Latest news with #PrimaryTrust
Los Angeles Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Center Theatre Group's 2025-26 season: David Byrne's 'Here Lies Love,' 'Paranormal Activity' and more
Bisserat Tseggai, left, and Mia Ellis in 'JaJa's African Hair Braiding.' The Imelda Marcos bio-musical 'Here Lies Love' injects some disco shimmer to the Center Theatre Group 2025-26 season announced Tuesday. The company behind the Ahmanson Theatre and Mark Taper Forum in downtown L.A. and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City released a lineup that also includes the Jocelyn Bioh play 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding'; Eboni Booth's new play 'Primary Trust'; a stage riff on the 'Paranormal Activity' movies; the musical '& Juliet' and a 25th anniversary revival of 'Mamma Mia!' 'Here Lies Love,' featuring music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and lyrics by Byrne, made history as Broadway's first musical with an all-Filipino cast. The production earned 2024 Tony nominations for score, sound design, scene design and choreography as well as praise from critics including the New York Times' Jesse Green, who applauded the 'infernally catchy songs.' The musical also faced criticism for historical distortion and what some saw as the underplaying of corruption, censorship and violent political oppression in the Philippines during the Marcos regime. The musical has been updated since its 2013 Off-Broadway premiere at the Public Theater to emphasize the People Power Revolution that spurred the end of the Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos era. In New York, producers transformed the Broadway Theater to evoke Studio 54. Center Theatre Group will present 'Here Lies Love' in the Taper in a run scheduled to open Feb. 11. Snehal Desai, CTG's artistic director, will helm the production. The comedy 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding' earned Tony nominations last year for best play, direction, scenic design and sound design, and Dede Ayite won the award for her costumes. Set in Harlem, Bioh's play centers on a community of West African immigrants who 'confront the challenges of being outsiders in their own neighborhood.' Whitney White will direct a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. It opens at the Taper on Oct. 1. Booth's 'Primary Trust' was the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama. The Pulitzer citation called it 'a simple and elegantly crafted story of an emotionally damaged man who finds a new job, new friends and a new sense of worth, illustrating how small acts of kindness can change a person's life and enrich an entire community.' Caleb Eberhardt in La Jolla Playhouse's West Coast-premiere production of 'Primary Trust' last year. After seeing the play's West Coast premiere at La Jolla Playhouse last year, Times theater critic Charles McNulty wrote: 'This is a quirky, small-scale, quietly reflective work that's as tenderhearted as it is spryly comic and as poignant as it is ultimately uplifting. 'It's refreshing to see such a prodigious honor bestowed on a piece of writing that's content to go about its human business without the need to inflate its own importance.' Knud Adams will direct the Taper production, which opens in May 2026. Here are the six major productions in the 2025-26 CTG schedule (in chronological order) announced by Desai, managing director and chief executive Meghan Pressman and producing director Douglas C. Baker. A seventh production will be announced at a later date. '& Juliet'Book by David West ReadMusic by Max Martin & FriendsDirected By Luke SheppardAhmanson Theatre Aug. 13-Sept. 7 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding'Mark Taper Forum Oct. 1-Nov. 9 'Paranormal Activity'Based on the 'Paranormal Activity' films from Blumhouse and Solana Films, adapted here by arrangement with Paramount Pictures and Melting PotWritten by Levi HollowayDirected by Felix BarrettCo-production with American Conservatory Theater of San Francisco, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Shakespeare Theatre Company of Washington, D.C. Ahmanson Theatre Nov. 13-Dec. 7 'Here Lies Love'Mark Taper Forum Feb. 11-March 22 'Primary Trust'Mark Taper Forum May 20-June 28, 2026 'Mamma Mia!'Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson & Björn UlvaeusBook by Catherine JohnsonDirected by Phyllida LloydAhmanson Theatre June 23-July 19, 2026 The company's 'CTG:FWD' programming includes three shows at the Kirk Douglas: 'Puppet Up! — Uncensored,' an audience-driven affair featuring creations from the Jim Henson Co., running July 16-27; 'Guac,' writer and star Manuel Oliver's one-man show, from the father of a son who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., running Oct. 14-Nov. 2; and 'The Enormous Crocodile,' a musical based on the work of Roald Dahl, Dec. 5-Jan. 4. 'Like It Like Harlem,' a production in partnership with Muse/ique, is scheduled for Aug. 8-10 at the Taper.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Guthrie Theater's upcoming season to include 'Little Women', other classics
The beloved coming-of-age drama "Little Women", a Shakespeare tragedy and an acclaimed musical based on true events are among the shows that will take the stage at the Guthrie Theater in the upcoming 2025-2026 season. The upcoming season will begin in September with a re-imagined take on the Henrik Ibsen classic, "A Doll's House." The Pulitzer Prize-winning new play "Primary Trust" will begin performances in October, sharing with audiences a "hopeful story of courage" set in small town New York. "A Christmas Carol", the Guthrie's longstanding holiday tradition, will begin performances Nov. 8. "The Guthrie was founded on the belief that theater is essential to building connections with one another and the world, and our 2025–2026 Season of enduring classics and electrifying new work is a beautiful reflection of that mission," Artistic Director Joseph Haj said in a statement. Haj will direct the family drama "Somewhere", which will begin performances in mid-December on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. The dance-filled show examines the pursuit of dreams as it follows a Puerto Rican family in Manhattan in 1959, the year "West Side Story" toured the U.S. as the musical captured America. Shakespeare's haunting "Macbeth", a thriller set in the English countryside, "Sleuth", and Louisa May Alcott's enduring "Little Women" are also planned. The musical "Come From Away" will begin performances in June, telling the true story of 7,000 plane passengers diverted to small town Canada amid the September 11 terrorist attacks. The season is set to conclude with the Noël Coward comedy "Private Lives." New season subscription packages are expected to go on sale soon. For more, visit
Axios
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
What's on stage in Northwest Arkansas
It's the perfect time to check out some plays in the area. The big picture: Here's what will be on stage in Northwest Arkansas in the next few months. 📚 "Primary Trust" — A bookstore employee is laid off and thrust into a fresh start in this comedy. Now through Feb. 23 at TheatreSquared. $15-$53. ⛪️️ "The Book of Mormon" — Missionaries try to spread the word in Uganda in this musical comedy. Feb. 20-23 at Walton Arts Center. $94-$104. 🎭 "Twelfth Night" — Now's as good a time as any to see this Shakespeare comedy for the first time. March 5-30 at TheatreSquared. $15-$66. 🎵 "The Sound of Music" — See Art One Presents' production of the classic where Maria brings music back into the Von Trapp home. March 6-8 at The Medium in Springdale. $25-$45. 💃 "Funny Girl" — Fanny Brice becomes a Broadway star to everyone's surprise in this musical comedy. March 18-23 at Walton Arts Center. $56-$109. 🎹 "In the Grove of Forgetting" — This play written by TheatreSquared artistic director Robert Ford takes place in 1930s Hungary as a concert pianist sees her fellow Jewish artists and academics leave in fear of Nazis. April 16-May 4 at TheatreSquared. $15-$53. 🕰 "Back to the Future: The Musical" — See the Broadway version of the classic 1985 film where Marty McFly travels back in time with his scientist friend. April 8-13 at Walton Arts Center. $42-$109. 🎤 "MJ" — It's the story of Michael Jackson's 1994 Dangerous World tour with plenty of the pop star's music. May 20-25 at Walton Arts Center. $69-$169.
