Jonas Schwartz

OUTSIDE MULLIGAR at the Geffen Playhouse

by

Bob Verini  –   Stage Raw The committed theatergoer, confronted with the prospect of a play set in Ireland, may well inquire, “First of all, is it one of the light ones or one of the dark ones?” Read more… Jonas Schwartz –  TheaterMania Outside Mullingar feels like a memory play of the distant past that is set … Read more

BREAKING THROUGH at the Pasadena Playhouse

by

Jonas Schwartz –  TheaterMania Struggling singer Charlie Jane wants to find her voice. She writes songs that speak to her frustrations growing up as the daughter of a failed artist, and she wants to reach other youngsters. Sleazy producers, egotistical colleagues, and her own insecurities stand in her way…. Read more…

SOMETHING TRULY MONSTROUS at the Blank Theatre

by

Jonas Schwartz –  Arts In LA Rarely are the words zany and film noir in the same sentence. However, Something Truly Monstrous is a madcap send-up of 1940 murky melodramas like High Sierra, Johnny Eager, and The Maltese Falcon—taking a longstanding rumor and twisting the backstory to involve three Warner Bros. prestigious movie actors. Read more… Now running through November 8.

FIRST DATE at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

by

Jonas Schwartz –  Arts In LA Experiencing theater—or any form of entertainment—is similar to the sensation of a blind date. Apprehension, as past disasters or boring evenings flood the mind, mix with exhilaration of a history of joyous surprises. In the opening moments, one can sense confidence in the conversation or a desperation to be … Read more

THESE PAPER BULLETS! at the Geffen Playhouse

by

Bob Verini –   Arts In LA About the best way to communicate my absolute, unalloyed pleasure in These Paper Bullets!, Rolin Jones’s Much Ado About Nothing adaptation at the Geffen, is to report that the smile that came over my face in the first five minutes stayed with me through the intermission, which I couldn’t wait to have … Read more

REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES at the Pasadena Playhouse

by

Margaret Gray – LA Times No Prince Charming — or any other man, for that matter — appears onstage in the revival of “Real Women Have Curves” at the Pasadena Playhouse. Nevertheless Josefina López’s crowd-pleasing play is a Cinderella story, with a touchingly pure faith in the power of a makeover. Read more… Jonas Schwartz –  … Read more

BENT at the Mark Taper Forum

by

Jonas Schwartz –  Arts In LA Bent, playwright Martin Sherman’s revelatory 1979 play about the gay experience in Nazi concentration camps, receives an arresting production at the Mark Taper Forum. Moisés Kaufman’s direction and his stellar cast will leave audiences breathless. Read more… Jenny Lower – LA Weekly It’s difficult and rare to come across stories … Read more

GIRLFRIEND at the Kirk Douglas Theatre

by

Jonas Schwartz –  Arts In LA Todd Almond’s libretto for the musical Girlfriend is as honest as a John Hughes gay musical would have been—if John Hughes had written a gay musical. Using Matthew Sweet’s 1990s Alternative Rock album of the same name as it’s framework, this story captures the anticipation and titillation that sets … Read more

WATERFALL at the Pasadena Playhouse

by

Bob Verini –   Arts In LA “Waterfall,” the new cross-cultural, lushly romantic tuner at the Pasadena Playhouse, has admirable ambition, visual splendor and patchy dramaturgy. Working from a Thai source novel, stage veterans Richard Maltby Jr. (words) and David Shire (music) seek to explore cultural identity in personal and political contexts, set against a complex historical backdrop. Read more… Melinda Schupmann … Read more