The Bird House by Diane Glancy. Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly Cherokee playwright Diane Glancy offers a sad slice of contemporary country life in a small, dusty town in West Texas. Struggling with a dwindling congregation in his (almost) ghost town, evangelical preacher Jonathan (aka Reverend Hawk, played by Choctaw actor Randy Reinholz) and his dependent sisters face eviction from … Read more
Company by Stephen Sondheim. Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly Stephen Sondheim composed the lyrics and score to his innovative “concept musical” in 1970, with book by George Furth. For a comedy musical about love, it proves resolutely unromantic and honest. And, surprisingly, its acerbic wit and laser-like scrutiny of marriage, dating and relationships does not feel at all dated. … Read more
Oklahoma! by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Shirle Gottlieb – Gazette Newspapers Written in 1943 by musical titans Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Oklahoma! was a theatrical milestone that changed the face of musical theater forever. Read more… David C. Nichols – LA Times A bright golden haze of timeless musical theater invention suffuses Oklahoma! at the Carpenter Center. It carries Musical Theatre West’s affable, fleet-footed 70th … Read more
I’ll Be Back Before Midnight by Peter Colley. Sharon Perlmutter – TalkinBroadway.com I’ll Be Back Before Midnight is the sort of play that screams “regional theatre staple.” A four-character comic thriller, it doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is: a sometimes funny, sometimes jump-inducing diversion. In its Los Angeles premiere production at the Colony Theatre, it … Read more
Cassiopeia by David Wiener. Sharon Perlmutter – TalkinBroadway.com David Wiener’s Cassiopeia is beautiful, intelligent, and delightful to listen to. To be sure, it isn’t much of a play. The script itself calls the piece a “duet,” which does seem a bit closer to the truth. It’s two poetic monologues, inextricably intertwined and occasionally interspersed with an actual scene. Read more…
Walking the Tightrope by Mike Kenny. David C. Nichols – L.A. Times Delicately poised between children’s fable and adult reverie at once, only to become another transcendent thing altogether, “Walking the Tightrope” at 24th Street Theatre delivers the evocative, cathartic goods. Read more… Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA A highly theatrical, stylized production for all ages that utilizes poetic language, circus arts, live … Read more
The Snake Can by Kathryn Graf. Hoyt Hilsman – The Huffington Post Kathryn Graf’s paen to the perils of middle-aged dating has a solid premiere under the skillful direction of Steven Robmanand a very talented ensemble of actors. Set in the romantic jungle of New York City, Graf’splay focuses on the lives and loves of Harriet (Jane Kaczmarek), widowed with … Read more
Cathy Rigby is PETER PAN Music by Moose Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Based on the play by Sir James M. Barrie. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA.com The girl who refuses to grow old is playing the boy who wouldn’t grow up. Former Olympic gymnast (circa 1968 & 1972) … Read more
The Grand Irrationality by Jemma Kennedy. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA.com Jemma Kennedy’s comedy The Grand Irrationality raises a number of perplexing questions. Why is a British writer’s play, which was developed at the National Theatre in London in 2009, making its world premiere here in Los Angeles and not, say, at the National Theatre in London? Read more…
In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Bob Verini – ArtsInLA.com It’s about time Tarell Alvin McCraney’s work was able to be seen in Los Angeles. The Brother/Sister Plays, his trilogy about indigenous backwoods Louisiana folk operating under strange and magical Yoruba and Caribbean influences, has been garnering raves on both sides of the Atlantic (he has … Read more