L.A. Stage Insider
Celebrating the Best in live Theater and Cabaret in the Greater Los Angeles Area
Written by Julio Martinez
October 1, 2025
NEWS
Kaylee Kaneshiro, Alexandra Hellquist (by Jeff Lorch)
The North American Premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s anthropology, directed by John Perrin Flynn, launches Rogue Machine’s new season on their mainstage. This high-stakes AI thriller questions just how far we’ll go to uncover truth and what technology can and can’t help us resolve in our relationships. The cast includes Alexandra Hellquist, Kaylee Kaneshiro, Julia Manis and Nan McNamara. The production opens Oct 4 (8pm), running Fri/Sat/Mon (8pm), Sun (2pm), through Nov 9. Rogue Machine, in the Matrix Theatre, is located at 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, 90046. For Reservations: https://www.roguemachinetheatre.org/. For more information call 855-585-5185. Founded in 2008, Rogue Machine has become a pillar of Los Angeles’ theater scene through its commitment to producing new and significant contemporary plays. Notably, Rogue Machine, now in residence at the Matrix Theatre, has earned more than 30 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards including the unique distinction of being the only theater company to receive the Polly Warfield Award for Best Season by a Small to Midsized Theater three times—in 2011, 2016, and most recently in 2023.
PREMIERES
Open Fist Theatre is presenting the Premiere of Amerika or, The Man Who Disappeared, written by Karl Rossmann, an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s first novel, Der Verschollene. Arriving in New York City on a steamer, 17-year-old Karl Rossmann strives to make his own way in Amerika. Emmy Award-winning writer Dietrich Smith directs the premiere of his original stage adaptation for Open Fist Theatre Company. Performances run Oct 17 through Nov 22 in Atwater Village Theatre. Kafka never visited America, but it provided the setting for his first novel, Der Verschollene (The Man Who Disappeared), which was published posthumously as Amerika in 1927. This more succinct title was chosen by Kafka’s best friend and literary executor, Max Brod, who assembled the uncompleted manuscript after his death in 1924. Ethan Remez–Cott stars as young Karl, whose parents banish him from Germany to America following a family scandal. There, Karl encounters a series of increasingly strange and bewildering experiences that turn his world upside-down. The supporting cast includes Tambrie Allsup, Matthew Goodrich, Marc Jablon, Kelsey Kusinitz, Jeremy Reiter II, Debba Rofheart, Chima Rok, Jade Santana, Jack David Sharpe, Grace Soens and Jeremy Thompson. Amerika features a soundscape by seven-time Academy Award-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom. Amerika or, The Man Who Disappeared runs Oct 17-Nov 22. Plays Fri (7:30pm), Sat (7pm), Sun (2pm). Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, 90039. To purchase tickets and for more information call (323) 882-6912 or go to openfist.org.
AROUND TOWN
Sarah Wolter Cheryl Daro
International City Theatre is presenting the Los Angeles debut of Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson–Apt. 2B by Kate Hamill. In this fast-paced and wildly entertaining comic escapade, the classic tales of Sherlock Holmes get a sharp, sassy twist, thanks to what Hamill calls her “cheerful desecration” of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective series. Sarah Wolter stars as the highly eccentric Sherlock (just don’t call her ‘Shirley’) Holmes. She’s joined by Cheryl Daro as Joan Watson, an unwilling roommate who becomes Holmes’ reluctant partner in crime-solving. Cast also includes Tamarra Graham & Brian Stanton. Amie Farrell directs the three-week run, Oct 17-Nov 2. Previews are Oct 15 & 16. The production plays Thu/Fri/Sat (7:30pm); Sun (2pm). International City Theatre is located in Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center’s Beverly O’Neill Theater at 330 East Seaside Way, Long Beach, CA 90802. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (562) 436-4610 or go to InternationalCityTheatre.org.
SOLO MOJO
Roxana Ortega
The Geffen Playhouse is hosting the Premiere of Am I Roxie,? “a fiercely funny one-woman tour-de-force based on her own life.” Writer/actor Roxana Ortega navigates the chaos of her mother’s mental decline with outrageous humor and unbreakable spirit. Playing everything from a mermaid-obsessed aunt to a prickly sherpa, Roxie takes audiences on a wild ride into an opera house, up a killer mountain, and through the doomscape of her own mind. Am I Roxie? explores duty, destiny, and how facing your darkest fears can reveal who you truly are. Opens Oct 1 in the Gil Cates Theater, running through Oct 5. For tickets and more information, go here.
Arts in Review, hosted by arts journalist Julio Martinez, celebrating the best in theater and cabaret in the Greater Los Angeles area, airs on KPFK90.7fm on Fridays (2-2:30pm), streamed live around the world in real time over KPFK.org. On Oct 3, Arts in Review will be in the midst of KPFK’s Fall memebership drive. Plays stay tuned.