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BEST OF BEST OF THIS WEEK THIS WEEK, Open Fist Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre

Photo by Chris Phipps
March 22, 2023Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw Following in the satirical footsteps of Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show, this Open Fist Company production takes the past year’s cream of the crop of its Thursday night comedy sketch show, This Week This Week, and skewers our calamitous society with mostly hilarious results. Creator and director Ron
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TWELFTH NIGHT At The Broadwater Studio Theater

Photo courtesy of Foolish Production Co.
March 22, 2023Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld Notwithstanding that they fell into many textbook Shakespeare traps, and that there was zero chemistry between any single one of the characters, the Foolish Production Company cast actually knew what they were doing. And mostly their 1-hour rendition of TWELFTH NIGHT (playing in rep with MEASURE FOR MEASURE at The Broadwater)
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CARDENIO at City Garage Theatre

Photo by Paul Rubenstein
March 22, 2023Rob Stevens – Haines His Way City Garage, the resident theatre company at Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station Arts Center, built their thirty-plus year reputation for doing heavy lifting with productions of Greek tragedies and the works of Brecht and Beckett among other dramatists. With their latest offering, Cardenio, they prove they can let down their
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THE THIN PLACE, Echo Theater Company at Atwater Village Theatre

March 22, 2023Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld Tony-nominated playwright Lucas Hnath’s THE THIN PLACE is an eerie meditation on grief, regret and the need for closure, though it is undermined by the lack of a satisfying conclusion… Obie Award- and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning Hnath (“Red Speedo”; “A Doll’s House, Part 2″) carefully delineates each character with precise
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ONCE at Laguna Playhouse

Photo by Jason Niedle
March 22, 2023Socks Whitmore – Stage Raw In Dublin, a struggling Irish musician bumps into a young Czech woman and his life changes forever. This is the premise of the 2007 musical film Once, and likewise the stage musical of the same name, both featuring songs by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (including the infamous “Falling Slowly”),
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TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992 at the Mark Taper Forum

Sabina Zúñiga Varela. Photo by Craig Schwartz Photography.
March 22, 2023Dana Martin – Stage Raw Center Theatre Group meets the moment with Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, conceived, written and revised by Anna Deavere Smith. The original production premiered on Broadway in April, 1994. Smith wrote it as a solo piece, which she developed from hundreds of interviews following the 1992 L.A. uprising. This updated version
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THE LONELY FEW at Geffen Playhouse

Lauren Patten. Photo by Jeff Lorch.
March 18, 2023Patrick Chavis – LA Theatre Bites World Premiere: The Lonely Few @ Geffen Playhouse – 8 out of 10 – Good Show! LA Theatre Bites Recommended! More… Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania The Lonely Few, a world premiere rock musical at the Geffen Playhouse, does away with conventional narrative. It immerses its audience in rock clubs
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Archive for Julia Rodriguez-Elliot

Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Announces Nominations for Theatrical Excellence in 2022

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)
Monday, February 13th, 2023

Award-envelopes2

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle is proud to announce its 2022 nominees for theatrical excellence. This year, in lieu of the Circle’s annual live event ceremony, the award recipients will once again be announced online at a future date. The LADCC has also named the following special award honorees.

The TED SCHMITT Award for the World Premiere of an Outstanding New Play will be awarded to two groundbreaking plays, Tambo & Bones by Dave Harris, and Clean/Espejos by Christine Quintana. Both award winners will receive a cash prize from our Schmitt Award sponsor, The Black List.

The MARGARET HARFORD Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre will be awarded to Center Theatre Group.

The MILTON KATSELAS Award for Career or Special Achievement in Direction will be awarded to Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. This year’s award winner will receive a cash prize from our Katselas Award sponsor, the Nederlander Organization/Broadway in Hollywood.

The GORDON DAVIDSON Award for distinguished contribution to the Los Angeles theatrical community goes to the SB1116 California Coalition led by Martha Demson (Open Fist Theatre Company), Beatrice Casagran (Ophelia’s Jump Productions), Vanessa Stewart (writer, producer, actor), Emmanuel Deleage (Casa0101), Teri Ball (Center Stage Theater), and Leo Marks (actor, activist). Their efforts resulted in the 2022 passage and signing of the California law (authored and carried by Senator Anthony Portantino) which establishes the Equitable Payroll Fund, a grant program that supports small nonprofit performing arts organizations by providing substantial reimbursements of payroll expenses.

LADCC LogoCongratulations to all the nominees and special award winners!

The nominees for theatrical excellence in 2022 are:

Production

  • Freestyle Love Supreme, Pasadena Playhouse
  • On the Other Hand, We’re Happy, Rogue Machine
  • Power of Sail, Geffen Playhouse
  • The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse
  • The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Uncle Vanya, Pasadena Playhouse

McCulloh Award for Revival

  • Animal Farm, A Noise Within
  • Metamorphoses, A Noise Within
  • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse

Lead Performance

  • Bryan Cranston, Power of Sail, Geffen Playhouse
  • Ilan Eskenazi, Trayf, Geffen Playhouse
  • Adam Kantor, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse
  • Nija Okoro, Blues for an Alabama Sky, CTG/Mark Taper Forum
  • Zachary Quinto, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse

Featured Performance

  • Greg Alverez Reid, Blues for an Alabama Sky, CTG/Mark Taper Forum
  • Bill Brochtrup, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse
  • Aimee Carrero, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse
  • Nicolette Ellis, A Doll’s House, Part 2, International City Theatre
  • Samantha Klein, If I Forget, The Fountain Theatre
  • Alex Morris, Radio Golf, A Noise Within
  • Seth Numrich, Power of Sail, Geffen Playhouse
  • Valerie Perri, If I Forget, The Fountain Theatre
  • Scott Roberts, A Doll’s House, Part 2, International City Theatre
  • Eileen T’Kaye, A Doll’s House, Part 2, International City Theatre
  • Peter Van Norden, Hamlet, Antaeus Theatre Company
  • Tuc Watkins, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse

Ensemble Performance

  • Animal Farm, A Noise Within
  • Freestyle Love Supreme, Pasadena Playhouse
  • Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Lavender Men, Skylight Theatre/Playwrights’ Arena
  • Man of God, Geffen Playhouse
  • Metamorphoses, A Noise Within
  • On the Other Hand, We’re Happy, Rogue Machine
  • Power of Sail, Geffen Playhouse
  • The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse
  • The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Trayf, Geffen Playhouse
  • Uncle Vanya, Pasadena Playhouse
  • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse

Solo Performance

  • Mike Birbiglia, The Old Man and the Pool, CTG/Mark Taper Forum
  • Leo Marks, This Wonderful Life, Rogue Machine
  • Ben Moroski, Dog, Hollywood Fringe Festival
  • Holland Taylor, Ann, Pasadena Playhouse

Writing

  • Bernardo Cubría, The Play You Want, The Road Theatre Company
  • Jessica Goldberg, Babe, Echo Theater Company
  • Lindsay Joelle, Trayf, Geffen Playhouse
  • Steven Levenson, If I Forget, The Fountain Theatre
  • Matthew López, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse
  • Ben Moroski, Dog, Hollywood Fringe Festival

Writing Adaptation

  • Margaret Atwood, Penelopiad, City Garage
  • Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Everybody, Antaeus Theatre Company
  • Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Ben Power, The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre

Musical Score

  • Dan Gillespie Sells/Tom MacRae, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Sean Kantrowitz, How We Got On, Sacred Fools at the Broadwater
  • Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Matthew Sklar/Chad Beguelin, The Prom, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre

Music Direction

  • Rod Bagheri, Animal Farm, A Noise Within
  • Andy Collopy, Oklahoma!, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Nathan Koci, Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Marc Macalintal, Assassins, East West Players
  • Andrew Graham, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre

Choreography

  • David Neumann, Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Casey Nicholaw, The Prom, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre

Direction

  • Mike Donahue, The Inheritance, Geffen Playhouse
  • Daniel Fish, Oklahoma!, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Gordon Greenberg, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse
  • Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre

Set Design

  • Angela Balogh Calin, Animal Farm, A Noise Within
  • Ann Beyersdorfer, Afterglow, Midnight Theatricals/Hudson Theatre
  • Wilson Chin, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Geffen Playhouse
  • Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Anna Fleischle, 2:22 – A Ghost Story, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • John Iacovelli, Blues for an Alabama Sky, CTG/Mark Taper Forum
  • Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre
  • Rachel Myers, Power of Sail, Geffen Playhouse
  • Se Oh, Man of God, Geffen Playhouse

Lighting Design

  • Ken Booth, Animal Farm, A Noise Within
  • Ken Booth, Metamorphoses, A Noise Within
  • Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Bradley King, Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre

Costume Design

  • Angela Balogh Calin, Animal Farm, A Noise Within
  • Wendell C. Carmichael, Blues for an Alabama Sky, CTG/Mark Taper Forum
  • Wendell C. Carmichael, Lavender Men, Skylight Theatre/Playwrights’ Arena
  • Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre

Sound Design

  • Ian Dickinson, 2:22 – A Ghost Story, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre
  • John Nobori, Sanctuary City, Pasadena Playhouse
  • Robert Oriol, Metamorphoses, A Noise Within
  • Nick Powell, The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Nevin Steinberg & Jessica Paz, Hadestown, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
  • Kate Wecker, Animal Farm, A Noise Within

CGI/Video (WINNER)

  • Luke Halls, The Lehman Trilogy, CTG/Ahmanson Theatre

Specialty (WINNER)

  • Wig & Make-up, Tony Valdés, Animal Farm, A Noise Within

Every effort has been made to ascertain proper credits for our nominees. We regret any errors or omissions. Any that come to our attention will be corrected on our LADCC website and (when applicable) on a recipient’s award plaque.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. It is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles.

The current officers are as follows: Jonas Schwartz-Owen, President; Dana Martin, Vice President; Hoyt Hilsman, Treasurer; Terry Morgan, Secretary; Ellen Dostal, Web Content Editor

The 2022 LADCC membership consisted of:
Lara J. Altunian, Stage Raw, L.A. Dance Chronicle
Katie Buenneke, Stage Raw, Theater Digest
Peter Debruge, Variety
Ellen Dostal, BroadwayWorld, Musicals in LA
Margaret Gray, Los Angeles Times
Hoyt Hilsman, Huffington Post
Harker Jones, BroadwayWorld
Deborah Klugman, Stage Raw
Dany Margolies, ArtsInLA.com, Southern California News Group
Dana Martin, Stage Raw
Myron Meisel, Stage Raw
Terry Morgan, ArtsBeatLA.com, Stage Raw
Steven Leigh Morris, Stage Raw
Tracey Paleo, BroadwayWorld, Gia On The Move
Melinda Schupmann, Showmag.com, ArtsInLA.com
Jonas Schwartz-Owen, Theatermania.com, BroadwayWorld
Don Shirley, Angeles Stage
Rob Stevens, haineshisway.com

CITATIONS BY PRODUCTION:
Animal Farm; A Noise Within; 8 Nominations
The Lehman Trilogy; CTG/Ahmanson Theatre; 8 Nominations
Hadestown; CTG/Ahmanson Theatre; 7 Nominations
Moulin Rouge! The Musical; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; 6 Nominations
The Inheritance; Geffen Playhouse; 6 Nominations
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Geffen Playhouse; 6 Nominations
Power of Sail; Geffen Playhouse; 5 Nominations
Blues for an Alabama Sky; CTG/Mark Taper Forum; 4 Nominations
Metamorphoses; A Noise Within; 4 Nominations
A Doll’s House, Part 2; International City Theatre; 3 Nominations
Freestyle Love Supreme; Pasadena Playhouse; 2 Nominations
If I Forget; The Fountain Theatre; 3 Nominations
Trayf; Geffen Playhouse; 3 Nominations
2:22 – A Ghost Story; CTG/Ahmanson Theatre; 2 Nominations
Dog; Hollywood Fringe Festival; 2 Nominations
Lavender Men; Skylight Theatre/Playwrights’ Arena; 2 Nominations
Man of God; Geffen Playhouse; 2 Nominations
Oklahoma!; CTG/Ahmanson Theatre; 2 Nominations
On the Other Hand, We’re Happy; Rogue Machine; 2 Nominations
The Prom; CTG/Ahmanson Theatre; 2 Nominations
Uncle Vanya; Pasadena Playhouse; 2 Nominations
Afterglow; Midnight Theatricals/The Hudson Theatre; 1 Nomination
Ann; Pasadena Playhouse; 1 Nomination
Assassins; East West Players; 1 Nomination
Babe; Echo Theater Company; 1 Nomination
Everybody; Antaeus Theatre Company; 1 Nomination
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; CTG/Ahmanson Theatre; 1 Nomination
Hamlet; Antaeus Theatre Company; 1 Nomination
How We Got On; Sacred Fools at the Broadwater; 1 Nomination
Penelopiad; City Garage; 1 Nomination
Radio Golf; A Noise Within; 1 Nomination
Sanctuary City; Pasadena Playhouse; 1 Nomination
The Old Man and the Pool; CTG/Mark Taper Forum; 1 Nomination
The Play You Want; The Road Theatre Company; 1 Nomination
This Wonderful Life; Rogue Machine; 1 Nomination

CITATIONS BY COMPANY:
Center Theatre Group; 27 Nominations
Geffen Playhouse; 23 Nominations
A Noise Within; 13 Nominations
Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; 6 Nominations
Pasadena Playhouse; 6 Nominations
International City Theatre; 3 Nominations
Rogue Machine; 3 Nominations
The Fountain Theatre; 3 Nominations
Antaeus Theatre Company; 2 Nominations
Hollywood Fringe Festival; 2 Nominations
Skylight Theatre/Playwrights’ Arena; 2 Nominations
City Garage; 1 Nomination
East West Players; 1 Nomination
Echo Theater Company; 1 Nomination
Midnight Theatricals/Hudson Theatre; 1 Nomination
Sacred Fools at the Broadwater; 1 Nomination
The Road Theatre Company; 1 Nomination

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Pig power plays at ‘Animal Farm.’ ‘Everybody’ is talkin’. Alanis and Hammerstein, but no Natives.

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)
Friday, September 23rd, 2022
Geoff Elliott, top, with L-R Stanley Andrew Jackson III, Rafael Goldstein, Trisha Miller. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Geoff Elliott, top, with L-R Stanley Andrew Jackson III, Rafael Goldstein, and Trisha Miller. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Don Shirley – Angeles Stage

‘Animal Farm’. ‘Sanctuary City’. ‘Everybody.’ ‘Oedipus.’ ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ ‘Oklahoma!’

How ya gonna keep ‘em down on the ‘Farm’, after they’ve seen…Pasadena?

Yes, I’m paraphrasing the lyrics of an ancient pop song to make the point that Pasadena and nearby neighborhoods constitute the hottest cluster of locally-produced theater right now.

The creatures who liberate themselves from servitude in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” at east Pasadena’s A Noise Within, as well as the human audiences there, might also want to check out “Sanctuary City” at Pasadena Playhouse and “Everybody” at Antaeus in nearby Glendale. Read more…

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ANIMAL FARM at A Noise Within

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)
Wednesday, September 7th, 2022
Photo by Craig Schwartz

Photo by Craig Schwartz

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw

George Orwell began writing Animal Farm in the waning months of 1943. The book was conceived in response to the evils of Stalinist Russia and the disturbing tendency of many left-leaning British intellectuals to excuse the regime’s murderous excesses and cruelties. Never an officially declared socialist or communist, Orwell had been a member of Britain’s Independent Labour Party, which strove to represent the interests of the working class; in the 1930s, he also enlisted in the Popular Front in its fight against Franco. From the beginning his writings reflected empathy with the downtrodden and oppressed and, as time went on, with identifying and calling out totalitarian entities that utilized propaganda to eviscerate human rights. Read more…

Rob Stevens – Haines His Way

British writer George Orwell is best known for his dystopian novel 1984, first published in 1949. Big Brother made Orwell famous. Four years earlier he published the allegorical novella Animal Farm in which animals rebel against their mean farmer and set up their own society. According to Orwell, his story reflected events leading up to the Russian Revolution and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Read more…

Katie Buenneke – Theatre Digest

This show is difficult to categorize, because everything about the production is top-notch, but while I respected it, I had a strong negative reaction. The cast is good, Julia Rodriguez-Elliot’s direction is strong, the songs by Adrian Mitchell and Richard Peaslee work, but I just did not like the show. Read more…

Through October 2

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Put a ‘Tiger’ in your tank, LA Times

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)
Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
Photo by Jenny Graham

Photo by Jenny Graham

Don Shirley – Angeles Stage

Why didn’t the LA Times review the hilarious “Tiger Style!” or “Our Town” at South Coast Repertory? Plus thoughts on “Man of God,” “Metamorphoses,” and more. 

“Tiger Style!” deserves the exclamation point in its title. Mike Lew’s satire is the funniest new play I’ve seen since theaters started re-opening last year, after vaccinations began.

At first, “Tiger” is a no-holds-barred satire of two Chinese-American young-adult siblings with acute anxiety, stirred up by other Americans who seem to bar no holds in their treatment of these exemplars of the so-called “model minority.” Then it also finds a lot of laughs as these third-generational siblings belatedly blame their problems on their parents, who used “tiger style” child-rearing techniques.

 Read more…

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METAMORPHOSES at A Noise Within

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 25th, 2022
Photo by Craig Schwartz

Photo by Craig Schwartz

Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld

In a word…Delicious. A Noise Within winds down its 2021-22 season with playwright Mary Zimmerman’s primal retelling of Ovid’s METAMORPHOSIS. It is nothing short of spectacular. Read more…

Rob Stevens – Haines His Way

In 1996, playwright/director Mary Zimmerman adapted some Greek myths from the classic poem Metamorphoses by Ovid. A full production was first done at Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company which transferred to off-Broadway in 2001 and moved to Broadway in 2002. It was later restaged at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Now Pasadena’s classic repertory theatre company, A Noise Within, has mounted a fresh take on the material. Read more…

Now through June 5

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THE THREEPENNY OPERA at A NOISE WITHIN

By LADCC critics · Comments (0)
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015
3p

Photo by Craig Schwartz

Sharon Perlmutter  -  Talkin’ Broadway

There are two things that doom A Noise Within’s production of The Threepenny Opera. The first is enunciation. The cast seems so concerned with keeping up their British accents throughout the proceedings, they don’t go a good job actually putting the dialogue and lyrics across. At intermission and after the show, the most common comment I overheard was that the audience could not make out the words that were being said. Read more…

Hoyt Hilsman  -  Huffington Post

A Noise Within, one of the nation’s premier classical repertory companies, has mounted an ambitious, if somewhat tame, revival of the Brecht/Weill classic. With a solid ensemble cast under the direction of Artistic Directors Geoff Elliot and Julia Rodriguez-Elliot, the company mounts a faithful and spirited rendition of the timeless Threepenny Opera. Read more…

 

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