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Archive for Shirle Gottlieb

HENRY IV at the Japanese Gardens on the West L.A. VA campus

Craig Schwartz

Craig Schwartz

Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly

Tom Hanks as Falstaff, Joe Morton as King Henry IV and a solid supporting ensemble add up to half a dozen good reasons to see director Dan Sullivan’s staging of Henry IV,….Read more…

Ellen Dostal – Broadway World

Director Daniel Sullivan‘s adaptation of HENRY IV, Parts 1 & 2 may only be playing in the Japanese Garden on the VA campus for another three weeks but it is bound to rank as one of the summer’s most talked-about events. Why? Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles has saved up a secret weapon for the production, one few can resist. Read more…

Jonas Schwartz -  TheaterMania

William Shakespeare’s Henry IV focus on growth and having history thrust upon oneself whether wanted or not. For The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, director Daniel Sullivan has culled and combined both plays into an evening of ribaldry, song, and pageantry. Read more…

Terry Morgan  -  Talkin’ Broadway

Shakespeare’s duo of Henry IV plays are mainly about two subjects: the relationship between fathers and sons and the conflict between duty and selfishness. That these topics are placed in one of his “history plays” means little—audiences haven’t cared primarily about the history on display here for centuries. The appeal of these plays has ever been in its characters and humor and beautiful language….
Read more…

Now running through June 24

In Memoriam: Shirle Gottlieb

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We are sad to report that longtime Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle member Shirle Gottlieb passed away on May 6th. Shirle had been a freelance art and theater writer, reviewer, and critic for over 25 years – ever since she completed her Interdisciplinary Masters Degree at California State University, Long Beach. What began quite by accident while researching her thesis topic, “Creativity/ Creative Process,” became a labor of love.

Obituary reprinted courtesy of the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

Shirle Gottlieb, a longtime theater and arts critic who helped develop the Long Beach arts scene, died Sunday. She was 87.

Gottlieb died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease, said her daughter, Amy.

Caryn Desai, artistic director/producer at International City Theatre, called Gottlieb ‘one of the biggest supporters of the arts in our community, an intelligent, caring reviewer, an educator and a positive force for good.’

Joanne Gordon, former chair of the Theatre Arts Department at Cal State Long Beach and artistic director of California Repertory Company, said Gottlieb’s hundreds of reviews were ‘always kind but honest. She adored Long Beach and did all in her power to foster and develop the local arts scene. She enriched all who knew her…’ ”

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MARAT/SADE at the Long Beach Playhouse

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Shirle Gottlieb – Stage Happenings

“Marat/Sade” (subtitled “The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the direction of the Marquis de Sade” was written by Peter Weiss, set in 1808 after the French Revolution was over, and directed by Andrew Vonderschmitt. A Long Beach Playhouse production, it was not as successful as previous LBP Studio Theatre dramas have been. Read more…

Now running through July 9

SISTER ACT at Musical Theatre West

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Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze

Mix mobsters, doctrinarians, disco and polyester, and the last thing this farrago should produce is a story about finding one’s blissful true self. But somehow the musical “Sister Act” does just that, particularly in the hands of Musical Theatre West, under Michael Matthews’ direction.   Read more…

Shirle Gottlieb – Stage Happenings

Following the knock-out production of “West Side Story,”  Musical Theatre West has done it again! “Sister Act” is another smash hit, with all performances during the opening weekend entirely sold out!  Take a hint: The run is so short (it ends April 24); so if you want to see “Sister Act,” you should call the box office immediately.  Read more…

Now running through April  24

FENCES at International City Theatre

Photo by Suzanne Mapes

Photo by Suzanne Mapes

Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly

August Wilson’s plays are as much about the historical experience of African-Americans as they are about any one of his characters. This is certainly true of Fences, which begins in 1957, a year marked by federal troops on the ground in Arkansas and the forced desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. Read more…

David C. Nichols – LA Times

You’ve got to take the crookeds with the straights,” says the disillusioned protagonist of “Fences” at International City Theatre. That observation indicates the multiple conflicts running through the late, great August Wilson’s 1987 study of a former Negro League player turned garbage collector battling prejudice, regrets and mortality. Read more…

Dany Margolies – Press-Telegram

Fences can keep people out and fences can keep people in. Fences separate races and generations. But for Troy Maxson, they also represent goals not reached and, for as long as he can manage, a barrier to death. Read more…

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

If you’re a theater fan, you undoubtedly know that August Wilson, set out to write a 10-cycle play about the African-American experience — with one for each decade of the 20th Century.`Read more…

Now running through September 13.

 

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at the Long Beach Playhouse

Photo by Mike Hardy

Photo by Mike Hardy

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

This blockbuster rock-opera exploded from the stage in 1971 and has been playing all over the world ever since.

Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice, the plot revolves around the last week of Jesus’s life — from his arrival in Jerusalem until his world-renowned death.Read more…

Now running through August 15.

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN – Musical Theatre West at Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Photo by Caught in the Moment Photography.

Photo by Caught in the Moment Photography.

Dany Margolies – Press-Telegram

More rain is coming down on the Carpenter Performing Arts Center’s stage through the end of this month than has been seen in Long Beach all year. Read more…

Melinda Schupmann – Arts In LA

Perennially listed in the top films of all times, MGM’s Singin’ in the Rain is an early rarity: a film that preceded the subsequent theatrical production. Co-directed and choreographed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, with a screenplay by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, the film is inventive and iconic.em>Read more…Loredana Nesci

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

Although I didn’t know it until recently, this is Musical Theatre West’s third production of “Singin’ in the Rain.”

If practice makes perfect and three is a charm, it’s not surprising to learn that tickets are hard to get, nor that MTW is almost sold out for the entire run. So act fast if you’re anxious to see what the excitement is all about, because “Singin’ in the Rain” closes Sunday.Read more…

Now running through July 23.

 

THE HEIR APPARENT at International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center

Photo by Susan Mapes

Photo by Susan Mapes

Margaret Gray – LA Times

Struggles over inheritance are always painful — unless, of course, they take place in a French farce, in which case they are endlessly prankish and ribald. Read more…

Myron Meisel – Stage Raw

David Ives’s“translaptation” of Jean-Francois Regnard’s 1708 farce The Heir Apparent (Le Legataire Universel), at International City Theatre, also involves a gathering to squabble over inheritance, only this time the corpse-to-be remains very much alive….Read more…

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

Most people have never heard of French playwright Jean-Francois Regnard. Yet in his day, his work was compared to (and as popular as) the legendary comedies of Moliere — whose name is synonymous with the genre. Read more…

Now running through July 12.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES at the Garage Theatre

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Shirle Gottlieb – Gazettes.com

If you’ve ever seen anything written by Rajiv Joseph, you know that this brilliant young playwright is fascinated by the concept of why things happen.

In other words, why do different people do what they do? In each work, he courageously explores a different facet of human behavior by slowly peeling away obstacles in the outer layers, so he can access the heart of whatever matter he’s pursuing.

Read more…

Now running through through June 27.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN at the Long Beach Playhouse

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Photo by Michael Hardy

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

I can’t count how many productions I’ve seen of “Death of a Salesman” over the years — including, of course, the inevitable movie that packs the theater whenever or wherever it plays.

Read more…

Now running through June 20.

SPRING AWAKENING at the Long Beach Playhouse

Photo courtesy of Long Beach Playhouse

Photo courtesy of the Long Beach Playhouse

Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

Set in 1891 when Germany was a rigid, class-oriented culture — one that was strictly dominated by male authority-figures — “Spring Awakening” was censored and banned from the stage. Those in charge considered it to be unfit for anyone in Germany’s “proper, well-brought-up society.” Resurrected and presented to audiences more than 100 years later, it was enormously successful as an authentic slice of drama. Read more…

Now running through November 22.

 

BIG FISH – Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Center

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Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers

When Paul Garman (Musical Theatre West’s executive director/producer) saw “Big Fish” on Broadway last fall, it was so outstanding he called it “magical.”

Indeed, he knew he had to bring it home to Long Beach. And so, being the inimitable musical theater executive that he is, this astonishing, award-winning, “magical” musical opened last Saturday before a sold-out audience in the Carpenter Center. Read more…

Now running through November 16.