There are good things and bad things about living in Los Angeles. It's not anywhere near my favorite place to live, but there are plenty of terrific things, and so I just focus on those as much as possible. Two nights ago, I discovered one of the Really Good Things about living in Los Angeles. This is sort of a tale about that -- just on the good side of "Nyah, nyah, nyah," but it's impossible to tell this without a touch of that coming through. But mainly it's a heads-up for people who living in Los Angeles who might want to get tickets -- REALLY SOON before they're gone. But first, I have to say that I don’t know how on earth it slipped under the wire for me. However, I just found out about it totally by accident yesterday. But this is the notice I saw -- Tickets for "Henry IV," staged by Tony Award winning director Daniel Sullivan, featuring Tom Hanks in his Los Angeles stage debut as Shakespeare's greatest comedic character Sir John Falstaff, with Harry Groener as Northumberland, Hamish Linklater as Hal, and Joe Morton as Henry IV. Yes, seriously. I don’t begin to understand how this was kept under the wire, almost to the point of being a secret. I’ve told a bunch of people last night – all theater fans, all in the film and TV Industry – and not one of them knew about it. I didn’t find out about it – and as I said, only by chance -- until after I got back from Chicago. (I get a daily mailing about theater in Los Angeles. I almost never check it, because it doesn't change that much from day to day and sometimes I even think about unsubscribing, since I check it so rarely. But every once in a while I decide to take a look, and on Monday night I just decided to open the one that came in. And there was the news. In fact, I didn't even see it at first. Initially, I merely scrolled down the list of shows and checked one out, but it didn't offer much information. And then, off to the side, my eye caught a small notice.) And so, though tickets had gone on sale a few days before -- and two weeks before to patrons of the Shakespeare Center that's putting this on -- it was so under the wire that tickets were still available. How on earth does this stay a secret??? For that matter, how on earth are there still tickets, in a small, outdoor venue (about 600 seats) with a limited-run of just 24 performances ??? Mind you, I’m not complaining. Because it’s so little known, that’s how I was able to get tickets. And am able to tell friends and readers here about it. So, thank you, L.A. for being clueless. But – how utterly bizarre. Just inexplicable. And Hanks aside, it’s a good cast, with a terrific director. About a year-and-a-half ago, I wrote here about seeing the world premiere of a dark, political satire by Jon Robin Baitz, Vicuna, about a character loosely based on Trump. It was wonderful, though I saw it literally the night after the election. And it was the weirdest experience I've had in the theater. (I'm acquaintances with Baitz, and he acknowledged that the whole thing was weird.) Anyway, I bring this up because Harry Groener -- who plays 'Northumerland in this Henry IV -- starred as the Trump-like character in that play, and he was terrific. The show runs from June 5 through July 1. I got a couple of tickets last night. A fair amount of tickets seem to still be available (most off to the side, though not all), and they aren’t cheap, but a bit less than Hamilton. Mostly $149 or $169. Some nights are a little more ($189) and a few performances MUCH more ($500 -- I'm guessing those are fundraisers for the organization). The outdoor venue, as I noted, is pretty small. It's located in the Japanese Gardens on the West Los Angeles VA grounds. (Near Jackie Robinson Stadium, where UCLA plays baseball, if you know the area.) If you’re interested, you can get more information and tickets here. One of the good things about living in Los Angeles.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|