Kalean Ung News

How many different ways are there to say how much Angelenos love the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival? Thousands. Ask anyone who's ever parked themselves on a blanket or lawn chair with their family and friends and you'll get as many different answers as there are people in the audience.

This summer INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. presents an electrified interpretation of Shakespeare's indelible anti-hero, RICHARD III, featuring David Melville as Richard and directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma. RICHARD III opened last night, June 30, at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL and will perform through Sunday, July 24 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Tony Award-winning actor Paul Sand took time out of his Sunday afternoon off to talk with BWW. He is currently putting on his third-ish re-incarnation of KURT WEILL AT THE CUTTLEFISH HOTEL at the Miles Memorial Playhouse. Inspiration for CUTTLEFISH initially hit Paul as he was walking on the Santa Monica Pier. 'Wouldn't Kurt Weill's nasty songs about murder and revenge and broken hearts be terrific down here?'

Tony Award-winning actor-singer-director Paul Sand will remount his hit show, "Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel," in July in Santa Monica - which will also launch his newly formed Santa Monica Public Theatre.

This summer INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. presents an electrified interpretation of Shakespeare's indelible anti-hero, RICHARD III, featuring David Melville as Richard and directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director, Melissa Chalsma. RICHARD III will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, June 25 at 7pm and will open on Thursday, June 30 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, July 24 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.  All ISC Summer Shakespeare productions are FREE to the public!  RICHARD III is the first of two productions being presented at this year's GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL. THE TEMPEST will play July 30 - September 4.

Something interesting happens when you remove race as the primary motivator in Shakespeare's OTHELLO. The play's message about the progression of evil becomes even more universal. What was a story about a man destroying another man because of the color of his skin is now part of a larger more enigmatic narrative exploring hate, jealousy, and obsession from a less obvious perspective. It also reveals how masterfully Shakespeare wrote the nuances of human frailty.

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival announce performances of Shakespeare's great treatise on alienation, OTHELLO, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma. OTHELLO will begin previews on Saturday, March 19, will open on Saturday, March 26 at 7:30pm and will perform through Saturday, May 7 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival announce a translation of Shakespeare's great treatise on alienation, OTHELLO, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma. OTHELLO will begin previews on Saturday, March 19, will open on Saturday, March 26 at 7:30pm and will perform through Saturday, May 7 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.

Happy New Year and welcome back Shakespeare lovers! 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death (April 23, 1564 - April 23, 1616) and that means it's another big year ahead honoring one of the greatest writers of all time. Here's a look at what's coming so get out your calendars and make note.

Paul Sand's Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel wows and astonishes with musical performances from two incredibly talented women Shay Astar and Kalean Ung. Sands has chosen various Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht compositions from their various hit shows and strung them together for a wonderful musical showcase of these two exceptionally expressive, richly voiced actress/singers extraordinaire.

Each summer in Griffith Park, Independent Shakespeare Co. presents fully-produced large scale performances for hundreds of people on a nightly basis. Instead of the expensive dinner and a movie scenario, families flock to the park for a more neighborly picnic and a play. It's friendly, affordable (the play is free), and fun...and that's about as good as it gets on a summer night in LA.

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival and recipients of the 2015 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater, announce a new adaptation of Shakespeare's PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma. PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE will begin previews tonight, April 24, will open on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30pm and will perform through Sunday, May 24 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival and recipients of the 2015 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater, announce a new adaptation of Shakespeare's PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma. PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE will begin previews on Friday, April 24, will open on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30pm and will perform through Sunday, May 24 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.

Over the past ten years, Independent Shakespeare Co. has staked its claim on the city of Los Angeles with its 'of the people, by the people, for the people' brand of Shakespeare. Built from the ground up by two regular people (Melissa Chalsma and David Melville) who love what they do, they have created a fiercely loyal following that can't get enough of their kind of real-people theatre.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT or What You Will, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT or What You Will, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's Twelfth Night or What You Will, directed by ISC's artistic director Melissa Chalsma.

This summer, Shakespeare's delightful and romantic comedy is given a Downton Abbey-twist with elegant and sumptuous costumes and the ringing sounds of the early twentieth-century music hall as Independent Shakespeare Co. presents Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT or What You Will, directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma.

This September, the Getty Museum and CalArts' Center for New Performance (CNP), in association with Trans Arts, will presentPrometheus Bound, the eighth annual outdoor theater production in the Getty Villa's Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman Theater. Featuring a newly-translated text by noted poet and essayist Joel Agee, Prometheus Bound will be directed by Travis Preston, artistic director of CNP and dean of the CalArts School of Theater, and include original music by composer Ellen Reid and celebrated jazz multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia (who will also perform live onstage).