Les Spindle – Edge on the Net Celebrated composer-lyricist Meredith Willson (1902-1984) had a colorful but surprisingly limited Broadway career, which included “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1960), “Here’s Love” (1963), and his most indelible musical, “The Music Man” (1957). Read more… Shirle Gottlieb Yeah, you’re right, “The Music Man” is an old war-horse over fifty years old; but it still … Read more
Bob Verini – ArtsInLA Having well and truly conquered James Tyrone (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), Hickey (The Iceman Cometh), Krapp (Krapp’s Last Tape), and Willy Loman (Death of a Salesman), Brian Dennehy sets up base camp at the Mark Taper Forum to take on his most daunting personal Everest yet. With its dozen or … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net In chronicling the beginning of a momentous chapter in the history of gay culture, namely the initial outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, Larry Kramer’s watershed play “The Normal Heart” offers a deeply moving snapshot of an era, while imparting timeless truths.Read more… Bob Verini … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the net In a world so enamored with the modern-day equivalent of Barnum and Bailey-namely the dazzling extravaganzas offered by Cirque de Soleil-Lorenzo Pisoni might be referred to as the little clown who could.Read more… Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly As the title indicates, Humor Abuse is no lighthearted evening … Read more
Bob Verini – ArtsInLA Time heals everything, so the song goes, and a quick overview of history reveals there’s no calamity so atrocious that the passage of time won’t soften its impact. Shed any tears over the massacre of the Huguenots lately? How about the victims of the Children’s Crusade? Fortunately, art often comes forward … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net A favorite pastime of Broadway musical fanatics is sharing stories of infamous musical flops. Of course, the perception of a “flop” can reflect a box-office calamity or an artistic failure, or a combination of the two. The measure of artistic worth is subjective.Read more… Now running through September … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net How’re you gonna keep ’em down on the farm once they’ve illuminated the stages of Broadway? Actor-singer David Burnham who has forged an acclaimed and prolific career in such shows as “Wicked,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and “The Light in the Piazza,” enjoys sharing his heartfelt … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA Dramatic lighting sets the mood at Rockwell Table & Stage, for the latest “For The Record” musical production (previously staged)—this time a tribute to the four feature films of creative Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. The cabaret-style show smoothly segues from snippets from Romeo + Juliet to Moulin Rouge! to The Great Gatsby, with a little Strictly Ballroom occasionally thrown in … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net The latest cabaret offering produced by Bruce Kimmel’s Kritzerland Records at Sterling’s Upstairs at the Federal in North Hollywood, is “The Music Men: Meredith Willson and Gene de Paul,” a pleasing array of vintage show tunes from two gifted songwriters.Read more…
PARADE – Libretto by Alfred Uhry, Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Les Spindle – Edge on the Net As daily news flashes are dominated by reports of crippling political divisiveness, accusations of governmental manipulation and heinous acts of violence and bigotry, the masterful 1998 musical “Parade” has never felt more pertinent.Read more…