Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania One of the Good Ones, now making it world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse, employs the tropes of many mid-20th-century stage comedies to explore the generation gap, cultural identity, and nationalism in the Latiné community. Conventional yet charming, this play by Gloria Calderón Kellett reveals the universality of familial strife. Read … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive contains all the elements of farce: slamming doors, overheard conversations, accidents, and Chekhovian guns — both literal and figurative. While some moments of this 2022 comedy, now at the Geffen Playhouse, are inspired, they quite often fizzle … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania MJ: The Musical, which is now on tour and is playing the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles through January 28 — highlights what made Michael Jackson a legend, even if the book bites off more than it can chew. Read more Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move “MJ The … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania East West Players, the oldest Asian American Theatre in the US, has often taken Broadway musicals and given them a fresh spin. This season, the theater company has taken on the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening, based on Frank Wedekind’s play. The production features many excellent performances, and a focus on the … Read more
Tracey Paleo – Gia On The Move “How to Ruin a Relationship in One Easy Step,” is a definitive alternate title for, THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY, a smart, little 80-minute, light drama written by Samuel Balm, directed by Darko Tresnjak, currently at the Geffen Playhouse, Gil Cates Theater. And I say “light” because it’s not a … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania While it’s not new to end the show with the Emcee in concentration camp, Rhodes uses a simple technique of lifting a scrim to show the coats of countless victims who have lost their belongings for the dehumanizing striped pajamas. Audience members noticeably cried due to this harrowing final gut punch. … Read more
Harker Jones – BroadwayWorld EVERY BRILLIANT THING is a deeply affecting meditation on grief and mental illness told with humor and a clear-eyed optimism that makes the message that much more powerful. Read more… Patrick Chavis – LA Theatre Bites Podcast 7.5 out of 10! Above Average! Read more… Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania It may … Read more
Terry Morgan – Stage Raw “I very much wanted to like Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, but even Pablo Escobar could tell that this package is suspiciously light.” Read more… Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Children shouldn’t play with dead things. But it’s a warning that four high school teens of a banished school club … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania Broadway hit Beetlejuice, now running at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre before making more stops on its North American tour, features a delightful score and book along with hysterical performances. It’s the must-see show of the season. Director Alex Timbers and his crew have morphed the beloved film into a fun house … Read more
Jonas Schwartz – Theatermania The Geffen production of Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop, a fantasia about the final hours of Martin Luther King Jr., benefits from a stellar cast. Jon Michael Hill personifies the icon most audiences have only seen on the television and sets the stage for a great man’s evaluation of his ordinariness. But … Read more