David C. Nichols – LA Times Controversial psychology and show-biz moxie commingle in “The Behavior of Broadus,” with triumphant results. As delightfully self-assured as it is comically self-referential, made up of equal parts whimsy, wacky, profane and profound, this cracked…
Bob Verini – Stage Raw Upon leaving the opening night performance of Deaf West and The Forest of Arden’s co-production Spring Awakening – Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s 2006 rock musical about sexual awakening/repression in 19th century European teens, based on the 1891…
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Playwright-director-costume designer Octavio Carlin bills himself as “dress designer to the stars,” and his claims to be a fashion designer have a certain credibility. The gowns he has designed for the ladies of his ensemble are…
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The plight of homeless women veterans is a story that needs to be told, not once but many times. In Low Hanging Fruit, playwright Robin Bradford makes that story her aim, but her script has been…
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net A new theater group, the Fringe Theatre Company in North Hollywood, offers the premiere of an ensemble play set in contemporary L.A. Writer-director Joanne Mosconi’s “You Love That I’m Not Your Wife” is…
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA Farce is a difficult form of theater. Torrance Theatre Company is taking it on, in the form of Ray Cooney’s Run for Your Wife. The set here is sturdy, the actors competent. But, under…
Margaret Gray – LA Times Let’s Make a Deal’s” Wayne Brady as the lead in a revival of “Kiss Me, Kate”: It almost sounds like an especially wacky draft in some fantasy stunt-casting league for theater directors. Sheldon Epps of…
Bob Verini – Arts In LA On the heels of Spike Jonze’s award-winning film Her comes another whimsical, futuristic, seriocomic speculation about artificial intelligence’s commercial and emotional potential. This one is Jordan Harrison’s world premiere play at the Taper, titled Marjorie Prime, and…
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA The Actors Co-op modest production of the Tony-winning The Mystery of Edwin Drood strips away the large orchestrations, the amplified mikes, and the harmonizing chorus and focuses on Rupert Holmes’s ribald script. Led by the superbly…
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net Picture the myriad sequels and copycat films that were spawned by “Scary Movie,” which itself seemed inspired by “Airplane!” the granddaddy of all off-the-wall genre sendups. Add in a goofy rock score that…