The best of LA’s theatre scene is celebrated with the 2007 LA Stage Alliance’s Ovation Awards on Monday night at the Orpheum Theater downtown. The ceremony honor Annette Bening and will be hosted by Neil—wait for it—Patrick Harris (fans of How I Met Your Mother might appreciate that one). Tickets ($40, $80 and $150) to the show are available to the general public. If those ticket prices are too steep, then check out our......

We know that almost everybody’s going to Sunset Junction this weekend, so if you want to do something a little different (or add it to your agenda), why not check out LA’s great theatre scene? Some of these alternatives are perfect for those watching their budget (i.e., they’re free!) Here are LAist’s picks for the week: Heads Four American and British civilians are kidnapped off the streets of Iraq. After reading that description, the......

Cesar & Ruben The poster boy for the environment, Ed Begley Jr., wrote and directed this musical based on the life of poster boy activist César Chávez. NoHo Arts Center. 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, 818-508-7101. Tickets are $35. Opens Friday at 8 pm. Runs Thursdays to Sundays at 8 pm with a Sunday matinee at 3 pm until Sept. 9 The City That Never Sleeps Who knew that insomnia could be so funny?......

Here are the five productions opening this weekend that are currently piquing LAist’s interest: 7 Glimpses of Utopia Tonight only, the Skid Row-based theater group LAPD (Los Angeles Poverty Department) presents a picture of utopian possibilities in downtown L.A. LAPD'ers and others were asked to identify and invite someone they knew who was doing something "laudable, and important, something that represents the best of the current and future downtown." National Center for the Preservation......

There are other ways of supporting your actor friends around town – besides leaving a good tip at restaurants. LA is home to a great number of renowned theater groups and local community productions. Some of the shows are much better than Cats and way cheaper than anything on Broadway. So here are five plays opening this weekend whose descriptions are piquing LAist’s interest: A Nice Family Gathering Written by Phil Olson and directed......

LAist is a big fan of local theater. Many smaller productions are so often overlooked by the big titles that come to town, like say, Wicked, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf or Master Class, so we’ll support LA’s theater community with the best of them. But like those big productions, sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised, but other times – like in the case of The Empty Bed – you’re not quite satisfied. Billed in the......

LA Theater geeks, rejoice! Three quirky shows are running at local theaters until mid-August. Precursor to professional curmudgeons like Larry David, Denis Leary, Lenny Bruce and H.L. Mencken, journalist Ambrose Bierce made everyone see the humor in misanthropy. TV regular John Billingsley brings the famous 19th Century pisspot and provocateur to life in “Bitter Bierce, or the Friction We Call Grief,” now playing at the Zephyr Theater in conjunction with Bonita Friedericy’s one-woman show,......