John Combs

 The Explorers Club, written by Nell Benjamin, directed by Melanie MacQueen, and produced by David Hunt Stafford, will be presented at Theatre 40. Learn how to purchase tickets.

The world premiere of John Strysik’s Power and Light is currently running in rep at Theatre 40. Jeff G. Rack directs this story of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in the beginnings of electricity with the cast of David Hunt Stafford, Eric Keitel, Warren Davis, John Combs, Richard Large, Bailey Castle, Mandy Fason and Kurtis Bedford. Jeff graciously made time out of his multi-tasking weekend to answer a few of my queries.

Theatre Forty's popular series of Monday Night Theatre Appreciation Seminars is resuming. Learn more about the series!

'Power and Light' is a new play about the rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in the development of electricity. Tickets are $35.

Theatre 40’s hit immersive drama The Manor- Murder and Madness at Greystone returns for its nineteenth season at the Greystone Mansion January 18, 2024.  Martin Thompson directs the cast of Darby Hinton, Eric Keitel, Daniel Leslie, Carol Potter, Nathalie Rudolph, David Hunt Stafford, Amy Tolsky, John Combs, Katyana Rocker-Cook, Gail Johnston, Kristin Towers-Rowles and Peter Mastine. John managed to carve out some time to answer a few of my queries.

The Manor- Murder and Madness at Greystone is by now a Los Angeles/Beverly Hills institution. The play, returning for a nineteenth season, surpassed its 200th performance in 2014. This will mark its first engagement since 2020.

Giggs and Diddy are set to deliver a groundbreaking performance at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, come Tuesday, November 7th. This collaboration brings together two titans of the hip-hop and music world for a special one-night-only event, creating a ‘not to be missed’ experience for fans.

Towards Zero, a mystery thriller is now playing at Theatre 40. Adapted for the stage by Agatha Christie and Gerald Verner, this mystery thriller explores the psychology of jealousy amidst a savage murder. Catch the show from September 21 to October 22, 2023, in Beverly Hills. Reserve your tickets now!

Next up for Theatre 40, Agatha Christies’ Toward Zero opens September 21, 2023. Craig Hissong directs this classic whodunnit with the cast of includes John Combs, Katyana Rocker Cook, Christopher Franciosa, Hisato Matsuyama, Michael Mullen, Kristin Towers Rowles, Jeremy Schaye, Michele Schultz, Holly Sidell and David Hunt Stafford. A master of many theatrical positions, Craig carved out some time to give me some clues to the behind the scenes of Towards Zero.

David Hunt Stafford (pictured) is the Artistic Director and Managing Director of Theatre 40, posts he has proudly held since 2000 at the professional theater company located on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. I decided to speak with David about the current plays running in rep during July and August: Doris and Ivy in the Home, in which he appears, and One Moment of Freedom which he produces; and the group’s ongoing Reading Series showcasing new and well-known plays read by company members.

Metromaniacs aren't people who are crazy about subways. They are people who are nuts about poetry, i.e. verse composed in meter. David Ives' play The Metromaniacs is an English language adaptation of a French farce from 1738, La Metromaie, and it is set in Paris in that year, a moment when there was a particular craze for poetry. Ives' play is performed in English, in rhyming couplets.

Theatre 40 will present a play reading on YouTube of a new work by John Strysik, Power & Light. Thomas Edison and Nikolai Tesla: The War That Lit the World. Pioneering scientists in electronics, they were rivals with differing viewpoints on delivering energy. Edison was about the money, while Tesla was more a believer in free energy for all. Commerce won.

On Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. PST, Theatre Forty will present a reading on Zoom of a new comedy, The Best Revenge, by Michael Halperin.

At the center of his play is the Matera family, soon to get together for a very special SUNDAY DINNER in that their son Michael (James Tabeek), a young priest in the Chicago Archdiocese, is returning to his parents' home in the Bronx after his grandfather dies. And just as Jewish mother would “qvell” about her son being a doctor, no doubt a Catholic mother would love to brag about her son being a priest. So of course when we first meet the family's matriarch Rose (Sharron Shayne) and her sister Margaret (Michele Schultz) as they are preparing the table for what they expect will be an interesting gathering, we soon learn because so many family members will be there with lots of past history, emotional reactions are bound to be ignited.

Michael Matera, a young priest in the Chicago Archdiocese, returns to his parents' home in the Bronx after his grandfather dies. The Matera clan is gathering at the family home for Sunday dinner. Soon after Michael arrives, his retired working-class father Eddie confesses a sin (more like a felony, really) to Michael. It's a misdeed which could have serious consequences for other members of the family. To Eddie's dismay, Michael refuses to grant him absolution. There are reasons for this (which won't be given away here; You'll have to see the play to find out).

What sounded like a gramophone played Christmas Island as the audience shuffled inside the second-story stage of the Lonny Chapman Theatre. Wind-blown debris and leaves adorned the entire stage and a tree snapped in half sat upstage. Patio furniture, newspapers and pipes helped set the scene of the Keller Family's backyard in August 1947. This was Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS.

The Group Rep presents Arthur Miller's 1947 award-winning American drama ALL MY SONS, directed by Linda Alznauer, produced by Diane Frank and Linda Alznauer for the Group Rep. How far would a man go to protect his family, his interests, and his legacy?  Re-visit this exquisitely written, post-war play depicting the tragic downfall of an American family caught in a web of lies, greed, love, and loss, and asking its audience examine their own social responsibilities to all the sons of American wars. ALL MY SONS runs June 30 - August 5 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, in North Hollywood, CA 91601 (at the edge of the NoHo Arts District).

CÎROC Ultra Premium was named the 'Official vodka of the 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards®,' building off of the brand's involvement in last year's most coveted weekend in music.

CIROC is the official vodka of New York Fashion Week and Broadwayworld.com Food and Wine has some of the outstanding recipes for that will be served at the event's venues. T

Members of the 'Pro99' movement of Actors' Equity Association have issued an open letter to AEA's newly elected president, Kate Shindle, in response to her victory and to her inaugural address as president of the national union for actors and stage managers. The open letter is signed by over 400 Equity members (listed below), including such notable names as Ed Asner, Francis Fisher, Sally Kirkland and Alfred Molina. The 'Pro99' movement formed in late 2014 in opposition to AEA's rollout of a new plan that will effectively force 'intimate theaters' in Los Angeles to pay Equity actors minimum wage, go 'non-union' or even close - despite an overwhelming vote against the plan by 66% of the Los Angeles membership on an advisory referendum. 'Pro99' members around the nation, who take their name from the current AEA '99 Seat Plan' that allows members to volunteer in smaller venues, oppose AEA's new promulgated plan. They are requesting that Equity leadership put a moratorium on the plan until local members' voices can be heard, and that the union work with its members to develop an alternative plan that will more realistically address the needs of the Los Angeles theater community.