Ron Sossi

Stalin’s Master Class is enthralling, darkly funny, awkward, and thought-provoking about the eternal tension of politics vs art, censorship vs thought, modern art vs people’s tastes, groupthink vs ingenuity, and popularity vs quality. 

When director Ron Sossi elected to present Stalin’s Master Class at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble for the second time, he was aware that audiences might respond differently to the production than they did to the previous staging 37 years ago.

Currently at Rogue Machine, the Los Angeles Premiere of Christian St. Croix’ Monsters of the American Cinema, which just opened April 6, 2024, at the Matrix Theatre. Rogue Machine’s producing artistic director John Perrin Flynn directs the cast of Kevin Daniels and Logan Leonardo Arditty. John took some time out of his very busy schedule to answer a few of my queries.

Join Playwrights' Arena for their Annual Gala on April 28, 2024. Celebrate the art of playwriting and support the development of new plays in this festive event.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble founding artistic director Ron Sossi will direct Stalin’s Master Class, a wildly comic, music-filled ride by British playwright David Pownall.

Following a critically acclaimed, crowd-pleasing run last fall, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble brings back Kevin Flynn’s heartwarming and hilarious Fear of Heights, the story of an Irish American kid's phobias, family life and the meaning of success.

Next up for the Ruskin Group Theatre, two shows in tandem – John Colella’s An Extraordinary Ordinary Man and Paul Linke’s It’s Only a Show!, both opening January 13, 2024. Got the chance to ask Ruskin’s producing artistic director Michael Myers a few questions on Ruskin’s current shows and early beginnings.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble has extended the world premiere Elephant Shavings through October 8. Learn how to purchase tickets.

Next up for the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, the world premiere of OTE’s Artistic Director Ron Sossi’s Elephant Shavings opening August 19, 2023 (with previews beginning August 16th). Ron directs his script with the cast of: Denise Blasor, Diana Cignoni, Jack Geren, Jeff LeBeau, Cameron Meyer and Giovanna Neilan. Ron took some time from his Odyssey multi-tasking to answer a few of my queries.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble will present “a lazy person’s guide to enlightenment” written and directed by Odyssey Theatre Ensemble artistic director Ron Sossi and set within the walls of West L.A.’s Odyssey Theatre complex.

'Don't be afraid of that floor, hammer it!' Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Fishamble: The New Play Company in association with Solas Nua will present writer/performer Margaret Mc Auliffe in The Humours of Bandon, an award-winning coming-of-age story for anyone who had a childhood passion that threatened to overwhelm their life.

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the U.S. premiere of Yaacobi & Leidental, a funny, provocative romp with music written by Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin and featuring songs by Alex Kagan.

Sleep, awakeness, psychosis, enlightenment, coma. How thin is the veil that separates them? Odyssey Theatre Ensemble artistic director Ron Sossi explores some of the many states of human awareness with an evening of short “mind excursions” by Harold Pinter with Robert Coover and Hermann Hesse. Collectively titled Wakings!, the metaphysical adventure begins Saturday, April 30, with performances continuing through June 5.

The ability to totally transform yourself into the physical, emotional and intellectual persona of another person so believably that audience members will see the character and not the actor is one of the most fascinating elements of live theatre to me. This is especially true for actors I follow, seeing them in several productions and always being surprised at the new person presented in front of me, often having nothing in common with the real personality of the actor. One such actor is Ron Bottitta, an English-born actor who has called the USA his home since 1980, who I spoke with about his characters in WAKINGS! at the Odyssey Theatre,

Sleep, awakeness, psychosis, enlightenment, coma. How thin is the veil that separates them? Odyssey Theatre Ensemble artistic director Ron Sossi explores some of the many states of human awareness with an evening of short “mind excursions” by Harold Pinter with Robert Coover and Hermann Hesse. Collectively titled Wakings!, the metaphysical adventure begins Saturday, April 23, with performances continuing through June 5.

The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble re-opens its re-envisioning of the Odyssey's 1969 West Coast premiere of The Serpent, the Obie award-winning play by Jean-Claude van Itallie. The production initially opened in March, 2020 as part of the Odyssey's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season, but was shuttered five days later by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meet the playwrights from the 2nd week of LA's first TogetherLAFestival. Presented by Alternative Theatre Los Angeles (ATLA) in association with LA Stage Alliance (LASA), a?oeTogether LA: A Virtual Stage Festivala?? is celebrating the vibrant and diverse intimate theatre scene of the greater Los Angeles area.

Alternative Theatre Los Angeles in association with LA Stage Alliance presents 'Together LA: A Virtual Stage Festival' celebrating the vibrant and diverse intimate theatre scene of the greater Los Angeles area. Each night starts at 7 p.m. PST, and each piece runs approximately 10 minutes. Free with Reservations.

In these crazy, safe-distancing times; I reached out earlier this week to various heads of Los Angeles theatres to see how they and their theatre families are holding up. The replies were amazing in their quickness, numbers and uniform positivity.

Founding artistic director Ron Sossi directs a revival of The Serpent by Jean-Claude van Itallie  as part of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season.