Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Apparently the songs of composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim are not failsafe. He’s the genius behind some of the last century’s and some of this one’s best musicals. Some of his early songs are showcased in the revue titled “Side by Side by Sondheim,” currently at the Odyssey in West Los … Read more
Ellen Dostal – BroadwayWorld John Farmanesh-Bocca directs the world premiere of a bracing new version of Eduardo Machado‘s LYSISTRATA UNBOUND, starring Brenda Strong (Supergirl, 13 Reasons Why)as Lysistrata, in a collaboration between Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Not Man Apart – Physical Theatre Ensemble. Set in Ancient Greece to the cadence of a modern text, the 90-minute one-act play uses Farmanesh-Bocca’s … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw I have to admit that I’m confused. I don’t know why playwright David Sessions calls his play Two Fisted Love, and labels it a dark comedy. The comedy is in short supply, and most of the love seems to be in the past tense, or essentially destructive. Read more… Now running … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw George Bernard Shaw once observed that it is useless to argue with a clergyman because his livelihood depends on his not changing his mind. But the remark could equally well be applied to anyone whose career depends on defending and maintaining a particular point of view —and that could be … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Playwright Debbie Bolsky set out to write a classic old-style madcap comedy, but what she produced is a singularly improbable farce.Read more… Now running through January 14
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Playwright Tania Wisbar is the daughter of a German father and a Jewish mother, both of whom were prominent members of the German film world in the 1930s. But when she was just six months old, her parents divorced, and she and her mother fled German to escape the growing … Read more
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw August Strindberg’s 1900 tale about a monumentally unhappy marriage has been neatly touched up in this adaptation by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. As bleak as it is funny, it unfolds on an island fortress in Sweden that was once a prison (nicely rendered interior of gloomy faux brick, arched … Read more
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way I have always been a proponent of good political theatre, not agitprop theatre such as written by Italian playwright Dario Fo. I prefer political writing that is more balanced like the great teleplays that David E. Kelley wrote for L.A. Law…Read more… Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Chilean playwright Guillermo … Read more
Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze What’s it like being a high-level presidential campaigner? You know, one of the folks who tell candidates what to say and how to say it. They ain’t no lilies of the field. The long hours are grueling, and oh do they spin. Read more… Rob Stevens – Haines His Way … Read more
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen The set-up is a tale as old as time—seven gifted prep school seniors with the weight of the world on their shoulders spend a lot of time hanging out, stressing out, and making out in the library, their haunt of choice. Read more… Now running through May 14