Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Under Shepperd’s direction, a youthful ensemble performs with energy and commitment, and the pace never lags. Read more… Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld Dominique Morisseau’s BLOOD AT THE ROOT is a blistering look at race, prejudice, and the complexity of human relationships. Read more…
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld The most Fractured of Fairy Tales, “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” is the tonic we all need right now. Read more… Katie Buenneke – Theater Digest Peter Pan Goes Wrong at the Ahmanson [LA]. When this show is good, it’s great, and has some of the most side-splitting comedic moments I’ve experienced … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage “Last Summer at Bluefish Cove” isn’t usually considered a classic, but it played an important role in LA theater history as the first lesbian-themed play to have a long run — more than two years at the Fountain Theatre after a 1981 opening. This summer the Fountain has revived “Last … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld Bernardo Cubría’s world premiere CRABS IN A BUCKET: OR HOW BITTERNESS RUINED THE FUN is a riotous satire of small minds divided by envy. Focused on literal crabs in a shucking bucket, the crabbiest crab, Amargo (Xochitl Romero), and daffy sidekick Pootz, (Anna Lamadrid), spend their days bitching about the crabs … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Broadway hit Beetlejuice, now running at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre before making more stops on its North American tour, features a delightful score and book along with hysterical performances. It’s the must-see show of the season. Director Alex Timbers and his crew have morphed the beloved film into a fun house … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania A Transparent Musical is special — more for what it is about than what it actually is. The ambition and sentiment are admirably high, but the execution needs serious work. Director Tina Landau gathers an excellent cast who perform strongly, but the text gives them too little with which to produce … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw What happens when ethnic identity stops being a gift and starts being a curse? In Nicholas Pilipal’s The Bottoming Process, a gay Filipino American man becomes so obsessed with how his Asian-ness —and his sexuality — is perceived that he torches a mutually loving relationship with someone who, it would … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld. Aerosol in the air as Tracy Turnblad, Penny Pingleton, and the teens of Baltimore bring politics and pizzazz to Hollywood with a stunning production of one of the best and beloved musicals of all time… It’s a thrilling, unsinkably upbeat show, gleefully over the top, with colorful characters, costumes, and sets. … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld. Despite the sex comedy aspects of the show, a vein of melancholy runs throughout it, much of it being told through the lens of regret. This isn’t encapsulated any better than in Desirée’s lament “Send in the Clowns,” which is hopeless and hopeful and remorseful and accepting and existential all bound … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld. Tony-nominated playwright Lucas Hnath’s THE THIN PLACE is an eerie meditation on grief, regret and the need for closure, though it is undermined by the lack of a satisfying conclusion… Obie Award- and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning Hnath (“Red Speedo”; “A Doll’s House, Part 2”) carefully delineates each character with precise … Read more