Theatre

Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends February 8-March 9, 2025 at Ahmanson Theatre (Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga / Photo Center Theatre Group)

OLD FRIENDS

  • By KEN WERTHER

Slick, sexy, and sophisticated. Sound good? Beginning February 8 (and running through March 9), Center Theatre Group will present the North American premiere of Old Friends (also known as Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends) at the Ahmanson Theatre prior to its Broadway premiere in late March. The show celebrates the life and work of the great Sondheim, with a company headlined by Tony Award-winners Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. It arrives at the Ahmanson from London’s West End, where it earned rave reviews and was hailed by The Times as, “unmissable musical theatre.”

Beloved director-choreographer Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake, The Car Man, The Red Shoes, Romeo and Juliet) returns to the Ahmanson with this new production devised by producer Cameron Mackintosh and featuring the return of Salonga (last seen at the Mark Taper Forum 25 years ago in Flower Drum Song), and Peters making her long-awaited CTG debut. Also in the cast are Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins) andCTG favorite Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, Minsky’s), as part of a company of 19 ridiculously talented singers and dancers. Bourne handles musical staging along with the direction and Stephen Mear is the choreographer.

Stephen Sondheim’s legendary body of work has been celebrated in other shows —Side by Side by Sondheim (1977), Putting it Together (1999), Barbara Cook’s Mostly Sondheim, and Mandy Patinkin’s Celebrating Sondheim (both in 2002). Now it’s time for Old Friends … don’t miss it!

For tickets and show times, click here.

Noises Off January 29-March 2, 2025 at Geffen Playhouse (Audrey Francis, Ora Jones, Francis Guinan, and Rick Holmes / Photo Geffen Playhouse)

NOISES OFF

  • By KEN WERTHER

In 1983, New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich called Noises Off, “the funniest play written in my lifetime.” The Broadway cast starred Dorothy Loudon, Victor Garber, Deborah Rush, Brian Murray, Linda Thorson, Paxton Whitehead, Jim Piddock, Douglas Seale, and Amy Wright. The play is a farce written by English playwright Michael Frayn who had conceived the idea 13 years earlier in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of The Two of Us, a farce he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, “It was funnier from behind than in front, and I thought that one day I must write a farce from behind.” The prototype, a short-lived one-act play called Exits, was written and performed in 1977. Frayn expanded this into what would become Noises Off, which takes its title from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds coming from offstage. Doors slam, sardines fly, and trousers drop as a theatre company desperately tries to get their act together.

This month, Geffen Playhouse in association with Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago will be presenting Noises Off. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, the cast features Veneh Assadourian, Amanda Fink, Audrey Francis, Francis Guinan, Rick Holmes, Ora Jones, David Lind, James Vincent Meredith, and Max Stewart. Don’t miss this peek behind the curtain — an uproarious love letter to the theatre. Sardines, people. I mean, come on!

For tickets and show times, click here.

Topdog/Underdog February 26-March 23, 2025 at Pasadena Playhouse

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG

  • By AC REMLER

Pasadena Playhouse has announced its upcoming production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Topdog/Underdog, running from February 26 to March 23, 2025.

Written by acclaimed playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog delves into the complex relationship between two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, navigating the tumultuous landscape of their lives filled with street cons and personal struggles. As they banter about cards and girls in a rented room at a boarding house, their playful rivalry masks deeper wounds—each brother wrestling with his identity and legacy. Sitting across from one another at a worn table, the room echoes their shared history—moments of brotherly loyalty intertwined with betrayal—their lives, a constant hustle shaped by the shadows of their past and the weight of their dreams.

Artistic Director Danny Feldman describes the play as an “edge-of-your-seat, electrifying experience,” highlighting its themes of family, identity, and pursuing dreams in a chaotic world.

This production is part of a bold season that has included revivals of Cyrano de Bergerac and La Cage aux Folles. The anticipation for Topdog/Underdog underscores Pasadena Playhouse’s recent efforts to welcome a younger and more diverse audience since winning the 2023 Regional Theatre Tony Award.

Feldman emphasizes the importance of reinvigorating classic works for contemporary viewers, making this production a must-see event.  Don’t miss this chance to witness a gripping tale of brotherhood and resilience at one of Southern California’s premier theaters.

For tickets and show times, click here.

The Great Yes, The Great No February 5-8, 2025 at The Wallis (Photo The Wallis)

Cultural Wonders at The Wallis

  • By Elaine Walker

Many cultural wonders are coming to The Wallis this month and next – hope you’ll have time to catch a few! THE GREAT YES, THE GREAT NO hits the stage February 5-8, described as part play, part Greek choir, part chamber opera interwoven with breathtaking surreal visuals by William Kentridge. Conceived in collaboration with award-winning theater maker Phala Ookeditse Phala, and choral conductor and dancer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, the plot mixes history with fiction in 1941 Marseille on a liner sailing for Martinique with artists and intellectuals on board fleeing from Vichy France. On February 15, a powerful new oratorio AT WAR WITH OURSELVES – 400 YEARS OF YOU is brought to life by GRAMMY-winning vocal ensemble Tonality and the celebrated Kronos Quartet. On February 21, the powerhouse vocalist of Calle 13 and now GRAMMY-winning solo performer iLe brings a mesmerizing blend of traditional Latin rhythms and cutting-edge electronic sounds to The Wallis.  HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES, arriving March 13-30, promises to be a profound theatrical experience. Conceived and directed by Moisés Kaufman, the play is based on very real and recent happenings: in 2007 an album featuring Nazi-era photographs arrives at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. As historians worked to unravel the shocking story behind the images, worldwide media spread news of the discovery and generated conversation that reverberated far beyond the museum walls. This play endeavors to tell the story behind these historical photographs—what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust and, ultimately, about our own humanity.

For more details and tickets, click here.