Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania La Mirada Theatre presents a truncated version of the hit Broadway musical Mary Poppinsunder the direction of Glenn Casale. Audiences can hear the songs they remember from the movie, like “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and “A Spoonful of Sugar,” but this production exorcises the magic from the production. Read more…
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Deaf West Theatre’s passionate staging of Steven Sater and Duncan Shiek’s musical (based on Frank Wedekind’s play) was one of 2014’s local small-theater hits, and now the production has been remounted in the grander environs of the Wallis Annenberg Theater. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Last year’s production of Spring … Read more
Bob Verini – Stage Raw Most people’s command of international finance and investment, I think it’s fair to say, probably cuts not much deeper than the “Money makes the world go around” lyrics from Cabaret. Yet in telling the sorry true-life saga of the titular Houston energy giant and its catastrophic demise, Lucy Prebble’s Enron coolly takes for granted … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Sometimes it’s OK to be predictable if what you have to say bears saying again. Immediate Family, Paul Oakley Stovall’s first play now making its L.A. debut at the Mark Taper Forum, starts out as a high-spirited comedy, a kind of super-polished sitcom that centers on a group of African-American … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Anna Deavere Smith is an American treasure. She is a vivid storyteller who has mastered building monologues from interviews with those affected by her subject matter. She captures the cadence and moods of the real people she impersonates and finds the most penetrating details to flesh out. Read more… Melinda … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA The inciting incident of The Power of Duff, Stephen Belber’s new play at the Geffen, occurs early. Local Rochester, N.Y. news anchor Charlie Duff (Josh Stamberg)—having lost his wife to divorce, his son to resentment, and now his long-estranged dad to death—closes a broadcast with a spontaneous, brief “rest-in-peace” prayer. … Read more
Jenny Lower – LA Weekly The basis for the much beloved, happily-ever-after musical My Fair Lady, George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion takes a much firmer tack on questions of class distinctions and female independence. Those themes, so dear to Shaw’s progressive heart, end up rather charmingly watered down in the 1964 Audrey Hepburn film version. Read more… Jonas … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times Never underestimate the power of stagecraft. Case in point: ”Carrie: The Musical,” now receiving a mind-blowing immersive production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Few musicals are as infamous as the 1988 Broadway bomb Carrie. That notoriety was enhanced by the bootlegged CDs … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania A revival of Arthur Miller’s 1967 The Price, in which a room full of furniture triggers a catharsis between a frustrated man, his wife, and his estranged brother, is now running at the Mark Taper Forum. Old wounds are pulled open and family trauma is finally able to mend in this stirring play, … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Musical Theatre West accentuates everything best about the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic South Pacific. Director Joe Langworth has acquired a talented cast, enhanced the naturalistic script so that the songs emerge from the actors conversationally, and made sure the Pulitzer Prize–winning book scenes are as enticing as the enchanting songs. Read … Read more