Laugh, Cry, And Sing With Los Alamos Little Theatre This Season

Benvolio (Matt DeSmith), Lord Montegue (Charles Ferenbaugh), and Lady Montegue discuss tensions on the street in Verona in Shakepeare’s Romeo and Juliet, opening Sept. 8 at LALT. Photo by Thomas Graves

Lady Capulet (Stacy Buck), left, tells her daughter Juliet (Keira Fichtl) she must marry Paris in Shakepeare’s Romeo and Juliet, opening Sept. 8 at LALT. Photo by Thomas Graves

LALT NEWS RELEASE

Los Alamos Little Theatre’s 2023-2024 season will make audiences laugh, cry, and sing, sometimes all at once.

The season opens in September with William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” starring Keira Fichtl and Jack Williams in the title roles. The production runs Sept. 8-17, with 7:30 p.m. showings on Fridays and Saturday, Sept. 8, 9, 15, and 16, and 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays Sept. 10 and 17.

Tickets are on sale now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/romeo-and-juliet-tickets-707019603667.

“I wanted to direct ‘Romeo and Juliet’ because I’ve never liked how I’ve seen it done before,” said Kelly Dolejsi, who co-directs the play with Eric Bjorklund. “I like our interpretation. It feels genuine. Our cast has me laughing for the first hour, crying through the second, but I enjoy every scene.”

In November, LALT will produce “Reefer Madness,” Joe Landry’s musical based on the 1936 cult-classic movie. Megan Pimentel, whom audiences will remember from her starring role in LALT’s “Chicago,” directs this satire where Dr. Carroll, principal of the local high school, warns how one puff of pot can lead clean-cut teenagers down the road to insanity, death, and worse.

In January, audiences will be treated to the hit comedy “The Play That Goes Wrong,” written in 2012 by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company, which won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. Director Seona Zimmermann described it as “an amateur theater company staging a murder mystery performance — what could possibly go wrong? Come find out!”

Holly Robinson will direct this season’s children’s production, “Twice Upon a Time.” According to stage manager Megan Pimentel, Tracie Wells’ 60-minute play has new takes on classic fairy tales including “Cindy-Rella” and “Grumplegrapeskin”

“The story walks through six different fairy tales told by a grandma who doesn’t necessarily like the stories and decides to give them a new twist,” Pimentel said.

“Hidden Treasure,” a one-woman show written and performed by Ketevan Kharshiladze Ussery, will close LALT’s season. The play recounts Ussery’s personal saga of immigrating from Tbilisi in the country of Georgia, as well as her illegal entry to the US and the challenges she has faced. Short episodes from her first job in a Santa Fe silver jewelry store, told with humanity and humor, reveal the complexities of becoming a citizen of this country made up of immigrants. The play was directed by Scott Harrison and premiered at Teatro Paragua in Santa Fe in March 2019.

For more information, please visit www.lalt.org.

PULLOUT BOX:

Romeo and Juliet – September – Directed by Eric Bjorklund and Kelly Dolejsi

Reefer Madness – November – Directed by Megan Pimentel

The Play That Went Wrong – January – Directed by Seona Zimmerman

Twice Upon a Time – March – Directed by Holly Robinson

Hidden Treasure – May – Directed by Scott Harrison

Actors rehearse for one of the sword fights in LALT’s “Romeo and Juliet,” opening Sept. 8. Photo by Thomas Graves

Paris (Adam Olsen), Lord Capulet (Tomás Farish), and Lady Capulet (Stacy Buck) rehearse for LALT’s upcoming production of “Romeo and Juliet.” Photo by Thomas Graves

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