BURN THIS Robbie, a young gay dancer has drowned in a freak boating accident and his family and friends gather for the funeral. Shortly after the service, his roommates; choreographer Anna and ad man Larry reflect on Robbie’s pass- ing. Joining them later in Robbie’s lower-Manhattan loft are screenwriter Burton (Anna’s longtime lover), and Pale (Robbie’s coke-snorting, hyperactive restaurant manager brother). In the face of their shared tragedy, they attempt to make sense of their lives and reconsider their own identities and relation- ships. It originally opened at Theatre 890 in 1987, with a strong cast including; Jonathan Hogan, Joan Allen (who won a Tony for the role), John Malkovich and Lou Liberatore. The 2011 production brings a new crop of strong actors to rein- vent the complex characters from the touching script. Runs through May 1 at The Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles. Tickets: 213.628.2772 or centertheatregroup.org


GOD OF CARNAGE 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Play has reassembled its all-star original


Broadway cast in the scathingly funny comedy about good people behaving terribly. The production is once again under the direction of Matthew Warchus, Tony Award winner as Best Director for the original production (the cast of four were also nominated for said awards). Actors Jeff Daniels, seen in Ragtime, Terms of Endearment, Purple Rose of Cairo, Pleasantville, Gettysburg, Dumb and Dumber, Hope Davis, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee for her portrayal of Hillary Clinton in the HBO movie, A Special Relationship, James Gandolfini, best known as Tony Soprano in HBO’s The Sopranos, and Marcia Gay Harden who received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Miller’s Crossing round out the cast. Set in a gentrified section of Brooklyn where two married couples meet to sort out a playground fight between their children. Niceties are observed at first, but as the evening progresses and the rum flows, the gloves come off and the night becomes a side-splitting free-for- all of verbal brawling. Runs April 5 through May 15 at The Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles. Tickets: 213.972.4400 or centertheatregroup.org


HOUSE OF THE RISING SON Raucous, vulgar humor crashes into tragedy and transforms into tender


PACIFIC SYMPHONY presents THE WIZARD OF OZ A symphonic night at the movies! Pair one of the most awesome symphony


orchestras around with one of the most beloved films of all time, The Wizard of Oz; and you get one spectacular evening of magic. The gifted musicians from Pacific Symphony perform the timeless soundtrack live on stage as the lov- ingly restored film plays on the big screen. The orchestra was founded in 1979 by Keith Clark (a former student and assistant conductor to Roger Wagner at the Los Angeles Master Chorale and principal guest conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra) in his Fullerton home’s kitchen, with a grant of $2,000 and some phone calls to local musicians. They had their first performance at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton that year and the orchestra has become the largest formed in the United States in the last 40 years. Runs April 7-9 The Pacific Symphony, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Renée and Henry Seger- strom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: 714.755.5799 or pacificsymphony.org


vulnerability in acclaimed playwright Tom Jacobson’s homage to Tennessee Williams—his writing style and life. When Trent brings Felix home to New Orleans to meet his father and homophobic grandfather, the family’s demons come to light. Watchful ghosts, sinister hustlers, and diabolical demons slither through this sly and subversive romance; will Trent’s gothic family embrace its parasites and survive, or face its own decay from within? Felix is led on a Southern gothic journey to St. Louis Cemetery. House of the Rising Son probes the hearts and minds of gay men, offering an astonishing vision of a disappearing culture and new ways to look at the future. Runs April 14 through May 29 at Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA @ At- water Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Avenue, Atwater Village. Tickets: 213.644.1929 or ensemblestudio- theatrela.org


APRIL 2011 | RAGE monthly 23


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