L A Theatre Works

L.A. Theatre Works and Beyond Baroque, two Westside arts organizations, are in a deadlock over their use of space in the old Venice City Hall, which is owned by the City of Los Angeles. The nonprofit Beyond Baroque library and bookstore, which renegotiated a 10-year lease with former city councilwoman Pat Russell in October, 1986 (in exchange for maintaining the building and carrying insurance on it), has formally asked L.A. Theatre Works to leave.

  This post has been corrected. For details, see below. L.A. Theatre Works, the radio play series recorded in UCLA's James Bridges Theater, announced a 2012-13 season Tuesday that offers recent Broadway offerings, classics with distinctive casting and less-well known works that will receive new attention. On the schedule are "Red" by John Logan with Alfred Molina as artist Mark Rothko (which is opening at the Mark Taper Forum in August); "The Nightwatcher," written and performed by Charlayne Woodard (seen at the Kirk Douglas Theatre last fall)

Susan Raab Simonson, an associate producer for L.A. Theatre Works, a company nationally known for live productions recorded for later broadcast over satellite and public radio, died Monday after a months-long battle with breast cancer. She was 37.

In June, thanks to satellite technology, bows taken in a Broadway theater following a performance of "The Importance of Being Earnest" will be applauded by audiences in 13 countries spanning four continents. Even Oscar Wilde, the virtually unrivaled wit who wrote the play, might have been left speechless at the thought. The impetus for his comedy's transmission from the Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre in Times Square to screens in 32 states and the District of Columbia — as well as to Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Malta and South Africa — came from an unlikely source.

L.A. Theatre Works, a nonprofit theater and radio production company, deserves a standing ovation for publishing consistently superb work. Most people simply do not have the time or the opportunity to see the many plays written in the last year, let alone the past decade. L.A. Theatre Works has been producing and recording plays for 10 years, and offers an extensive catalog of a varied body of work.

Whenever Stacy Keach feels he needs to flex his acting muscles, he knows he can always get a good workout doing a radio play for L.A. Theatre Works' "The Play's the Thing" series. Keach, a founder of the radio theater company who describes himself as one of its "long-tooth" members, has strutted his thespian stuff in several of the group's productions during the past 14 years, including "The Crucible" and "The Country Girl."

L.A. Theatre Works, known for live local performances of contemporary and classical plays that are subsequently broadcast over satellite and public radio, has been awarded $253,000 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the recording of four new plays and the production of a new monthly radio series, "Relativity," centered on science-themed works.

A Novel Drama: Put aside your books on tape: Starting today you can listen to a book over the airwaves. KCRW-FM (89.9) teams with L.A. Theatre Works to present a dramatization of Frank Norris' 1899 novel "McTeague." The serial drama about turn-of-the-century San Francisco will air on "Everyday Playhouse" Monday through Thursday from 2:30 to 3 p.m. Starting Saturday, the play can be heard on Saturdays at 10 p.m.

L.A. Theatre Works would seem to be in an enviable position: The nonprofit corporation stakes a claim as the only organization that regularly records spoken-word plays in the United States. Its unique library of more than 250 contemporary and classical theater productions, most recorded live for broadcast on National Public Radio, have won myriad creative awards.

Coming Attractions: * Today at 10:30 a.m., KTTV Channel 11: "Rules of the Game," an episode of "Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?," Fox television's educational series for children. * Today at 6:30 p.m., KCRW-FM (89.9): "To Distraction," a broadcast of the L.A. Theatre Works radio production, presented as part of its "The Play's the Thing" series. Directed by JoBeth Williams. Co-starring Helen Slater and John De Lancie. * April 26, at 6 p.m.

L.A. Theatre Works' 2009-10 "The Play's the Thing" season at the Skirball Cultural Center, with performances recorded for radio broadcast on KPCC-FM (89.3), will include an 18th century comedy of manners, a troika of plays from the 1920s and '30s, and a couple of works having their world premieres in 2010 -- one a documentary drama about Bobby Kennedy commissioned by L.A. Theatre Works. As usual, the series will offer an assortment of familiar faces (for the live audience) and voices (for radio listeners)

War and secrecy are longtime companions, for reasons that can include protecting the lives of soldiers and protecting the reputation of a government that has lied about why and how a war is being conducted.

L.A. Theatre Works, known for live local performances of contemporary and classical plays that are subsequently broadcast over satellite and public radio, has been awarded $253,000 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to support the recording of four new plays and the production of a new monthly radio series, "Relativity," centered on science-themed works.

Susan Raab Simonson, an associate producer for L.A. Theatre Works, a company nationally known for live productions recorded for later broadcast over satellite and public radio, died Monday after a months-long battle with breast cancer. She was 37.

Whenever Stacy Keach feels he needs to flex his acting muscles, he knows he can always get a good workout doing a radio play for L.A. Theatre Works' "The Play's the Thing" series. Keach, a founder of the radio theater company who describes himself as one of its "long-tooth" members, has strutted his thespian stuff in several of the group's productions during the past 14 years, including "The Crucible" and "The Country Girl."

11 pm: Pop Music "Kuruption," the debut solo album from Kurupt, contains one CD for the West Coast and one for the East, reflecting the rapper's L.A. base and Philadelphia roots. The former Ricardo Brown, who headlines Club Soho downtown, was a protege of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and then the partner of Daz Dillinger in tha Dogg Pound before striking out on his own. * Kurupt, with Chanel at Club Soho, 333 S. Boylston Ave., 11 p.m. $26 and $55. (213) 480-3232.

* Champion Romanian gymnasts work with some of the founding choreographers of Pilobolus, Momix and "Stomp" in "Aeros," running Jan. 11-14 and 25-28 at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus in Westwood. $20 to $35. (310) 825-2101. On Jan. 23 and 24, the company appears at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. $15 to $42. (800) 988-4253. * Dayton Contemporary Dance Company performs works by Asadata Dafora, Warren Spears, Kevin Ward, Donald McKayle and Ronald Brown on Jan.

What theater company in Los Angeles produces some 20 plays a year featuring name actors from film, stage and television in almost every production? L.A. Theatre Works--the theater of the radio airwaves, which presents most of its productions before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center.

* Champion Romanian gymnasts work with some of the founding choreographers of Pilobolus, Momix and "Stomp" in "Aeros," running Jan. 11-14 and 25-28 at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus in Westwood. $20 to $35. (310) 825-2101. On Jan. 23 and 24, the company appears at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. $15 to $42. (800) 988-4253. * Dayton Contemporary Dance Company performs works by Asadata Dafora, Warren Spears, Kevin Ward, Donald McKayle and Ronald Brown on Jan.