Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review Of all of Oscar Wilde’s creations, the overall theme of “A Picture of Dorian Gray” has most become a part of the English language. Rob Stevens – Haines His Way In his program notes for the current A Noise Within’s production of his adaptation of A Picture of Dorian … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Three “sandwich artists” with very different lives walk into a franchise. What happens? Unfortunately the answer is…not much. American Hero, a play by Bess Wohl currently being presented by the IAMA Theatre Company in a guest production at the Pasadena Playhouse, is a comedy about working class America, … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review It is quite remarkable how many times the Victor Hugo novel, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” has been dramatized, in film, on television, and on the stage. Now running through September 22
Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review There is a fine line between humor which skewers privilege and prejudice by making its claims sound as ridiculous as they are, and writing which pronounces the same beliefs and then does a kind of wink to indicate that, really, it was said to be funny. Jonas Schwartz … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat, now playing at the Mark Taper Forum, exposes the collapse of the American working class in the new millennium. When backed up against the wall and left with neither income nor hope, people sink into racism almost by reflex. The ramifications of humanity’s anger hangs over … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen Holidays tend to bring out the drama in families, sometimes even to the point where one person ends up beating another with a thawed chicken. In Jews, Christians, and Screwing Stalin, a world premiere comedy by Mark Lonow and Jo Anne Astrow currently playing at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood, … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily Breeze The entire idea of identity is one which has come increasingly to the forefront of modern conversation. What makes someone who they are? What if the person they see in the mirror isn’t who they feel they are inside? What if being genuine to themselves means not being … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily Breeze When Rachel Dolezal was forced to step down from the presidency of the local branch of the NAACP in Spokane, Wash., in 2015 because she was not (as she had claimed) African-American, it spurred a debate on the nature of race and cultural appropriation which was long past … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson –The Stage Struck Review The classic screwball comedy films of the 1930s and 40s have remained popular from that time on because of four basic elements: the ridiculousness of the essential storyline, the crisp and evocative dialogue, the quality of and apt casting of the performers, and timing – always the fast-paced, … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld One thing’s for sure – country musicals are an awful lot of fun. There aren’t very many of them and, if you can name one at all, it’s most likely THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS or THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM. But there is another rarely produced gem that is just as … Read more