By Shari Barrett
Kentwood Players, a community non-profit theater group based at the Westchester Playhouse, located at 8301 Hindry Avenue in LA 90045, kicked off its 75th Diamond Anniversary Season on New Year’s Eve with an in-house Gala featuring a selection of songs from musicals which have graced its stage over the years, performed by a talented 19-member ensemble. Some of the musicals featured included Cabaret, Oklahoma, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Young Frankenstein, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Damn Yankees, Gypsy, A Chorus Line, and Chicago.
Its 2025 season celebrates 75 years of continuous high-quality entertainment at affordable prices, with a season subscription for all six shows only $105, or $25 for a non-musical play or $30 for a musical with a $4 discount per show for Seniors, Children, Students & Military. Based on availability, $10 rush tickets may be offered at select performances 30 minutes before curtain. For more information, tickets, or to sign up for a season subscription, visit www.kentwoodplayers.org, email boxoffice@kentwoodplayers.org, or call (310) 645-5156. Kentwood Players 75th Diamond Anniversary Season includes the following six productions:
By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, a play by Lynn Nottage and directed by Rondrell McCormick, runs January 17-February 8, 2025. It takes an entertaining and revelatory look at racism in the film industry during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Inspired by the struggles of actresses like Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen, worlds collide when aspiring African American starlet Vera Stark, who works as a maid to Gloria Mitchell, an aging Caucasian star grasping at her fading career, lands a trailblazing role in an antebellum epic starring none other than her boss! The play examines Vera’s 70-year career and her place in Hollywood history.
Love! Valour! Compassion! a play by Terrence McNally and directed by Aric Martin, runs March 14-April 5, 2025. In this powerful comedy/drama, eight gay men confront life and love over three holiday weekends in a lakeside summer home north of New York City. A Tony Award winner for Best Play, it is both deeply moving and outrageously funny as the characters navigate relationships, careers, and their own mortality.
Urinetown: The Musical with Music by Mark Hollman, Lyrics by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis, Book by Greg Kotis, directed by Gryphon Seveney runs May 9-June 7, 2025. Imagine a place where water is so scarce that you must pay to pee! This Tony Award-winning musical satire takes on capitalism, socialism, corporate greed, incompetence, and small-town politics with timely insight and irreverent humor.
She Kills Monsters, a play by Qui Nguyen and directed by Shawn Summerer runs July 18-August 9, 2025. After losing her family in a car crash, Agnes discovers who her sister was (and maybe some new things about herself as well) while playing through an original Dungeons & Dragons adventure her sister wrote. A comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing games, this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres and 90s pop culture, offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior in us all.
Real Women Have Curves by Josephina Lopez, directed by Marco Rivera, runs September 12-October 4, 2025. It centers around a young Hispanic woman who navigates culture, tradition, expectations, and her own dreams to forge an identity and inspire those around her. Both touching and funny, it speaks to the journey we all travel to find our true selves.
42nd Street with Music by Harry Warren, Lyrics by Al Dubin, Book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, directed by Doug Vasquez runs November 14-December 13, 2025. Winner of two 1980 Tony Awards, it tells the tale of Julian Marsh’s journey in putting on a Broadway musical at the height of the Great Depression. Young Peggy Sawyer arrives in New York City with the hope of making it as a Broadway performer. What ensues is a song and dance extravaganza, a feast for the senses and a tap dancer’s dream!
To get to the Westchester Playhouse, Metro Train riders can take the K Line to Kentwood, exiting at the Westchester/Veterans station at Florence and Hindry, just a short one block walk away. Riders who show their Metro TAP card when purchasing a full price ticket at the box office will receive a $5 discount for that performance. For drivers, there is free street parking on 83rd Street and in the adjoining neighborhood, but do not park on Hindry between the Playhouse and Metrolink tracks. For shows, the small free parking lot next to the Westchester Playhouse is reserved for disabled patrons only. Free parking is available for all patrons at The Hensel Phelps parking lot at 8330 Hindry Avenue (across the street, next to the Metro train tracks), which opens an hour before each performance, is locked when the show begins, and reopens at the end. Please read all traffic and parking signs carefully. For more information about Kentwood Players, please visit their website at www.kentwoodplayers.org or social media pages.
