LADCC Critics

FOR THE RECORD – AMERICAN CRIME REQUIEM at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw We’ve been besieged of late by a plethora of juke-box musicals, but the production company For the Record has put a new spin on it. They bring us a soundtrack musical, whose score is derived from the soundtracks of movies by major directors. In the past they’ve paid tribute to … Read more

THE PORTMAN DELUSIONS at the Raven Theatre

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Paul Birchall  – Stage Raw Adam Mervis’s romantic satire, set amongst a group of youngish Los Angelinos, is caparisoned with many of the bells and whistles of the millennial generation: Mentions of Tinder and Bumble, ipads, video games, and bitcoin abound, as well as the (quite narratively irrelevant) spiritual presence of the actress Natalie Portman, … Read more

SIAMESE SEX SHOW at the Lounge Theatre

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Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Siamese Sex Show is one of those offbeat musicals where it doesn’t seem to matter that one or two plot threads are a little hard to follow. The choreography by April Thomas is so exuberant, the costumes by Michael Mullen are so fanciful, and the story and spectacle so deliciously … Read more

A TASTE OF HONEY at the Odyssey Theatre

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw In 1958, 18-year old Shelagh Delaney saw a production of Terrence Rattigan’s play Variations on a Theme, and was appalled by what she saw. The play had a reputation for boldness in tackling hot-button issues — it dealt with homosexuality, promiscuity, and bisexuality — but in Delaney’s view it was … Read more

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts

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Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze  It’s likely you already know the Old Testament story of Jacob and his favorite son, Joseph. So, for you, the pleasure is in the way “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” tells its tale, in musical theater form, this time by 3–D Theatricals. Read more… Now running through October 23

SKULLDUGGERY: THE MUSICAL PREQUEL TO HAMLET at Sacred Fools Theater

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw The most painful duty of a critic is watching a group of very talented people knock themselves out in support of a project that simply doesn’t work. One has some idea of the level of effort that goes into such an ambitious endeavor, and it’s no fun to proclaim the … Read more

DEAR WORLD at the Valley Performing Arts Center, Cal State Northridge

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Les Spindle –  Edge on the Net The rarely revived musical “Dear World” is by legendary composer-lyricist Jerry Herman (“Mame,” “Hello. Dolly!” “La Cage Aux Folles”) and his two “Mame” collaborators: co-librettists Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Read more…

BARS AND MEASURES at The Theatre@Boston Court

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Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main Bars and Measures, Idris Goodwin’s moving drama, directed with a sure hand by Weyni Mengesha, can be appreciated on several levels. To begin with, it’s a political work, a disturbing tale involving the questionable prosecution of an American Muslim for abetting a terrorist organization. Second, this is a story … Read more

BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS at the Celebration Theatre

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Humor is subjective. In this case the show in question is writer/performer Drew Droege’s Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, directed by Michael Urie at the Celebration Theatre. Urie wowed L.A. audiences in Buyer & Cellar at the Ahmanson in 2014.  Droege is a comedian known on the Internet for his drag impersonations of … Read more