Morna Martell

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN – Beverly Hills

Alfred Hitchcock’s brilliant 1951 film was based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. In this new stage version, two young men meet on a train – one an ambitious architect, the other a playboy with a taste for danger. As the train takes them to their destination, they speculate on what it would be like to commit the perfect murder. When a murder is committed and a private investigator is on their case, their lives become fatally linked forever. Adaptation is by Craig Warner and Jules Aaron directs. The cast includes Todd Andrew Ball, Michael Mullen, Sharron Shayne, Anicia Petrovich, Michael Kerr, Joe Clabby, and Larry Eisenberg. Produced by David Hunt Stafford. At Theatre Forty, 241 S, Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. For free parking enter through the driveway at the intersection of Durant and Moreno Drives. Tkts: (310) 364-0535 or http://theatre40.org

PRIVATE LIVES – Westchester

 This delightful Noel Coward romantic comedy (that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton notoriously played on Broadway after their second divorce) centers around Amanda and Elyot, a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses Victor and Sibyl, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, Amanda and Elyot realize they still have feelings for each other – and it soon becomes clear they cannot live with each other, but also cannot live without each other! Featured in the cast are Matt Landig as Elyot, Courtney Shaffer as Amanda, Allen Barstow as Victor, Alyssa Berkowitz as Sibyl and Ingrid Leventhal as the maid Louise. The production is directed by Richard Perloff and produced by Gail Bernardi and Rhonda Yeager-Hutchinson for Kentwood Players. At Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Avenue, Los Angeles. Free parking. Tickets: (310) 645-5156 or www.kentwoodplayers.org

MYSTIC PIZZA – La Mirada

Sisters Kat and Daisy and their friend Jojo are Portuguese-American teenage girls working as waitresses at a pizza parlor owned by Leona in Mystic, Connecticut. This stage musical is based on the classic 1988 MGM film that starred Julia Roberts. It’s about working-class girls who navigate the complexities of life, love, and family and celebrates their coming-of-age. The score features hits of the ’80s and ’90s, from “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” and “Addicted to Love,” to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” Direction is by Casey Hushion and choreography by Connor Gallagher. Story and characters are by Amy Holden Jones and book is by Sandy Rustin. Arrangements and orchestrations by Carmel Dean and musical direction by Kristin Stowell. For tickets: (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310 or LaMiradaTheatre.com. At LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. La Mirada. Parking is Free!

A MEXICAN TRILOGY – Downtown

Students from East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Valley College and Los Angeles City College will come together to perform the complete, three-play, A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story at The Los Angeles Theatre Center, with each college presenting one part of this award-winning trio of playlets. In “Faith” we travel with the Morales family through decades of the Mexican American experience, from a remote mining town in Arizona during World War II; In “Hope” to the Phoenix family home during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and finally, in “Charity” go to Los Angeles in 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II. All three plays are written by Evelina Fernandez as part of Latino Theater Company’s “IMPACT” community engagement initiative. At LATC, 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles. Metered parking on the streets and the Pershing Square stop on the Metro. Tickets (213) 489-0994 or www.latinotheaterco.org.