Margaret Gray – LA Times In Greg Pierce’s “Slowgirl” at the Geffen Playhouse, 17-year-old Becky (Rae Gray) comes to visit her Uncle Sterling (William Petersen), who left the U.S. years earlier for Costa Rica. She’s freaked out by his primitive jungle lifestyle, which is charmingly evoked by Richard Woodbury’s sound design and the tropical leaves … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA In TALHOTBLOND:, a working man falls for a hot woman he meets in an internet chatroom. His increasing obsession has a dramatic impact on his work and home lives. Playwright Kathrine Bates has developed an oeuvre taking real life crimes as the starting point for her dramas. Her most notable work is The Manor, a hugely popular and … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA A steady rain falls on the lives of two Chicago cops, but it can’t wash away the pain and hatred and guilt that live in them. Though one seems to be the “good cop” and the other “bad,” nothing is clear-cut in this Keith Huff play. Read more… Pauline Adamek – … Read more
Myron Meisel – The Hollywood Reporter Possibly his most recognized work, Noel Coward’s screenplay for David Lean’s 1945 British film Brief Encounter, with its proper and decent married lovers resolutely resisting adultery, was indubitably the adult romance of its time, with the swells of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto counterpointing the personal sacrifice of ardor for order … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA Continuing their commitment to presenting high quality theater for children, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is staging another imported show. The award-winning Catherine Wheels Theatre Company from Scotland presents White, a magical and delightful production for the very young, in the Wallis’ smaller space, the intimate Lovelace Studio Theater. Read more… Dany Margolies – Arts In LA … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts in LA So you’re a distinguished playwright in your early 60s: a very Chekhovian age; an age when the mind drifts toward dreams once grasped, then compromised, then lost, and fixates on memories of simpler, happier times. You look around your Bucks County farmhouse and think, “Gosh, this looks a lot … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania The model for Bernard Weinraub’s play Above the Fold, premiering at the Pasadena Playhouse, is Tom Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winner Bonfire of the Vanities. Though parallels can be seen between both works, the indictment of politicians, the press, and Caucasian and African-American leaders for instigating and celebritizing the racial divide, Weinraub’s work also maintains … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA Given the chance to embody John Merrick—aka ‘The Elephant Man’—on stage is probably something most actors would jump at with the same alacrity they would for the opportunity to tackle Hamlet or Richard III. It’s certainly a supremely challenging role, both physically and emotionally. For a highly limited run—only this weekend … Read more
Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA An exuberant celebration of language is the most apt description for actor Christopher Plummer’s self-created one-man show. A Word or Two is playing through February 9, 2014 at the Ahmanson Theatre, downtown LA. Early on in the show, Plummer selects a book from a heap and begins to read from a lectern. But this … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Time Out We’re pretty lucky here in Southern California—there’s certainly no lack of high-class entertainment. Fine theater productions happen all across LA, from Hollywood to the Valley, to Pasadena and Boyle Heights. The region’s vibrant stage companies satiate the appetites of theater lovers with ongoing rosters of new plays, old standards, classic works and … Read more