Celebration Theatre

Misbehaving men: SIX, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, KING AND I, plus Under the Skin, Coleman ’72, A New Brain, 44, Whittier Boulevard

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Don Shirley – Angeles Stage Before a jury held Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million, Trump claimed in a deposition that male “stars” have grabbed and groped women for “millions of years” — “unfortunately or fortunately.” Leaving that unfortunate “fortunately” aside, the musicals that currently … Read more

THE PRODUCERS at Celebration Theatre

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw I’ve always admired Celebration Theatre for its expert staging of technically demanding plays in tiny venues. The company’s musical productions — last year’s Cabaret, the Boy from Oz (2016)and Women of Brewster Place, the Musical (2010) — have been especially impressive. Now comes The Producers, Mel Brooks’s wacky stereotype-laden show about an unethical Broadway producer … Read more

2018 Award Show Photos

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It was a great night at the 50th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards at Pasadena Playhouse on Monday, April 8th. Congratulations to all of the award recipients and to everyone whose outstanding work received a nomination. We are proud to recognize your accomplishments. Thank you to everyone who attended the show and thanks to photographer Meredith … Read more

CABARET at the Celebration Theatre

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Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw By now, Kander and Ebb’s 1966 musical Cabaret is as much a part of the American musical theater canon as Oklahoma. While it’s much darker than most of its Rodgers and Hammerstein counterparts (save, perhaps, for Carousel), it now feels like an old standby, performed by regional theaters and colleges nationwide. Read more… Rob Stevens … Read more

SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF A PLAY at the Celebration Theatre

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Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  There’s little that chills the blood of a theatre critic more than the three words “one-man show.” When these things are bad, they tend to be especially so, and unlike a usual play, there’s nothing else to distract one from the spectacle. On the other hand, when they’re good, they … Read more

TILDA SWINTON ANSWERS AN AD ON CRAIGSLIST at the Celebration Theatre

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Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly In Byron Lane’s shtick-drenched comedy at the Celebration Theatre, a flamboyant figure claiming to be actress Tilda Swinton (Tom Lenk) shows up on the doorstep of a suicidal man named Walt (Lane) and inspires him to accept himself and get on with his life. Read more… Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw  … Read more

BRIGHT COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS at the Celebration Theatre

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Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Humor is subjective. In this case the show in question is writer/performer Drew Droege’s Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, directed by Michael Urie at the Celebration Theatre. Urie wowed L.A. audiences in Buyer & Cellar at the Ahmanson in 2014.  Droege is a comedian known on the Internet for his drag impersonations of … Read more

BOOTYCANDY – Celebration Theatre at the Lex

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Neal Weaver  – Stage Raw Robert O’Hara’s Lambda Award-winning comedy is the first production by Celebration Theatre in its new home. It’s largely a fictionalized, semi-autobiographical tale satirizing the trials and tribulations of growing up Black. Read more… Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly In some ways Robert O’Hara’s Bootycandy is like a confounding road trip: you get … Read more

The Homosexuals and Celebration Arrive in Atwater Village

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Les Spindle – LA Stage Times The show must go on for the currently homeless 31-year-old Celebration Theatre, and it will. Celebration’s season is opening belatedly, as the veteran GLBT-focused group is offering the West Coast premiere of Philip Dawkins’ ensemble drama The Homosexuals at Atwater Village Theatre.  

Justin Love, Celebration Theatre

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Justin Love — Book by Patricia Cotter and David Elzer, Story byDavid Elzer and Bret Calder, Music by Lori Scarlett and David Manning, Lyrics by Lori Scarlett. Sharon Perlmutter – TalkinBroadway.com Justin Love gives an old plot a modern twist, shines it up with with a bright and upbeat score, adds genuinely clever dialogue and lyrics, and wraps it all up in a Hollywood that only exists in fairy … Read more