Cultural Arts: Stages
Chronology of Shows
Luis Alfaro and Monica Palacios: Latino ‘Licious
June 1998. SRO in the Renberg Theatre. An evening of cutting edge Latino comedy, drama, and performance art.
Eve Ensler: The Vagina Monologues
West Coast premiere of the Obie-Award-winning play. A sold-out three-night run in the Renberg Theatre.
Alec Mapa: I Remember Mapa
Mapa’s first sold-out performance in the Renberg Theatre.
Tribute to African-American Authors
A multi-cultural group of writers and performers presented dramatic readings from the works of their favorite authors. Presenters included Emmy-Award-winner Paul Winfield, Albert Hall, Alec Mapa, lesbian author/teacher Eloise Klein Healy.
An Evening with Quentin Crisp
Three nights in the Renberg Theatre. The legendary Quentin Crisp played to sold-out houses in what turned out to be his last Los Angeles appearance.
Michael Kearns: One Man, One Night, Too Much!
An evening with the acclaimed actor, producer, director, instructor, and revered voice in the gay & lesbian community.
Fabulous Monsters in Psy-Cabaret
Three-night, sold-out run. “…one of the most fascinating non-mainstream companies in the country…. FABULOUS MONSTERS is one of the most original theatrical phenomena Los Angeles has produced.” –Backstage West
Noël Alumit: The Rice Room: Scenes From a Bar
A hit at the Mark Taper Forum’s Asian Theater Workshop. One-man show spotlighting the lives of a multitude of gay Asian men.
Danielle Brazell: Tales From a Bitch Girl
Internationally toured production by the co-artistic director of Highways Performance Space.
Kay Ostrenko: A Common Thread
A reminiscence of a childhood spent in a multi-cultural neighborhood by an award-winning actress/comedienne/writer.
John Fleck & Company: COCKtails and Catharsis
The acclaimed performance artist, member of the notorious NEA Four, in a new production.
Julie Brown: Smell the Glamour
The star of film, MTV, Comedy Central, and the major networks returned to the LA stage for the first time in five years with a multi-media extravaganza with singing, dancing, a multitude of characters, full band, and muscle boys.
Sweet Baby J’ai: Three Women: A Tribute to the Divas of Jazz and Blues
Rising star of stage, TV, and film, the acclaimed singer in a dramatic and musical celebration of the lives of Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, and Ruth Brown.
John Epperson: The Fabulous Lypsinka Show
The triumphant return of a gay cultural icon after a nearly two-year absence from the LA stage.
We Have a Lot to Cover: A Raw Evening With Kathy Griffin
The scathingly funny star’s return to stand-up after a four-year sitcom run.
Black Satin 2000
The fourth annual installment of one of L.A.’s most exciting evenings of jazz and blues. Dynamic performers, live jazz band. Starring Cleo King, Windy Barnes, Sweet Baby J’ai, more.
Megan Mullally
Emmy-winning star of Will & Grace in her L.A. concert debut as a singer.
An Evening with Billy Porter
Soul-singer supreme Billy Porter in his L.A. concert debut.
Suzanne Westenhoefer: Tour de Femme!
One of the deans of lesbian comedy performs at the Renberg.
Marga Gomez: Live and Undead
Back in LA for the first time in two years with three nights of devastating one-liners, political satire, and a pinch of smut.
Victory Dance
Written and performed by Jessica Litwak. Directed by Sue Hamilton. The world premiere run of the critically acclaimed new play. A multi-character exploration of women’s struggle for selfhood.
Margaret Cho: Notorious C.H.O.
Five sold-out shows featuring all-new material.
Jenifer Lewis: Getting Off My Chest
The multi-talented and unpredictable star of the feature film What’s Love Got to Do with It and Lifetime Television’s Jackie’s Back and Strong Medicine in an all-new one-woman evening of story, song, and mayhem.
Joely Fisher: From Here to Maternity
The star of Ellen and Cabaret in a musical spectacular, complete with 12-piece orchestra and a lifetime of inside showbiz madness.
Miss Coco Peru: Glorious Wounds…she’s damaged
Six sold-out shows by the drag sensation in an all-new production created for The Village at Ed Gould Plaza.
Secret Agents by Jessica Litwak
The Tomlin/Wagner Center’s first first fully produced, extended-run production. The world premiere of a new play by the author of Victory Dance, starring Jessica Litwak, Peter Paige (Queer As Folk), and George Hertzberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
The Normal Heart
A collaboration with the youth board of C.I.T.Y. Project, a CDC-funded HIV prevention program.
Vanities
A 25th-anniversary reading of the smash off-Broadway play by Jack Heifner. The original cast reunited for Act III: Kathy Bates, Jane Galloway, Susan Merson. Actresses in Act I: Amanda Peet, Amy Smart, Marla Sokoloff. Act II: Jane Krakowski, Valerie Mahaffey, Anne Ramsay.
The Break Up Notebook
World premiere of a new lesbian comedy by Emmy-nominated writer Patricia Cotter. Starring Trace Turville (Garland Award winner), Jane Lynch (Best in Show/The West Wing), and Patrick Bristow (Ellen).
Lainie Kazan in Concert
One of the true aristocrats of American song in her first Los Angeles concert appearance in nearly a decade.
Lonely Planet
A revival of Steven Dietz’s award-winning play about friends dealing with the ravages of fear.
RUNT, A Hero’s Journey
In 2001, Michael Phillip Edwards became history’s first black writer/performer to win the prestigious Fringe First Award in the history of Edinburgh’s massive Fringe Festival with this searing solo show. World-premiere run.
Kathy Griffin: Telling Tales Out of School
The return of Hollywood’s most scandalous stand-up scamp.
The Phacts of Life
A company of some of LA’s finest comedic actors, including John Waters-star Mink Stole, in a hilarious spoof of the ‘80s sitcom.
Notorious C.H.O. – the final performances
Three more SRO performances
An Evening with Suzanne Westenhoefer
The return of the dean of lesbian comedy.
Body of Faith
A world premiere by MacArthur “Genius” Award-winner Luis Alfaro, produced in collaboration with Cornerstone Theater Company. A community-based project from the research phase to the stage.
A Separate Peace
A highly acclaimed solo adaptation of John Knowles’s classic American novel. Adapted for the stage and performed by Brian Foyster.
ARTWallah: The 4th Annual Festival of the South Asian Diaspora
A four-day extravaganza of film, theatre, music, performance, literary readings, visual arts exhibits, panel discussions, and more.
Miss Coco Peru Is Undaunted
Clinton Leupp’s drag alter-ego in her GLAAD Award-winning solo show.
Beverly Winwood Presents The Actor’s Showcase
A star-studded cast, including Jennifer Coolidge, Patrick Bristow, and Tim Bagley, reprised one of LA’s most popular comedies for a one-night-only benefit performance.
An Evening With Kate Clinton
The Village at Ed Gould Plaza debut of a community and comedy icon.
Oh Sister, My Sister! starring Jane Lynch
The inaugural production of the new LIT! program (Lesbians in Theater). Written by and starring Jane Lynch (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Glee).
Varla Jean Merman's Under a Big Top!
Jeffery Roberson’s circus show was the most spectacular Renberg Theatre production to date.
Carol Channing in Razzle Dazzle!
The debut of a new one-woman show by the Broadway legend, which surveyed Channing’s celebrated career through song, comedy, monologue and video.
Last Summer at Bluefish Cove
The official 25th Anniversary West Coast production of the classic lesbian drama. Directed by Sue Hamilton.
Jackie Hoffman: The Kvetching Continues
West Coast debut of the NY cult-classic cabaret show. Endearingly bitter, explosively funny.
Loot
The classic play by Joe Orton. Produced in association with Theater East
Encore! The Kathy and Mo Show
The legendary feminist comedy team of Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney in benefit performances for the Center.
Lypsinka as Joan Crawford in The Passion of the Crawford
Drag superstar John Epperson in his latest theatrical creation – a recreation of an interview with the Hollywood legend conducted late in her life.
The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical
Multiple award-winner, including the 2006 Ovation Award: Best World Premiere Musical. Book: Patricia Cotter; Score: Lori Scarlett; Directed by Sue Hamilton
Holly Near in Concert
The iconic lesbian activist singer/songwriter
The Tina Dance
Play assembled from first-person accounts of crystal meth addiction. Directed by Michael Kearns.
Homosaic 2006: A Queercore/Homohop Festival
Two days of some of the hottest young queer rockers and hip-hop artists: Jill Sobule, The Ex-Boyfriends, JenRO, Addicted2Fiction, Rachel Cantu, The Tender Box, Messengers From the Sexual Frontier, Shitting Glitter.
Bipolar, Bath & Beyond
Starring Jenifer Lewis. Returning to the Renberg with her first new solo stage show in six years, Lewis created one of the biggest hits in our history.
Beyond the Beyond: The Gay FutureWorld
A collaboration with Cornerstone Theater Company. A sweet and funny look at what gay life will be like in the eons to come, created in conjunction with LGBT youth and seniors.
Letting Go of God
Written, directed and performed by Julia Sweeney. The Saturday Night Live alum in the L.A. revival of her Ovation Award-winning monologue.
Mastering Sex & Tortillas
Written and performed by Adelina Anthony. The first of many co-productions with the award-winning Xicana actor/comedian/writer/producer.
La Angry Xicana Show—Y Què!?
The debut of Adelina Anthony’s new evening of stand-up.
Margaret Cho’s The Sensuous Woman
Workshop performances of Margaret Cho’s new variety show – a radical re-imagining of classic burlesque/vaudeville.
Tragic Bitches
An evening of queer Latino/a poetry and performance. Performers: Adelina Anthony, Dino Foxx, Lorenzo Herrera Y Lozano. In the Courtyard.
No Fats, Femmes, or Asians
Written and performed by Alec Mapa. Alec Mapa’s fifth Renberg show, this time with a cast of eight.
Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield
Written and performed by Kirsten Holly Smith. Co-produced with Jorja Fox and Leslie Brockett (Bunnyhop Productions).
The Lost Plays of Tennessee Williams
Multiple award-winning production of three recently discovered one-act plays: “Mister Paradise,” “The Palooka” and “And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens.”
The Jill & Julia Show
Written and performed by Jill Sobule and Julia Sweeney. An evening combining Sobule’s songs with Sweeney’s stories.
My Trip Down the Pink Carpet
Written and performed by Leslie Jordan. Emmy-winner Leslie Jordan in the LA debut of a new solo show.
Sea Change
Award-winning world premiere of a new play by Nick Salamone. Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera.
Bruising for Besos
Written and performed by Adelina Anthony. World premiere. Our playwright-in-residence debuted her multi-character solo show, tackling the powerful issue of domestic violence.
James Baldwin: Down from the Mountaintop
Written and performed by Calvin Levels. Tony Award nominee Calvin Levels’s solo show about the iconic author and human rights activist.
The Confusion of My Illusion
Written and performed by Kelly Mantle. A solo play-with-music took on the slippery subject of gender identity with song, satire and revolutionary fervor. Directed by Jon Imparato.
Paved Paradise: The Art of Joni Mitchell
John Kelly’s acclaimed portrayal of the music icon.
The Normal Heart
Special one-night-only benefit: 25th anniversary stage reading of Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking AIDS play. Directed by Joel Grey. Starring Tim Bagley, Dan Bucatinsky, Tate Donovan, David Eigenberg, Clark Gregg, Lisa Kudrow, Alec Mapa, Jon Tenney, Dylan Walsh
Selene Luna’s Born to Be Alive
World premiere of comedian/burlesque artist Selene Luna’s first fully staged solo show. With Lawrencia Dandridge and Barbie Q.
The World Goes ‘Round
ABC Daytime soap opera stars perform Kander & Ebb’s acclaimed Broadway revue. From All My Children: Bobbie Eakes, Natalie Hall, Jamie Luner. From General Hospital: Brandon Barash, Bradford Anderson
The Sonneteer
Award-winning world premiere play by Nick Salamone
Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays
Award-winning collaboration with Broadway producer Joan Stein. A rotating cast of celebrity actors in readings of 10 short plays by major American playwrights, including Jenny Lyn Bader, Jordan Harrison, Jeffery Hatcher, Moisés Kaufman, Joe Keenan, Neil LaBute, Wendy MacLeod, Kathy Najimy, José Rivera, Paul Rudnick and Doug Wright.
Diamonds Are Forever: The Songs of Dame Shirley Bassey
Award-winning musical tribute to the great British diva, starring Broadway star Jennifer Leigh Warren. Directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, musical direction by Kenneth Crouch.
Baby Daddy
Written and performed by Alec Mapa. Alec’s first new solo show in three years. Three sold-out performances in the Renberg
Jackie Five-OH!
Performed by Broadway’s Jackie Hoffman.
Deathtrap
Ovation Award-winning L.A. revival of Ira Levin’s masterpiece.
Kim Coles: Oh But Wait, There’s More!
A new solo show by the star of In Living Color, Living Single, and Are You Normal, America?
I Stand Corrected
Screening of the film I Stand Corrected, the story of transgender jazz bassist Jennifer Leitham, followed by a concert by Ms. Leitham and her trio.
The Beast of Times
World premiere of the new play by Adelina Anthony, with a contributed monologue by co-star D’Lo.
Nona Hendryx: Rewired
Rock/funk/R&B legend (Labelle, solo work) in a one night musical/technological tour de force.
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
Multiple award-winning Los Angeles premiere of the Tectonic Theater Project’s sequel to its groundbreaking examination of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard.
Leslie Jordan: Show Pony
Emmy-winning actor in his new solo show.
Jackie Beat: And the Beat Goes On
L.A. drag legend Jackie Beat’s first solo show in the Renberg Theatre.
The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?
Multiple award-winning production of Edward Albee’s scorching play.
D’Lo: D’FunQT
L.A. debut of the solo show by the outstanding Tamil Sri Lankan-American transgender actor, performance artist, musician, comedian, record producer
The Kinsey Sicks in America’s Next Top Bachelor Housewife Celebrity Hoarder Makeover Star Gone Wild!
The acclaimed “dragapella” quartet in an evening of political and musical satire.
Stanley Ann: The Unlikely Life of Barack Obama’s Mother
Award-winning West coast premiere of Mike Kindle’s play about the life journey of the mother of the 44th president.
Hit the Wall
Multiple award-winning West Coast premiere of Ike Holter’s play about the Stonewall riots. Double-Ovation Award winner.
Sam Harris: HAM-A Musical Memoir
Ovation Award winner: Best Musical
God Sees Dog
A youth co-production with the Center’s Youth Mentoring program.
Well-Strung: The Singing String Quartet
Village debut of the groundbreaking string quartet (comprised of four out gay men) that fuses classical and pop music.
Fool for Love
Ovation Award-winning revival of Sam Shepard’s classic
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe: Revisited
Multiple award-winning world premiere of the new version of the iconic play by Jane Wagner, re-written as a play for 12 actors.
Trans Chorus of Los Angeles: Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars
Renberg debut of the world’s first Trans Chorus, premiering their staged production of the David Bowie classic.
S/He & Me
Alexandra Billings’ autobiographical “theatrical cabaret” chronicling the harrowing, ultimately triumphant life of the trans TV and theatre star.
Blackbird
Produced with Hollywood Fringe Festival. Starring Bradley Cooper and Charlotte Gulezian.
Exit Strategy
Award-winning production of a new play from Ike Holter (Hit the Wall)
Confessions of a Mulatto Love Child
Written and performed by Bellina Logan. Solo play about a daughter’s relationship with her eccentric mother.
Jackie Hoffman: Memoircita
Broadway and TV star Jackie Hoffman (FEUD: Bette and Joan) returns with the West Coast Premiere of her new solo show, dishing on Broadway, FEUD, and all things Emmy.
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Award-winning adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, written and performed by Anna Stromberg and Burt Grinstead. Extended 10-performance run of the breakout Fringe Festival hit.
Sarah Jones: Sell/Buy/Date
Award-winning solo show with 19 characters, written and performed by Sarah Jones.
An Evening with Vickie Shaw
The celebrated queer comedian returns for a night of no-holds-barred hilarity, with DJ, dancing, and after-party.
To T, or Not to T
A runaway hit solo show by Tamil/Sri Lankan/trans man D’Lo exploring his transition and the issues it raised, both political and in his family.
Women Laughing Out Loud – 20th Anniversary
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Women Laughing Out Loud with some of today’s best lesbian comedians: Jackie Loeb, Jennie McNulty, Ebony Toliver, Sandra Valls, and host Vickie Shaw
Joanna Gleason: Out of the Eclipse
Tony Award-winner Joanna Gleason wrote and starred in her funny and moving solo show, with four-piece band, three back-up singers, and a cameo appearance by husband, Chris Sarandon.
MARCH
The first production in the innovative Garage Theatre program, designed to present live theatre safely during the Covid pandemic. Conceived and directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera. A co-production with Playwrights’ Arena. October-November 2020 in Level 2 of the Anita May Rosenstein Campus parking garage.
