Neal Weaver – Stage Raw The Upstairs Lounge was a lively and popular New Orleans gay bar till 1973, when an arsonist doused the stairs leading to the club with lighter fluid, set it aflame, and then rang the doorbell. In the ensuing blaze, 32 people were killed — mocked and ridiculed even in death, … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw This show is advertised as a one-woman show, but in this case the woman is a guy: Jimmy Fowlie (Go-Go Boy Interrupted), who modestly lists himself in the program as “Co-writer/Star.” The piece purports to be the one-woman show performed by Mia Dolan, the heroine of the movie Lala Land. (I … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Cross-dressing actor-comedian Charles Busch wrote this glossy movie parody as a vehicle for himself in the central role of has-been movie star, Angela Arden. He performed in the play in Los Angeles several years ago, and his Angela was subtle and elegant. But now actor Drew Droege is giving him … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Anyone who’s been a teacher or who’s been otherwise charged with supervising troubled adolescents will understand straight off the problems facing Mama Darlin (Lana Houston), the beguiling nub of Philip Dawkins’ compelling Charm. Read more… Neal Weaver – Stage Raw A charm school for transvestites? It sounds like an odd premise for … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage and Cinema What makes this boisterous jukebox musical about the life of late music and stage legend Peter Allen (whose songs make up the show’s core) so winning, is the combination of larger-than-life excess and the piquant whiff of melancholy – all of which are frankly irresistible to a wide swath … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Teenage romance meets Southern Gothic in Eric Rosen’s intriguing and quirky play, based on the novel by Jim Grimsley and directed by Michael Matthews. Read more… Les Spindle – Frontiers L.A. Based on a 1995 novel by Jim Grimsley, which was subsequently adapted into a 2008 film, Eric Rosen’s evocative 1996 play makes … Read more