Much like the legendary “News on the March” segment in the film “Citizen Kane” Ted Turner was always news, much like the news that he defined in the way that the world would come to watch it for decades.
Businessman, philanthropist and much, much more, Ted Turner was, and still is, larger than life.
Mark Whicker’s fascinating portrait of the titular subject, “Ted Turner and the Last Roundup” is the Long Beach Playhouse’s inaugural offering of their Studio Collaborative 2025 season and it’s off to a stellar start.
Top row, L to R: Director James Rice, Playwright Mark Whicker Bottom row, L to R: Noah Wagner as Ted Turner, Amanda Karr as The Interlocutor
Under the able and loving direction of James Rice, Producer Noah Wagner portrays Ted Turner himself and features Amanda Karr as the Interlocutor in the onstage duo.
Fans of Long Beach theater will no doubt recognize the ever-busy Noah Wagner, seen in countless shows at the Long Beach Playhouse as well as ICT and the Long Beach Historical Society. Wagner does a fantastic turn worthy of Lon Chaney as he practically channels Ted Turner, rather than simply essaying a role. The resemblance is so uncanny that’s it’s startling, from the slight, Southern drawl to the gap-toothed, sly grin situated just under his trademark moustache. His bombastic entrance and ultimate departure with excellent lighting (courtesy of James Callaghan) perfectly suits his powerful persona and alternates from the delightfully animated recollections of his life and career to his desperate moments trying to remember the smaller details as the ravages of Lewy Body Dementia takes its toll. Wagner knocks it out of the park yet again as he deftly demonstrates why he’s one of Long Beach’s busiest talents.
Photo by James Rice
Amanda Karr has the true character arc in her role as what is called “The Interlocutor” but becomes so much more than that by the plays conclusion. We won’t give anything away but rest assured that her performance is both empathetic and heart breaking as she proves to be the ultimately kind and all-knowing listener. While Wagner’s Turner is an extended monologue, Karr’s presence and emotional beats provides the sounding board of what the audience is hearing and feeling. She has her shoulder firmly to the wheel as this talented duo pushes the story across the finish line.
Photo by Sam Tanng
The technical talents of Alex Shewchuk (Sound and Projection Designer) and Dylan Boggan (Board Operator) add to a razor sharp presentation of one of histories most colorful and dynamic personalities.
Not to be missed, you can see “Ted Turner and the Last Roundup” upstairs at the Studio Theatre of the Long Beach Playhouse.
All Collaborative Shows do not have assigned seating, so it is first come, first serve.
PLEASE NOTE: The Studio Theater is on the 2nd Floor. Due to the age of our building, there is no elevator and the theater is only accessible by stairs
Description:
The man who brought satellite television and 24-hour cable news to the world, and who devoted his late life to environmental causes, spends his waning days in Montana, trying to remember it all and wondering what it meant, all while dealing with a degenerative mental condition. His interlocutor guides him along.
The LBP Studio Collaborative Season offers outside, local theatre companies and performing arts organizations the opportunity to produce their own shows in our Studio Theater
just couldn’t say “happy” a few days ago but yeah, we’re in the new year now… kind of like the tugbrooks m hamiltonhere helping a fuel barge north up the main channel ofthe port of l.a. right past theterminal island prison(see one of the guard towers near the center of the photo?) here this morning in my pedro town. the sea gull on the left is kind of looking how I feel: bracing for whatever more hell 2025 might brings us…
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“Shelf Life” (1993, Liberation Hall) A trio of siblings (O-Lan Jones, Jim Turner, and Andrea Stein) are dragged into a bomb shelter as children by their paranoid parents in 1963; three decades later, the parents are long dead, but the sisters and brother, now full-grown adults but with adolescent energy and emotions, continue to play elaborate and bizarre games in an attempt to make sense of their existence. Long-lost final feature from director Paul Bartel (“Eating Raoul) was based on a stage play written and performed by the three leads (and produced at the Lex Theatre in Los Angeles), whose full-throttle performances help the film from feeling stagebound. “Shelf Life” is very much a part of Bartel’s body of work, which found the humanity at the heart of outrageous situations; it’s unfortunate that it never saw a release during this lifetime (he died in 2000), but Liberation Hall helps to make up for this oversight with a Blu-ray struck from a newly discovered 35mm print; the cast is present on a commentary track (with DP Philip Holahan and filmmaker Alex Mechanik, who spearheaded the film’s revival), a Q&A filmed at the American Cinematheque, and in a new “interview” with the siblings.
New Year’s Eve is just a day away. If you still haven’t finalized your plans, see our list below of places to ring out 2024 and ring in 2025. As of publication time, all these events still had some reservations remaining. Happy New Year!
The critically acclaimed n/soto offers izakaya-style food at its location in West Adams. Celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Michelin-star winning eatery with a special eight-course, prix-fixe menu, $185, along with complimentary bubbly for those who are ringing in the New Year. More info
Headed to Palm Springs for New Year’s Eve? Celebrate the holiday at Alice B., the latest restaurant from acclaimed chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. The James Beard and Julia Child award-winning chefs are also celebrating the one-year anniversary of their Downtown Palm Springs eatery. Alice B. is a culinary celebration of the legacies of Alice B. Toklas and her life partner Gertrude Stein. The evening’s highlights include champagne, caviar, and live music from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and East Coast ball drop at 9 p.m. Order from the regular dinner menu or indulge in the four-course prix-fixe menu ($125) that includes caviar and cornmeal blinis, salad, your choice of three mains, and dessert. More info
Begin your celebration on New Year’s Eve afternoon and share a sunset toast on the expansive rooftop at Hotel Erwin in Venice. Take in panoramic ocean views, groove to a live DJ, and raise a glass to the New Year with a glass of bubbly at sunset. Guests can indulge in small bites and expertly prepared craft cocktails before a night of celebrating 2025. Event hours are 1 to 7 p.m., with the sunset toast at 6 p.m. More info
Four talented little people make up the Kiss tribute band Mini Kiss. You can see the New York City-based band when they hit the stage on New Year’s Eve at Hotel Ziggy on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
Mini Kiss holds the Guinness World Record for the World’s Shortest Band. These tiny titans have shared stages with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Blue Oyster Cult, and Peter Frampton!
General Admission starts at $65.56 and includes the show, midnight champagne toast, and an after-party DJ and dance party, while VIP tickets also get a meet-and-greet with the band, a two-hour open bar, and VIP Lounge access all night long.
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“Bakeneko: A Vengeful Spirit” * (1968, Severin Films) Power-mad Ryohei Uchida spots young Kyoko Mikage and immediately demands that she join his harem; this does not sit well with her fiance (Kotaro Satomi), who fights Uchida’s thugs and dies, with Mikage, in a swamp where, years before, another woman – the wife of the previous town leader, whom Uchida murdered – drowned herself and her cat rather than submit to his brutish demands. The cat emerges from the swamp, licks their wounds, and helps transform “Bakeneko” from a melancholy examination of power and privilege into a blood-soaked story of supernatural revenge, complete with half-cat ghost women, demonic possession, dessicated corpses, and gallons of spilled blood and severed limbs. One of many Japanese films based on kaibyo, or supernatural cats, “Bakeneko” benefits greatly from writer/director Yoshihiro Ishikawa’s carefully measured pace and painterly aesthetic, which makes the explosion of horror and violence in its final third all the more striking. Part of Severin’s 13-disc folk horror set “All the Haunts Be Ours Vol. 2,” “Bakeneko” features a 4K transfer from the film negative, detailed commentary by Japanese film historian Jasper Sharp, an extensive overview of ghost cat lore, a reading of the folk tale “The Vampire Cat,” and a 2010 animated short, “Man-Eater Mountain,” which, like “Bakeneko,” begins quietly as a crime investigation before blooming into horror, though the imagery is far more nightmarish and explicit.
Under the Mistletoe cocktail. Image credit: Mastro’s
Christmas is just eight days away. Whether you’re looking to savor Peking Duck in an iconic red trolley car, dine at a century-old steakhouse, nibble while taking in gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean, or experience a Michelin-starred meal, see below for a list of a few of our favorite Yuletide options.
Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills is a premier dining destination featuring white-glove service and live music, along with Japanese A5 Wagyu, Kobe beef, seafood towers, and much more. Mastro’s will be open on Christmas Eve from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Christmas Day from 2 to 9 p.m., serving the aforementioned dishes, along with caviar, Rabbi’s Daughter Bone-In Kosher Ribeye, luscious desserts, and their festive holiday cocktail, Under the Mistletoe. More info
Tucked into Burbank’s chic Hotel Amarano, FYC Bar & Kitchen is a hidden gem offering a three-course Christmas dinner for just $70 per person. Start with Butternut Squash Soup or Radicchio Cup Mushroom Salad; Apple Wood Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon with jumbo prawns, mashed potatoes, baby carrots & Brussels sprouts or Pistachio-Crusted Roasted Sea Bass with mashed potatoes, baby carrots & brussels sprouts – and desserts such as Chocolate Lava Cake, New York Cheesecake, Apple Tarte Tatin or Crème Brûlée – along with coffee or tea. More info
Open since 1939, West Hollywood’s iconic Formosa Cafe is open this Christmas Day and is offering a unique dine-in special: a whole Peking Duck served with Bao Buns, plum sauce, scallions, cucumbers, spicy mustard, and chives. The meal serves 2 to 4 and is $125. You can make a reservation on Open Table.
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“Rock ’n’ Roll High School (45th Anniversary Edition)” * (1979, Shout! Factory) Allan Arkush’s “Rock’n’ Roll High School” approaches the half-century mark (!) but remains “a gleeful, hormonally charged cartoon layered with the Ramones’ aesthetic of girls, cars, noise, and (Carbona not) glue,” as I wrote back in 2019. The new three-disc edition delivers both UHD and Blu-ray version(taken from a 4K scan of the original negative) and adds new commentary by author Stephen B. Armstrong (“I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of ‘Rock ’n’ Roll High School'”) and an interview with Marky Ramone to the vintage extras (commentaries with Arkush, producer Roger Corman, and stars P.J. Soles, Clint Howard, and Dey Young, among others). The 45th Anniversary edition also reaffirms the movie’s high points (songs by the Ramones, including the title track, and the cast, which includes the eternally cool Mary Woronov and Dick Miller) and a few low points (the occasional dip into leering territory, like the gym sequence), but ultimately stands as testimony to, as I said in 2019, “the giddy, all-or-nothing joy you experience as a teenager when discovering that thing (music, the opposite sex, etc.) that seems to be not only the sum of your parts, but also a possible direction (or escape route) for the future.”
