{"id":335157,"date":"2026-05-27T23:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/335157\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T23:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T23:57:11","slug":"the-book-of-will-to-open-at-curtis-theatre-in-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/335157\/","title":{"rendered":"THE BOOK OF WILL to Open at Curtis Theatre in June"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            \ud83c\udfad NEW! Los Angeles Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-subtitle\" style=\"color: #cccccc; font-size: 16px; margin: 0 0 20px 0; line-height: 1.5; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif;\">\n            Get all the top news &amp; discounts for Los Angeles &amp; beyond.\n        <\/p>\n<p>The Curtis Theatre and Begins and Ends with A will present The Book of Will, written by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/people\/Lauren-Gunderson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lauren Gunderson<\/a> and directed by Amanda Hallman.<\/p>\n<p>            \ud83c\udfad NEW! Los Angeles Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-subtitle\" style=\"color: #cccccc; font-size: 16px; margin: 0 0 20px 0; line-height: 1.5; font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif;\">\n            Get all the top news &amp; discounts for Los Angeles &amp; beyond.\n        <\/p>\n<p>Based on the true story behind <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/people\/William-Shakespeare\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">William Shakespeare<\/a>&#8216;s first folio, The Book of Will follows the Bard&#8217;s closest friends and their realization after his death that his works could be lost forever. Charged with the impossible task of compiling Shakespeare&#8217;s original works into a Goliathan publication against the odds of funding, feuds, and their limited time, John Heminges and Henry Condell join forces with their families and friends to save the plays\u2026 and themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Perfect for Shakespeare fans and novices alike, The Book of Will is a celebration of friendship, of legacy, of forgotten heroes and heroines, and of well-told stories that unite generations. It is the true story of how The King&#8217;s Men\u2014and the women alongside them\u2014bequeathed to us one of the most performed, studied, and celebrated works in Western literature and theatre.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love this play for its love of theatre. For the characters in this play and me, the theatre is a sacred place. It&#8217;s where we go for friendship and family, laughter and solace. I&#8217;ve never read anything that captures that reverence and love the way <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/people\/Lauren-Gunderson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lauren Gunderson<\/a>&#8216;s words do in this play,\u201d says director Amanda Hallman, co-founder of Begins and Ends with A. \u201cAs for my favorite moment in the show\u2026 you&#8217;ll have to come see for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Book of Will is yet another partnership between the Curtis Theatre and Begins and Ends with A. Previous partnerships include their award-winning productions of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/people\/Lauren-Gunderson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lauren Gunderson<\/a>&#8216;s The Revolutionists, Emilie: La Marquise Du Ch\u00e2telet Defends Her Life Tonight, and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/people\/Melanie-Marnich\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Melanie Marnich<\/a>&#8216;s These Shining Lives.<\/p>\n<p>(from left to right) Genevieve Kauper, Rebecca Leeds, Kelly Franett, Rigel Kent Paden, Madeleine Claire Colburn. Photo by: Francis Gacad.<\/p>\n<p>The production runs June 12th through June 21st with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday showtimes: Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturday at 3:00pm (June 20 only), Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 3:00pm.<\/p>\n<p>Tickets:<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tAdults $36&#13;<br \/>\n\tSeniors $32&#13;<br \/>\n\tMedical\/Military\/1st Responders $32&#13;<br \/>\n\tStudents $28&#13;<\/p>\n<p>The Curtis Theatre is conveniently located in downtown Brea and offers an intimate setting with 199 seats and an expansive stage; \u201cThere really isn&#8217;t a bad seat in the house.\u201d Free Parking. 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, CA 92821.<\/p>\n<p>For more information and tickets: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.curtistheatre.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">www.curtistheatre.com<\/a> or call the box office at 714-990-7722.<\/p>\n<p>ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:<\/p>\n<p>Amanda Hallman is a director, educator, producer, and theatrical intimacy professional. An Orange County, CA native, she earned an AA from Fullerton College, a BA from UC San Diego, both in Theatre with an emphasis on Acting and Directing, and an MFA in Performance Pedagogy from Loyola Marymount University. She is co-founder of Begins and Ends with A, a female-driven Theatrical Production Company.<\/p>\n<p>ABOUT THE WRITER:<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/people\/Lauren-Gunderson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lauren Gunderson<\/a> is a playwright, screenwriter, and short story author from Atlanta, GA. She received her BA in English\/Creative Writing at Emory University, and her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, where she was also a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. She has been one of the most produced playwrights in America (American Theatre Magazine) since 2015, topping the list thrice including 22\/23. Gunderson is a two-time winner of the Steinberg\/ACTA New Play Award for her plays I and You and The Book of Will.<\/p>\n<p>ABOUT BEGINS AND ENDS WITH A:<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2022 by Aja Bell and Amanda Hallman, Begins and Ends with A creates theatre that tells meaningful stories of art, equity, feminism, and humanity. Begins and Ends with A is committed to creating collaborative, consent-based rehearsal and performance processes that honor and respect all artists involved.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.broadwayworld.com\/vote.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778624529_742_CHOICEAWARDS-1777549390.png\" width=\"800\" height=\"200\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto;\" alt=\"Theater Fans' Choice Awards\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n                2026 Theater Fans&#8217; Choice Awards &#8211; Live Stats\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                    Best Off-Broadway Play &#8211; Top 3\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                            1.<br \/>\n                            A Christmas Carol (Thorne Adaptation)                                                            &#8211; PAC NYC                                                    <\/p>\n<p>\n                            7.7% of votes\n                        <\/p>\n<p>\n                            2.<br \/>\n                            Prince F****t                                                            &#8211; Playwrights Horizons                                                    <\/p>\n<p>\n                            5.8% of votes\n                        <\/p>\n<p>\n                            3.<br \/>\n                            Andre De Shields is Tartuffe                                                            &#8211; House of the Redeemer                                                    <\/p>\n<p>\n                            4.7% of votes\n                        <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"#\" class=\"d-block\"><br \/>\n              <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201%201%22%2F%3E\" class=\"img-fluid bww-rec-img\" alt=\"\" style=\"padding:0px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"#\" class=\"d-block\"><br \/>\n              <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201%201%22%2F%3E\" class=\"img-fluid bww-rec-img\" alt=\"\" style=\"padding:0px;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfad NEW! Los Angeles Theatre Newsletter Get all the top news &amp; discounts for Los Angeles &amp; beyond.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-335157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}