F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Director Michael Rothhaar’s staging of the play, now at Pacific Resident Theater, started out as a workshop before being incorporated into the company’s regular season. From Taubert Nadalini’s rudimentary set to Michael Franco’s flat lighting, the production still seems a bit unfinished, but while the execution is uneven, … Read more
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Existence provides ample opportunity for two gifted actors to shine. Veteran director John Perrin Flynn, the former artistic director of Rogue Machine, stages the proceeding with an emotional simplicity that makes the most of his material’s limitations. Read more… Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive This is an excellent character … Read more
Elaine Mura – Splash Magazines Luis Valenzuela helmed the production with authenticity and artistry as the story reached its tragic conclusion. Projected subtitles assisted in understanding English and Spanish – as well as Nahuatl – but it is likely that the audience would have followed the story even without translation, so powerful were the multiple … Read more
Edward Hong – The Nerds Of Color Despite a mighty and delightful ensemble cast, the Play On Shakespeare‘s modern verse translation of William Shakespeare‘s Pericles at Boston Court Pasadena is a bit of a head-scratcher. By attempting to fuse modern dialogue with Shakespearean language, it creates an off-putting rhythm that isn’t helped by the direction’s contrived ‘play within a play’ … Read more
Dana Martin – Stage Raw Under the clean and precise direction and music direction of Damien Lorton, this Sweeney Todd feels larger than life in the intimate theater. Read more…
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw There’s an inherent problem with Love, Loss and What I Wore, currently playing at Sawyer’s Playhouse in North Hollywood. The show assumes women have a near-fetishistic preoccupation with their clothing — the perfect blouse, the slinky skirt, the knee-high boots that tie the whole look together. Read more…
Ed Rampell – Hollywood Progressive In his 1960 play “Waiting in the Wings,” Coward bravely took aim at the one foe no human can overcome: Death. In addition, the bold British bard dared tackle another thing avoided like the plague by our youth obsessed culture but which anyone who lives out his/her natural life … Read more
Elaine Mura – Splash Magazines Delightfully directed by Jacobs, THE GREAT CLOWN BANK SHOW features a cast of 12, including Ringmaster Hank Jacobs, Gary Greedy (Matthew Goodrich) and Glenda Greedy (Clara York), the founders of the bank, and their sons Gus (Davis Barber) and Glenn (Kevin Brennan). Several talented circus specialists – aerialist (Avery … Read more
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw Teenagers Hagler and Scheppner make a sparkling couple, their commitment to the dialogue, coupled with a youthful exuberance, belying the fate of their characters. Read more… Elaine Mura – Splash Magazines The entire cast sweeps the cobwebs from this Shakespearean classic and makes it exciting and understandable to the … Read more
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw More than four decades after its premiere, Phantom of the Opera remains one of the greatest of theatrical experiences. This touring production honors that legacy, reminding us why the masked and pitiable Phantom continues to haunt the Paris Opera House — and our imaginations. Read more…