Photo by John Perrin Flynn
Terry Morgan - Artsbeat LA
It’s a Wonderful Life is now an undisputed holiday classic, but its road to perennial status was as long and difficult as its hero’s journey to happiness. Read more…
Tracey Paleo – Gia on the Move
“It is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people…..” Read more…
Now running through January 3
Shirley – Angeles Stage
Sondheim was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. Old Sondheim was as dead as a doornail.
Yes, those words were inspired by the opening lines of “A Christmas Carol,” but no, I’m not suggesting that Stephen Sondheim was like Scrooge’s ex-partner Jacob Marley — other than the fact that both Sondheim and “Marley” are now…dead.
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Photo by Joan Marcus
Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania
The holiday season has come to the Ahmanson Theatre, where London’s Old Vic Theatre has installed its annual A Christmas Carol, with Bradley Whitford playing Scrooge.
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Now running through January 1, 2022
Photo by Evan Zimmerman
Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania
…The enchanting musical The Band’s Visit, now at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, perfectly embodies the simplicity with which music draws even the most disparate group of people into a gentle harmony.
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Now running through December 19
Terry Morgan - Artsbeat LA
Lucy Kirkwood’s The Children was written before the pandemic, and it’s about the aftermath of a nuclear accident and not a virus, but its vibe of looming doom and concern over what can actually be done to fix things seems very appropriate to our present-day circumstances.
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Now running through January 23, 2022
Photo by Jeff Lorch
Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania
Head Over Heels, a jukebox musical featuring the songs of the Go-Go’s, is imaginative, but chaotic; energetic, but deflatingly lacking in comedy.
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Now running through December 12
Photo by Craig Schwartz
Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Broadway World
During the opening number, the Troubadour Theatre Company, affectionately known to all as the Troubies, comment how thrilled the troupe, and the audience by extension, is to have returned to live theatre. The audience responded with glorious applause, and both the occasion and the Troubies deserve that adulation. Read more…
Terry Morgan - ArtsBeat LA
So my first large audience theatre experience since being fully vaccinated featured women sporting two-foot-long phalluses singing Liza Minnelli songs in a Greek amphitheater on the grounds of the Getty Villa. Perhaps this requires some context. Read more…
Now running through October 2.
Alexander Mashikian and Hamilton Davis Weaver
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way
For 50 years beginning in 1950, cartoonist Charles M. Schulz drew a daily comic strip entitled Peanuts which featured the mis-adventures of a young boy named Charlie Brown and his friends. Read more…
Now running through September 12
Stephanie Gal/ndo in We Live On at The Actors’ Gang
Terry Morgan – Arts Beat L.A.
In 1970, journalist Studs Terkel released his book, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, in which he interviewed people about living through that desperate time and how they made it through. Read more…
Now running through September 4
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way
Actor William Haines started his film career in 1922 in bit parts as a contract player for Goldwyn Pictures. After his studio became part of Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1924, the size of his roles increased as did his popularity in silent films. Read more…
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Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Broadway World
When I told friends I was seeing You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown as my first live Performance in 18 months, I had to remind them this wasn’t a middle school production, but part of the award-winning South Coast Repertory‘s season. Read more…
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Kyle Rosenberg
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
Since the pandemic forced the temporary end of in-person theater, Geffen Playhouse audiences have performed magic tricks, solved puzzles, and investigated a cold case, all from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The latest Geffen Stayhouse offering brings new meaning to the phrase “dinner and a show.”
Ellen Dostal – Broadway World
Even before the performance began, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop smelling the spices.
Now running through March 6, 2021