JULIUS WEEZER at the El Portal Theatre

Terry Morgan  –  Talkin’ Broadway To quote an obscure Elizabethan playwright, “we lucky few” have been privileged to enjoy the work of the Troubadour Theater Company for 25 years now. Its trademark — combining a play (often Shakespeare) with the music of a famous artist, then adding its own blend of anarchy and witty topical … Read more

THE SECRET GARDEN – 3-D Theatricals at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts

Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld When 3-D Theatricals artistic director T.J. Dawson tells you during the curtain speech to read his program note before THE SECRET GARDEN begins, take him at his word. It will go a long way toward helping you understand the feverish dream sequence that lays the foundation for Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman’s dark, … Read more

DANIEL’S HUSBAND at the Fountain Theatre

Terry Morgan  –  Talkin’ Broadway It’s always a nice moment when a work of art surprises me in a positive way. It reminds me of one of the reasons I love theater in the first place: the primal pull of story. It’s the delight of seeing something new when one was expecting something else.Read more… … Read more

DIANA OF DOBSON’S at Antaeus Theatre Company’s Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center

Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen It is rare to see a play written in 1908 that can be described as feminist, but Diana of Dobson’s, currently playing at Los Angeles’s Antaeus Theatre Company in a rare production, is a delightful surprise.Read more… Now running through June 2

A Conversation with Matt Walker and Beth Kennedy, the King and Queen of Troubie Land

Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld When it comes to developing a loyal fan base, Troubadour Theater Company has found the secret: do outstanding work, stay true to your aesthetic, and give the people what they want – a great time at the theater. Artistic Director Matt Walker started the troupe and, with the help of longtime … Read more

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT at the Edgemar Center for the Arts

Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen If you find the page count or the dense subject matter of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment too intimidating, Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus’s award-winning stage adaptation might be more palatable. Clocking in at a cool 90 minutes and featuring only three actors, this version boils the classic tale down … Read more

BOXING LESSONS at The New American Theatre

Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw The terminally damaged clan on display in John Bunzel’s dark comedy convincingly affirms that oft quoted adage of Tolstoy’s that “every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. The play is set in a remote cabin in Puget Sound that was once the home of a famous author, … Read more