Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen How is it possible that a musical based on a book written nearly 40 years ago feels more timely than ever today? The tour of the Tony-winning Broadway revival of The Color Purple just opened at the Pantages Theatre, and its messages of female empowerment in the face of … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld Puppets and monsters and freaks, oh my. Shoreside has an abundance of them in WOOD BOY DOG FISH and they don’t play well together at all… The story is a spin on Pinocchio but it in no way resembles the Disney fairy tale most people are familiar with so don’t bring … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw It’s hard to think of a timelier play than Jennifer Barclay’s Ripe Frenzy, about a shooting and mass murder that takes place in a high school in a small town in upstate New York. A rolling premiere from the National New Play Network, it opened here in Los Angeles the day … Read more
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze On the surface, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s “Provenance” will seem an unlikely story, even by theatrical standards — it’s too convenient, too cute. In its production at Little Fish in San Pedro through May 24, it could seem overacted. Give it awhile. Read more…
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze If so far you’ve enjoyed about a dozen versions of “The Marriage of Figaro,” or decided you’ve sat through your last “Ring” cycle, or even seen a production or two of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” then the West Coast premiere of “ (Le Vin Herbé)” may pique your … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld A gaunt Leon Russom conjures up more pathos than normal as the aged Prospero in the Porters of Hellsgate’s production of THE TEMPEST. Whether it is due to the fact that the actor has been battling pneumonia, which took him out of the show opening weekend mid-performance, or that his interpretation of the … Read more
Ellen Dostal – Musicals in LA It takes an incredible amount of work to create a new musical, and to dream up one that is different from any other musical already written is an even more complicated developmental process. The blood, sweat, tears, and years that go into it are not for the faint of … Read more
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 … Read more
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw The legendary Vince Lombardi once declared that, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” (Actually the slogan was first voiced by UCLA Bruins football coach Henry Russell “Red” Sanders in 1950; Lombardi probably got it from him). It has now become a venerated mantra, a toxic call to action willingly embraced … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw We don’t think of Mae West as a literary figure, but she wrote three plays — Sex, The Drag, and Pleasure Man. All were produced on Broadway, and all were closed by the police on grounds of obscenity. This seems hard to fathom, since nowadays they seem no more obscene (or even risqué) … Read more