 1, 2011

John Gallogly Directs Goodbye…Hello for Theatre West by Gary Ballard

The newest offering of Theatre West, which has produced plays since 1962, is a world premiere entitled Goodbye, Louie . . . Hello! by the late Allan Manings. The play is creating some bitter…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 01:18PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 24, 2011

Keith Huff's Happiness Relies on Director Robin Larsen by Gary Ballard

The famed bluebird of happiness traces its more modern roots to the 1697 publication of L'Oiseau Bleu by Madame d'Aulnoy, who adapted the premise from ancient legends. The Road Theatre Compa…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 04:02AM[SHARE]
Friday, March 4, 2011

Daniel Henning's Blank Theatre Celebrates 20th Anniversary by Gary Ballard

Daniel Henning, founding artistic director of the Blank Theatre Company, tells how it began, "When I did a play at the age of four, that was sort of it. I was bit hard. It was Stone Soup,…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:27PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A Tennessee Williams House Built by Simon Levy by Gary Ballard

Simon Levy directs Tennessee Williams' A House Not Meant to Stand at the Fountain Theatre in its West Coast premiere opening Feb. 26. He says, "This play, coming as late as it does in the Wi…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 06:46PM[SHARE]
Monday, February 14, 2011

Sab Shimono Adds Wrinkles to a Prolific Resume by Gary Ballard

Sab Shimono, a veteran actor with East West Players for more than three decades, is adding a new wrinkle to his repertoire.  He stars in East/West's premier of Wrinkles, by Paul Kikuchi, …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:08PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 3, 2011

Moonlight and Magnolias: Movie Making at the Colony by Gary Ballard

Playwright Ron Hutchinson wrote Moonlight and Magnolias, a comedic retelling of how the final film script came into being. It had its world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2004 an…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:08PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Ron Sossi Tunes Up Adding Machine for Odyssey Theatre by Gary Ballard

A theatrical adding machine, perhaps? Now, in his long-running role as artistic director of Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Sossi is gearing up to present the West Coast premiere of  Ad…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 01:42PM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 6, 2011

Red Dog Squadron Gets Greedy by Gary Ballard

Roday, Raider and Red Dog. Kinda rolls off the tongue, huh? But who"or what"are they? A rock group? A trio of swashbucklers? Surely not a stock brokerage or a law firm. No, the first tw…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 04:43PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Ovation Nominees for Best Season: The Magnificent 7 by Gary Ballard

The annual LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards for excellence in greater LA theater will be presented in January and seven producing entities are nominated in the prestigious category …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 06:13PM[SHARE]
Friday, December 3, 2010

Rae Allen Directs Cyrano in an Intimate Setting by Gary Ballard

The Ruskin Group Theatre is opening its production of Cyrano de Bergerac on Dec. 4 with Rae Allen doing the honors of guiding the swordplay, poesy and courtship to its unrequited conclusi…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:19PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 24, 2010

A Noise Within Founders Reaching Their Dream by Gary Ballard

Seeking to build a state-of-the-art complex, A Noise Within has raised $11 million towards their goal of $13.3 million, have broken ground on their new facilities and recently attracted addi…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:33PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 16, 2010

NY's LAByrinth and LA's Elephant: A Theatrical Dialogue by Gary Ballard

We’ve all heard the old reliable clichés about a bull in a china shop or the dog in the manger or a canary in a coal mine. Theatrical pundits may soon be coining a fresh quip conce…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:48PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off