If you are not familiar with Hershey Felder and his remarkable one man shows, now is the time. Felder is a pianist, actor, composer and playwright. In each of his celebrated shows, musical greats from the past come alive on stage and insight into their lives, challenges, music and more are revealed. This month the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will present the world premiere of Hershey Felder, PUCCINI, a live streamed musical event.  This new performance introduces us to a young musician in love with the world of opera….and particularly Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, La bohème and Tosca. Through a series of unusual circumstances, he meets Puccini and life altering secrets are strangely revealed. Joining Felder in this production are three world-renowned opera stars:  baritone Nathan Gunn; soprano Gianna Corbisiero and tenor Charles Castronovo.  PUCCINI was filmed and performed on location in Lucca Italy, in the very home where Puccini was born. Ongoing at The Wallis is Films.Dance, a series of international films made during the pandemic that honor dance, music, fashion and film across cultures and countries.

The streaming event – benefiting The Wallis – will take place March 14th and will be available for on-demand streaming until March 21st.

The Blank Theatre’s Living Room Series (LRS) is a new play development program that showcases new work by diverse voices from both established and emerging writers. Following a week-long rehearsal process for a playwright, director, and actors to explore and refine a play before presenting it to an audience, performances are minimally staged with actors carrying scripts. This helps a playwright get a sense of his or her play’s full potential. In non-covid times, LRS readings take place on Monday evenings at the 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood. Through the end of the current season, readings are being presented virtually.

On March 15, it’s Memory of Ice written by Stacey Isom Campbell and directed by Lisa Neely. Zoe and Nate, climate scientists conducting research on an Alaskan glacier, find their relationship and research in crisis when Zoe discovers she is pregnant and wants to go home in order to figure out how to be a scientist and a mother. On March 22, LRS will present 11 Seconds (Akira Kurosawa in Hell) by Karen Huie. Directed by Peter Kuo, the play involves Kurosawa, the renowned director of Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and The Hidden Fortress (upon which Star Wars is based), his older brother (a narrator of Japanese silent films), and the actor Toshiro Mifune. If you enjoy being among the first to experience a new play, LRS is your ticket!

For more details, click here.

When I read the premise of BUMP, a new comedy from LA Theatre Works – a middle-aged car mechanic from Argentina invents a birthing device based on a Youtube video of getting the cork out of a bottle of wine.  I laughed out loud.  Wait it gets better. Turns out Bump is based on the true story of Jorge Odón and the device is currently in clinical studies by a giant medical technology company and could be available in the next year or two. This all makes sense as BUMP is part of LATW’s Relativity Series of science-themed audio plays.  But back to the story. When Claudia (Ana Ortiz) gets pregnant, she has a clear idea for how she wants to give birth.  All of her pre-natal anxieties inspire her father (Herbert Sigüenza) to do some tinkering in his garage and he comes up with a device for safer deliveries throwing a wrench into Claudia’s plans while helping us explore the mystery and miracle of maternity.

Written by Chiara Atik, BUMP premiered off-Broadway in 2018 to rave reviews. The New York Times wrote, “If you are pregnant, if you have been pregnant, if you have resulted from a pregnancy, you will probably find (Bump) very funny!”

LATW is the world’s leading producer of audio theater and this state-of-the-art audio recording makes you feel that you are actually in the theater. Click here.

As the proud mother of three English Setters, I found myself frequently in agreement with the title of Sarah Hunter’s new one woman show, DOGS ARE BETTER THAN PEOPLE. The play is an eccentric, humorous and often poignant reflection on her life’s journey from first loves, drinking days, a divorce, and bad men to revelation, sobriety, celebration and a new relationship… as told from her dogs’ point of view. Yes, talking dogs. Do I relate – I am literally fearful that one day my dogs will write a tell all about me! Why from a dog’s perspective?  “Dogs are creatures that love unconditionally and live in the present moment,” noted Hunter.  And she adds, “After all God is Dog spelled backward.”  Inspired by Toby, the springer spaniel she grew up with, her current dogs:  Lilly, Chiweenie duo Koa and Louis the Fourteenth have a very interesting take on Hunter’s trials and triumphs. Hunter, a prolific actor/writer, continues to reinvent herself.

Premiering this month is her new web series “We’re Not Dead Yet” (WNDY) created with Sandra Cruz. WNDY will be available on YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook. A portion of the show’s proceeds will be donated to Pasadena Humane, Hand in Paw Rescue and Soi Dog Foundation.

DOG ARE BETTER THAN PEOPLE will livestream March 13th.