Ed Krieger
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
Just what does it mean to be human? Are men and women merely the sum of our neurons and biological processes, or is there a spiritual force that drives our actions, one that empirical science needs to acknowledge? That question has preoccupied playwright Matt Chait for some time, and in A Misunderstanding, directed by Elina de Santos, he strives to create a platform for airing differing opinions on the matter.
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Now running through February 3
Jordan Kubat / South Coast Repertory
Margaret Gray – LA Times
As a punctuation nerd, I may be reading too much into the parentheses in “Culture Clash (Still) in America,” the satiric troupe’s latest anthology of sketches at South Coast Repertory.
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Now running through January 20
Harker Jones – Arts In LA
After showcasing cheeky musical adaptations of films as diverse as Bridesmaids, Jurassic Park, and Hocus Pocus, Rockwell Table & Stage is back with a seasonal story that has enchanted audiences for 28 years. Tim Burton’s 1990 film Edward Scissorhands is an enduring classic that all misfits identify with—and we’ve all felt like misfits.
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Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
Sometimes, a story originally told nearly thirty years ago manages to feel more timely than ever. Read more…
Now running through January 27
Rachel Rambaldi
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
The Brontë sisters were part of a talented, tightknit family whose contributions to the canon of English literature included Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, by Charlotte and Emily respectively. Tragically, none of the siblings lived long; Charlotte died at 38, surviving her brother and four sisters, none of whom made it past 30.
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Now running through January 20
Ed Krieger
Ellen Dostal – Broadway World
What would Christmas in LA be without the Troubies? A lot less funny.
Happily, artistic director, writer, and head jokester Matt “Mashup” Walker and his coterie of clowns aren’t about to let anyone down. Not only are they back with their seventeenth annual holiday show, they’re proving just how smart they really are when it comes to delivering a performance that has its finger on the pulse of what’s happening now.
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Now running through December 30
Photo by Kevin Parry
Ellen Dostal – Broadway World
The countdown to Christmas begins and ends with an all-out love blitz this year in For the Record’s latest world premiere, LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, a hybrid entertainment that blends scenes from Richard Curtis‘ 2003 film Love Actually with live performances of the movie’s soundtrack.
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Now running through December 31
Bradford Rogne
Dany Margolies – The Daily News
Sure, “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” keeps its audience amused. The show also educates, teaching us a bit about the history of Tupperware and the woman, Brownie Wise, who invented the Tupperware party.
But mostly, at least if you’re interested in comedy as an art form, this solo show is mighty impressive….
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Now running through December 30
Chris Whitaker
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
Around this time of year, productions of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol are a dime a dozen, but none is quite like the moody, spooky version currently running at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
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Now running through December 16
Baranduin Briggs
Margaret Gray – LA Times
The eponymous, fictional Kansas City rock band in Stefan Marks’ new play, “Middle8,” now at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, almost made it big — 20-some years ago. Now losing their hair, paunchy, slogging away at ordinary jobs to support ordinary families, the five of them are still haunted by what-ifs and if-onlys.
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Now running through December 15
Rich Clark
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
In A Mile in My Shoes, writer and solo performer Kathryn Taylor Smith dramatizes the crisis in homelessness by portraying various homeless people and some of the community figures who interact with them. The production has heart and a message that needs to be heard, but its staging requires some finessing for it to play to its potential.
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Now running through December 9
Matthew Murphy
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
On paper, it feels a bit wrong to call a musical about September 11th, 2001 “uplifting.” It is easy to wonder how that could possibly be true…until seeing Come From Away, a true marvel of a show that manages to take a large story everyone knows about one of the most devastating days in modern times and find inside of it a much smaller story few people know that shines a light on the very best aspects of humanity. Read more…
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way
On September 11, 2001, the world stopped. A horrific and unforgettable event took place that a generation will always remember where they were, what they were doing when they first heard news of it. Read more…
Dany Margolies – The Daily News
On Sept. 11, 2001, 38 airliners were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. There they remained grounded for five days.
The story of the Canadians and the world travelers they fed and housed makes up this 2013 musical — with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. You won’t hum any of the songs when you’re leaving the theater. You will instead hum the human spirit.
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Ellen Dostal – Musicals in LA
My one big recommendation this holiday season is an easy one – go see Come From Away at the Ahmanson. That’s it. The world’s a tough place right now and this musical will restore your faith in humanity in every way possible. Read more…
Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review
No argument. Anyone who was alive and over 5 or 6 on September 11, 2001 remembers with aching accuracy all that they did, heard, and reacted to that day.
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Now running through January 6
Tim Sullens
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw
Like so many of our social and/or cultural environments, today’s workplace is radically different from what it was many decades ago when the centers of power were pretty much the sole province of white males. American women had their “stations,” and not too much concern was given over to things like equal rights, discrimination (in all its forms), sexual harassment and the troublesome issues of PC. But things have certainly changed — or have they? — which brings us to Judith Leora’s world premiere comedy about a group of working women today. Read more…
Now running through December 16