ARTS IN LOS ANGELES

CELEBRATING THE ARTS SINCE 2012

  • January 2026

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Theatre

  • All The Devils Are Here January 15-25, 2026 at BroadStage in Santa Monica (Patrick Page / Photo BroadStage)

    ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE

    • By Elaine Walker

    LA Theatre lovers rejoice and, maybe, fasten your seatbelts to ride along with the exquisite Patrick Page in ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, coming to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica January 15-25. Created and performed by the now silver haired and always silver throated Tony® nominated and Grammy® winning actor, this one-man theatrical experience explores and even celebrates the twisted motivation and hidden humanity at the heart of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Page is known to have a riveting presence onstage and So Cal audiences were lucky to witness him in recent years creating the roles of Dom Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse and Captain Dragutin Dimitrijevic in the compelling production of Rajiiv Joseph’s Archduke at the Mark Taper Forum. It was his role as Hades in Broadway’s Hadestown that brought Page his first and very well-deserved Tony® nomination. I was fortunate to see all three performances/productions and admire him greatly. This production appears to have been conceived during COVID and an early version presented online in 2021. He brought the show to an off-Broadway stage with Director Simon Godwin in the fall of 2023 and The New York Times took notice, proclaiming the show “smartly structured and frequently fascinating” with Page “charmingly unintimidating and even a little dishy about Shakespeare.” This limited engagement at the Broad Stage is already a hot ticket, so get yours before they are gone!

    For tickets, click here.

  • The Notebook January 6-25, 2026 at the Pantages Theatre (Photo Broadway in Hollywood)

    THE NOTEBOOK

    • By KENNE HOFFMAN

    Nicholas Sparks Best-Selling Novel The Notebook (1996) became a cultural phenomenon film of the same name (2004) and has now taken Broadway by storm (2024) before hitting the road and making its way to the Hollywood Pantages Theater.

    The Notebook follows the epic, on-again, off-again romance between poor mill worker Noah and wealthy Allie in 1940s South Carolina. Told through the eyes of an elderly Noah reading their passionate love story from a notebook to Allie, who has Alzheimer’s, in a nursing home, revealing their enduring love story, separations, reunions, and ultimate, tragic yet beautiful end as she briefly remembers him before they pass away together, a testament to love conquering time and memory loss. 

    The Notebook musical is directed by Michael Greif (Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal, Rent) and Schele Williams (The Wiz, Aida), features music and lyrics by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson with book by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC’s “This Is Us”), and choreography by Katie Spelman. “The Notebook” features the unique concept of having three sets of actors (young, middle, and elderly) portraying Noah and Allie to show their lifelong love story. The concept that was so successful in the award-winning Broadway Musical Biography Cher. Using simultaneous storytelling across various stages of life is a powerful device for exploring memory and love. The Broadway production of The Notebook earned three Tony Award nominations: Best Book of a Musical for Bekah Brunstetter and performance nods for Older Noah and Allie.

    Playing at the famous Hollywood Pantages January 6-25, 2026.

    For tickets, click here.

  • Kind Stranger January 23-February 8, 2026 at Zephyr Theatre (Rick Simone / Photo Courtesy of Ed’s Filmworks)

    Kind Stranger

    • By Ken Werther

    This first month of the new year brings the West Coast premiere of Kind Stranger … a memory play to the Zephyr Theatre in West Hollywood (opening January 23), conceived and performed by Rick Simone-Friedland and directed by Steven Simone-Friedland. Steven and Rick are a gay married couple who went into this project wanting to use the words and humor of one of the greatest American playwrights as the foundation of the play. Said Steven, “Tennessee Williams’ memoir tells us exactly what his take was on his plays, his art, and his life. You can’t do any better than that.” 

    Kind Stranger depicts the poignant journey of Tennessee Williams as the legendary playwright recounts his life, art, and love affairs. Audiences will witness his wit and unflinching honesty as he writes his last chapter, revealing how his plays were his life and his life was his plays. Adapted directly (by Steven) from Williams’s memoir and using only his words, Kind Stranger could be the last original Tennessee Williams play.

    Rick is an Emmy Award-winner known for his work on Married People, Just the Ten of Us, A Year in the Life, Life Goes On, and others.His theatre credits include The Me Nobody Knows, Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, and Moose on The Loose at Theatre West. Steven is an independent, freelance filmmaker. He has directed, written, produced, and edited several short film and television projects. Let’s head for the Zephyr!

    For more, click here.

  • God of Carnage January 23-March 21, 2026 at South Coast Repertory

    GOD OF CARNAGE

    • By KEN WERTHER

    I saw God of Carnage, the raucous dark comedy by French playwright Yasmina Reza (English translation by Christopher Hampton), at the Ahmanson Theatre in 2011. Starring its original Broadway cast — Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, and Marcia Gay Harden — it was truly unforgettable. The story centers on two sets of parents meeting in a Brooklyn apartment to discuss a playground altercation between their 11-year-old sons, in which one boy hit the other with a stick and broke two of his teeth. The meeting begins with polite, diplomatic attempts at resolution but as the evening progresses and alcohol is consumed, the “civilized” discussion devolves into a chaotic finger-pointing, name-calling, and tantrum-throwing free-for-all. The 2009 Broadway production won three Tony Awards including Best Play. 

    With previews beginning January 23, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa will be presenting a new production of this wild “comedy of manners without the manners.” Directed by Marco Barricelli, the cast will feature Melinda Page Hamilton, Dan Donohue, Kim Martin-Cotton, and Brian Vaughn. Opening night is set for January 30, and the engagement will run through March 21. God of Carnage will be performed in rotating repertory with Edward Albee’s classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on one set with overlapping casts, and, as SCR’s website says, “unlimited firepower.” There’s no question that both productions will be worth the trip to Orange County. Get your tickets now!

    For tickets, click here.