LA Weekly

Opening This Week

ALL THE HELP YOU NEED: THE ADVENTURES OF A HOLLYWOOD HANDYMAN Tim Ryan Meinelschmidt’s experiences as an actor turned jack-of-all-trades. MET Theater, downstairs in the Great Scott Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Hlywd.; opens March 9; perfs Sun., 7 p.m.; thru March 30. (323) 960-7740.

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GODDESS Dorothy Spirus’ solo comedy. Found Theater, 599 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach; opens March 8; perfs Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru March 29. (562) 433-3363.

DEBT: A COMEDY WITHOUT WORDS A street musician finds credit cards and applies for loans, in Adam Novicki’s comedy, with music by rizorkestra. The Hayworth Studio Upstairs, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; opens March 7; perfs Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru April 12. (800) 838-3006.

HENRY IV, PART 1 Shakespeare’s history. A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale; Sat., March 8, 8 p.m.; Sun., March 9, 2 & 7 p.m. (818) 240-0910.

ICELAND Roger Guenveur Smith’s globetrotting saga of a painter and a dancer. REDCAT, W. Second & Hope sts., dwntwn.; Thurs.-Sat., March 13-15, 8 p.m.; Sun., March 16, 3 p.m. (213) 237-2800.

JEKYLL & HYDE Robert Louis Stevenson’s story of good and evil, book and ­lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, music by Frank Wildhorn. Fred Kavli Theatre for the Performing Arts, Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 2 p.m.; Sun., March 9, 7 p.m.; thru March 16. (805) 449-2787.

L.A. WOMEN: FROM THE ASHES TO THE STAGE Scenes about the diverse ladies of Los Angeles, by Jennifer Tracy and Sabrina Hill. Bang, 457 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.; opens March 8, Sat., 8 p.m.; perfs Thurs., 8 p.m.; thru March 20. (323) 653-6886.

THE MINT JULEPS TRILOGY Nick Zagone’s one-act about 20-somethings pondering the opposite sex. LIZARD THEATER, 230 W. Main St., Alhambra; opens March 8; perfs Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru March 15. (626) 403-1177.

NO CHILD ... Nilaja Sun’s one-woman show set in a New York City public school. Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City; opens March 7; perfs Tues.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 p.m.; thru April 13. (213) 628-2772.

OF MICE AND MEN John Steinbeck’s American drama. The Banshee, 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; opens March 8; perfs Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru April 13. (818) 846-5323.

OLD TIMES Harold Pinter’s enigmatic study of memory and relationships. Lost Studio, 130 S. La Brea Ave., L.A.; opens March 8; perfs Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; thru April 13. (323) 871-5830.

SEASCAPE WITH SHARKS & DANCER Don Nigro’s beachside love story. Lyric Theatre, 520 N. La Brea Ave., Hlywd.; opens March 8; perfs Fri., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru April 6. (323) 939-9220.

SHAME Stephen Morey and Paul Rebillot’s take on homosexuality from the Christian perspective. (Note: contains nudity.) Theatre Asylum, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; opens March 13; perfs Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 & 7 p.m.; thru March 23. (323) 962-0046.

SWEENEY TODD Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical tale of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; opens March 12; perfs Tues.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; thru April 6. (213) 628-2772.

TOP GIRLS Caryl Churchill’s study of career women. Promenade Playhouse, 1404 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica; opens March 8; perfs Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru March 16. (310) 656-8070.

THE UNDERPANTS Steve Martin’s comedy, adapted from a play by Carl Sternheim, about dudes trying to get into a German housewife’s panties. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre; opens March 8; perfs Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.; thru April 19. (No perfs March 9, 23 & 30.) (626) 256-3809.

THE UNFORGIVING ROAD Ric Montejano’s story of “gay ’80s, AIDS, crystal meth, incest, obsession and murder.” Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., March 7-8, 8:30 p.m. (310) 315-1459.

THE WOMEN OF JUAREZ Ruben Amavizca’s story of murder and corruption. (Perfs alternate in English and Spanish; call for schedule.) Frida Kahlo Theater, 2332 W. Fourth St., L.A.; opens March 13; perfs Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 6 p.m.; thru April 20. (213) 382-8133.

Larger Theaters

Reviews by Paul Birchall, Lovell Estell III, Mayank Keshaviah, Deborah Klugman, Steven Mikulan, Steven Leigh Morris, Amy Nicholson, Tom Provenzano and Neal Weaver.

CABARET Looming over Jules Aaron’s production of Fred Ebb and John Kander’s now-classic 1966 musical about an American writer in 1930 Berlin, hangs the question, why are they staging this? As though Joel Grey’s and Liza Minnelli’s images, and Bob Fosse’s staging in the 1972 movie, aren’t etched into our consciousness. As though Nazis aren’t still bad, and the people they persecute aren’t still forlorn. Erin Bennett’s Sally Bowles channels Liza, right down to her cropped ’do. Bennett is fine, but she’s playing a dangerously presumptuous game of imitation. (SLM) International City Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru March 9. (562) 436-4610.

CINDERELLA New take on the classic tale, music and lyrics by Lloyd J. Schwartz. Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, L.A.; Sat., 1 p.m.; thru June 28. (323) 851-7977.

THE COLOR PURPLE Book writer Marsha Norman and composer-lyricists Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray’s stage adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a surprisingly faithful and melodic compression of Walker’s epistolary narrative about a Southern black woman (Jeannette Bayardelle) beaten down almost from birth, but whose resilience allows her to survive. Although Act 2 suffers from an inevitable sugar rush, director Gary Griffin gets great efforts from a huge ensemble. A Center Theatre production. (SM) Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m.; Sat., 6:30 p.m.; thru March 9. (No eve perf March 9.) (213) 628-2772.