{"id":90220,"date":"2026-10-15T10:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=90220"},"modified":"2026-10-15T16:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T23:11:09","slug":"landmark-theatre-long-beach-a-man-of-no-importance-irish-oscar-wilde-terrence-mcnally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/see\/landmark-theatre-long-beach-a-man-of-no-importance-irish-oscar-wilde-terrence-mcnally","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Landmark Theatre to stage \u2018A Man of No Importance\u2019 beginning this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As its title suggests, \u201cA Man of No Importance\u201d \u2014 beginning a three-week run this weekend at the Long Beach Landmark Theatre \u2014 is not a flashy musical, but it portrays profound depths.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alfie Byrne is a bus conductor in 1964 Dublin who has a secret. Moreover, he has a poetic spirit and gets local townspeople to stage amateur plays in their church hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when Alfie decides to stage his dream play, \u201cSalome\u201d \u2014 written by his favorite writer, Oscar Wilde, nearly 70 years before \u2014 the town\u2019s Catholic conservatives decide its seductive scenes are morally degenerate and want to ban its production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In trying to persuade them otherwise, Alfie has imaginary conversations with the flamboyant Wilde and becomes emboldened to reveal more of himself, risking consequences both physical and emotional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Man of No Importance at Long Beach Landmark! Oct. 16 - Nov. 1, 2026\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gp17WAzWyQo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Winner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/awards\/Outer-Critics-Circle-Awards?year=2003\">2003 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical<\/a>, \u201cA Man of No Importance\u201d is written by Terrence McNally, with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, based on a 1994 film of the same name. This is the same trio behind the Tony Award-winning 1998 Broadway musical \u201cRagtime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Curtis Heard, music director of the theater, is conducting a live orchestra for the show\u2019s Irish-inflected score. And a cast of nearly 20 will bring the play to life \u2014 directed and choreographed by artistic director Megan O\u2019Toole, who will also play the role of Mrs. Patrick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"717\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd-717x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-90222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd-717x1024.png 717w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd-210x300.png 210w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd-768x1097.png 768w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd-76x108.png 76w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd-400x571.png 400w, https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172527\/landmark-1-329895-14bsvz8c-262724-F1PLDhnd.png 812w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 717px) 100vw, 717px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mark Wheeler plays the role of Oscar Wilde in Long Beach Landmark Theatre&#8217;s upcoming &#8220;A Man of No Importance.&#8221; Photo by Lisa Bode Heard.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The show will perform at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstchurchlb.org\/\">First Congregational Church of Long Beach<\/a> like the theater\u2019s previous productions, including last year\u2019s musically spectacular \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/alanis-morissettes-jagged-little-pill-album-is-at-the-heart-of-a-powerful-musical-playing-in-long-beach\/\">Jagged Little Pill<\/a>,\u201d enhanced by the building\u2019s acoustics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a church conflict at the center of \u201cA Man of No Importance,\u201d the setting is not only fitting, but makes it more metatheatrical \u2014 a play staged in a church about staging a play in a church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Long Beach Landmark Theatre\u2019s \u201cA Man of No Importance\u201d runs Oct. 16 to Nov. 1 at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach, 241 Cedar Ave., with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m., except Sunday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. Tickets range from $30 to $60. For tickets and information, visit<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/lblandmark.org\/\"><em>LBLandmark.org<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The musical portrays a quiet bus conductor who has artistic aspirations that draws ire from his community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29035,"featured_media":90221,"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":"The musical portrays a quiet bus conductor who has artistic aspirations that draws ire from his community.","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,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32366],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-90220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-see","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/10\/14172126\/landmark-2-544414-jlyribhj-029836-rf2VKDHk-e1792086135348.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90220","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\/29035"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90220"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90228,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90220\/revisions\/90228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90220"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=90220"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=90220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}