TOP THEATER PICKS STILL PLAYING:

1) WEST SIDE STORY

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (April 21 – May 14, 2017)

West Side Story (musical) by McCoy Rigby, April-May 2017

West Side Story is unlike any other musical. Generation after generation, it stands the test of time both in admiration and in the message it relates: hope heals and hate destroys. This beloved musical was created by the juggernauts of the industry: Arthur Laurents (book), Leonard Bernstein (music), Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) and Jerome Robbins (conception and choreography) and took the world by storm when it landed on Broadway in 1957. If that wasn’t enough, it was adapted to a film in 1961, winning ten Academy Awards including Best Picture. Now La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts carries on the tradition in its own magnificent production of this classic, melding past and present in this sparkling revival. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information visit: www.lamiradatheatre.com

2) MAN OF LA MANCHA

A Noise Within Theatre Company (March 26 – May 21, 2017)

“To dream … the impossible dream,” the lyrics to the hit song of the 1964 musical Man of La Mancha have never meant as much as they do in A Noise Within Theatre Company’s revival of this work. This production eschews the customary opulence of traditional staging in favor of creative theater-play that stimulates the imagination while staunchly unfolding the drama. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information visit: anoisewith.org

3) CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

 Antaeus Theatre Company (March 23 – May 7, 2017)

An exciting time for Antaeus Theatre Company also proves a favorable boon for the Los Angeles theater community. The theatre company, once located in North Hollywood, has recently moved into a new custom space in Glendale, and has opened a thrilling revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The new space boasts a large lobby, an 80-seat theatre, a 45-seat “black box” theatre, and a beautiful library full of scripts and theater related material. And their revival of the Tennessee Williams classic will sweep audiences away with its remarkably poignant and fresh presentation. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information visit: www.Antaeus.org

4) ELEVATOR

THE COAST PLAYHOUSE (March 25 – April 30, 2017)

Award-winning filmmaker and playwright Michael Leoni’s hit play Elevator returns to L.A. for a limited run at The Coast Playhouse. The premise is simple: seven strangers are trapped in an elevator. However, what ensues is a stimulating experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat. In both presentation and writing. Elevator bridges the elements of film and theatre into a piece that strikes a fine blend of both worlds. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information visit: plays411.com/elevator

5) LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD’S HOME FOR UNWED MOTHERS

Skylight Theatre (April 8 – May 14)

Skylight Theatre Company’s latest world premiere play is Louisa Hill’s Lord of the Underworld’s Home for Unwed Mothers, and once you get past the play’s lengthy title, what appears is a gripping and tender work that any mother or anyone that has a mother can so effortlessly relate.

Adrian Gonzalez, Corryn Cummins, and Amy Harmon. Photo Credit: Ed Krieger.

Unwed Mothers presents dual stories about two mothers experiencing pregnancies in two different eras; what’s more these mothers are mother and daughter. Dee is a pregnant teen in the 40s who is coerced into giving up her newborn baby. Years later Corie, Dee’s twenty-five years old daughter, grapples with what to do with her own unplanned pregnancy. The mother and daughter struggle to reconnect in the second act searching for a way to find a place in each other’s lives. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information: 213-761-7061 or online at skylighttheatrecompany.com

6) SISTER ACT 

Cabrillo Music Theatre (April 21 –  April 30th, 2017)

Based on the hit 1992 film comedy of the same name, the musical Sister Act is now playing at Cabrillo Music Theatre. The musical brings audiences an evening of rapture as the beloved story is amped up with even more singing, dancing and laughs. This California born feel-good musical premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2006 and has since played on Broadway, the West End and all over the world reaching over six million people and grossing more than $200 million. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information visit: cabrillomusicaltheatre.com

7) AH, WILDERNESS!

A Noise Within Theatre Company (March 19 – May 20, 2017)

Explore the humor of playwright Eugene O’Neill in A Noise Within Theatre company’s revival of his 1933 play Ah, Wilderness! The play represents, as O’Neill put it, the “other side of the coin” regarding his work. It’s his only comedy in the sea of tragic visions that populate his oeuvre including: Mourning Becomes Electra, Days Without End, Long Day’s Journey into Night and The Iceman Cometh. . .FULL REVIEW.

Tickets and more information visit: anoisewith.org