Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA I kept thinking during the performance what it must have been like for Guillermo Cienfuegos to read Will Arbery’s densely absurd yet hauntingly topical script for the first time. It would be hard to imagine the idea of directing such an idiosyncratic piece of theatrical indulgence could have been anything … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw “…any story about abortion is inherently political but I wanted to take a more nuanced approach. What interests me are the personal stories behind the topic — the points of view we don’t hear about in the news. Read more…
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Though the current production, directed by Judith Hendra, comes to a meaningful climax, much else that comes before registers as a blueprint for the compelling drama this might have been. Read more…
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Listing, playwright Russell Brown’s world-premiere play at Theatre 40, starts with a strong foundation, but its intriguing premise is undone by a convoluted plot that hangs on too many disparate stories. Read more…
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw Turner makes for an intriguing character, much like the fictitious media baron of Citizen Kane, one not to be revered so much as to serve as a case study for capitalist megalomania. Read more…
Travis Michael Holder – TicketHoldersLA I don’t think any December I was in town since 2002 has gone by that these zany guys didn’t lift my spirits and ward off my usual sense of holiday humbuggery. Matt Walker and his willing disciples knock their performances into the stratosphere year after year, selling out every show … Read more
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw A Doll’s House, Part 2, Lucas Hnath’s brilliant 2017 play, picks up the fortunes of Nora and Torvald Helmer, the embattled married couple from Henrik Ibsen’s famous drama, A Doll’s House, some 15 years after Nora famously exits her marriage. Directed by Allen Barton, the second installment in The … Read more
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw Skimpy on plot but packed with vocal talent, this musical comedy follows an alienated young woman on her bumpy journey of self-discovery. Read more… Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move ADVENTURES IN THE GREAT BEYOND is a wacky, anti-rebel-girl, musical, relationship romp in utopian new age spirituality. Honestly, though, … Read more
Martín Hernández – Stage Raw A tongue-in-cheek musical melodrama replete with a vile villain, a temptress or two, and a hearty hero and heroine, the show features a book by Suzanne Buhrer and Gene Casey, and music by Buhrer, Casey, and Jan Casey. It’s also directed with comic flair by Stan Mazin. The result is … Read more
F. Kathleen Foley – Stage Raw Becker efficiently orchestrates over a dozen actors, most of whom play multiple roles. It’s a logistical feat — still, she can’t quite smooth over the shortcomings of an uneven cast, or the feeling that the sum of the play adds up to less than its clanking moving parts. Read … Read more