Emily Yetter

Attendees will enter a nightclub in 1963 Germany just under the shadow of the Berlin Wall where everyone is a spy and no one can be trusted. During the evening, CRIMSON CABARET guests will engage with secret agents and be slipped notes with assigned missions to complete throughout the evening. All guests are required to dress in 1960s appropriate cocktail party attire and assume a character of their choosing, then bring that character into the space and be ready to do what is asked of you and find the right person who can lead you in the direction where your skills are required during this multi-sensory, immersive theatrical experience. But you see, since everyone is dressed appropriately, how can you possibly know who to trust and who is really playing for the wrong team on this side of the wall?

What our schoolbooks lack in historical accuracy, art can sometimes pick up the slack by being a reliable, more enthusiastic source to fill in those gaps. This becomes abundantly clear immediately upon experiencing the haunting yet beautifully-dramatized world premiere play LITTLE BLACK SHADOWS, Kemp Powers' captivating new drama under the astute direction of May Adrales, that is now continuing its final set of performances at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through April 29. Visually striking and richly layered, the play piques the audience's curiosity with its riveting storytelling while educating them on a side of American slavery that most probably didn't know too much about before.

Playwright Kemp Powers knew he'd found something incredible in the personal recollections of former slaves documented by a federal writers project during the Great Depression. Discovering the different voices and views in those first-person histories inspired him to learn more and write Little Black Shadows, which has its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, April 8-29, on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Directed by May Adrales, the show is part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Tickets are available now at www.scr.org.  

You have died of dysentery! For those who grew up playing "The Oregon Trail" computer game, dysentery was serious business. In this fresh and funny retelling of our history, two Janes traverse The Oregon Trail.

The stage version of THE EXORCIST, which first debuted at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in 2012, will make its UK debut just in time for Halloween.

TEMPEST REDUX's certainly an welcomed addition to John Farmanesh-Bocca's resume of his visceral, modern re-workings of Shakespeare classics. Farmanesh-Bocca's trademark physicality shines in the inspired pairing of Dash Pepin and Willem Long, both portraying Prospero's slave Caliban in tandem. Their heightened primal antics, acrobatic lifts, frog-leaping and finishing each other's sentences command the stage.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and The New American Theatre celebrate El Niño with a perfect storm of comedy, romance, mystery and magic. Adapted, directed and choreographed by John Farmanesh-Bocca and starring New American Theatre artistic director Jack Stehlin (Weeds) as Prospero, Tempest Redux opens at West L.A.'s Odyssey Theatre on February 20.

L. Frank Baum's beloved classic story of Dorothy and her friends in the land of Oz gets a reboot-literally-in a video game setting. OZ 2.5, a world premiere by Catherine Trieschmann, wraps up the Theatre for Young Audiences season at South Coast Repertory, May 22-June 7, on the Julianne Argyros stage. The production is directed by Shelley Butler. Tickets are on sale now: www.scr.org.

L. Frank Baum's beloved classic story of Dorothy and her friends in the land of Oz gets a reboot-literally-in a video game setting. OZ 2.5, a world premiere by Catherine Trieschmann, wraps up the Theatre for Young Audiences season at South Coast Repertory, today, May 22-June 7, on the Julianne Argyros stage. The production is directed by Shelley Butler.

L. Frank Baum's beloved classic story of Dorothy and her friends in the land of Oz gets a reboot-literally-in a video game setting. OZ 2.5, a world premiere by Catherine Trieschmann, wraps up the Theatre for Young Audiences season at South Coast Repertory, May 22-June 7, on the Julianne Argyros stage. The production is directed by Shelley Butler. Tickets are on sale now: www.scr.org.

THE CONDUCT OF LIFE traverses the volatile relationships and status woes of Orlando, an ambitious climbing lieutenant commander, his vigorous and trusting wife, Leticia, and their collection of servants, friends and/or prisoners. In this dark, gritty exploration of how people live complicit with an improvident government, we witness five characters use sex, violence, power, class struggle, and their own humanity to feed The Beast.

THE CONDUCT OF LIFE traverses the volatile relationships and status woes of Orlando, an ambitious climbing lieutenant commander, his vigorous and trusting wife, Leticia, and their collection of servants, friends and/or prisoners. In this dark, gritty exploration of how people live complicit with an improvident government, we witness five characters use sex, violence, power, class struggle, and their own humanity to feed The Beast.

THE CONDUCT OF LIFE traverses the volatile relationships and status woes of Orlando, an ambitious climbing lieutenant commander, his vigorous and trusting wife, Leticia, and their collection of servants, friends and/or prisoners. In this dark, gritty exploration of how people live complicit with an improvident government, we witness five characters use sex, violence, power, class struggle, and their own humanity to feed The Beast.

A very small fairy encounters very big creatures in South Coast Repertory's final production of the Theatre for Young Audiences series: a new adaptation by John Glore of Newbery Medal-winning author Laura Amy Schlitz's book "The Night Fairy." The production runs May 24-June 9 on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Schlitz's book is illustrated by Angela Barrett and published by Candlewick Press. Learn more online: http://www.thenightfairy.com.

It's quite a shame when a well-written, absorbing play has three strikes against it from the onset. Such is the case with The Exorcist by John Pielmeier. The best-selling novel by William Peter Blatty and the 1973 boxoffice blockbuster film of the same name were so powerfully gripping and unforgettable that, with the play coming along 40 years later, for those of us that lived through the nightmare to end all nightmares, we've been there, seen that. For those of a newer, unfamiliar generation, it won't have enough special effects. Wisely, for my generation, the spinning head and green vomit in the original film are not recreated onstage. But, as a result, many may tune out or turn off preferring a midnight screening of the film on Netflix. As I already said, a shame, as Pielmeieir's script is psychologically thrilling on its own, so apt for the mature, questioning adult mind, and the production is extremely well directed by John Doyle and superbly acted by a first-rate ensemble headed by Brooke Shields in her best and most remarkable performance to date. But is all of this enough? Probably not.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: Cumming takes on MACBETH, Broadway plays Bryant Park, ALADDIN opens at the Muny, and so much more!

The Geffen Playhouse's world premiere stage adaptation of The Exorcist features Brooke Shields and Richard Chamberlain in the iconic roles of Chris MacNeil and Father Merrin, respectively, as well as Broadway actor David Wilson Barnes as the troubled young priest Father Damien Karras, Tony Award nominee Harry Groener takes on the role of Chris' charismatic director Burke Dennings and UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television graduate Emily Yetter plays the young Regan MacNeil.

The Exorcist opened last night, July 11, in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse and runs through August, 12, 2012, starring Brooke Shields, Richard Chamberlain, David Wilson Barnes, Emily Yetter, and more. Check out the opening night party in the photos below!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: LA welcomes THE EXORCIST, DOGFIGHT hits Second Stage, Christian leaves STARCATCHER, and so much more!