The Arthur Newman Theatre at the Joslyn Senior Center ( 73–750 Catalina Way in Palm Desert, 92260)  is set to reopen under the artistic direction of CLago Productions. A season of five shows has been announced beginning September 20 and running through December 9 of this year.

Tickets for all shows are on sale now. Prices and performance schedules vary.

September 20–23, 2018
Dead Boys

A new drama by Matthew Scott Montgomery.
The end of the world. Two millennials trapped in the basement of their old high school. The only gay kid in school. And the guy who used to beat him up. Provocative, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Dead Boys is about two modern American young men who have no choice but to face fate, race, sexuality – and each other.

A 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival production of Dead Boys was a City of West Hollywood: One City One Pride Scholarship Award-winner. It was designated as Best of Fringe and won an Encore! Producers Award. The play was also a Diversity in American Theater Award finalist. Following their recent critically acclaimed run at Celebration Theatre in Hollywood, the production will feature playwright Montgomery and Andrew Puente.

October 4–7, 2018
Marilyn Monroe: The Last Interview

Written and performed by Kelly Mullis
Based on the final interview of blond bombshell Marilyn Monroe for Life Magazine in 1962. In it, she speaks candidly, expressing her true feelings about her mother, the men in her life, her career, and her disappointments. Written and performed by Kelly Mullis, this solo show takes the audience on a journey through the real Marilyn Monroe’s life, her tragic death, and the mysterious cover-up.

October 23 and 24, 2018
A Man and His Prostate

Next, the legendary Ed Asner will perform A Man and His Prostate, a solo play by Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Ed. Weinberger. The play follows the story of ‘The Man’ as he faces sudden and various difficulties stemming from his prostate while he’s vacationing in Italy with his wife. Two performances only .

November 8–11, 2018
The Book of Mormon

Written and Performed by Robert Dubai
Robert Dubac’s off-Broadway hit The Book of Moron has been described as one of the most
hilarious, intelligent, and scorching satirical attacks on idiocracy since Mark Twain. (And idiocracy isn’t even a word!) The New York Times raved, “Riding shotgun with intelligence and absurdity, The Book of Moron crashes head first into the barriers of sex, race, religion, politics, and the media … laughter for all!”

November 30–December 2 and December 7–9, 2018
Pizza Man and Hobos

The Newman Theatre’s 2018 season will close with Pizza Man and Hobos, two short plays by Joe Estevez.

Pizza Man: when all is lost, including the will to live, a revolver is put to the temple and the trigger pulled … then fate steps in and takes a hand. A knock at the door and there stands a stranger who knows more about you than you do. Is it a second chance?

Hobos: Bill is a hobo by choice, mad as hell at the whole world. Ambrose is the salt of the earth whose heart is an open wound. He understands the human condition and makes no judgments. These two misfits have traveled the rails together for years. But on this night, it’s the end of the line. Both plays star the playwright and Larry Thomas (best known as Seinfeld’s ‘Soup Nazi’).