The Snake Can by Kathryn Graf. Hoyt Hilsman – The Huffington Post Kathryn Graf’s paen to the perils of middle-aged dating has a solid premiere under the skillful direction of Steven Robmanand a very talented ensemble of actors. Set in the romantic jungle of New York City, Graf’splay focuses on the lives and loves of Harriet (Jane Kaczmarek), widowed with … Read more
Cathy Rigby is PETER PAN Music by Moose Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Based on the play by Sir James M. Barrie. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA.com The girl who refuses to grow old is playing the boy who wouldn’t grow up. Former Olympic gymnast (circa 1968 & 1972) … Read more
The Grand Irrationality by Jemma Kennedy. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA.com Jemma Kennedy’s comedy The Grand Irrationality raises a number of perplexing questions. Why is a British writer’s play, which was developed at the National Theatre in London in 2009, making its world premiere here in Los Angeles and not, say, at the National Theatre in London? Read more…
In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Bob Verini – ArtsInLA.com It’s about time Tarell Alvin McCraney’s work was able to be seen in Los Angeles. The Brother/Sister Plays, his trilogy about indigenous backwoods Louisiana folk operating under strange and magical Yoruba and Caribbean influences, has been garnering raves on both sides of the Atlantic (he has … Read more
The Second City’s “A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!” by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA ‘Tis the season for Christmas-themed shows and every year there are numerous versions of “A Christmas Carol.” Now playing at the Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre is a barely above-average sketch comedy show based on the ghostly old Holiday chestnut by Charles Dickens, entitled “A Christmas … Read more
Gatz by Elevator Repair Service after F. Scott Fitzgerald. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA It’s engrossing, subtle and riveting. A theatrical performance that consists of the “reading” and acting out of an entire novel over the course of a single day, Gatz, by New York City’s experimental theater ensemble Elevator Repair Service(ERS) is a unique and rewarding experience – both literary and theatrical. … Read more
Anything Goes by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse; revised by Howard Lindsay andRussel Crouse; reworked by librettist John Weidman andTimothy Crouse. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA Wall-to-wall hit tunes, ear-to-ear grin all night long F U N ! – Cole Porter’s timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece, Anything Goes, has set sail at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre in a new Broadway revival and continues through January 6, 2013. The fluffy, madcap and … Read more
The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris. Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly The season brings with it enough Christmas- and holiday-themed fare to set your teeth on edge from sugar overload. Fortunately for the cynics among us, the Blank Theatrehas brought back its not-safe-for-children, one-man hit show for the fourth year running. Based on comedian David Sedaris’ sardonic radio segments on NPR’sMorning … Read more
Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA A persuasive melodrama, Intimate Apparel is perhaps Lynn Nottage’s best known play, although she won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined in 2009. Written and first staged at Center Stage in Baltimore almost ten years ago, Intimate Apparel has a pleasing contemporary relevance. Although Nottage’sdrama is set in New York City in 1905, in the love letter romance … Read more
Their Eyes Saw Rain by West Liang. Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly Playwright West Liang also stars in his astonishingly intense ensemble drama, set in a fictitious small country town. The specter of tragedy hangs over the townspeople of Castle, emblematized by an ever-present decay caused by months of relentless rain. Or is that really the cause? Stern and … Read more