Stick-to-it-iveness

photo by I.C. Rapoport

So Lydia Diamond's much-lauded family comedy/drama Stick Fly will hit Broadway later this year. That's great news for Diamond, and great news for a play that's been gathering steam since its 2006 debut at Chicago Congo Square Theatre. It's also good news for the 99-seat Matrix Theatre in L.A. It was from the Matrix's feisty producer, Joe Stern, that I first heard about the play; I was doing interviews for this two-part series for LA Stage Times, and Joe, a veteran of the so-called "Waiver wars," was talking it up because he was about to produce it there (and with much of the same cast and the same director as the McCarter production).

I mention this just to clear up any misconception that Center Theatre Group and Pasadena Playhouse are the only L.A. theaters that stage major national work (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Baby It's You, Sister Act, respectively), and to remind those who need reminding (you probably don't know who you are) that some of L.A.'s 99-seaters are as or more forward-thinking than the big LORT houses (Boston Court, here's looking at you, too).