By Shari Barrett
Kentwood Players is proud to present the West Coast premiere of Guilty Pleasures: An Unapologetic Comedy, a fast-paced, witty, and very adult romp by Emmy Award winner Ken Levine opening Friday, March 13 at the Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Ave., Los Angeles 90045. This production is directed by Jonathan Fahn, and produced by Lou Saliba and Howard Male, with associate producers Ken Levine and Zahra Zaveri, presented by special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide. Featured in the cast are Kate Brady, Tara Alexandra Brown, Marshall McCabe, Jason Owsley, and Lou Saliba.
The action takes place when two couples set sail on a romantic Mediterranean cruise in hopes of reigniting their rocky relationships. A playful agreement and a series of misunderstandings produce a hilarious journey fueled by one-liners and pithy banter reminiscent of classic Noel Coward. Please note this play is intended for mature audiences, as it contains strong language and sexual content.
Performance dates are Friday, March 13 through Saturday, April 4 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. will be added on March 21 and continue through the rest of the run. Reserved seats are $25 with a $4 discount for seniors, children, students, and military. Tickets are available online at www.kentwoodplayers.org, via email to boxoffice@kentwoodplayers.org, or by calling (310) 645-5156. Group rates for 10 or more can be arranged with the box office. You can also visit the website for information about open auditions for the musical Next to Normal at the Westchester Playhouse on March 14 & 15.
Limited free parking next to Westchester Playhouse is reserved for handicap patrons, with the Hensel Phelps parking lot at 8330 Hindry Ave. (across the street by the train) open to all patrons an hour before each performance, locked when a performance begins, and reopened at completion. Free street parking is also available on 83rd Street and in the adjoining neighborhood. Please read all parking restrictions carefully.
BroadStage presents the world premiere of Keeping Score, an ambitious, deeply personal dance trilogy from acclaimed movement artist Jacob Jonas to be performed across three days on March 19, 20, and 22, integrating dance with health and community engagement. Born and raised in Santa Monica, Jonas’s personal history is embedded in the trilogy. After street-performing on Venice Beach and Third Street Promenade in his teens, he pursued formal movement training as a young adult and co-founded Jacob Jonas The Company at age 21. Now in its 12th year, the company has developed a global reputation for adventurous work that transcends genre, blurring lines between concert dance, theatrical presence, and immersive experience.
Described by Jonas as his most introspective and expansive work to date, Keeping Score intersects contemporary dance, performance art, musical composition, and theatrical storytelling to explore how early life trauma, illness, and resilience are encoded in the body. As a stage four cancer survivor, Jonas draws on personal vulnerability to explore the body as both a site of conflict and renewal. The trilogy is a journey to understanding illness – before, during, and after – exploring the vulnerabilities of being human.
“This piece is not about answers,” Jonas explains. “It’s about the questions of why we hurt, why we heal, why we keep going. What I hope audiences take away is a sense of acceptance, curiosity, and connection.” Original music composed for the work incorporates nature soundscapes and binaural sound elements that support meditative states, enhancing the sensory texture of each piece and inviting audiences into embodied reflection.
One poignant, theatrical element of the performance will feature his grandmother, whose bedtime readings of the children’s story Babar during his childhood helped shape the emotional arc of the work, blending memoir with mythic presence. Elephants, family symbolism, and the phrase “the elephant in the room” resonate throughout the trilogy as metaphors for memory and the unseen impact of life experience.
Drawing inspiration from the bestselling trauma literature The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, this performance trilogy is structured as three distinct yet interwoven works: Product of Divorce: examining childhood environments shaped by instability and emotional fracture. Nature Sounds While the IV Drips: reflecting on the randomness and rhythm of cancer and recovery. Restart: a meditation on reactivation, the ongoing questions of existence and life after trauma.
Keeping Score opens on Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. with Restart, and Friday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. with Nature Sounds While the IV Drips / Product of Divorce. An after-show Q&A with Jacob Jonas will take place on Friday, March 20 only.
Sunday, March 22 is designed as a full-day immersion, allowing audiences to experience the trilogy in one continuous arc with performances of Product of Divorce / Nature Sounds While the IV Drips at 2 p.m. and Restart at 6 p.m. Between the performances, audiences are invited to reflect, decompress, or deepen their understanding of the work through a series of activations. At BroadStage, curated selections from films and dance will be playing throughout the afternoon, with wellness vendors, food vendors, and book sales available, creating space to reflect, gather, and stay connected to the themes of the work.
Along with Sunday afternoon activities at BroadStage, at 4:15 p.m. just a short walk away at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center (where Jacob Jonas received treatment during his cancer journey), a guided meditation followed by a panel conversation with Jacob Jonas and experts in health care and patient care will take place. For those not wishing to walk, complimentary shuttles will run between BroadStage and UCLA Santa Monica Hospital throughout the afternoon. All Sunday afternoon activities, outside of the ticketed indoor performances, are free and open to the public.
For tickets and more information, visit https://broadstage.org/tickets-shows/calendar/jacob-jonas-the-company-keeping-score/, or call the box office at (424) 434-3200 Tuesday-Friday noon-6 p.m. Available tickets will be sold at the onsite box office 2 hours prior to each performance. BroadStage is located at 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica 90411. Free onsite parking.
