David C. Nichols – LA Times Coincidences are the universe’s way of being lazy” is one recurring motif in “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” at Theatre of NOTE, though it’s hardly the only metaphor. Erik Patterson’s promising dramedy pulls multiple similes toward coping with the aftereffects of a ruptured brain aneurysm. Read more… Now running through … Read more
Margaret Gray – LA Times J.B. Murray, the outsider artist and subject of the musical hagiography “Visionary Man” at the Hudson Mainstage, was an illiterate Georgia farmer who at age 70, after receiving a message from the Holy Spirit, began painting pictures of unbelievers in hell, was taken up by the art world and died … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA Oh, what a beautiful show. From curtain rise to curtain call, this production looks and sounds like a national tour. First produced on Broadway in 1943—with music by Richard Rodgers, and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II—Oklahoma! ushered in the Golden Age of American musicals. Its lush melodies and … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw There have always been political takes of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Some have described it as a condemnation of the idle aristocracy, a precursor to the Russian Revolution. Others saw it as a kind farewell to a vanishing class that is being supplanted by rapacious businessmen who only find beauty … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Written by Bob Randall (nee Stanley B. Goldstein), 6 Rms Riv Vu opened on Broadway in 1972, with Jerry Orbach and Jane Alexander as strangers who meet in an empty apartment and cannot decide whether or not to have an affair. The production ran for 247 performances and earned Randall a Drama Desk … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw In Hope Juber and Jeff Doucette’s tepid comedy, a motley crew of wanna-be actors, writers and comedians gather weekly at Sam’s Improv Workshop to develop their performance skills. The class is populated by the usual stereotypes and we soon get to know a bit of each of their backstories. Read more… … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA For committed theatergoers, there’s no happier occasion than stumbling upon a mature, polished work of dramatic art where you never expected to find one. In the little hole-in-the-wall Lounge on Santa Monica Boulevard, 6140 Productions is putting up the world premiere of Marja-Lewis Ryan’s One in the Chamber, and you will … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Each of these brief one acts takes place around a bed. Otherwise, they vary in quality and style. In Brian Tanen ‘s The Optimist, directed by Amanda Saunders, a young British bobby (Parker Phillips) and a veteran female Chief Inspector (Tara Karsian) meet at a crime scene. Read more… Now running through … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times The space where historical perspective and current-day attitudes crosshatch benefits “Frederick Douglass Now” at Bootleg Theater. Writer-performer Roger Guenveur Smith has done incisive, socially trenchant work before, but this is something else again. Read more… Now playing through August 24.
Neal Weaver – Arts In LA Playwright Neil LaBute is so prolific, and has created in so many different and varied media, that it’s virtually impossible to generalize about his work. (His program bio is downright intimidating.) But in many of the scripts for which he is best known—Fat Pig, In the Company of Men, … Read more