Raymond Chandler News

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts continues its star-packed 25th anniversary season in February 2017 with 30 amazing productions and events, including one of the biggest hits now running on Broadway, three international orchestras, a couple of impressive symphonies, two legendary dance companies and incredible line-up of musical headliners and a truly memorable NIGHT OF STARS.

It's All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives is the latest effort in the recent renaissance of the reputation of the mid-century detective writer who was born Kenneth Millar.

The dark and seedy underbelly of Southern California in the 1940's and 50's is the setting for Film Noir UnScripted.  Join Impro Theatre for a night of shadowy tales featuring villains, dangerous dames and a trench-coated detective, all performed without a clue - except for your suggestions.  Inspired by such authors as James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammett and La Jolla's own Raymond Chandler, Impro Theatre cuts to the funny bone in this hard-boiled, completely improvised evening of seduction and murder.  

Vodka keeps Russians warm on Siberian nights, and images of iconic Britons from Beefeaters to Queen Victoria adorn bottles of English gin. The Scottish Highlands are home to the world's most marvelous malts, and fine cognac will be forever French. But Bourbon is an American original, born in the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee and proclaimed by Congress as 'a distinctive product of the United States.' This autumn season, it's the ideal beverage to warm the inner soul!

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham is thrilled to announce the second show in the Laguna Playhouse 2016-2017 season, BILLY & RAY, written by Mike Bencivenga and directed by Michael Matthews. "Old Hollywood comes to Laguna Beach in this comedy about the making one of the most iconic films of the 1940s.  I have been wanting director Michael Matthews to direct at the Playhouse for so long and think this is the perfect show for his unique vision.  Our audiences and subscribers are in for a hilarious and wild ride," says Wareham.  BILLY & RAY will begin previews on Wednesday, October 5; will open on Sunday, October 9 and will run through Sunday, October 30, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham is thrilled to announce the second show in the Laguna Playhouse 2016-2017 season, BILLY & RAY, written by Mike Bencivenga and directed by Michael Matthews. "Old Hollywood comes to Laguna Beach in this comedy about the making one of the most iconic films of the 1940s.  I have been wanting director Michael Matthews to direct at the Playhouse for so long and think this is the perfect show for his unique vision.  Our audiences and subscribers are in for a hilarious and wild ride," says Wareham.  BILLY & RAY will begin previews onToday, October 5; will open on Sunday, October 9 and will run through Sunday, October 30, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

13th Floor is proud to announce its winter season program featuring the world premiere of Next Time, I'll Take the Stairs, December 8 - 18 at the Joe Goode Annex, and Lightning Strikes Anonymous, February 24 - March 5, 2017 at ODC Theater. 

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham is thrilled to announce the second show in the Laguna Playhouse 2016-2017 season, BILLY & RAY, written by Mike Bencivenga and directed by Michael Matthews. "Old Hollywood comes to Laguna Beach in this comedy about the making one of the most iconic films of the 1940s.  I have been wanting director Michael Matthews to direct at the Playhouse for so long and think this is the perfect show for his unique vision.  Our audiences and subscribers are in for a hilarious and wild ride," says Wareham.  BILLY & RAY will begin previews onWednesday, October 5; will open on Sunday, October 9 and will run through Sunday, October 30, 2016 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Curtain's up. Light the lights. Strike up the band. Roll out the red carpet - the upcoming 25th anniversary season of the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts will offer a nonstop series of audience-dazzling performances by show biz legends and super-hot headliners throughout the upcoming 2016-2017 season - an exciting and unforgettable array of international artists and stage shows, from every discipline from rock to pop to classical music, from Broadway to Hollywood to Nashville, from your TV screen and iPhone, and from some of the world's hippest nightclubs and most impressive concert halls.

LOS ANGELES, July 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, today announced it has acquired world rights in several languages to two books by New York Times bestselling author Don Winslow.

This summer, an iconic Hollywood venue for performance and film, the John Anson Ford Amphitheater makes its dramatic return after a nearly two-year revitalization.

Dude Hang on to your undies...and your beverage! Rockwell Table & Stage crosses the line with its outrageous Unauthorized Musical Parody of The Big Lebowski, an American cult classic, running Thursday and Friday nights, though the end of this 2016 summer. Grab your tickets before they go missing, now on sale at: www.rockwell-la.com

Welcome to the CITY OF ANGELS, a musical that mixes the glamorously seductive world of 1940s Hollywood with a fish out of water romantic comedy. Add great songs and Jazz music and it all adds up to a rare theater experience. Join Maurer Productions OnStage as they present CITY OF ANGELS at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre Todays, May 6 and 13 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 7 and 14 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, May 8 and 15 at 2 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

Timothy Hallinan, acclaimed author of three mystery/thriller series and several writing compendium projects, as well as a biography of Charles Dickens, is set to appear as a featured speaker and panelist at the upcoming Mystery Writers Key West Fest, set for June 10-12 in Key West, Florida.

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission today announced the return of culturally diverse outdoor entertainment at the Ford Theatres, following nearly two years of renovations of the historic John Anson Ford Amphitheatre and its public amenities and landscape. The 2016 Summer Season, performed under the stars in the Hollywood Hills, opens on July 8 and runs through October 15. A full schedule is attached. Tickets can be purchased at FordTheatres.org or by calling (323) 461-3673.

NextStop Theatre Company's third professional season comes to a close in May 2016 with the DC area regional professional premiere of the film noir jazz musical, City of Angels. NextStop's production will open May 12 and run through June 5, 2016.

Welcome to the CITY OF ANGELS, a musical that mixes the glamorously seductive world of 1940s Hollywood with a fish out of water romantic comedy. Add great songs and Jazz music and it all adds up to a rare theater experience. Join Maurer Productions OnStage as they present CITY OF ANGELS at Mercer County Community College's (MCCC's) Kelsey Theatre Fridays, May 6 and 13 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, May 7 and 14 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, May 8 and 15 at 2 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast below!

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is thrilled to announce its 2016-2017 season of shows! Comments Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham, 'It's truly one of our most diverse, wildly entertaining and thrilling seasons ever. Our subscribers and audiences are going to love each of these theatrical journeys.' This summer is going to jailhouse rock as you dance to your favorite Elvis songs in ALL SHOOK UP, you can't help falling in love with this jukebox musical; followed by BILLY & RAY which tells the behind the scenes story of Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder as they nearly kill each other making 'Double Indemnity', directed by Michael Matthews; the new year starts with the unexpected love storyCHAPATTI; Hershey Felder returns as master pianist TCHAIKOVSKY; then another musical genius hits our stage with the world premiere musical KING OF THE ROAD: THE ROGER MILLER STORY, directed by Andrew Barnicle; and we complete our season with the extraordinary THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY. Add in a special engagement from Lythgoe Family Productions of SLEEPING BEAUTY and her WINTER KNIGHT Panto and you have one of the finest seasons in our nearly 100 year history!

Playwright Larry Kramer published a list of his 10 Favorite Books on the New York Times earlier this week, being the next in editor Aaron Hicklin's series for his website One Grand Books. Read the full list of Kramer's selections, including plays by Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, and his reasons why below!

Audiences will be transported to the enchanted world of Neverland, where pirates rule, mermaids sing and a boy can choose to never grow up, in The Rose Theater's production of PETER & THE STARCATCHER, tonight, Dec. 4-27. In this whimsical origin story of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, an apprentice Starcatcher and an orphan boy take to the high seas encountering Lost Boys, pirates, fighting mollusks and mermaids.