LADCC Critics 
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw One thing about the folks at Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater is that they never seem to run out of bold inventive ways to reinvent the classics. They’ve mined the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Lewis Carroll and Edgar Allan Poe with considerable success in the past, and now, once again, … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania A Cinderella Christmas, the latest pantomime show at the Pasadena Playhouse, has an age limit. The children at the theater delighted in the sophomoric jokes, sing-alongs, and fourth-wall-breaking conversations with the audience. Read more… Now running through January 8
Don Shirley – LA Observed Two major productions in LA right now more or less begin with scenes set in LA – which is so unusual on our larger stages that I’m happy to salute any effort to examine our own community, no matter how tentative.
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The Wholehearted is an intense, ambitious work in need of finessing. Performed by Suli Holum, it’s inspired by the real life account of world champion female boxer Christy Martin, an abused spouse who survived a murder attempt by her husband but never made a comeback after he shot and stabbed her … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania With only a piano and a small cast, Chance Theater‘s production of Little Women is a pleasurable surprise — a warm and inviting musical, filled with spirited characters and melodic songs. It feels like being home for the holidays with family. Read more… Now running through December 23
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw A clear sign that something has entered the zeitgeist is when people decide to mock it in song. Now that the TV series Game of Thrones has become a worldwide phenomenon, its time has come. Read more… Now running through December 20
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Ebenezer Scrooge becomes miserly tequila manufacturer Pedro Azucar in this Mexican-American variation on Charles Dickens’ durable (and sometimes inescapable) Christmas classic. The script is by Adam Neubauer and Sebastian Munoz, who directs the piece and also plays Pedro with exuberant and deliberate hamminess. Read more… Now running through December 18
This past weekend several critics from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circlecollaborated the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts for our third joint LADCC/Wallis Student Reporter Event. Approximately 12 students, ranging in age between 12-18, came to the Wallis this past weekend to participate in this special event. Critics Dany Margolies, Katie Buenneke and Jonas Schwartz spent the … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Carlos Gardel was born Charles Gardès in France to an unwed mother who emigrated to Argentina shortly after his birth. He grew up in a working class neighborhood in Buenos Aires, later becoming an international celebrity famous for his baritone voice, his Latin-lover looks and his heart-fluttering female fans. Read more… … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Playwright Phil Olson seems to have been of two minds about what sort of play he wanted to write — a snarky comedy about a bickering dysfunctional family, or a sweet uplifting holiday tale. So he tried for both. Read more… Now running through December 18