{"id":85959,"date":"2025-05-29T13:30:32","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T20:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=85959"},"modified":"2025-05-29T13:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T20:49:07","slug":"theater-schedule-long-beach-june-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/theater-schedule-long-beach-june-2025","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: What\u2019s on in June? A romantic comedy, a new works festival and a trailblazing female programmer’s story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With summer heating up in Long Beach, why not enjoy the communal, air-conditioned atmosphere of one of our many local theaters? Here\u2019s what\u2019s playing near you in June:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International City Theatre<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beginning June 11, International City Theatre will stage the Los Angeles premiere of \u201cThe Angel Next Door,\u201d a romantic comedy by Paul Slade Smith adapted from Ferenc Moln\u00e1r\u2019s French farce \u201cPlay at the Castle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set in the 1940s, the metatheatrical story focuses on a writer whose novel about an actress he loves is about to be staged as a hit Broadway play featuring the same actress. But what happens when she turns out not to be the \u201cangel\u201d he fell in love with?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly the power of theatre can save the play\u2026 and his heart,\u201d says the theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International City Theatre\u2019s \u201cThe Angel Next Door\u201d will run from June 11 to 29 (with two lower-priced previews on June 9 and 10) at the Beverly O\u2019Neill Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-436-4610 or visit <\/i>ICTLongBeach.org<\/i><\/a>. Paid garage parking is available across the street.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long Beach Landmark Theatre<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Opening this Friday, May 30 and continuing through June 15, the Long Beach Landmark Theatre Company is staging Steve Martin and Edie Brickell\u2019s \u201cBright Star\u201d at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, 241 Cedar Ave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out last week\u2019s column here<\/a> for more info on this bluegrass-infused musical with live musicians on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-366-0085 or visit <\/i>LBLandmark.org<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long Beach Playhouse<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Long Beach Playhouse\u2019s woman-driven, Southern-inflected \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d is continuing at its downstairs Mainstage Theatre through June 14, as shared in a previous column here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, beginning June 7 in its upstairs Studio Theatre, \u201cAda and the Engine\u201d brings the fascinating tale of 19th-century mathematician and writer Ada Byron Lovelace (daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron) to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Lauren Gunderson as a \u201cpoetic drama,\u201d the play focuses on Ada\u2019s relationship with mathematician Charles Babbage in the 1840s as they develop the idea of an \u201canalytical engine,\u201d or computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Playhouse describes the play as \u201cJane Austen meets Steve Jobs in this poignant pre-tech romance heralding the computer age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis play is about a brilliant woman in an era when women weren\u2019t celebrated for brilliance or welcomed into the sciences,\u201d says Sean Gray, the theater\u2019s producing artistic director. He adds that Ada in the play finds herself caught between her marriage and her love for Babbage, complicated by how her father\u2019s own infidelities had brought shame to her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is magic in numbers, poetry in equations and math in music,\u201d says director Kelsey Weinstein. \u201cWhen you turn on your phone after the show, don\u2019t forget to thank Ada Byron Lovelace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets for both \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d and \u201cAda and the Engine\u201d can be purchased by calling the box office at 562-494-1014 or visiting <\/i>LBPlayhouse.org<\/i><\/a>.<\/i> The Long Beach Playhouse is at 5021 E. Anaheim St., with free parking available in a lot behind the theater.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long Beach Shakespeare Company<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Long Beach Shakespeare Company is continuing its New Works Festival<\/a> in June, with four new works on the weekend of June 20 to 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Star-crossed lovers must stay alive long enough to find a cure for an illness in a staged reading of Darren Nash\u2019s \u201cThe Lives to Come\u201d on June 21 at 2 p.m. and June 22 at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A double feature of Steve Treuting\u2019s \u201cThe Apollo Waltz\u201d and Chris Callard\u2019s \u201cDeath Takes a Vacation\u201d will perform June 21 at 8 p.m. and June 22 at 4 p.m. The first play finds the second wife of a famous writer intervening in her husband\u2019s manipulation of his daughter. The second sees Death showing up at the door one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Charissa J. Adams\u2019 \u201cSpeak I Will\u201d on June 20 at 8 p.m. and June 22 at 1 p.m. delivers a collection of fractured, rearranged and recontextualized Shakespearean monologues that give fresh meaning to the original texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long Beach Shakespeare Company\u2019s New Works Festival tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 562-997-1494 or visiting <\/i>LBShakespeare.org<\/i><\/a>. The company\u2019s Helen Borgers Theatre is at 4250 Atlantic Ave., with metered street parking available nearby.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With summer heating up in Long Beach, why not enjoy the communal, air-conditioned atmosphere of one of our many local theaters? Here\u2019s what\u2019s playing near you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":85960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-85959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85959"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85963,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85959\/revisions\/85963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85959"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=85959"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=85959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}