Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld There’s something missing that keeps ALADDIN from being a slam dunk. It’s certainly worth the price of admission if you’re interested and/or love the 1992 film. It’s a spectacle that’ll hit your sweet spot. But you still might find yourself left wanting once the magic carpet has spirited our lovers away … 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
Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld Even if it wouldn’t have been great, it was already getting a pass. It’s Tina Turner. The music legend, the feminist heroine, the Warrior Goddess, and Queen of Rock & Roll. Read more… Patrick Chavis – The Orange Curtain Review (Segerstrom Center for the Arts) A biographical play is a dramatic … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage Before a jury held Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million, Trump claimed in a deposition that male “stars” have grabbed and groped women for “millions of years” — “unfortunately or fortunately.” Leaving that unfortunate “fortunately” aside, the musicals that currently … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage. Plus Geffen’s ‘Breath,’ Kristina Wong, and more. A flood of openings gushed through Greater LA theaters in February — although two of the new productions were delayed by an outbreak of COVID. During the first weekend of the month, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa planned to activate the “repertory” … Read more
Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld. From the moment Rafiki (Gugwana Dlamini) Shaman of the Pride Lands, heralded her recognizably famous opening note, the audience was uproarious. And there was nothing that could have prepared me for my slightly teary-eyed response to the splendor of it all. Even as long as it’s been around, THE LION KING … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage The ‘Mean’ musical. Mean men in ‘Angry’ and ‘Brothers’. The missing mean in ‘Home Front’. Theater community rallies ’round CA arts funding and massacre survivors. The word “mean” means so many different things. It’s a verb, as in the above sentence, but it also can be an adjective and a … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld. Directed and choreographed by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw, the musical is colorful and energetic and snarky and heartfelt all at once. He gets fantastic performances from his actors and the flow from rocking to reflective in the musical sequences is smoothly done. His choreography is jaw dropping at times, especially when … Read more
Don Shirley – Angeles Stage Also: ’2:22,’ ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ ‘Rent,’ ‘Eisenhower’ When a narrative work of art attains “classic” stature, it often settles comfortably into collegiate required-reading lists — but loses its share of the current limelight. So if E.M. Forster or Homer were alive today and sampling theater on the west side … Read more
Terry Morgan – ArtsBeatLA When Harper Lee wrote her novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960, she didn’t think it would be a big success. Sixty-two years later, the book has been taught to millions of students in schools, was the source of a classic 1962 film of the same name, and recently inspired a theatrical version … Read more