Dany Margolies – Arts In LA Before you hear this production described as “sitcomish,” know it was written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, the writers of the 1980s British television series Yes Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister. And if the humor of those series was good enough to keep the Brits giggling, it’s … Read more
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE – Music by Ben Toth, lyrics by Sam Forman. Hoyt Hilsman – Huffington Post After a long journey from the screen to the musical stage – which included numerous comings-and-goings of composer/lyricist teams – the Sleepless in Seattle musical has arrived at the Pasadena Playhouse. It is a huge challenge to adapt … Read more
THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS – music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, book by David Thompson Les Spindle – Edge Los Angeles The 2010 musical “The Scottsboro Boys” now in its L.A. premiere, is among the most innovative and thrilling shows to have graced Broadway in recent years, justifiably earning 12 Tony nominations. Yet it lost … Read more
HOT CAT by Richard Alger Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA Throughout its first half, this production is a fun and intellectual reworking of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Where Williams “told” us, writer Richard Alger and director-choreographer Tina Kronis “show” us.Read more… Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly Choreographer-director Tina Kronis and her husband, playwright … Read more
COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS by Ron Klier. Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA Paul stands by the light of a jukebox. The audience is intrigued, wondering who he is and why he’s there.Read more…
THE ROYALE by Marco Ramirez. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA A ferocious cast giving their all in a powerful play—Marco Ramirez’ The Royale is a tremendously satisfying evening of theater, now playing at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Set in the world of boxing during the early 1900s, we meet a tough young fighter Jay “The Sport” Jackson (David … Read more
A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter. Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA.com This Samuel D. Hunter script is saying something, and other people say they hear its message. But some of us do not hear it. Why not? The play pleased a New York publication enough to win an Obie. The play then merited the interest of Rogue Machine theater company … Read more
Red Barn by David Melville andMelissa Chalsma. Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA.com Captivating storytelling hallmarks this world premiere musical in Los Angeles that centers on an 1827 crime in the English countryside. David Melville andMelissa Chalsma, better-known to summer-Shakespeare audiences as the makers of Independent Shakespeare Company’s outdoor seasons, wrote the book for Red Barn, in part because the story, told to Melville by his mother … Read more
The Muesli Belt by Jimmy Murphy. Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA.com This U.S. premiere of an Irish import is a gentle little script that probably would speak to Dubliners of the late 1990s. But playwright Jimmy Murphy offers not much to Angelenos of the new millennium, who would be thrilled with increasingly large offers to purchase any property we might … Read more
Theatre in the Dark by various playwrights. Dany Margolies – ArtsInLA.com Some ideas don’t even sound good on paper. This one, however, turns out to be a thoroughly entertaining and relatively informative one. Ron Sossi’sbrainchild lets audiences sit in absolute pitch darkness, experiencing theater without benefit of our sight. These 90-minute performances (of alternating evenings titled Dark, reviewed here, … Read more