F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Existence provides ample opportunity for two gifted actors to shine. Veteran director John Perrin Flynn, the former artistic director of Rogue Machine, stages the proceeding with an emotional simplicity that makes the most of his material’s limitations. Read more… Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive This is an excellent character … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA The ambition, vision, and drive behind this original gothic musical are undeniable. Justin and Melissa Meyer have built an extraordinary creative home to serve LA theatergoers for years to come and this dark fantasy spectacle stands as a grand testament to what dedicated, uncompromised theatrical vision can achieve. Read … Read more
Elaine Mura – Splash Magazines Luis Valenzuela helmed the production with authenticity and artistry as the story reached its tragic conclusion. Projected subtitles assisted in understanding English and Spanish – as well as Nahuatl – but it is likely that the audience would have followed the story even without translation, so powerful were the … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive In the last couple of years there has been a trend of L.A.’s live stages reviving classics of the Theater of the Absurd: The Geffen Playhouse presented Beckett’s (that valiant veteran of the French anti-Nazi Resistance!) Waiting for Godot; A Noise Within Ionesco’s Exit the King; and The Actors’ … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Way back in 1956 with Europe still reeling from the devastation of WWII, Friedrich Dürrenmatt gave us a terrifying roadmap of how easily human decency is auctioned off for a sense of ease. Pasadena Playhouse has mounted a visually impressive revival of an eerily prophetic classic, but by prioritizing … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA In an era where so much theatre has grown safe, polite, and overly cautious, this true counter-culture teat arrives like a brick through a stained-glass window–and Zombie Joe’s provides the quintessential intimate crucible for Michael Sargent’s outrageous brand of over-the-top and dangerous comedy. Read more…
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive A Noise Within’s production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is ANW’s seventh mounting since 2019 of August Wilson’s 10 “American Century Cycle” plays, directed by Gregg T. Daniel, and in my humble opinion, it is the best one I’ve seen so far. Wilson’s wide ranging decalogue of dramas about … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive In playwright Joe DiPietro’s Conscience the hero – or rather, heroine – is a real-life historical figure who truly did do something rather heroic: Senator Margaret Chase Smith (Sharon Gardner). Maine and senators have been much in the news lately, but in 1950 Smith was the only woman serving … Read more
Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move Actor WEST LIANG, delivers deeply nuanced, emotionally quiet, and completely resonant performances in this play about historical and generational change. Read more…
Edward Hong – The Nerds Of Color Despite a mighty and delightful ensemble cast, the Play On Shakespeare‘s modern verse translation of William Shakespeare‘s Pericles at Boston Court Pasadena is a bit of a head-scratcher. By attempting to fuse modern dialogue with Shakespearean language, it creates an off-putting rhythm that isn’t helped by the direction’s contrived ‘play within a play’ … Read more