From Paul Verdier to Dakin Matthews to A. Jeffrey Schoenberg to Stephen Sachs Paul Verdier (contributed by Steven Leigh Morris) Steven Leigh Morris – Stage Raw Yet another passing of another era was marked September 6, when actor-director-playwright-producer Paul Verdier died of complications from Parkinson’s Disease while under hospice care in West Hollywood. Read more… … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw In the 4th century B.C., a villainous thug, Herostratus, set fire to the tomb of Artemis. His reason? He had been a nonentity his entire life, and by committing this crime, he knew he would be remembered. Of course, the Greek judges, in their wisdom, executed him, and passed a law … Read more
Les Spindle – Edge on the Net Prolific Chicago-based playwright, Phillip Dawkins, is back. When his riveting ensemble drama “The Homosexuals” was presented at L.A.’ s Celebration Theater in 2013, it certainly whetted one’s appetite to view more of his work. In a staging by L.A.’s Coeurage Theatre Company, Dawkins’ zany seriocomic reverie, “Failure: A Love … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Talk about site specific theater: Here’s a production of playwright John Patrick Shanley’s romantic standard that is immersive — literally. Read more… Now running through August 1.
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw On a most straightforward level, playwright Lyle Kessler’s new dramedy is about the fractious relationship between two sons and their irascible, judgmental, curmudgeonly dad. However, Kessler’s work is concerned not merely with a family’s brawls, confrontations, and rage — as it appears on the surface. Read more… Neal Weaver – Arts … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Welcome to Fringe Season, when there are so many shows, and all of them taking place within the same 30 block area, you almost need 50 heads to see them all. With so many shows (300 or so) going on, you almost wish you could bend time and space to … 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
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Director Chris DeCarlo’s staging of the 29th anniversary production of playwright Jerry Mayer’s play about marriage and temptation inevitably shows its age — and not just because the work’s sitcom structure and conveniently pat situations lack the ambiguity of turn of Millennial modern romcoms. Read more… Now running through June 28.
Bob Verini – Arts In LA In Not That Jewish we encounter something distinctly unexpected: a first-person memoir by a former standup comic that actually feels like a real play. Read more… Paul Birchall – Stage Raw If you like your humor with a Kosher sensibility, Monica Piper’s delightful, if lightweight solo show is far … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Stan Rich and Ronnie Jayne’s flippant tour de force about taxation with musical representation is a charming affair, though hardly enough to shake off our rage relating to any recent adventures with the I.R.S. Rich and Jayne’s sweet musical slides by a fair way on upbeat silliness, while the straightforward … Read more