June 13 - August 15, 2009
"Bach at Leipzig" at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles.
On June 13th, Joel returns to his artistic home, the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles, for their production of "Bach at Leipzig" by Itamar Moses.
Leipzig, 1722. While religious and political conflict rage across Germany, five candidates assemble at the Thomaskirche to audition for the post of Master Organist of this most prestigious Church. Plots, alliances, and schemes hatch and dissolve in this uproarious comedy as our musicians vie for the coveted title.
"Bach at Leipzig" opens on June 13, 2009 and runs through August 15.
Come out and join in the fun. A witty, arch, and intelligent play, which reveals the timelessness of vanity and ambition.
The Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. (one block north of Olympic)
West Los Angeles, CA
Tickets: Box Office: 310.477.2055
June 2009
Joel directs 'So Near and Yet So Noir' at the Circus Theatricals 14th Annual Festival of New One Act Plays. The play is written by Chuck Rose, directed by Joel Polis, with Jim McCaffree, Emily Merryn, and Danica Sanders. Sundays at 7pm on May 25, 31, June 7, 14, 21, 28.
Circus Theatricals at the LEX Theatre
6760 Lexington Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
TICKETS: 323.960.7846 or online: http://tr.im/p5UE
April - June 2009
Joel will appear as Dr. Aldicott in the television movie 'Chasing a Dream'.
The movie stars Treat Williams and Andrew Lawrence and will be shown on the Hallmark Channel.
September 9 - October 12, 2008
"Don't Talk to the Actors"
See Joel in "Don't Talk to the Actors" at the Laguna Playhouse.
Starting September 9th at the Laguna Playhouse, Joel will be appear in the West Coast Premiere of Tom Dudzick’s newest play, "Don't Talk to the Actors". The play follows the adventures of fledgling playwright Jerry Przpezniak and his fiancée Arlene Wyniarski, who are suddenly swept up in the whirlwind of New York’s theatre scene when Jerry’s autobiographical play is optioned for Broadway. Joel plays 'Mike Policzek' the unflappable director from Chicago. The comedy is directed by Rick Sparks.
The play runs until October 12th, with eight shows a week and two matinees per weekend at 2pm.
606 Laguna Canyon Road
Laguna Beach,CA,92651
Tickets: Box Office: 949.497.2787
June 2008
Joel will appear as Dr. Ed Aldicott in the television movie 'Miles from Nowhere'. The movie stars Treat Williams and will be shown on the Hallmark Channel.
June 2008
Joel will appear in an episode of Stargate Atlantis that will air this Fall on the SciFi Channel. He will play 'Elson' an enlightened elder, in the episode titled 'Outsiders'.
October 17, 2007
Joel will be appearing on CSI-NY, as Professor Clark Risenhoover, Dean of Physics at Chelsea University in NY. This 4th episode of the season is called "Time's Up" and concerns the murder of a colleague of Risenhoover's who is experimenting with Time Travel.
March 2007
Joel plays Alfred Dussel in "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura CA.
March 2007
Joel received a Garland Award Honorable Mention for his performance in "Pound of Flesh."
February 2007
The 38th annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards has nominated:
Joel Polis "Pound of Flesh" Odyssey Theater
in the Lead Performance category honoring excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County theater for 2006.
The LADCC awards ceremony will be held on March 19 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood.
January 19th - February 18th, 2007
"Defiance"
See Joel in "Defiance" at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Starting January 19th at the Pasadena Playhouse, Joel will be appear in the West Coast Premiere of
John Patrick Shanley's latest play, "Defiance".
The play examines the idea of Character in Leadership and Personal Responsibility within the context of the
racial tensions in the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1971, at the height of the Vietnam war.
Directed by Andrew Robinson, the wonderful cast is led by Kevin Kilner and Jordan Baker as Colonel
and Mrs. Littlefield. Joel plays the Gunney Sergeant. Come out to see this intelligent and gripping drama,
rife with overtones of our current events in Iraq.
The play runs until February 18th, with eight shows a week and two matinees per week.
Pasadena Playhouse
39 South El Molino Ave. (just off of Colorado Blvd.)
Pasadena, CA
Tickets: Box Office: 626.792.8672
January 6, 14, and 29, 2007
See Joel this month in 'Murder 101: College Can Be Murder' a new movie starring Dick Van Dyke on the Hallmark Channel.
November - December 2006
"Pound of Flesh"
See Joel as 'Ezra Pound' at the Taos Center for the Arts.
The play runs November 30, and December 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9.
The shows are at 8pm with a question and answer session after all shows except opening night.
Tickets are $15. Preview night on Wednesday November 29.
Taos Center for the Arts
133 Paseo del Pueblo Norte
Taos, New Mexico
Tickets: Box Office: 505.758.2052
Here's a link to an article in the Taos Horse Fly about "Pound of Flesh" at the TCA.
Taos Community Auditorium: "Pound of Flesh"
October 17th, 2006
Joel will appear in The Unit on CBS, in the episode titled 'Force Majeure.'
May 1st, 2006
Joel will appear in CSI Miami as Agent Robert Wynn, in the episode titled 'Open Water.'
April 29th 2006
"Pound of Flesh"
See Joel as 'Ezra Pound' at the Odyssey Theatre
Opens April 29th 2006 for an eight week run.
"Pound of Flesh" by Michael Peter Bolus and starring Joel Polis and David Mauer, is opening at the Odyssey Theatre on April 29th for an eight week run. This West Coast premiere is a new bio-play, presented at the Edinburgh International Theater Festival last August by the Festival Theater USA company. It is a fictional account of the detention in a military prison camp of Ezra Pound, the American poet, before his deportation and trial for treason in the US after the Second World War. The play follows the relationship between Pound and his military guard, a young army private from Ohio, while he awaits the deportation proceedings.
Engaging and provocative on many levels, i.e. political, spiritual, literary, this 90 minute production will evoke a whirlwind of contemporary and timeless questions. The play runs Wednesday through Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 7, with several scheduled Sunday matinees.
The Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. (one block north of Olympic)
West Los Angeles, CA
Tickets: Box Office: 310.477.2055
March 28th, 2006
Joel will appear in Boston Legal, in the episode titled 'Word Salad Days.'
Spring 2006
"Fallen Angel"
Joel appears in the film "Fallen Angel" written and directed by Jeff Thomas. Joel plays 'Horace Milhouse,' a stuttering city hall bureaucrat. The film stars Michael Dorn (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Ruth Buzzi, Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), and Daniel Zacapa.
Spring 2006
Pound of Flesh
Joel will be co-producing and starring as Ezra Pound in "Pound of Flesh" at the Odyssey Theatre.
January 20th - February 26th, 2006
Joel will be opening in the world premiere of "Dialectics of the Heart" by Dale Stamos, directed by Alison Vail Fuller. "Dialectics" will star Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue, Desperate Housewives) and be presented at the Edgemar Theater in Santa Monica.
"Dialectics of the Heart"The action takes place in the Philosophy Department of a mid-western University and delves into the issues of sexual harassment, the age-old power struggle between men and women, and the mind and heart.
The play opens on January 20th and runs through February 26th on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 and Sunday matinee at 3.
Edgemar Theater2437 Main Street, Santa Monica CA
Tickets: Box office 310.392.7327
August 6th - August 20th, 2005
Joel will appear as Ezra Pound in 'Pound of Flesh' at the Drummond Theatre in Edinburgh.
Pound of Flesh
A play of questionable morality, ethics and humanity, guaranteed to appall, scandalize and enrage. With savage wit and coruscating language Nazi-collaborator Ezra Pound defends himself to his prison guard. From a new American voice, Michael Bolus.
Festival Theatre USA @ Drummond Theatre
41 Bellevue Place, Edinburgh, Tel: 0131.557.9009
August 5th - August 20th, 2005
Joel will also perform in two additional plays in Festival Theatre USA at the Drummond Theatre in Edinburgh Scotland.
"Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America" by Stephen Sewell and as Yoda in "Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes" by Patrick T. Gorman.
Click here for ticket information:
May 22nd - July 24th, 2005
"Flags" at the Odyssey Theatre.
Joel Polis, Producer
"Flags" is a fierce, new, political drama by the well-known American playwright Jane Martin. For more information about this play, please visit the Flags website.
March 12th - May 12th, 2005
My Dear Friends,
On March 12th, I am opening in a new play by New York playwright Richard Abrons called "3 Travelers",
directed by my old friend Jay Broad. It is a Romantic Karma-dy, about three friends who travel to India
to see a guru to seek enlightenment.
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles CA
Tickets: Box office: 310-477-2055
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Joel will appear as 'Judge Silvio Peters' in the CSI episode "Hollywood Brass".
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Joel will appear in the new NBC drama series Revelations.
March 4th, 2005
Joel will appear in McBride: It's Murder Madam, the Hallmark Channel mystery movie series starring John Larroquette.
November 29, 2004
Back By Popular Demand
Joel will teach a Workshop in Affective Memory on December 12th.
For details check out the Workshops page.
October 30, 2004
New Date
Joel will teach a Workshop in Affective Memory on November 21st.
For details check out the Workshops page.
Joel will appear in the new NBC drama series Revelations.
May 21, 2004
Joel was interviewed by Dave (the Dude) Scott, at Costa Rica's premiere Rock and Roll radio station in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Joel appeared in a February episode of 'Angel' as Captain Franklin, a WWII Submarine Captain killed by Nazi vampires, and then played Jerry Lazar, a sensitivity trainer in a March 2004 episode of 'The Guardian'.
Joel Polis and William O'Leary cordially invite you to a reading of a new Romantic Comedy
"Pieces of Love"
by William O'Leary
Presented at the Court Theater
722 North La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles
On Monday Evening January 12, 2004 at 7:30 pm
For more information see the Projects section of my website.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Cassius in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"
"Julius Caesar" by W. Shakespeare
Directed by Tony Award winner Dan Sullivan
Starring Robert Foxworth, Joel Polis, Robin Gammel, Michael Reed, Kandis Chappel, Jonathan McMurtry
Opens at the Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park in San Diego on July 5th and runs until August 10th, 2003.
Set in a devastated, republic verging on dictatorship at the end of the 21st Century, a Mad-Max atmosphere of violence and paranoia lends a contemporary feel to the play, given the footage we're receiving from Iraq and the Middle East.
Friday, March 7, 2003
Dear Friends,
We are beginning our second week of performance of "Oleanna" and it is a
first rate production of this controversial play. Please come out and
support your local Theater Artists.
The American Renegade Theater at Lankershim on Magnolia in North Hollywood.
Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2. Box Office 818 753 9680. I'll see you at the theater.
Blessings, Joel
Well, we previewed "Oleanna" by David Mamet tonight. It is provocative and powerful and I'd love for you to come and see Elise Robertson and I perform it. Steve Friedland did a wonderful job directing.
We play Friday, Saturday nights at 8, and Sunday afternoon at 2pm at the American Renegade Theater in Noho on Magnolia Bl. at Lankershim. The box office number is 818 753 9680. Or call me at 310 455 3942.
Come out and support our labor of love. You won't be disappointed. See you at the theater.
Many Thanks, Joel
On Febrary 21, 2003, at the American Renegade Theater on Magnolia off Lankershim in North Hollywood, I will open in David Mamet's "Oleanna". Elise Robertson, Emmy Award winner, will play Carol and the production is directed by Steve Freeland. We will run for 5 weekends.
Make a note of it on your calendars and I look forward to seeing you at the Theater.
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
My Directorial Debut!
On Tuesday night the 5th of November, Circus Theatricals, who produced "Richard 3" and "The Cherry Orchard", is presenting a festival of new One-Act Plays at the Odyssey Theater in West LA. The production will run the 5th, 12th, 19th and 27th of November on Tuesday evenings at 8pm.
There will be 7 new plays, including a hilarious one act called "Straight Talk" by Jerry Lambert, which marks my first directorial effort. All of the plays are worth your viewing and it promises to be a genuinely funny and provocative night at the Theater.
Please make it your business to support new talent and the growing success of our company. Let me know when you can make it. Tickets are $12. Thanks and I'll see you at the Odyssey.
Thursday, August 21, 2002
See Joel in 'Fedunn' at the Odyssey Theatre.
The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents a new play by Murray Mednick. Set in a resort hotel in the Catskills in 1948, the play is a view of the effect of the Holocaust on Jewish life in America. It is funny, provocative, and sometimes uncomfortable.
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles
August 23rd through October 13th, 2002
Sundays, 2 p.m.
Thursdays, 8 p.m.
Fridays, 8 p.m.
Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Tickets: Box office: 310-477-2055.
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
See Joel as Yepikhodov in 'The Cherry Orchard' at the Odyssey Theatre.
The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Circus Theatricals present Chekhov's comedy, directed by Jack Stehlin, about a debt-ridden land-owner in turn-of-the-century Russia and her family, facing the auctioning off of her estate and the end of a way of life. With Alfred Molina, Jill Gascoine, Stephanie Zimbalist. (June 23, July 21, 2 p.m. only.)
Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles
June 8 through July 28, 2002
Through Jul. 28
Sundays, 7 p.m.
Wednesdays, 8 p.m.
Thursdays, 8 p.m.
Fridays, 8 p.m.
Saturdays, 8 p.m.
Price: $23.50-$19.50; pay what you can June 20, July 7.
Tickets: Box office: 310-477-2055.
The full cast list can be found at Circus Theatricals
Thursday, May 2, 2002
See Joel in 'Richard III' at the Odyssey Theatre.
February 2 through May 5, 2002
Richard III is the tale of Shakespeare's most captivating villain who uses his devastating wit, courage and guile to seduce women and charm men in his lust for the throne of England.
Richard III stars Jack Stehlin as Richard, Alfred Molina (Chocolat, Boogie Nights, the B'way production of "Art") as Buckingham, Joel Polis as Clarence, Eric Pierpoint (Alien Nation) as King Edward.
Directed by Casey Biggs
"Richard III" at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 477-2055
For additional information about Richard III see the Circus Theatricals website.
Friday, October 12, 2001
"After Crystal Night" Tries to Mix Shtick and Issues By Philip Brandes
On the surface, "After Crystal Night" at the Odyssey Theatre is a somewhat specialized satiric portrait of assimilated Beverly Hills Jews, cleverly written but rife with caricatures and formulaic sitcom banter.
On a more broadly resonant level, however, John Herman Shaner's dramedy probes deeper questions of social responsibility. Set in the 1980s, this handsomely staged play pivots on an unexpected moral test facing Seymour Goldstein, perfectly portrayed by Joel Polis as an affluent, successful nebbish who's turned his back on his Jewishness. So much so, in fact, that his hilariously feisty uncle (Larry Gelman) wonders if Seymour is still circumcised.
The melding of these two levels is far from seamless, as the play's abundant shtick and serious issues often pull in opposite directions. To his credit, director Robert Walden emphasizes and clarifies the latter wherever possible, and skillfully unifies the piece with a more personalized theme in Seymour's transition to manhood. Still a "nice Jewish boy" at age 45, Seymour's rite of passage occurs when he's pressured for contributions by activists from the Jewish Defense League, an organization whose confrontational tactics have always appalled and embarrassed him. In a forceful if sometimes pat debate, the JDL organizer (David Barry Gray) calls Seymour on his historical amnesia, daring him to support a protest march against a Nazi rally denying the Holocaust ever happened.
Torn between his conscience and the entreaties of his safety-minded family (Jennifer Gelfer, Isaac Hackett and Stephen Mendel), Seymour's prolonged waffling covers the same ground a few too many times, but eventually finds its way to a convincing footing as he finds his way to his inner warrior.
- Los Angeles Times
It's fight-back time in the complacently comfortable, unquestionably liberal, politically correct environs of Beverly Hills.
To his own suprise, mild-mannered Seymour Goldstein - husband, father, successful businessman - is moved by militant Jewish Defense League firebrands to take up arms against aggression, if his wife will let him.
Joel Polis is a personable, appealing Seymour; he has a good face, great smile, and disarming delivery of that typically wry, self-deprecating Jewish humor.
A fine ensemble cast sensitively directed by Robert Walden.
"After Crystal Night" presented by and at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Wed-Sat 8 pm. Sun 7 pm Oct 8 - Dec 6 $19.50-23.50 (310) 477-2055
- Backstage West
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
After Crystal Night
Seymour Goldstein's (Joel Polis) 1984 Beverly Hills household undergoes an emotional weekend after he attends a meeting of the Jewish Defense League. His B'nai B'rith lodge sends him as their representative, to determine if they should allow the JDL members to address the Lodge. Seymour has never fought back in his own encounters with anti-Semitism and, despite his liberal activism and generous contributions to the Anti-Defamation League, feels a profound sense of moral cowardice. His meeting with the JDL stimulates a discourse with his family and with his culture regarding the role of an individual in an oppressed group.
Written by John Herman Shaner
Directed by Robert Walden
October 6 through December 6, 2001
The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
2055 S. Sepulveda, Los Angeles CA 310.477.2055