Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania La Mirada Theatre presents a truncated version of the hit Broadway musical Mary Poppinsunder the direction of Glenn Casale. Audiences can hear the songs they remember from the movie, like “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” and “A Spoonful of Sugar,” but this production exorcises the magic from the production. Read more…
Paul Birchall – Stage Raw Deaf West Theatre’s passionate staging of Steven Sater and Duncan Shiek’s musical (based on Frank Wedekind’s play) was one of 2014’s local small-theater hits, and now the production has been remounted in the grander environs of the Wallis Annenberg Theater. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Last year’s production of Spring … Read more
Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Sometimes it’s OK to be predictable if what you have to say bears saying again. Immediate Family, Paul Oakley Stovall’s first play now making its L.A. debut at the Mark Taper Forum, starts out as a high-spirited comedy, a kind of super-polished sitcom that centers on a group of African-American … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Anna Deavere Smith is an American treasure. She is a vivid storyteller who has mastered building monologues from interviews with those affected by her subject matter. She captures the cadence and moods of the real people she impersonates and finds the most penetrating details to flesh out. Read more… Melinda … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA The inciting incident of The Power of Duff, Stephen Belber’s new play at the Geffen, occurs early. Local Rochester, N.Y. news anchor Charlie Duff (Josh Stamberg)—having lost his wife to divorce, his son to resentment, and now his long-estranged dad to death—closes a broadcast with a spontaneous, brief “rest-in-peace” prayer. … Read more
David C. Nichols – LA Times Never underestimate the power of stagecraft. Case in point: ”Carrie: The Musical,” now receiving a mind-blowing immersive production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Read more… Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania Few musicals are as infamous as the 1988 Broadway bomb Carrie. That notoriety was enhanced by the bootlegged CDs … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Gigi Bermingham is well-known in Los Angeles for her performances, comedic and dramatic. Recently, these have included leading roles in Terrence McNally’s Master Class at International City Theatre and Non-Vital Organs at Skylight Theatre. She also directs, lately for Antaeus Theatre Company (You Can’t Take It With You) and Sierra Madre Playhouse (An … Read more
Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw Adam Szymkowicz’s noir comedy is set in a place of his invention — the clown underworld. Here the clowns are not those funny, entertaining party creatures but criminals with damaged psyches. Sure, there are red noses, silly wigs, painted faces and colorful costumes, but that’s almost as far as the … Read more
Bob Verini – Arts In LA As surely as the Rockettes annually turn out to Occupy Radio City, Troubadour Theater Company uses December to command Burbank’s Falcon Theatre for a celebratory holiday mash-up of some sort of Christmas tale and a particular pop songbook. The Snow QUEEN, the sixth such expression of wassail I’ve encountered, is … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA Noël Coward’s songs should be standards, heard often, like those of his contemporaries Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin. Coward’s cabaret tunes and show numbers are just as witty, his melodies just as harmonious. Read more… Now running through December 21.