A respected and beloved Los Angeles theater director who worked at regional theaters across the country and in South Africa, Finney was also an established television and film director. She was the winner of numerous honors and awards, including for eight productions she directed at the Fountain over the course of a decades-long artistic relationship. Her acclaimed staging of the Fountain’s production of Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine was one of three chosen to inaugurate CTG’s Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2017. Finney passed away on October 10 at the age of 74 following an eight-month battle with cancer.
“We invite the Los Angeles theater community to gather with us to honor this extraordinary artist,” says Fountain Theatre artistic director Stephen Sachs. “The celebration is open to anyone who was touched by Shirley Jo’s life. All are welcome.”
The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City CA 90232. Parking is free with validation underneath City Hall, located across the street from the theater on the corner of Culver Blvd. and Duquesne Ave. (entrance on Duquesne).
The Fountain Theatre and the Los Angeles theater community are mourning the death of celebrated director Shirley Jo Finney, who passed away on October 10, 2023 at the age of 74 following an eight-month battle with cancer. The Fountain Theatre, where Finney directed eight productions over the course of a decades-long artistic relationship, will host a memorial service in celebration of Finney’s life and accomplishments at a future date to be announced.
“It shatters my heart beyond expression to announce the passing of my artistic sister,” says Fountain Theatre artistic director Stephen Sachs. “I am deeply, deeply devastated. She was my theatrical soulmate for 26 years.”
Born July 14, 1949 in Merced, CA, Shirley Jo Finney was a multiple award-winning director and actress. She wore her director’s hat in some of the most respected regional theaters across the country, including the Fountain Theatre, LA Theater Works, Pasadena Playhouse and Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; the Goodman Theater in Chicago; Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; the McCarter Theater and Crossroads Theatre Company in New Jersey; the Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Cleveland Playhouse; Humana Festival at the Actors Theater of Louisville; and the Sundance Theater Workshop in Park City, Utah.
Her affiliation with the Fountain began in 1997, with her acclaimed production of Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s From the Mississippi Delta, for which the LA Times highlighted her inventive staging. Under her direction, the smash hit world premiere of Stephen Sachs’ spin on L.A’s jazz history, Central Avenue, ran for seven months in 2001. Her Los Angeles premiere of Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for best production, and earned Finney the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Theatre Award for best director. Her direction of the Fountain’s West Coast premiere of Ifa Bayeza’s daring, folk and gospel-infused The Ballad of Emmett Till in 2010 resulted in an awards sweep: Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle, NAACP and Backstage Garland awards for production, direction and ensemble. Other directing credits at the Fountain included world premieres of Citizen: An American Lyric by award-winning PENN poet Claudia Rankine and Fountain Theatre artistic director Stephen Sachs; Heart Song, about three friends who discover their inner ‘duende’ through a flamenco class for middle-aged women, also by Sachs; and Runaway Home, a poetic mother-daughter tale set in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by Jeremy J. Kamps, for which Finney received an NAACP Theater Award nomination. She directed Los Angeles premieres of two plays by Tarell Alvin McCraney for the Fountain: In the Red and Brown Water, for which she received Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Ovation and NAACP awards, and The Brothers Size, for which she garnered a Stage Raw award nomination and a Stage Scene LA “Scenie” award.
She most recently directed Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage at the Ensemble Theatre in Houston, TX, where she had previously directed The Green Book in 2020. Other recent directing credits include the internationally acclaimed South African opera Winnie, based on the life of political icon Winnie Mandela, at the State Theater in Pretoria, South Africa; Facing Our Truth, The Trayvon Martin Project at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles; and the Lark Foundation’s rolling world premiere of The Road Weeps by Marcus Gardley at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.
Miss Finney was also an established television and film director. She directed several episodes of Moesha, and she garnered the International Black Filmmakers Award for her short film Remember Me.
She was honored with the UCLA Department of Theater Film and Television Distinguished Alumni Award, the Black Alumni Associations Dr. Beverly Robinson Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the African American Film Marketplace Award of Achievement for Outstanding Performance and Achievement and Leader in Entertainment.
An accomplished actress with many television and film credits, she was best known for her portrayal in the historic title role of Wilma Rudolph, the first female three-time gold medalist in the made-for-TV bio picture Wilma.
Miss Finney was an alumnus of the American Film Institute’s Director Workshop for Women and held an M.F.A. degree from UCLA. She was a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the Director’s Guild, and the Screen Actor’s Guild. She was an artist-in-residence at several colleges and universities, including Columbia College in Chicago, UC Santa Barbara, USC and UCLA.
The Fountain Theatre presents the West Coast premiere of Freight: The Five Incarnations of Abel Green, a timely and timeless theatrical journey written by Howard L. Craft, directed by Joseph Megel, and starring J. Alphonse Nicholson (Broadway’s Tony award-winning A Soldier’s Play; co-star P-Valley on Starz; Netflix’s They Cloned Tyrone). The limited 21-performance run takes place November 12 through December 16, with low-priced previews beginning November 9.
Nicholson reprises his off-Broadway, tour-de-force star turn as five versions of an African American everyman who travels through time in different incarnations, including a 19th Century minstrel, a faith healer, an FBI informant, a struggling actor, and an out-of-work mortgage broker. In each life, Abel is guided, distracted, helped or hindered by a handful of characters with whom his destiny is forever intertwined. We meet each new iteration of Abel Green on a train, which changes in appearance in accordance with each time period and serves as a link between dimensions.
“Freight operates on the premise that a person’s spirit, or soul, comes to the world because there is something the soul needs to learn,” says Craft. “If the soul does not learn it, then it comes back to the world again and again until it’s successful. The soul can exist concurrently in different time periods, in multiple dimensions of the same universe.”
Inspired by the painting “Slow Down Freight Train” by Rose Piper, the play started out as a 10-minute monologue for North Carolina’s “Activated Art at the Ackland” series. That scene was later expanded in collaboration with Megel and Nicholson to create the current, full-length production.
“The three of us have great chemistry,” Craft explained in an interview. “This is not the first piece we’ve done together. I’m from Durham [North Carolina] and Alphonse is from Greensboro; there are a lot of similarities in these places. He just really gets the rhythm of my writing. And Joseph has a way of pulling things out of an actor, and out of a playwright. He has a very light touch, but he brings so much up.”
Freight earned rave reviews off-Broadway at the New Federal Theatre. “Mr. Nicholson transforms from one Abel to the next in front of us… distinct and entertaining,” raved The New York Times in its “Critic’s Pick” review. New York’s Amsterdam News enthused, “intensely written and stunningly performed,” and Berkshire Fine Arts calls Freight “a superb play.”
Named one of Essence magazine’s “Of the Essence Screen Kings,” Nicolson is a two-time NAACP Image Award nominee for his role inP-Valley, and other notable credits include Just Mercy (Warner Bros.), Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Netflix), Blue Bloods (CBS), Mr. Robot (USA), Shots Fired (FOX), Marvel’s Luke Cage (Netflix), Tales (BET), The Blacklist (NBC), and Chicago PD (NBC). In addition to A Soldier’s Play, his theater credits include Signature Theatre’s twice extended off-Broadway premiere of Dominque Morisseau’s Paradise Blue, directed by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Days of Rage at 2nd Stage. He was recently seen in the remake of White Men Can’t Jump (Disney/20th Century Studios) and They Cloned Tyrone (Macro/Netflix). Next up: The Sterling Affairs (FX), Black Spartans (Buffalo 8 Productions) and Albany Road.
Secure, on-site parking is available for $5. Running time for Freight is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Patrons are invited to relax before and after the show at the Fountain’s upstairs indoor/outdoor café.
Check out this short new video of Hannah Wolf, fabulous director of Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, as she discusses how love and friendship are core themes of this iconic, funny, and poignant play.
Set in 1974, Bluefish concerns a group of queer women who spend their summers together in a remote seaside town. Their enclave is disrupted when Eva, a naïve straight woman separated from her husband, stumbles unaware into their circle and falls for the charming, tough-talking Lil. This iconic lesbian play bursts with heartfelt friendship, laughter, and love.
Last Summer at Bluefish Cove plays on our Outdoor Stage at 7pm Fridays – Mondays beginning next week. Low-priced previews begin Wednesday, June 14. Opening Night is Saturday, June 17, with a dessert reception to follow. The show runs through Sunday, August 27. TICKETS/MORE INFO.
While the cast of our summer production, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, have been hard at work rehearsing, Sets-to-Go has been hard at work building the incredible set designed by our fabulous scenic designer, Desma Murphy.
Last week, the set for the Bluefish Cove beach cottage where a group of lesbian women spend their summers together was loaded onto our Outdoor Stage. Soon to come will be the rocks and dock of the cove.
Check out this short video chat with Desma and watch the magic happen as the crew installs the set and Bluefish Cove begins to become a reality.
Last Summer at Bluefish Cove begins previews on June 14, opens on June 17, and runs through August 27. Tickets/More Info.
Set in 1974, a group of queer women spend their summers together in a remote oceanfront town on Long Island. Their lesbian enclave is disrupted when Eva, a naïve straight woman recently separated from her husband, stumbles unaware into their circle and falls for the charming, tough-talking Lil. This heartfelt play, a landmark in lesbian history, is bursting with friendship, laughter, love and hope, bringing well-rounded, three-dimensional characters that transcend stereotypes and preconceptions to the stage.
Check out this short video to meet the cast of our hot new summer production, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, opening June 17 on our Outdoor Stage.
Welcome to Bluefish Cove. The Fountain Theatre will transform the parking lot surrounding the set on its outdoor stage to create an oceanfront experience for its 40th-anniversary production of the groundbreaking comedy/drama, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove by Jane Chambers. Directed by Hannah Wolf, performances take place June 17 through August 27, with low-priced previews beginning June 14.
Set in 1974, a group of queer women spend their summers together in a remote oceanfront town on Long Island. Their lesbian enclave is disrupted when Eva, a naïve straight woman recently separated from her husband, stumbles unaware into their circle and falls for the charming, tough-talking Lil. This heartfelt play, a landmark in lesbian history, is bursting with friendship, laughter, love and hope, bringing well-rounded, three-dimensional characters that transcend stereotypes and preconceptions to the stage.
“The play ran for two years, from 1981-1983, at the Fountain Theatre 40 years ago starring Jean Smart, before Deborah Lawlor and I acquired the building and established our company,” says Fountain artistic director Stephen Sachs. “It was a benchmark achievement in L.A. theater, a turning point for L.A.’s queer community, and a milestone in the history of our building. Many women saw and remember it. Now its time for generations of young gay women born after the play was produced here to experience it for themselves.”
One of the first playwrights to depict love between women as happy, healthy, and well-adjusted, Jane Chambers (1937-1983) changed the course of American drama with works informed by second-wave feminism and the burgeoning gay rights movement, including A Late Snow (1974), Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (1980) and My Blue Heaven (1981). A prolific writer, Chambers also authored novels, poetry, and essays in addition to penning scripts for film and television. She trained as an actress at Rollins College and the Pasadena Playhouse because female students were not admitted to writing classes, and enjoyed success as an off-Broadway performer.
“(Bluefish Cove) was a benchmark achievement in L.A. theater, a turning point for L.A.’s queer community, and a milestone in the history of our building. … Now its time for generations of young gay women born after the play was produced here to experience it for themselves.”
–Stephen Sachs
In 1964, Chambers moved to Maine where she worked for MWTW-TV as a content producer and on-air personality. During President Johnson’s War on Poverty, Chambers took a position as arts coordinator with Jobs Corp, creating theater with inner-city youths. While earning a bachelor’s degree at Goddard College, Chambers returned to New York, co-founded Women’s Interart Theatre with Margot Lewitin, and met her life partner, talent agent Beth Allen. Chambers was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died in 1983. Her pioneering spirit is honored by an annual prize given in her name: The Jane Chambers Award for Playwriting is administered by The Women and Theatre Program. Chambers’ impact on American drama is also celebrated by a reading series at TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence) Theatre.
France-Luce Benson has been honored by the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly the Actors Fund) with the 2023 Teaching Artist Award for Innovative Curriculum. France-Luce was recognized for pioneering Fountain Voices, the Fountain Theatre’s arts education program serving students in schools throughout Southern California. The award is supported by the generosity of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The majority of students in the Fountain Voices program have never seen a play, read a play, or know much about theatre at all. Ms. Benson observed in her thank-you remarks, “They are completely unaware of the power of theatre – which is that it is a space for us to use our voices. Many of the students have never been given that kind of space. They don’t know they have a voice, or that what they have to say matters. Many of them have never been asked to think about what matters to them, what is important to them – let alone write about it. And it’s exciting to watch them come alive when they begin to discover that, to discover who they are, what they care about. And the most exciting thing is not to see them use their voices, but to experience their desire to be heard, to step into the belief that they have a right to be heard.”
Congratulations, France-Luce! We’re proud of the educational outreach work we do at the Fountain. Thanks for laying out the blueprint to help make it happen.
The Fountain Theatre west coast premieres Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell & Gordon Farrell’s The Lifespan of a Fact, opening February 18th.
Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Simon! I am so glad I finally get the chance to interview you after seeing so many of your incredible, tear-jerking productions, especially Daniel’s Husband and The Normal Heart. So, what factors influenced you to west coast premiere The Lifespan of a Fact?
The plays I’m attracted to wrestle with contemporary societal issues. I’d been looking for a project that theatricalized this “post-factual” world we’re living in. What is Truth, and is it negotiable? But I didn’t want something politically on-the-nose. When I read Lifespan, I fell in love with it because it’s based on a true story and tackles these issues through three wonderfully contrasting, funny, smart, and compulsive/obsessive characters who have vastly differing takes on this question of “truth” and “artistic freedom” in publishing. As we watch the play, we can’t help but think about what’s going on in politics, journalism, and social media today.
Had you seen the 2018 production with Bobby Cannavale, Cherry Jones and Daniel Radcliffe? I did not see the Broadway production but heard wonderful things about it from friends who did see it.
What would your three-line pitch for Lifespan be? Based on a true story. When a renowned essayist writes a literary nonfiction essay about a teenager who commits suicide by jumping off the top of the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, are “facts” and “truth” about his life and what happened negotiable? Or is it okay to make stuff up, change some details, for the sake of a good story? Where is the line between accuracy and fiction? (Think of all the “biographical” movies that play loosely with the “facts” to make the story more dramatic.)
You’ve directed and produced over 120 productions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, directing Ron Bottitta in The Children at The Fountain. Who have you worked with before of the other Lifespan cast or creatives? Working with Ron Bottitta again is a delight. Such a gifted, organic actor. And it’s great to work again with Marc Antonio Pritchett, who’s doing Sound; and Michael Mullen, who’s doing Costumes. The rest of the team are new to me.
With all the actors you’ve directed or produced, do you even need to audition any for your productions? I prefer to make offers to actors I’ve either already worked with or have seen in other productions. For this project I immediately saw Ron as John and Inger as Emily (who I’ve seen in shows around town). I auditioned the younger role of Jim (the fact-checker), but knew Jonah personally and asked him to come in and read.
What aspects of a script attract you to want to direct it? I’m attracted to plays that resonate with contemporary issues, especially in a poetic/realistic way. Plays that make us think about something in a different way. That open our heart. That “change” us, no matter how slightly. Plays that wake us up or re-awaken us. I’m always looking for that poetic gesture, that opportunity to use all the tools of theatre (lighting, video, sound) to draw the audience into the inner lives of the characters and the world of the play. I believe in using those tools and being bold about it. And I love plays that have complex characters – characters that are messy, with deep secrets and deep wells – characters who surprise us and reflect back to us who we are. We are such messed up, beautiful, complex beings, we humans. I love plays that “hold that mirror up to nature.”
What originally convinced you to join The Fountain Theatre as its producing director in 1993, three years after its inception? When I first joined the Fountain to help “rescue” a show nearly 30 years ago, I knew immediately it was my artistic home because the people there – Stephen, Deborah, Scott, and all the others over the years – are people of the heart; people who do theatre for the right reasons. They are artists who love this art form. It’s not about their ego. It’s about the art. They are family.
What aspects of a script attract you to include it in The Fountain Theatre season? Socially/politically-conscious plays that wrestle with contemporary issues and have a deep heart.
This is a Sophie’s Choice question: what is The Fountain Theatre production closest to your heart? Like a father, you love all your children, for various reasons. So many of the productions I’ve done at the Fountain stand out for me, but I would have to say The Normal Heart holds a special place in my heart for very personal reasons.
You are now a successful theatre director, producer, playwright and screenwriter. What did you want to be growing up? Hmmm? First, I wanted to be a Marine. Then a fighter pilot. Then a spy. Then a poet. Then a writer. Then a sax player. Then an actor. Then a director. I didn’t achieve the first three, but I’ve dabbled in the others.
If you had to choose just one of your four professions to pursue for the rest of your life, which one would it be? And why? A director. I love being in rehearsal, playing in the playground, creating with gifted people.
You have earned countless awards and honors in your career. Is there one particular one that stands up above the rest? And why? Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing. It’s nice to know your work has been affective and noticed.
What is the status of your latest writing projects Two Hearts and Heartland, America? Both are doing the rounds, though I’ve moved on to other writing projects.
What do you have planned for The Fountain’s upcoming season? After Lifespan, we’ll be doing a 40th-anniversary production of Last Summer at Bluefish Cove this summer. Our fall show is still TBA. (We’re waiting to see which direction our country is going in). We’ll also be doing a Chamber Music Series, a Jazz at the Fountain Series, and Flamenco. Some of these will be on our outdoor stage. And we’ll continue our Education Outreach Program, Fountain Voices, introducing and teaching the next generation the beauty and thrill of live theatre.
Will you be directing any of these shows? No plans at the moment.
What is in the near future for Simon Levy? I’m supposed to go on a long-delayed world cruise in early 2024. There is much to see and explore out there… if the COVID gods (and world events) are kind.
Thank you again, Simon! I look forward to checking out your Lifespan. For tickets to the live performances of The Lifespan of a Fact through April 2, 2023; click here.
The Fountain Theatre is pleased and honored to welcome award-winning journalist Erin Aubry Kaplan to its Board of Directors. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ms. Kaplan brings a longtime passion for theater and culture to the Fountain organization. She says, “I like to think that the narrative of theater, its goal of illuminating humanity in full without shying away from its most challenging aspects, informs what I do as a writer.” Plus, she’s a dog lover. What’s not to like?
Ms. Kaplan is a journalist, essayist and author who has been writing about race, politics, culture, individuality, and the confluence of all those things since 1992. She has been a weekly op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times (the first Black person to hold the position), staff writer and columnist for the LA Weekly, and contributing writer to the New York Times opinion, Politico and HuffPost.
“When my friend Diana Buchhantz invited me to join the Fountain board last year,” she explains. “I was honored and thrilled. I had been looking for a way to reconnect with theater. As a journalist I chiefly write about politics, race and culture, but I’ve always been equally passionate about theater; I have an MFA in acting, and spent years writing theater reviews and features for the LA Weekly when I was a staff writer there. That experience allowed me to experience the breadth and depth of the theater scene in greater L.A., and it was a revelation. Especially at the Fountain, whose shows were uniformly excellent. “
What are her goals as a board member?
“I hope to help the Fountain continue its tradition of mounting great productions that are highly entertaining, thought-provoking and, most importantly, fearless and forward-thinking. I hope also to be a benefit to Fountain Voices and other educational programs that seek to grow and diversify theater audiences, as well as cultivate talent that doesn’t necessarily have access to the traditionally cloistered world of theater. Arts are what we urgently need in these turbulent political times, and theater is a voice that can best speak to them.”
