Theatre | Leahjarvik

Recent theatre highlights...

Reclamation

New Art City Theater, Dir. Kirby Ward

Role: Amy

One of the four staged readings produced at the inaugural New Art City Theater festival of new works, RECONCILIATION by Dan Noonan is a funny, achingly beautiful story of salvation.

Starring Googy Gress, Leah Jarvik, Rebecca Larsen, Ulka Simone, and Nick Podany.

Festival-Program-Cover

Leah Jarvik, Nick Podany

Reclamation Team

Festival-Program-Cover

1/5

Ordinary Girls

Holocaust Museum LA, Dir. William Charlton

Role: Freddie Oversteegen

Written by Elin Hampton (credits include "Mad About You," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dream On," "Pinky and the Brain,") and based on a riveting true story, "Ordinary Girls" is about teenagers Truus Menger-Oversteegen, Freddie Oversteegen and Hannie Schaft, recruited by the Dutch underground to seduce and assassinate German officers during WWII. Their harrowing experiences create a compelling and moving drama of life and loss.

Ordinary Girls

1/6

14/48, Hollywood

Worlds Quickest Theater Festival, Hollywood

Role: Actor

In the span of 48 hours, 14 new plays are written, cast, directed, rehearsed, scored, designed, & premiered. The festival kicks off with the selection of a theme the night before, and seven writers each write a 10-minute play based on the randomly drawn theme. The plays are then drawn at random by seven directors who cast their plays by randomly drawing the names of actors from the 2023 Actor Roster. This year, Leah joined that acting roster, earning her the title of 14/48 Veteran.

14/48 Hollywood

Photo by Elena Maria Sanchez

14/48 Hollywood

Photo by Elena Maria Sanchez

14/48 Hollywood

Photo by Elena Maria Sanchez

14/48 Hollywood

Photo by Elena Maria Sanchez

1/6

Boom, Headshot!

MB Productions, Hollywood Fringe Festival, Dir. Jared Pixler

Role: Barbara

OFFICIAL WINNER OF THE HOLLYWOOD ENCORE PRODUCERS’ AWARD

"Boom, Headshot! A Geek Tragedy Book and lyrics by Scout Storey Music by Nick Morgan Direction by Jared Pixler A guild of close-knit, basement-dwelling MMORPG players takes on the apocalypse from the ephemeral safety of their avatars in “Boom, Headshot! A Geek Tragedy”—a rockin’ ode to gaming, online friendships, and acceptance told through song and synthpop… all with a side of pizza puffs. "

Photography by Sarah Ruttan @bigredcatpictography

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Photography by Sarah Ruttan @bigredcatpictography

1/7

Every Brilliant Thing (2023)

CalArts Master's Thesis (Guest Artist), Dir. Yameng Deng

Role: Solo Performer

Leah returns to perform her all time favorite solo play for the third time, now as a Guest Artist for a graduate thesis production at CalArts.

"You’re six years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s 'done something stupid.' She finds it hard to be happy. So you start to make a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything that’s worth living for. Soon, the list will take on a life of its own. A play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love."

1/6

The Fifth Wave

Macha Theatre Works, Dir. Amy Poissan

Role: Jess

"Twenty-five years after a life-changing event forged her role as a feminist icon, Maxx is now ensconced comfortably as a beloved professor at a private university. After news of an alleged sexual assault rocks the campus, fear is ignited, loyalties are tested, and Maxx must decide what she is willing to risk as her long-suppressed rage begins to rise again. Meanwhile her daughter Jess and the rest of the students must choose for themselves who to believe and what to believe in." WORLD PREMIER.

Photo by Joe Iano

Joe Iano Photography

Photo by Joe Iano

1/6

Cybernella

Culver City Public Theater, Dir. Trace Oakley

Role: Cybernella

Cybernella is a futuristic fairy tale written by famed children’s playwright Claire Boiko. It takes the classic Cinderella into the future, where the title character is a robot housekeeper, working her circuits to the bone for two self obsessed, jet-setting sisters and their publicity seeking mom. Who will win the heart of royal rock star Prince Harmony?

1/4

I Did The Holidays My Way

Tales of the Alchemysts Theatre, Dir. Laura Ferri

Role: Daughter (Lead) in Nona Maccabeus, and Elf in Reb Kringle

Tales of the Alchemysts Theatre spins words and music into gold and, this December, delivers holiday cheer to residents of Summit House, a Jewish retirement home. This Book-It Style performance of Nona Maccabeus by Gloria DeVidas Kirchheimer and Reb Kringle by Nathan Englander brings some of the light and magic of Hanukkah into the hearts of those who may have been without family and left with only memories this year.

1/3

Blood Water Paint

Macha Theatre Works

Role: Susanna

"Blood Water Paint is an audaciously imaginative and unflinching portrayal of Artemisia Gentileschi, an Italian Baroque painter now considered one of the most accomplished of her generation (...) Based on true events, Blood Water Paint unfolds lyrically through interactions with the women featured in Artemisia’s most famous paintings" (Macha Theatre Works)

Read NWTheatre's review : ‘Blood Water Paint’ Layers Artistry, Sexism, Violence, and Resilience Into a Vivid Portrait

Joe Iano Photography

1/7

The Winter's Tale

Powerhouse Theater, dir. Andrew Willis-Woodward

Role: Paulina

"A tale of Kings and Queens, love and jealousy, oracles and mysteries, storms and disguises, and an often-referred-to bear. A fanciful romp, but questions of redemption, accountability, and "happy" endings linger in this new adaptation of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale." (NYS&F)

Buck Lewis Photography

1/6

Head Above Water...

Powerhouse Theatre, Part of “Late Night at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center”.

Role: Ensemble (Devised work)

"You've been ignoring this leak for some time, haven't you? There's been so many other things to focus on. Your work, your dog, your succulent. But the water is cold and it's rising and your arms are getting tired from treading. But don't worry. There's some rescue boats on the way.

Keep Your Head Above Water So As Not to Sink utilizes the gestural composing language of Soundpainting to create a spontaneous, ensemble-based improvised performance about how to stay afloat when the water is pouring in" (NYS&F).

Buck Lewis Photography

1/8

Every Brilliant Thing (2019)

Haverford/Bryn Mawr Colleges, Senior Thesis

Solo show by Duncan MacMillan, Directed and performed by Leah Jarvik

Over the course of an hour, this solo show cracks open the hearts of audience members with it's loving and delicately direct look at mental health, depression and suicide. Full of warmth, joy, sorrow, and audience interaction. Audiences say:

“Amazing. Absolutely. Incredible. Like walking through someone’s imagination.”

“I didn't know theatre could be like this. I loved this. I wish it was longer.”

“I wish I had seen this in high school. […] Thank you for making me feel this.”

“It was brilliant!”

Hannah Weissmann Photography

Photo by Alexandra Iglesia

Hannah Weissmann Photography

1/9