Margaret Gray – LA Times During Alena Smith’s play “Icebergs,” in its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse, thirtysomething screenwriter Calder (Nate Corddry) sets up an air mattress in his Silver Lake living room for a visiting friend. The mattress is the self-inflating kind, and after Calder plugs it in, he sits lost in thought, … Read more
Lovell Estell III – Stage Raw Ernest and Margaret Eagleton (Mark L. Taylor, Bonnie Bailey-Reed), are small town Texas folks whose nondescript lives are transformed by a visitor, in this lively comedy by Deb Hiett. Read more… Now running through December 19
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Dramatically, antiheroes are more interesting to write about and portray than standard heroes because they combine the most compelling aspects of both hero and villain. Eugene O’Neill knew this well, and populated his plays with a parade of sympathetic ne’er-do-wells, from Jamie in Long Day’s Journey into Night to the entire cast … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main Some stories bear retelling no matter how many times we’ve heard them before, and Rebecca Stahl’s melodrama about an emotionally disturbed veteran of our recent wars in the Middle East falls into that niche. While the play could lose a couple of its contrivances, and the performances, under John … Read more
Don Shirley – LA Observed The telenovela genre, that hotbed of steamy romance, becomes embroiled in a fervent embrace with the theater in “Destiny of Desire,” Karen Zacarias’ wildly funny play at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa. Now running through November 20
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In his 1987 solo show, Time Flies When You’re Alive, writer/performer Paul Linke relayed the story of his first wife’s battle with breast cancer, the impact of her illness on his family, and the heartbreak of her death at age 37. The couple had three small children at the time, the … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw When Mrs. Patrick Campbell was rehearsing for her debut in the role of Hamlet’s Ophelia, her mentor, George Bernard Shaw, gave her a choice piece of advice: “In Shakespeare, the only justification for a pause is a fight or a procession.” It’s not a fundamental law, but it is a … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw It is a terrible thing for a theater critic to admit, but I’d never seen this scabrously funny Tony Award-winning musical, about the price put on the most fundamental of bodily functions, before attending the Coeurage Theatre Company’s fresh and sprightly production. Read more… Now running through February 25
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw When a tale that features a botched sex-change operation, plenty of blow job references and raunchy audience interaction can fill the generally conservative Pantages, something special must be happening. The special thing is John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch….. Read more… Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main The 24th Street Theatre has a reputation for producing quality theater suitable for everyone from 8 to 80 years old. Hansel & Gretel Bluegrass, Bryan Davidson’s compelling musical adaptation of the fairy tale about two hungry and imperiled children, is the company’s latest effort. Read more… Lovell Estell III – … Read more