Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw When W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan premiered their operetta Pirates of Penzance in 1879, they never could have imagined the Hypocrites’ winning production, now playing at the Pasadena Playhouse 138 years later.Read more… Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld Say what you will, The Hypocrites have found a way to transform traditional theatre into … Read more
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze How ironic that the nation that once banned women from acting on the stage found it hilarious a few centuries later to see a man onstage in a woman’s dress. But irony is a large part of British humor.Read more… Now running through February 18
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen It’s Christmas Day at a psychiatric hospital, and its director is having a stressful morning. Patient 6457 has unexpectedly died and patient 6459 has given birth, and neither event looks very good for the institution. As the day progresses, things only get more and more out of control … Read more
Harker Jones – Edge on the Net When Ken Ludwig’s over-the-top farce “Moon Over Buffalo” hit Broadway back in 1995, it lured none other than show biz legend Carol Burnett to the Great White Way after 30 years. Despite earning two Tony noms (including one for Burnett), the show never quite caught on. Read more… … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Reuven and Danny spend their childhoods living five blocks apart, but only meet for the first time as teenagers when a contentious baseball game ends with one of them in the hospital. This sets the scene for The Chosen, adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and Chaim … Read more
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) has announced its nominations and special awards for excellence in Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura County theatre for the year 2017 (Dec. 1, 2016 – Nov. 30, 2017). The 49th annual LADCC awards ceremony will take place on Monday, March 19, 2018, at A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Blvd, Pasadena, … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Anna Ziegler’s play is a subtle examination of tangled human emotions — perceptive but only moderately satisfying. The play is threaded with many references to the mythological Icarus who fell to his death when he flew too close to the sun. Sarah quotes W. H. Auden’s poem “Musee Des Beaux … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Cabaret has undergone much alteration from Harold Prince’s original 1966 Broadway production. In 1972, wunderkind Bob Fosse revamped the story line for the film version, commissioning the composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb to write new songs, such as “Mein Herr,” “Money,” and the pair’s trunk song “Maybe This Time.” … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld It takes an awfully long time to get to the point in Philip Whitchurch’s original one act play directed by Julia St. John. Set during a fictional night in the lives of William Shakespeare (played by Whitchurch) and his wife Anne (Sally Edwards) at their home in Stratford-upon-Avon, the story reveals … Read more
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Little Fish Theater’s annual short-play festival “Pick of the Vine” this year features nine plays touching on the theme “Secrets We Keep.” Bringing meaning and polish to the plays are a uniformly firm feel even though various directors are involved, crisp designs and solid acting.Read more… Now running through … Read more