I set up a scheduled, repeating task for Chat GPT to do - search multiple LA-related websites for local theater I might enjoy (based on a list of favorites and preferences.)
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Here's a sample of its weekly scan and output to me.
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LA Theater Editor — Sample Report, Friday July 31
1. F**king Strangers — Echo Theater Company
My strongest recommendation for you right now.
Atwater Village Theatre, through August 24. Four damaged Southern Californians collide through sex, loneliness, role-playing, marriage, secrets and purchased intimacy. BroadwayWorld calls it “piercing, funny, and heartbreaking,” praising the complicated characters and very strong ensemble.
More importantly, this sounds distinctly Hurlyburly-adjacent: contemporary LA, people behaving badly, dark humor, psychological exposure, and language doing most of the work.
There is one caution particularly relevant to you. A second critic admired the performances and direction but thought the script became repetitive and over-explained its ideas—essentially, too much verbal profundity. That disagreement actually makes me more interested in it for you: this is exactly the sort of production where your own verdict could be interesting.
Bruce-fit: ★★★★½
Echo Theater — production/tickets
2. Applause — The Group Rep
Small-theater musical sleeper.
North Hollywood, July 24–August 30. It's the 1970 musical based on All About Eve, with Comden & Green, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. BroadwayWorld's July 25 review calls the current production a “raucous good time” and praises the leading cast.
This wasn't on your radar, and that's exactly why this exercise is useful. Given your affection for 1776, Godspell, Threepenny Opera and Sunset Boulevard, a smart old-fashioned musical about theatrical ambition, ego and betrayal in a relatively intimate LA house deserves attention.
Bruce-fit: ★★★★
Applause — information and tickets
3. After the Blast — Broadwater Second Stage
Possible hidden gem; very short run.
Hollywood, August 5–13 only. Zoe Kazan's play takes place after an environmental catastrophe: humanity lives underground, reality is increasingly simulated through implanted technology, reproduction is regulated, and a couple who want a child are given a robot.
This is an educated guess, because I don't have an LA review yet. But it has several things I'd flag for you: a genuinely short run, a small Hollywood venue, an accomplished playwright, an interesting intellectual premise, and fundamentally a two-person relationship at its center rather than spectacle.
This is exactly the sort of thing I want the Friday report to catch before the reviews appear and the run is already half over.
Bruce-fit: ★★★★ potential / evidence still thin
After the Blast — information/tickets
4. Much Ado About Nothing — McCadden Place Theatre
Worth watching; opens next Friday.
Hollywood, August 7–16 only. A new Latino Shakespeare company is mounting Much Ado in an imagined wine-country setting, with separate English and bilingual Spanish/English performances.
This gets onto your list because Much Ado is fundamentally a language-and-wit machine: Beatrice and Benedick sparring is much closer to your theatrical sensibility than generalized Shakespearean grandeur. It's also the inaugural production of a tiny company and only eight performances—the 2026 equivalent of something you might once have discovered in the back pages of LA Weekly.
No reviews yet, so I wouldn't tell you to buy today. Watch.
Bruce-fit: ★★★½ pending reviews
Much Ado — dates and tickets
One I would not push you toward
How High the Moon — Theatre West, through August 16, concerns a 1952 San Fernando Valley family, marital doubts, sibling conflict and family secrets. It might be perfectly good, but right now I don't see enough evidence of the wit, verbal sharpness, intellectual surprise or extraordinary acting that would elevate it specifically for you. So: noted, but no recommendation yet.
My verdict this week
If you asked, “Bruce has one free night; what ticket should he buy?”, I'd say:
F**king Strangers.
And Applause is exactly the kind of second-tier discovery I hoped this system would uncover: something I wouldn't have predicted from the title alone, but which starts looking quite plausible once your taste profile is applied.
This sample also convinces me that 3–5 items is the right number. There are dozens of LA listings right now; most of them do not need to reach you.
