Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Playwright David Grieg’s compelling drama is a sequel of sorts to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Given that just about everyone is dead at the end of Shakespeare’s play, one could well ask “what on earth can happen in a sequel to Macbeth?” Do the Three Witches move on down to Fort Lauderdale to get … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA A good rule of thumb for movie-to-musical adaptations is—and this isn’t original with me; I’ve heard it from many of my buddies in the tuner biz—if you’re dealing with a great movie, do something to keep it great, but do so in a distinctly different way. Read more… David C. … Read more
Margaret Gray – LA Times A Noise Within’s new production of “Julius Caesar” has plenty of style. Or rather, plenty of styles: bold but random design elements that compete for attention with the substance. Read more… Now running through May 8.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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