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This Week in Theatre: Dolly Parton Inspires Small Town Waitress
LA’s theatre scene is packed with good stuff this week: Dolly Parton serves as muse; a Korean family’s road trip goes wrong; and a bunch of people sing about chess at the Ford. So without further ado, here are LAist’s five theater picks for this week:
Journey to Dollywood
Jolene is a small-town waitress who idolizes obsesses over Dolly Parton. When a stranger’s car breaks down in town, her life, a rival co-worker’s, and their eccentric boss’s lives are all changed forever. This dramedy is billed as a journey of self-discovery, but we wonder how many Dolly Parton boob jokes make it into the production?
The Matrix Theatre. 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. 323-960-4418. Tickets are $20. $15 for previews. Previews tonight and Friday at 8 pm. Runs Thursdays to Saturdays at 8 pm until Oct. 27.
Chess: The Musical
Chess is used as a metaphor for romantic rivalries and US-Soviet relations during the Cold War. The story focuses on a love triangle: the ugly American grandmaster, an intense Russian champion who wants to defect to the West and the Hungarian-American woman player who arrives at an international chess championship with the American, but falls in love with the Russian. Part of the proceeds of this one-night only performance will be donated to Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS.
Ford Amphitheatre. 2580 Cahuenga Blvd.,East, Hollywood. 323-461-3673. Tickets are $35-$200. One performance only on Monday, Sept. 17 at 8 pm.
Durango
This is the first play of East West Players 42nd season. Durango chronicles the struggles of a Korean-American family reaching for that elusive American dream. Because of work troubles, Boo Seng-Lee forces his sons to take a road trip with him (and that in itself can’t be a good thing). Isaac fights with his inability to meet expectations with med-school applications and his teenage brother confronts issues of race and sexuality.
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David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts. 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles. 213-625-7000. General admission tickets are $30-$35. (Preview tickets are $45 and opening night seats are $60.) Opens Wednesday, Sept. 19 and closes on Sunday, Oct. 14.
And Neither Have I Wings to Fly
Set in 1950s Ireland, the play--with the great lyrical title--centers on two sisters coping with life's challenges after the death of their mother.
Road Theatre Company at Lankershim Arts Center. 5108 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. 866-811-4111. Tickets are $25. (Pay what you can performances on Sept. 16 and Oct. 4 and 11). Opens Friday, Sept. 14 and runs Thursdays to Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm until Nov. 4.
Leap
How many people in Hollywood can relate to Arnold Margolin's play? In his metaphysical farce, a washed-up TV writer wants to end it all, but is prevented by unlikely emissaries from heaven and hell.
Falcon Theatre. 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. 818-955-8101. Tickets are $25-$37.50. Opens Friday at 8 pm. Runs Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 4 pm until Oct. 7.
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