Don Shirley – Angeles Stage All My Sons, The Price, Richard III, Here Lies Love, Amadeus, Room by the Sea, Red Harlem, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wool?, God of Carnage, Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia, The Typist, Lifeline, Incitation to the Dance, Luca & Uri, Poetry for the People: the June Jordan Experience, I Love You You’re … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive Red Harlem uncovers and dramatizes a cinematic slice of film history… According to Kimba Henderson’s play, the Communist Party USA recruited African Americans in Harlem to travel to the Soviet Union circa 1932 in order to act in a movie produced by the CPUSA and financed by Moscow about racism … Read more
Anita W. Harris – Long Beach Post The first play of International City Theatre’s new season — “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” by Joe DiPietro with music by Jimmy Roberts — is an unexpected blast. Funny, sometimes poignant and filled with lively singing by a talented cast of four accompanied by on-stage piano … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Julia Child’s charismatic personality is explored in Claudia Shear’s new play The Recipe, a comedy with too few laughs and too few fresh insights into the life of the iconic chef. Lisa Peterson helms a breezy production that keeps the action moving, but her direction of its lead ultimately sinks it. … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Is the Old Globe’s new production of Hedda Gabler intended as a comedy? This isn’t a glib question, but a legitimate concern after leaving Erin Cressida Wilson’s slimmed-down adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic, headed by movie star Katie Holmes. This very watchable production feels like a spoof of daytime soap operas. … Read more
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw [W]hat the plucky performers may lack in notable vocal range they make up for with heartfelt dedication to the show’s kitschy plot and their humanizing of its comic book characters. Read more…
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA The first scene in Nicholas Pilapil’s intriguing new two-hander is actually what normally would be the last, depicting the end of a beautiful decade-long relationship and leaving us an entire play to unravel what went wrong. Director Jon Lawrence Rivera stages the mercurial colliding events smoothly and often playfully, keeping … Read more
Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move The audience is a full participant in the arduous process of NATURAL SELECTION currently at the Zephyr Theatre. So, be prepared with some serious stamina. Recommended. Read more…
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Since it was first produced in 1899 at the Moscow Art Theatre, adaptations of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya have proliferated. It appears that adaptors can’t wait to get their ink-stained fingers on Chekhov’s classic tale about the conflicts raging on a struggling Russian estate where the arrival of an elderly … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania A new staging of the Broadway cause célèbre Here Lies Love has arrived at the Mark Taper Forum. But without the benefit of seeing the original Alex Timbers production in New York, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, in this reimagined version helmed by Center Theatre Group artistic director Snehal Desai, the … Read more