Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Dan O’Brien has written an American gothic tale on a par with Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard’s best works. Like many of the characters in Shepard’s plays, the protagonist seeks the truth, but the answers will not assuage his guilt or pain. Read more… Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Early in Dan … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main In John Strand’s play, The Originalist, the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia (Edward Gero) is presented as a lovable curmudgeon — rather like the tough, gruff but charismatic professor you might have had back in your university days. To appreciate the character, and the play, you need to … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily News Every once in a while there comes an opportunity to experience an extraordinarily rich theatrical performance. Such is the case with the Fiasco Theater production of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” now at the Ahmanson. Read more… Erin Conley – OnStage The cow as white as … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson – San Gabriel Valley Tribune When one first hears that A Noise Within has reset the powerful 1960s musical “Man of La Mancha” in a modern prison in the developing world, it can make one nervous. After all, it is based not only on one of the great works of international literature, but a … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily News It is an interesting new spin on Shakespeare’s “King Lear” to look at the downfall of this unwise ruler from the lens of Alzheimer’s disease. That is what director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott does in the production now in repertory at A Noise Within. Read more… Now running through May 6
Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily Breeze When one thinks of Eugene O’Neill, one thinks of wrenchingly serious plays, but “Ah, Wilderness” gives him a chance to explore the comparative innocence of a life he wished he could have lived. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Ah, Wilderness! is a tender memory piece about a family … Read more
Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily Breeze Sometimes one goes to the theater for something profound. Sometimes one goes for something that will leave behind an underlying message to be chewed over a bit for its power or its emotional impact. Read more… Now running through March 25
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Collective Rage, whose poster features a gal with soft eyes, a flexed bicep and a clenched fist, is subtitled “a play in 5 boops” because all five characters are named Betty Boop, after the cartoon figure conceived by Max Fleischer in 1930. Read more… Frances Baum Nicholson – The Daily Breeze … Read more
Erin Conley – OnStage It is not every day that a hat receives entrance applause at the theater. However, it is also not every day that Zoot Suit returns to Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum, the very theater that commissioned and hosted its world premiere in 1978. Read more… Rob Stevens – Haines His Way … Read more