Theater Events

Playwrights Festival, ‘Spelling Bee’  Featured at Pierson Playhouse

  April is a busy month for Theatre Palisades, with the opening of the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on Friday, April 12, and the Palisades Playwrights Festival, all at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd.

  The festival is currently accepting submissions for the annual event, which will be held Tuesdays, April 9, 16, 23 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. Plays must be written by Pacific Palisades residents, or those who have acted or directed at the Playhouse. Submissions can be e-mailed to grantdiane04@gmail.com, or mailed to Palisades Playwrights Festival, P.O. Box 881, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272.

“Spelling Bee,” winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, is a heartwarming and hilarious musical that brings together six adolescent misfits who share a common dream: to win the spelling bee. Victory may bring them fame, but will it bring them the love they all crave? Songs include “My Friend the Dictionary” and “I’m Not That Smart.” Palisadian Lewis Hauser directs. He has previously directed many plays at Theatre Palisades, including “Witness for the Prosecution,” “Our Town” and “Kiss Me Kate.”

Performances of “Spelling Bee” (through May 12), and are at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. For tickets ($23 and $25), call (310) 454-1970 or visit theatrepalisades.org.

Moonday Features Poet William O’Daly

  The monthly Moonday will be held at 7:30 p.m. on April 8 at Buerge Chapel at the Aldersgate Retreat Center, 925 Haverford.  Sign-ups for the open reading begin at 7 p.m.

The evening will feature William O’Daly, a poet, translator, essayist and fiction writer. His published works include eight books of fiction and posthumous poetry by Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, and a chapbook of poems, “The Whale in the Web.” O’Daly was a finalist for the 2006 Quill Award in Poetry for “Still Another Day,” and was profiled on “The Today Show.”

A resident of the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, O’Daly is a board member of Poets Against War and co-founder of Copper Canyon Press. Contact: pero@earthlink.net.

New Directions Play Stages Real Life Event    

  Veterans from the New Directions program will present a one-time performance of “Which Direction,” on Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m. at the Westside Vineyard Christian Fellowship Auditorium, 3838 S. Centinela in West L.A.

The play, written and performed by veterans, tells the story of a young writer, Asher, who turns to the military to escape his broken family. While in Iraq, he loses his nerve, leading to the deaths and injuries of some of his fellow soldiers. Some of the others in his platoon choose to teach him a lesson, which drives him to drugs and alcohol. The question remains, will Asher find himself and realize his dreams before it’s too late?

For tickets, visit NDVets.org.