DANCIN’ at the Old Globe in San Diego

Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania In 1978, Bob Fosse created an evening spotlighting the artistry of dance called Dancin‘, utilizing songs from the ’70s, previous decades, and classical music. Currently at the Old Globe in San Diego, the revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ is having its pre-Broadway run, under the direction of Wayne Cilento, one of the original cast … Read more

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF at Geffen Playhouse

Terry Morgan  –  Artsbeat LA Bitchiness, thy name is Albee. Has there ever been a play that reveled in so much in mean-spirited badinage as Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Sour wit courses through the blackened veins of this show like acidic blood, or more specifically like the booze the characters actively embalm themselves with.  Read … Read more

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 at International City Theatre

Rob Stevens – Haines His Way In 1879, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen shook up the theatrical world with his “feminist” play A Doll’s House. In 2017, up and coming young American playwright Lucas Hnath wrote a sequel, A Doll’s House, Part 2, that picked up the action 15 years later. Read more… Steven Leigh Morris – Stage Raw … Read more

BRIGHT HALF LIFE at the Road Theatre on Magnolia

Terry Morgan  –  ArtsBeat LA Plays that chart the course of a romantic relationship have long been a staple of theater. Stories told in a nonlinear way are less common but not unheard of. When you take the previous two structures and apply them to the topic of a lesbian interracial marriage, the result is … Read more

BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY at the Mark Taper Forum

Jonas Schwartz-Owen – Theatermania Dynamic performances by Nija Okoro and Greg Alverez Reid fuel Center Theatre Group’s new revival of Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky. Phylicia Rashad, who originated Okoro’s role in the play’s 1995 world premiere, returns to direct this humorous production that always simmers with devastation under the surface. Read more… Deborah Klugman … Read more

RAPUNZEL ALONE at the 24th Street Theatre

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In 2013, the 24th Street Theater produced a play by British playwright Mike Kenny, Walking the Tightrope. It was directed by Debbie Devine and starred adult performer Paige Lindsey White as a little girl who visits her grandparents at the seaside every year…Now comes Rapunzel Alone, another play by Kenny that was commissioned by … Read more

THE QUEEN’S BALL: A BRIDGERTON EXPERIENCE at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel

Dana Martin – Stage Raw Social season is upon us, people, and every respectable lord and lady is eager to be the talk of the “ton”. Shondaland, Netflix and Fever join forces to present Bridgerton: An Immersive Experience, an epically delightful evening of 19thcentury cosplay appropriately housed at the majestic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Read … Read more

A PUBLIC READING OF AN UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY ABOUT THE DEATH OF WALT DISNEY at the Odyssey Theatre

Terry Morgan  –  Artsbeat LA I have a rule about avant-garde theater: if an artist chooses to deliberately obscure his/her/their meaning via unusual methods or flirts dangerously with pretentiousness, the play had better validate those choices by demonstrating how they were necessary. Most experimental pieces, in my experience, fail that test, but when they succeed … Read more

LITTLE PARTS HUNTS A BABY-DADDY – Echo Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw There are times when one’s not quite sure what a theater piece is about, but its presentation is so engaging that it doesn’t matter. Case in point: writer-performer Ann Noble’s solo work, in which the title character (Little Parts) is a pregnant clown conducting an internet search for a Baby-Daddy … Read more