Feature article :: Page 2 :: LA Drama Critics Circle

LIZASTRADA at Getty Villa

September 17, 2021Jonas 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…
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YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at Sierra Madre Playhouse

Alexander Mashikian and Hamilton Davis Weaver

August 10, 2021Rob 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

WE LIVE ON at The Actors’ Gang

August 10, 2021Terry 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

TAMING THE LION at Theatre 40

August 6, 2021Rob 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… Closed

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at South Coast Repertory

August 6, 2021 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… Closed

BOLLYWOOD KITCHEN at Geffen Playhouse

January 25, 2021Erin 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
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BREATHE at The Broadwater

December 22, 2020Ellen Dostal – Broadway World Like most solo productions, Philicia Saunders’ BREATHE comes from her own experiences. Unique to her telling however is the method by which she relates that story. Necessitated by a global pandemic that has forced audiences to view theatrical productions from behind a computer screen, Saunders has employed a variety of
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Archive for Feature article – Page 2

WHAT’S ON S.T.A.G.E.? at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)

Thursday, June 9th, 2016

Photo courtesy S.T.A.G.E.

Jonas Schwartz - Arts In LA

The Los Angeles theater community has not forgotten the battle against AIDS, and it continues to take the fight to the S.T.A.G.E. The Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.) has partnered with AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) for the last 32 years to raise money for AIDS education and prevention by presenting musical delights from some of Los Angeles’s biggest theater talents. This year’s concert, Sondheim No. 5, will take place at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts for a matinee and an evening performance June 18.

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Tags : APLA, ArtsInLA, he Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event, Jonas Schwartz, S.T.A.G.E., Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

PASTA IN POCATELLO, ANYONE? by Don Shirley

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)

Friday, February 26th, 2016

Photo by John Perrin Flynn

Don Shirley – L.A. Observed

Two plays named after cities: “Barcelona” at the Geffen Playhouse and Rogue Machine’s production of “Pocatello” (in case that doesn’t ring a bell, its namesake is the fifth largest city in Idaho.)

Which theatrical destination sounds more inviting?

Well, “Barcelona” isn’t bad. But “Pocatello” pops. Read more…

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Tags : Barcelona, Don Shirley, Geffen, L.A. Observed, Pocatello, Rogue Machine, West Side Story

INTERVIEW WITH MICHEL LAPRISE – WRITER & DIRECTOR OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S “KURIOS.” by Pauline Adamek

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Sunday, November 29th, 2015

Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA

With his impish smile and boyish, childlike glee, artist Michel Laprise comes across as a fun and genial person with a vast imagination. But the creator (writer and director) of KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities™ — the newest Cirque du Soleil extravaganza to come to Southern California — is evidently an extremely hard worker. His main objective with this stunning show, that premiered in Montreal around a year ago, was somehow to breathe new life force into the widely adored company. In particular, Laprise set out to reinvent the internationally renowned troupe with this dazzling touring show that they have now brought to Cali.

OVATIONS AND UPWARD MOBILITY FOR LA THEATER – DON SHIRLEY, LA OBSERVED

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Tuesday, November 17th, 2015

Don Shirley – LA Observed

LA theater has been embroiled in behind-the-scenes controversy for the past year. Many actors angrily challenged their own union over its decision to end the 99-Seat Theater Plan, which allows Equity members to work for only token fees in small LA theaters, at much less than the minimum wage. Read more…

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Tags : 99 Seat Theatre Plan, AEA, Don Shirley, LA Observed, Ovation Awards

SIGHTS PACIFIC: HOPSCOTCH AND STEEL HAMMER by Myron Meisel

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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015

Myron Meisel – Stage Raw

Since its founding in 2010, The Industry, under the daring leadership of artistic director Yuval Sharon, has pursued a new media makeover meant to shake up not merely the Los Angeles opera world but the world at large. Its extraordinary coup de theatre, 2013’s Invisible Cities, commandeered Union Station as singers and dancers and audience wandered about as alien invaders amongst the real-life travellers, apprehending the orchestral music through Sennheiser headphones. Read more…

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Tags : Hopscotch, Julia Wolfe, Myron Meisel, Stage Raw, Steel Hammer, Yuval Sharon. The Industry

FUNDING ARTS JOURNALISM: STAGE RAW’S SECOND SYMPOSIUM ON ARTS COVERAGE BY JENNY LOWER

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Monday, November 2nd, 2015

Jenny Lower – Stage Raw

On Friday, ESPN announced the dismantling of its popular sports and culture site Grantland, eliciting shock and disappointment on the web. The move comes a few weeks after ESPN cut 300 jobs, reportedly to make up lost cable subscription revenue. It is, unfortunately, only the latest sobering development to challenge the financial viability of arts coverage.

JUBILIEE YEAR, AEA’S RESPONSE TO SUIT, FRENCH & VANESSA HOST THE OVATIONS, AND MORE by Paul Birchall

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Saturday, October 31st, 2015

Paul Birchall – Stage Raw

Howlround, the indispensable national sounding board for theatrical philosophy and policy, has announced the formation of something slightly creepy called “The Committee of the Jubilee.”

LURING MILLENIALS TO ‘CARRIE AND ‘VIETGONE’ by Don Shirley, LA Observed

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Tuesday, October 20th, 2015

Photo by Jason Niedle

Don Shirley – LA Observed

How to attract young-adult audiences to LA’s professional theaters? Plenty of pondering about this subject occurs at theater conferences and in theater journals. I won’t address the logistics of marketing to millennials here. But I’m welcoming two new productions that seemingly target them yet also offer lively experiences to those of us who are definitely not active members of that demographic group. Read more…

Photo by Jason Niedle

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Tags : Carrie, Don Shirley, LA Observed, Luring millennials to 'Carrie' and 'Vietgone', Vietgone

PAUL BIRCHALL’S GOT IT COVERED – Teapot Tempest

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Monday, October 12th, 2015

Paul Birchall – Stage Raw

In a dramatic about-face, playwright Tommy Smith on Wednesday abruptly retracted allegations that Echo Theater Company had “stolen” his short play Ghost Light, which had starred Deborah Puette and opened August 5 to rave notices. The production was the playwright’s third collaboration with Echo artistic director Chris Fields, whose stagings of Smith’s Firemen in 2014 and last spring’s Fugue were likewise met with critical acclaim. Read more…

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Tags : A Jeffrey Schoenberg, Christ Felds, Echo Theatre Company, Ghost Light, Paul Birchall, Sid Solomon, Stage Raw, Tommy Smith

REAL WOMEN OF EAST LA ARE IN THE PALISADES AND PASADENA – Don Shirley, L.A. Observed

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Don Shirley – LA Observed

Center Theatre Group, which continues to call itself “L.A.’s Theatre Company,” also continues to demonstrate virtually no interest in LA stories.

When CTG recently announced the next Mark Taper Forum season, after previously revealing new seasons for the coming year at CTG’s Ahmanson and Kirk Douglas theaters, I began counting. So, how many of the 14 CTG productions at these three venues are set in or near LA?

None.

PAUL BIRCHALL’S GOT IT COVERED – SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

From an Aborted NYC Mikado to Bloomberg Foundation Largesse to the 20 Most Produced Playwrights of 2015-16

Paul Birchall – Stage Raw

Also making news is the news that Brian Kite, producing artistic director of La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, is stepping down to take over the Department Chair at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Still quite a young artist, Kite has already had an illustrious career, with credits from the Actors Co-op to the French Woods Festival in New York (where he served as director of theater programs for more than seven years) to the Geffen, and he has certainly had played a strong leadership role at La Mirada – not to mention is position of board chair at Los Angeles Stage Alliance. Read more…

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Tags : Bloomberg Foundation, Brian Kite, Film and Television, Paul Birchall, Stage Raw, The Mikado, The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, UCLA School of Theater

PAUL BIRCHALL’S GOT IT COVERED: FROM MONDAY NIGHTS AT ROGUE MACHINE TO AWAKE AND SING! TO JENNIE WEBB

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)

Thursday, September 17th, 2015

From Monday Nights at Rogue Machine to Awake and Sing! to Jennie Webb

Paul Birchall – Stage Raw

I Like Mondays

What is nicer than a Monday night show? If I were a theater producer I would always slip a Monday night performance into the schedule, just on principle.

For one thing, all the critics will come, as they really won’t have anything else to do that night, except perhaps tweaking their prose before the Tuesday deadline and maybe watching Antiques Roadshow. You may even get some of the ol’ parasites (read: awards voters) from the Ovations, LADCC, and Stage Raw, given the lack of distracting other attractions. Read more…

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Categories : Feature article

Tags : Awake and Sing, Jennie Webb, Marilyn Fox, Pacific Resident Theatre, Paul Birchall, Rogue Machine, Stage Raw

LIZASTRADA at Getty Villa

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at Sierra Madre Playhouse

WE LIVE ON at The Actors’ Gang

TAMING THE LION at Theatre 40

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at South Coast Repertory

BOLLYWOOD KITCHEN at Geffen Playhouse

BREATHE at The Broadwater

Archive for Feature article – Page 2

WHAT’S ON S.T.A.G.E.? at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

PASTA IN POCATELLO, ANYONE? by Don Shirley

INTERVIEW WITH MICHEL LAPRISE – WRITER & DIRECTOR OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S “KURIOS.” by Pauline Adamek

OVATIONS AND UPWARD MOBILITY FOR LA THEATER – DON SHIRLEY, LA OBSERVED

SIGHTS PACIFIC: HOPSCOTCH AND STEEL HAMMER by Myron Meisel

FUNDING ARTS JOURNALISM: STAGE RAW’S SECOND SYMPOSIUM ON ARTS COVERAGE BY JENNY LOWER

JUBILIEE YEAR, AEA’S RESPONSE TO SUIT, FRENCH & VANESSA HOST THE OVATIONS, AND MORE by Paul Birchall

LURING MILLENIALS TO ‘CARRIE AND ‘VIETGONE’ by Don Shirley, LA Observed

PAUL BIRCHALL’S GOT IT COVERED – Teapot Tempest

REAL WOMEN OF EAST LA ARE IN THE PALISADES AND PASADENA – Don Shirley, L.A. Observed

PAUL BIRCHALL’S GOT IT COVERED – SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

PAUL BIRCHALL’S GOT IT COVERED: FROM MONDAY NIGHTS AT ROGUE MACHINE TO AWAKE AND SING! TO JENNIE WEBB

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