THE TEMPEST by Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles and After Hours Theatre Company

Martίn Hernández – Stage Raw. While inundating storms may have receded recently, another one is brewing over at the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles which has partnered with After Hours Theatre Company for a sumptuous “immersive” co-production of William Shakespeare’s tale of revenge, love, and compassion. After boarding the “King’s Ship” on its journey from … Read more

TWELFTH NIGHT at The Broadwater Studio Theater

Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld. Notwithstanding that they fell into many textbook Shakespeare traps, and that there was zero chemistry between any single one of the characters, the Foolish Production Company cast actually knew what they were doing. And mostly their 1-hour rendition of TWELFTH NIGHT (playing in rep with MEASURE FOR MEASURE at The Broadwater) … Read more

HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, Collaborative Artists Ensemble at the Sherry Theater

  Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw. Paula Vogel’s play, How I Learned to Drive, knocked it out of the park for critical acclaim when it opened in 1997. Directed by Mark Brokaw at Manhattan’s Vineyard Theatre, the premiere featured Mary-Louise Parker as a woman recounting the pain of her teen and pre-teen years under the sway of … Read more

KRISTINA WONG, SWEATSHOP OVERLORD at Kirk Douglas Playhouse, a co-production with East West Players

Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld. There are defining moments in our lives where we either shrink away in fear or make a stand at all costs. In 2020, at the beginning of a global health crisis, under the order of a shelter-in-place lockdown, Kristina Wong faced such a moment. And in that moment, Kristina Wong became … Read more

COME GET MAGGIE, Rogue Machine Theatre at The Matrix

Socks Whitmore – Stage Raw. John Perrin Flynn, the producing artistic director of Rogue Machine Theatre, states clearly in the program for their latest production: “We don’t do musicals.” And yet, the show itself — the world-premiere run of Come Get Maggie, a feature-length retro science-fiction/forbidden romance created by Diane Frolov and Susan Justin — is exactly … Read more

THE LION KING at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre

Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld. From the moment Rafiki (Gugwana Dlamini) Shaman of the Pride Lands, heralded her recognizably famous opening note, the audience was uproarious. And there was nothing that could have prepared me for my slightly teary-eyed response to the splendor of it all. Even as long as it’s been around, THE LION KING … Read more

CLYDE’S at Mark Taper Forum

Terry Morgan – ArtsBeat LA According to a survey conducted by American Theater magazine, Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s is currently the most produced play in the U.S. It’s not surprising that Nottage’s work is being done; she’s received the Pulitzer Prize twice during her illustrious career. But it’s a little disappointing that this show seems to be her … Read more

MAN’S FAVOR DEVIL’S PLAN by The Robey Theatre Company at LATC

Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw Man’s Favor Devil’s Plan, by Kwik Jones, takes place on the loading dock at the rear of a hotel in Los Angeles in 1938. The story concerns the relationship between the hotel’s White owner, an unmitigated racist and an otherwise cruel and unscrupulous individual, and the hotel staff, who are African … Read more

RADIO GOLF at A Noise Within

Tracey Paleo – BroadwayWorld There is a reason why August Wilson is one of the more prolifically produced playwrights in modern American theater. He just gets it. Life. Language. History. Struggle. Desire. People. This can be similarly said for Gregg T. Daniel, one of greater Los Angeles’ well-loved actors/directors. And it shows in his latest … Read more