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August 23, 2024
LONG BEACH, Calif. ~ Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025, International City Theatre will present a season of five world, American and Los Angeles premieres.
“For the first time in our 40-year history, all five plays in one season will be premieres,” says artistic director caryn desai [sic]. “Our mantra this year is ‘see it first at ICT’. The plays may all be new, but the season’s eclectic mix of genres — one musical, two comedies, and two dramas — is not. It’s that combination of escapist fun and thought-provoking fare that has kept our audiences coming back year after year.”
Launching the season in February, the Los Angeles premiere of Desperate Measures is a foot-stompin’, knee-slappin’ musical inspired by Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Saddle up for this joyous musical comedy with a score by award-winning composer David Friedman and book and lyrics by two-time Tony nominee Peter Kellogg. When the dangerously handsome Johnny Blood’s life is on the line, he must put his fate into the hands of a colorful cast of characters. Laws are broken and hearts are won as they try to find justice in a world that often doesn’t seem just. Winner of two Drama Desk Awards, for “Outstanding Musical” and “Outstanding Lyrics”; the Outer Critics Circle Award for “Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical”; and the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for “Best New Musical.” (February 21 through March 9; previews on February 19 and February 20.)
Next up is the American premiere of The Violin Maker by Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum and Ronda Spinak. Real-life Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein gathered and restored violins that were damaged during the Holocaust, creating a remarkable collection that became known as the “Violins of Hope.” Weinstein died in 2024 at age 84, but his extraordinary story and the true tales behind each of the violins are masterfully interwoven with music in this powerful and uplifting new play. (April 25 through May 11; previews on April 23 and April 24.)
From playwright Paul Slade Smith, author of last season’s hit production of The Outsider, comes the Los Angeles premiere of The Angel Next Door, a screwball romantic comedy inspired by a 1924 drawing room comedy by Ferenc Molnar. When a writer is commissioned to adapt his novel for the stage, it’s soon revealed that the “angel” cast as the lead may not be all that angelic. Only the power of theater can save the play, the novel and — perhaps most importantly — the writer’s heart. (June 13 through June 29; previews on June 11 and June 12.)
August will see the world premiere of the newest family drama by multiple award-winning playwright Wendy Graf (ICT productions of Closely Related Keys, Exit Wounds), in which members of a mixed race family see themselves reflected in stories from the past — each inspired by a spice in their grandmother’s “masala dabba,” or Indian spice box. (August 29 through September 14; previews on August 27 and August 28.)
Closing out the season in October, the Los Angeles premiere of Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson–Apt. 2B by Kate Hamill is an irreverent, darkly comic, modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth and sidekick that re-examines the world’s most famous detective story through a bold new feminist lens. In this highly theatrical escapade, oddball female roommates Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson join forces to emerge from pandemic fog as a deeply codependent, quasi-dysfunctional “Odd Couple” adventure duo solving mysteries and kicking butts—until they come face to face with a villain who seems to have all the answers. (October 17 through November 2; previews on October 15 and October 16.)
Recognized by Long Beach as the City’s resident professional theater company, International City Theatre is the recipient of over 500 awards, including the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s prestigious Margaret Harford Award for “Sustained Excellence” and the LADCC’s 2016 Polly Warfield Award for an “Excellent Season.” In addition to its professional theater productions, ICT offers six community and educational outreach programs each year. The company’s commitment to the community also includes ongoing collaborations with Long Beach’s African American community and other groups and organizations. Former Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe called ICT “a cultural treasure.”
All performances take place Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
For more information about ICT’s 2025 season and to purchase subscriptions or single tickets, call (562) 436-4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org
At ICT right now through September 8!
The Double V
This is a story about activism, a dramatization of true events during the early years of World War II. After trying to enlist in the army, Jimmy Thompson becomes distraught by the way he has been treated. He writes a letter to the then largest African-American newspaper in the United States, The Pittsburgh Courier, which goes on to champion the Double V campaign – V for victory in the war and a V for victory in racial equality at home. The Double V is an amazing true story about the nation’s first black civil rights movement and how one young man’s focus and persistence initiated societal changes through a simple letter to a newspaper. Click on image to purchase tickets!
Coming October 16 to November 23
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Links
Something’s afoul on the private golf course at Merlinville-Sur-Mer, namely the body of Hercule Poirot’s newest client! Acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz brings the famed Belgian detective to life to solve one of Agatha Christie’s most intricate whodunits with the host of usual and unusual suspects. A cast of six versatile actors embody myriad characters as they navigate the twists and turns of this lively and fun new adaptation. Click on image to purchase tickets!
