Terry Morgan – Stage Raw Dramatically, antiheroes are more interesting to write about and portray than standard heroes because they combine the most compelling aspects of both hero and villain. Eugene O’Neill knew this well, and populated his plays with a parade of sympathetic ne’er-do-wells, from Jamie in Long Day’s Journey into Night to the entire cast … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw In his 1987 solo show, Time Flies When You’re Alive, writer/performer Paul Linke relayed the story of his first wife’s battle with breast cancer, the impact of her illness on his family, and the heartbreak of her death at age 37. The couple had three small children at the time, the … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw When Mrs. Patrick Campbell was rehearsing for her debut in the role of Hamlet’s Ophelia, her mentor, George Bernard Shaw, gave her a choice piece of advice: “In Shakespeare, the only justification for a pause is a fight or a procession.” It’s not a fundamental law, but it is a … Read more
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw It is a terrible thing for a theater critic to admit, but I’d never seen this scabrously funny Tony Award-winning musical, about the price put on the most fundamental of bodily functions, before attending the Coeurage Theatre Company’s fresh and sprightly production. Read more… Now running through February 25
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw When a tale that features a botched sex-change operation, plenty of blow job references and raunchy audience interaction can fill the generally conservative Pantages, something special must be happening. The special thing is John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch….. Read more… Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Capital & Main The 24th Street Theatre has a reputation for producing quality theater suitable for everyone from 8 to 80 years old. Hansel & Gretel Bluegrass, Bryan Davidson’s compelling musical adaptation of the fairy tale about two hungry and imperiled children, is the company’s latest effort. Read more… Lovell Estell III – … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Unbound, by D.G. Watson, takes place in 2012. A man and a woman awaken in a hotel room in the same bed, neither having a clue who the other person might be. A common enough scenario in this day and age, the situation evolves into one much more unusual. Read more… Paul … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Playwright Jon Robin Baitz has always tended to treat his subject matter obliquely and to view it from a slightly skewed vantage point. But here, he’s tackled his subject head-on, becoming downright confrontational. And since his subject is Donald Trump, the result is both volatile and controversial. If Baitz was … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Kurt Vonnegut was a prolific writer, perhaps best known for his anti-war Slaughterhouse Five and for Cat’s Cradle, a novel which plunged into a dystopian science fiction and urged defiance of religion and any other institution — science, the family, the state — promoted as an object of veneration. Read more… Now running through … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Sparkles (Barkley Romero) is a 17-year-old Latina who lives with her mother, Lisa (Lena Marie), in a Highland Park house which tends to slide downhill whenever they miss a mortgage payment. (This is magic realism with a vengeance!) Read more… Now running through November 13