Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Howlround, the indispensable national sounding board for theatrical philosophy and policy, has announced the formation of something slightly creepy called “The Committee of the Jubilee.” Read more…
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly As in Death of a Salesman, his 1949 Pulitzer Prize winner (and my personal favorite) Arthur Miller’s All My Sons looks at an American family in crisis and weaves their story into a broader vision of a morally bankrupt culture. Read more… Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Arthur Miller’s powerful 1947 family drama has aged … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw My Uber driver was concerned for my safety when I told her where I was going for the play I was reviewing this week. Of course I am used to going to some dodgy places to see plays. This time, however, I had been assigned to see a show in the … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Rebekah M. Allen’s musical about a loser squad of high school cheerleaders fighting their way up from the bottom of the heap sounds like it might be a satiric hoot. It isn’t. Read more… Paul Birchall – Stage Raw If you are studying Ancient Greek mythology, you will have heard of … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw In a dramatic about-face, playwright Tommy Smith on Wednesday abruptly retracted allegations that Echo Theater Company had “stolen” his short play Ghost Light, which had starred Deborah Puette and opened August 5 to rave notices. The production was the playwright’s third collaboration with Echo artistic director Chris Fields, whose stagings of … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher’s drama artfully combines a threatening atmosphere with a charged debate on art and politics. And, if the conversation on the nature of art occasionally edges into the cerebral, the grounded performances and pleasantly nuanced arguments are enough to keep the work vivid and compelling. Read more…
From an Aborted NYC Mikado to Bloomberg Foundation Largesse to the 20 Most Produced Playwrights of 2015-16. Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Also making news is the news that Brian Kite, producing artistic director of La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, is stepping down to take over the Department Chair at the UCLA School … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Playwright Jon Jory’s adaptation of Voltaire’s novella Candide is, to cynically paraphrase the satire’s implacable optimist, Professor Pangloss, work that is the best of all possible worlds. Which is to say that it is all right-ish, if not especially powerful or inspired. Read more… Now running through Oct. 17.
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw I Like Mondays. What is nicer than a Monday night show? If I were a theater producer I would always slip a Monday night performance into the schedule, just on principle. For one thing, all the critics will come, as they really won’t have anything else to do that night, except … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw So, nobody does it better. Makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it better. Baby, baby, you’re the best. We are talking about James Bond, ruthless British secret agent 007, who, along with Doctor Who and the dear old Queen Liz, are some of the best things to … Read more