ZOOT SUIT at the Mark Taper Forum

Erin Conley – OnStage It is not every day that a hat receives entrance applause at the theater. However, it is also not every day that Zoot Suit returns to Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum, the very theater that commissioned and hosted its world premiere in 1978. Read more… Rob Stevens – Haines His Way … Read more

THE GREAT KOOSHOG LAKE HOLLIS MCCAULEY FISHING DERBY at Torrance Theatre Company

Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Torrance Theatre Company’s latest offering is another charmer from Canadian playwright Norm Foster. “The Great Kooshog Lake Hollis McCauley Fishing Derby” shows the city dweller in all of us that small-town folk have all the wisdom we could hope for but perhaps none of petty stresses we cling to. Read … Read more

AMELIE at the Ahmanson Theatre

Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze Those who dared to take a charming little French film and turn it into a Broadway-bound musical had to know they’d be facing brickbats along with the plaudits. Or, as the French say, criticism is easy but art is difficult. Read more… Erin Conley – Onstage It is always a … Read more

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH at the Pantages Theatre

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

VICUÑA at the Kirk Douglas Theatre

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

THE MODEL APARTMENT at the Geffen Playhouse

Terry Morgan – Stage Raw The Geffen Playhouse has had a fruitful relationship with playwright Donald Margulies, resulting in memorable productions such as Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, Dinner with Friends and Collected Stories. It’s only natural the theatre would want to continue this successful streak, which leads to the current revival of Margulies’ earlier work, The … Read more

THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE: REVISITED at the Los Angeles LGBT Center

Terry Morgan  –  Stage Raw It’s been a familiar gambit for some time for actors to take a famous play and turn it into a one-person show ‑ essaying all the roles to display his or her virtuosity — but I’d never heard of the reverse being done until now. Read more… Dany Margolies – The … Read more