F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw If slapstick is your thing, then The Play That Goes Wrong, now at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks through March 29, may be exactly your ticket. Read more…
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw MacLean’s ham-fisted lyrics focus on the theme of individualized female empowerment through therapy and self-reflection rather than on Hildegard’s work with women’s communities. Nonetheless, Beatrice Casagran’s thoughtful direction and mis en scene, in tandem with the exceptional vocal work of the cast, makes for a production that is visually and … Read more
Edward Hong – The Nerds Of Color There are many incredible ingredients at work with the Los Angeles premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Fairview, now playing at Rogue Machine Theatre: a crackling ensemble cast, an intriguing and twisty premise, and a thrilling direction by Oz Scott. But despite these elements present, … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive Right on cue, as the mad wannabe-pharaoh unleashes yet another cataclysmic war in the Middle East, LA Opera’s first operatic production of 2026 is about upheaval and regime change in that part of the world. Innovative minimalist composer Philip Glass’ “Akhnaten” is a lavish aural luau and visual feast that … Read more
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive “the best play about the making of a real-life movie in stage history is Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon’s ‘The Shark is Broken.’” This dramatization of the making of “Jaws” is simply a must-see for movie history buffs. Read more…
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw And when it comes to dynamic performances, the most winning of the evening is Sylvia herself, a huge red octopus puppet designed and directed by Emory Royston and manipulated by three nimble puppeteers, Zachary Bones, Perry Daniel, and Danielle McPhaul. Read more… Edward Hong – The Nerds Of Color … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Arthur Miller often tackles the universal themes of morality vs. what his great classic’s everyman anti-hero Joe Keller calls “practicality,” but this time out the author leaves just a tad room for his audience to discover things for ourselves without incessant preaching about how dastardly our world operates. Read more… … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Filmmaker/musician extraordinaire Zach Shields’ play is a simple, intimately told, yet monumentally unblushing theatrical experience, a fine example of contemporary innovative storytelling at its best. Read more…
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive Red Harlem uncovers and dramatizes a cinematic slice of film history… According to Kimba Henderson’s play, the Communist Party USA recruited African Americans in Harlem to travel to the Soviet Union circa 1932 in order to act in a movie produced by the CPUSA and financed by Moscow about racism … Read more
Anita W. Harris – Long Beach Post The first play of International City Theatre’s new season — “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” by Joe DiPietro with music by Jimmy Roberts — is an unexpected blast. Funny, sometimes poignant and filled with lively singing by a talented cast of four accompanied by on-stage piano … Read more