Paul Birchall – Stage and Cinema In his solo show, playwright Nicholas Guest describes his life and travels around the world. He’s accompanied by Hillary Smith on the cello and by Tony Carafone on the guitar (in the play, not his travels) – and they turn out to be a helpful pair, too, because Guest … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Like many plays that deal with our mortality, those about dementia can be extraordinarily affecting. They speak to a loss of self nearly as complete and devastating as our physical demise. Read more… David C. Nichols – LA Times The first glimmer of it comes on a Friday. They’ve flown me … Read more
Bob Verini – Stage Raw On a stage — and as often as not, in everyday life, but certainly on a stage — when a character announces, “I’m dying of boredom,” there’s always something else, something deeper going on. With those four spoken words, a character can communicate almost anything: “I’m hot to do something … Read more
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Some years before Judy Garland’s death, she appeared at a star-studded benefit for the Actors Studio in New York, alongside Carole Channing, Ava Gardner, Shelley Winters and Josephine Premice — and Judy’s children, including Liza Minelli. Judy wore a black satin evening suit, which emphasized her matchstick legs, the result … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Al Pacino and Robert Duvall are among the performers who have played Teach, the deluded, out-of-control conman who spurs much of the seamy shenanigans in David Mamet’s American Buffalo. While I’ve never been privileged to see either in the role, I’d put money on the competitive excellence of Troy Kotsur, … Read more
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw People who play virtual reality games might have a readier appreciation of the unanticipated twists in Mac Rogers’ play than those of us who don’t. It’s hard to say. Read more… Now running through March 7.
Myron Meisel – Stage Raw Argentinian theater auteur Mariano Pensotti returns to REDCAT three years after his remarkable The Past is a Grotesque Animal with an even more intricately woven tapestry of tales. Cineastas, which closes this weekend, is incontrovertibly one of the essential stage productions of 2015. Read more… Now running through Feb. 21.
Neal Weaver – Stage Raw Last year, Teatro De La O and writer/director/couturier Octavio Carlin produced a show called Hollywood Party. It was set in Hollywood in the Silent Era, and featured campy, not very convincing impersonations of the famous divas and male stars of the era. There was a confusing and improbable plot, involving an … Read more
Dany Margolies – Arts In LA This Conor McPherson script fits squarely within his oeuvre—of poetic plays about souls seeking human connection in the midst of supernatural forces. However, unlike other Los Angeles productions of his works—including the Geffen Playhouse’s The Seafarer in 2009 and Geffen’s The Weir in 2000—this version lacks a feeling of something deeper and more … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA The singular feature of this vest-pocket staging by the DOMA Theatre Company—and the most compelling reason for attending—is the timeless score by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice. Read more… Paul Birchall – Stage Raw A spirit of youthful rebellion suffuses director Marco Gomez’s delightfully earnest and powerful … Read more