Terry Morgan – ArtsBeatLA Although new plays can be exciting and are crucial to the continuing vitality of theatre, I’m especially fond of older works, the more obscure the better. It’s cheap time travel, immersing oneself in a long-past culture, and a reminder that in many ways we’re not that different than those artists in … Read more
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw Playwright Kelly McBurnette Andronicos’s muddled world premiere work critiques a patriarchal and class-based society that punishes women for actions that men merely receive a mild reprimand for — or walk away from scot-free. Read more…
Philip Brandes – Stage Raw A rowdy, bawdy, over-the-top production of the Off-Broadway hit spoofing Bram Stoker’s seminal 1897 gothic horror novel. Imagine a theatrical love child between Charles Ludlum’s flamboyant gender-bent, cross-dressing antics and Mel Brooks’s spot-on genre parodies and you’ve got the general idea. Best of all, it doesn’t suck. Read more…
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA Anyone who’s been privy to my usual grumblings concerning the dated nature of traditional musical comedy as opposed to the innovation of contemporary musical theatre will appreciate my excitement about David Lindsay-Abaire’s multiple-Tony-winning 2021 musical adaptation of his also award-winning play. To me, it’s the quintessential paradigm of how such … Read more
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw As for the production itself, director/choreographer Jeremy Lucas and a vigorous cast remind us of why Rent remains an important theatrical milestone, even after the shadow of AIDS has been largely dispelled by life-saving medical advances. Read more… Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld The Jaxx Theatre is an intimate location, … Read more
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA As the most important and scary election in our lifetime looms ahead of us, what this British import beautifully delivers in spite of some theatrical shortcomings is a reminder of how urgently we all, like playwright Dave Johns’ goodhearted workingclass Everyman hero, need to join together to lift one another … Read more
Terry Morgan – ArtsBeatLA Message plays are a pillar of western theater. Our entire theatrical ecosystem is unthinkable without works such as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House or Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, to name but a few. It’s part of how theater uses its micro lens to examine the macro … Read more
Dana Martin – Stage Raw Guys and Dolls lands firmly in the entertainment and nostalgia categories and it a prime example of the golden age of American Musical. First produced on Broadway in 1950, the story and characters are full of wit and humor. The story itself is most definitely outdated and a relic of … Read more
Patrick Chavis – The Orange Curtain Review Right in time for spookiest season of the year, South Coast Repertory’s Little Shop of Horrors brings back the smooth-talking Audrey 2, aka the houseplant with an agenda and puppetry that made this reviewer look like Audrey 2 more than a couple of times. What I’m trying to … Read more
Patrick Chavis – The Orange Curtain Review Marya Mazor directed Gloria, which is now at the Chance Theater. It is a sharp and witty exploration of the dark side of the publishing industry with an even darker comedic edge. Read more…