Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA From the moment the curtain goes up and our diva is belting out a song (in a nightclub setting) while flanked by two smooth back up singers, you know you are in good hands and are heading for a fun time. Sister Act stars Ta’Rea Campbell, whose voice is a powerhouse—and … Read more
Mayank Keshaviak – LA Weekly This world premiere of Steven Cagan’s amorous musical hardly feels like a full-fledged production. First off, James Esposito’s set is little more than some black cubes and stools on a bare stage. Add to that the fact that A. Lynn Downey’s lights are wincingly and monotonously bright throughout…Read more… Now … Read more
Neal Weaver – LA Weekly Kings Road Park is a small, bucolic gem, plunked down amid our urban sprawl, and a perfect venue for the city of West Hollywood’s Free Theatre in the Parks program. This play, produced by the Classical Theatre Lab, is by Carlo Goldoni and was first performed in 1762. But the … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Although the wow factor is missing, aficionados of John Lennon probably will appreciate this tribute to the iconic musician, which juxtaposes renditions of his most famous songs with a narrative of his life. Read more… Melinda Schupman – ArtsInLA Tribute band concerts have become more and more common, particularly when the … Read more
Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly The original off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks ran for 42 years, making it the world’s longest-running musical. The show’s songs are quaint and pretty and its simple, allegorical story is complemented by its bare-bones staging. Read more Now running through July 13.
Bob Verini – ArtsInLA A nation should know and experience its classic dramatic texts. Yet the major virtues of many of ours remain virtually unknown, even to many serious theatergoers, solely because the casts are too large for almost any contemporary producer to afford.Read more… Now running in repertory through September 28.
Bob Verini – ArtsInLA ModRock is a train wreck, the waste of a perfectly good idea for a jukebox to rifle, namely the array of 1950s and ’60s British hits that transformed the pop music scene worldwide and eventually made its way to our shores as the “British invasion.” As British invasions go, ModRock is … Read more
Deborah Klugman – ArtsBeatLA In her smart and funny show, solo performer Palmer Davis portrays alter ego Wendy Walker, a talented dancer who struggles to juggle a passion for her art with motherhood and the bread-and-butter jobs she needs to pay her bills. Read more… Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly In this solo show conceived and … Read more
Les Spindle – Frontiers Veteran playwright-screenwriter-director Del Shores (Sordid Lives, Yellow) dons a producer’s hat for an encore production of Matthew Leavitt’s raucous sex comedy, The Boomerang Effect. This episodic play, charting the subtly interrelated lives of five couples in five separate bedrooms, premiered at the Odyssey Theatre in April 2012. Read more Now running through July … Read more
Terry Morgan – LAist When one thinks of Arthur Miller’s body of work, one doesn’t immediately think “chronicler of Italian-American experience,” but with A View From The Bridge, he revealed a further breadth of his talent. The lead characters of most of Miller’s plays are imperfect men, from Willy Loman and John Proctor, and Eddie … Read more