Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Zombies From The Beyond, which premiered off-Broadway in 1995, takes place in the Eisenhower Years, that era of dull certitude when the Soviet Union was America’s arch-enemy and the possibility of creatures from outer space invading the planet haunted American popular culture. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA The … Read more
Neal Weaver – ArtsInLA When this modest little musical, with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, first opened Off-Broadway in 1960, no one could have predicted the astonishing success it would achieve. It ran for a grand 42 years, racking up an astronomical 17,162 performances, and has since been performed … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA “So that’s where American Idol contestants go to die: non-Equity tours and Indian casinos.” So sniffed my companion as we approached the Pantages Theatre and its proud marquee announcement of Ace Young (seventh place, Season V) and Diana DeGarmo (second place, Season III) in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The skepticism … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Nate Rufus Edelman’s slick and funny comedy has an unexpected sting in its tail. Larry (Leon Russom) and Wally (Garrett Michael Langston) are a pair of hit-men who’ve been sent to Las Vegas to commit a murder. Larry is earnest, disciplined, professional, and resolutely impersonal. But there must be a … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw Playwright-performer Lynn Downey Braswell was apparently so taken by Shauna Niequist’s 2007 memoir/short story collection that she adapted it to become her stage vehicle. Portraying Shauna, the show’s narrator, Braswell’s frank, confessional and sometimes amusing style of performance serves the material well. Read more… Now running through June 29.
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In Gary Lennon’s regrettably overwritten comedy, directed by Wilson Milam, Elizabeth Regen plays Eve, a fierce and fiery drama queen searching desperately for love on the streets and in the bars of NYC’s Lower East Side. Read more… Now running through July 12.
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net June was busting out all over on the first of the month at the popular Sterling’s Upstairs supper club at the Federal bar and restaurant in North Hollywood. In fact, the “busting out” included some earthquake tremors right in the middle the show, but the devoted performers carried … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Backyard wrestling – the emulation of the aggressive antics of professional wrestlers by ordinary folk – serves as the point of departure for Mickey Birnbaum’s funny, frenzied, probing play, Backyard. It begins with two teenagers, Chuck (Ian Bamberg) and Ray (Adan Rocha), meeting in Chuck’s backyard to work out a series … Read more
Neal Weaver – ArtsInLA Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray has exerted a powerful fascination for both the general public and later generations of artists, ever since it was written in 1890. Its publication was controversial, and, even in a heavily censored version, it was widely condemned on moral grounds. But scandal has never been … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA Steven Drukman’s Death of the Author is, hands down, one of the very best plays of the year. A mystery wrapped within a psychological portrait gallery within a stinging critique of academic politics, it satisfies on every level during its completely gripping 90 minutes. Angelenos lucky enough to catch it at … Read more