AMERICAN WEE-PIE at Theatre 40
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Like the cupcakes in her story, playwright Lisa Dillman’s American Wee-Pie may be too sugary for some palates. It was for mine. Read more… Now running through April 13.
THIEVES at the El Portal Theatre
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw Three siblings and their father — all estranged — reunite at their mother’s ramshackle country homestead shortly after her death to uncover her will and to sling recriminations at each other. Despite its flashes of black humor, Charlotte Miller’s gutsy, messy and heavy-duty family drama Thieves is about as jolly as that … Read more
HENRY IV, PART I at Antaeus Theatre Company
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Shakespeare could wield a neat dialectic as deftly as Bertolt Brecht, though he didn’t talk about it as much. In almost every play, the Bard shaped his plots to depict forces eternally at odds. Here, he ranges Prince Hal (Ramon de Ocampo) and Hotspur (Joe Holt), believers in the chivalric … Read more
PYGMALION at the Pasadena Playhouse
Jenny Lower – LA Weekly The basis for the much beloved, happily-ever-after musical My Fair Lady, George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion takes a much firmer tack on questions of class distinctions and female independence. Those themes, so dear to Shaw’s progressive heart, end up rather charmingly watered down in the 1964 Audrey Hepburn film version. Read more… Jonas … Read more
THE CURIOUS SAVAGE at the Torrance Theatre Company
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Being told “I love you” is nice. But there are more effective ways of expressing love. The characters at the heart of “The Curious Savage” — at Torrance Theatre Co. through April 19 — clearly know this. They, however, are locked up in a sanitarium. Read more… Now running through … Read more
MAME at the Westchester Playhouse
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze The rarely revived “Mame” is running at Kentwood Players’ Westchester Playhouse through April 18, and that alone should evoke gratitude. But only the memorably joyous melodies of Jerry Herman’s score, the set, and very few competent performances keep this production from verging on the disastrous. Read more… Now running through … Read more
CARRIE THE MUSICAL at the La Mirada Theatre for the Peforming Arts
David C. Nichols – LA Times Never underestimate the power of stagecraft. Case in point: ”Carrie: The Musical,” now receiving a mind-blowing immersive production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Few musicals are as infamous as the 1988 Broadway bomb Carrie. That notoriety was enhanced by the bootlegged CDs … Read more
TREVOR at the Atwater Village Theatre
David C. Nichols – LA Times “Sandra, I’m home. No go on the Dunkin’ Donuts job.” Thus the title character of “Trevor,” presented by Circle X Theatre Co., grabs our attention in a 200-pound death grip. Read more… Now running through April 19.
VERDIGRIS at Theatre West
Margaret Gray – LA Times Theatre West has revived Jim Beaver’s play “Verdigris,” a hit for the company 30 years ago, about a young man’s absorption into an offbeat Oklahoma family in the summer of 1972. Read more… Now running through April 19.
SIGHT UNSEEN at the Lounge Theatre
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw The most interesting scene in this production of Donald Margulies’s 1992 play involves an encounter between Jonathan (Jason Weiss), a successful Jewish-American painter having a much-touted exhibition in London, and Grete (Casey McKinnon), an art journalist of German extraction who is interviewing him. Read more… Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A. The … Read more