Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or sign up for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.
February has begun with some much-needed rain, but it’s warm, dry — and dramatic — at Long Beach’s many live theaters.
Here are the exciting happenings on stages near you this month:
Long Beach Playhouse
“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” is ending its run at the Long Beach Playhouse this weekend, so catch this Agatha Christie mystery while you still can.
Next up is August Wilson’s haunting and evocative drama “The Piano Lesson.” One of Wilson’s “Pittsburgh Cycle” of plays reflecting the African American experience, the play tells the 1936 story of a brother who wants to sell a piano in his sister’s house to buy precious farmland while she wants to keep it to preserve their family’s history.
Humorous, but richly layered in terms of language, slavery’s legacy and ghosts that literally and figuratively hover around this family, “The Piano Lesson” engages the audience in a battle that may only find its answer in transcendence. Perfect for Black History Month.
“The Piano Lesson” runs Feb. 21 through March 22, with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Long Beach Playhouse is at 5021 E. Anaheim St. and parking is free in the lot behind the theater and on side streets. For tickets, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit LBPlayhouse.org.
International City Theatre
Kicking off its 40th season (wow!), International City Theatre is offering “Desperate Measures” at the Beverly O’Neill Theater — a musical comedy that won the Drama Desk Best Music award in 2018.
The story features “dangerously handsome” Johnny Blood whose fate falls to the hands of a “mysterious sheriff, eccentric priest, narcissistic governor, saloon girl gone good and a nun out of the habit,” according to the theater. Sounds like a blast!
“Desperate Measures” runs Feb. 20 through March 9, with shows Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Beverly O’Neill Theater is near the convention center at 330 E. Seaside Way, with paid parking available at garages across the street. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-436-4610 or visit ICTLongBeach.org.
Long Beach Shakespeare Company
Following its successful staging of Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the Long Beach Shakespeare Company will transform its Helen Borgers Theatre into the KBRD radio station for “The Wizard of Oz” performed as a 1940s-style radio play.
Actors enter the studio ready to read their scripts and create sound effects for the radio show while also breaking to deliver cute ads for local businesses.
“The Wizard of Oz” radio play runs Feb. 21 to March 2, with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Helen Borgers Theatre is at 4250 Atlantic Ave. with free parking available on surrounding streets. For tickets, call the box office at 562-997-1494 or visit LBShakespeare.org.
Musical Theatre West
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, and continuing through March 2, the musical “Jersey Boys” rocks Musical Theatre West’s stage at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the CSULB campus.
Based on the real 1960s boy band The Four Seasons, the musical traces four blue-collar Jersey kids’ rise to stardom, with songs that include nostalgic hits such as “Sherry” and “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”
“Jersey Boys” runs Feb. 14 to March 2, with shows Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. The Carpenter Center is at 6200 E. Atherton St. with paid parking available in front of the theater. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-856-1999 or visit Musical.org.
California Repertory
Also on CSULB’s campus and part of its Theatre Arts Department, California Repertory is collaborating with U.K.-based Frantic Assembly to stage “Frantic/Tempest” — a more physical rendition of Shakespeare’s 1611 play “The Tempest.”
“The Tempest” is set on an island where magician Prospero has been raising daughter Miranda using the labor of enslaved Caliban and magical sprite Ariel — until some long-lost relatives get washed ashore by a storm.
Cal Rep notes that this action-packed version of “The Tempest” is set in a Los Angeles warehouse against the backdrop of climate change and social isolation, during a time of loss and revenge of the natural world. Hmm.
“Frantic/Tempest” performs at CSULB’s University Theatre, located at the corner of 7th St. and Campus Dr., at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, 14, 15, 19, 20 and 21. Paid parking is on an adjacent lot. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-985-5526 or visit CSULB.edu/theatre-arts/california-repertory-company.
Long Beach Landmark Theatre Company
The Landmark is performing “The Christians” by award-winning American playwright Lucas Hnath’s during the weekend of Feb. 21-23.
In the play, the pastor of a megachurch will deliver a new message that “will shake the foundation of everything he has built,” according to the theater company. “Hnath’s play looks with great complexity and compassion at the relationship between belief and behavior.”
The play also features a full choir, which is fitting because the theater is housed in the First Congregational Church of Long Beach.
The Landmark Theatre is located at 241 Cedar Ave. For tickets, call 562-366-0085 or visit LBLandmark.org.