Los Angeles Theater Reviews Page 3

Review: SANTA'S CIRCUS at Montalbán Theatre
by Harker Jones - December 20, 2023

Hit the Montalbán in Hollywood for a night out with family and/or friends. Just because this is appropriate for the kids doesn’t mean it’s not fun for the rest of us. Jingle your balls all the way to the North Pole!...

Review: A CHRISTMAS STORY at Ahmanson
by Evan Henerson - December 17, 2023

Lenz’s production is solid family stuff, a little bit cock-eyed, and easy on the treacle. Knowledge of the original movie is by no means a prerequisite to enjoyment of ACS: TM. If you’re craving certain iconic moments from the movie, rest assured you’ll find them, possibly even amped up or with a mu...

Review: A PERMANENT IMAGE at Pacific Resident Theatre
by Evan Henerson - December 17, 2023

The production directed by Andy Weyman for Pacific Resident Theatre taps the bile and makes use of Hunter’s scabrous humor. The journey to that resolution is an uncomfortable slog in which we share the company of some pretty despicable people who, at PRT, are portrayed by actors who embrace their ch...

Review: THE WHITE (ALBUM) CHRISTMAS at Colony Theatre
by Amanda Callas - December 10, 2023

The award-winning Troubadour Theater Company has been doing their beloved annual Christmas mashup shows for decades, with loyal fans who return year after year. The closest thing I can compare it to is live performances I have seen of The Rocky Horror Picture Show....

Review: DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL at Kirk Douglas Theatre
by Amanda Callas - December 09, 2023

Dog Man: The Musical is a fun, goofy musical romp running through January 7th at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. This bright, happy show is almost solely aimed at children, and what a wonderful thing that is....

Review: THE QUEEN'S CARTOONISTS'S HOLIDAY HURRAH at Smothers Theatre
by Amanda Callas - December 08, 2023

The Queen’s Cartoonists execute jazz with exquisite polish, verve, cheeky humor, and manic energy, recalling the early days of hot jazz in the 1920s and 30s. Holiday Hurrah shines bright and merry with the most vivacious, high-energy of holiday tunes....

Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at A Noise Within
by Amanda Callas - December 06, 2023

Fresh and glorious to behold, with bold, impressive stagecraft and truly innovative and imaginative costume design.  There are frequent moments of awe and breathtaking sprinkles of magic.  Although it feels off to me in some of its performance and art direction choices, this is a remarkable and stun...

Review: LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE DIOS INANTZIN at Latino Theatre Company
by Andrew Child - December 04, 2023

It feels like a slight to write about this piece as just another theatrical performance offered this time of year. The community clearly comes out in droves to hear the choral narrations, see the beautiful artistry of Vanessa M. Gomez’ tilmas, and celebrate a treasured story....

Review: SANTASIA – A HOLIDAY COMEDY at Whitefire Theatre
by Amanda Callas - December 04, 2023

Santasia is a must-see sketch comedy take on the glory and insanity of the holidays at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, created by and starring Brandon and Shaun Loeser.  Ongoing for 24 years and frequently sold out at every show, with performances in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway in New York, ...

Review: FREIGHT at Fountain Theatre
by Evan Henerson - November 29, 2023

Per playwright Howard L. Craft, the spirit of the human soul has the capacity to return to earth multiple times until it successfully learns…well…whatever it is supposed to learn. Can’t speak for the soul, but the performer J. Alphonse Nicholson needs no do-overs to embody the five incarnations of A...

Review: CORI CABLE KIDDER'S HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR at Sierra Madre Playhouse
by Amanda Callas - November 27, 2023

Cori Cable Kidder's Holiday Spectacular is a marvelous musical holiday revue at the Sierra Madre Playhouse. More than a show, Cori Cable Kidder's Holiday Spectacular is a transportive experience, an escape into a charmed world of nostalgia, holiday merriment and velvety 1940s music of breathtaking l...

Review: RADICAL OR, ARE YOU GONNA MISS ME? at IAMA At Atwater Village Theatre
by Evan Henerson - November 26, 2023

hot through with equal parts rancor and compassion, Jess McLeod’s production of this, IAMA’s first commissioned play, is effective despite some narrative speedbumps....

Review: 70, GIRLS, 70 at Lonny Chapman Theatre
by Amanda Callas - November 26, 2023

70, Girls, 70 is an absolutely delightful gem of a musical from the award-winning Group Repertory Theatre at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, CA.  Directed with genius comedy by industry legend Bruce Kimmel, this 1970s period show is funny, bright-hearted, poignant, and magnetically upl...

Review: Carole King's Life Story Blossoms in BEAUTIFUL at La Mirada
by Michael Quintos - November 20, 2023

McCoy Rigby Entertainment is currently presenting a superb, highly-entertaining Southern California Regional Premiere production of BEAUTIFUL at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, which continues performances through December 3, 2023. To put it simply, this production is quite well done....

Review: INHERIT THE WIND at Pasadena Playhouse
by Evan Henerson - November 16, 2023

Director Michael Michetti has put thought and heart into his production and peopled it with a strong cast whose characters opt for playing the strength of their convictions over histrionics. A hurricane force this WIND is not, but there’s plenty to enjoy....

Review: East West Players Presents Energetic SPRING AWAKENING
by Michael Quintos - November 15, 2023

Based on Frank Wedekind's controversial 1891 play about a group of young students ill-informed about their budding sexuality, this 2006 Broadway adaptation is buoyed by its alt-rock score by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik. EWP's new production boasts a pleasantly diverse cast blessed with excellent s...

Review: ALEX EDELMAN'S JUST FOR US at Mark Taper Forum
by Amanda Callas - November 14, 2023

Just For Us is a brilliant, award-winning, one-man comedy show by Alex Edelman at the Mark Taper Forum downtown, coming after sold-out hit runs on Broadway, and in London, Edinburgh, and Melbourne. This is must-see, hilarious stand up tackling identity and antisemitism, and it is hard to think of a ...

Review: Superb A RAISIN IN THE SUN Moves In at South Coast Repertory
by Michael Quintos - November 09, 2023

Directed with engaging, often riveting pacing by Khanisha Foster—and featuring some of the absolute best, deeply-searing acting performances I've witnessed so far this season—this brand new, powerfully-staged SCR production of Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking 1959 play is just too damn good to mi...

Review: LINES IN THE DUST at Matrix Theatre
by Amanda Callas - November 08, 2023

Chronicling the story of school residency fraud in the affluent township of Millburn, New Jersey, Lines in the Dust fearlessly tackles uncomfortable, vital issues of identity, education, class, race, and access to opportunity. While describing it, I feel it’s almost inevitable that I am making this ...

Review: NERVOUS UNICORNS at Cat's Crawl
by Amanda Callas - November 02, 2023

Nervous Unicorns is a gripping world premiere play by Jake Sidney Cohen at The Cat’s Crawl in Hollywood. This is a meditative drama about a group of eight people who participate in recovery meetings and then, quite unexpectedly, a supernatural experience changes them all....

Review: ROMEO AND JULIE: LOVE IS A FIRE at Santa Monica Playhouse
by Evan Henerson - October 30, 2023

Neno Pervan’s production takes no risks and provides not a shred of insight - within the text or outside it - why this tale unfolds as it does. A few textual adjustments notwithstanding, Pervan’s production is standard issue ROMEO AND JULIET, fire or chill....

Review: METHUSALEM OR THE ETERNAL BOURGEOIS at The Actors' Gang
by Amanda Callas - October 30, 2023

Hallucinatory, astoundingly visual, and provocative, this absurdist, surreal satire runs through December 16...

Review: THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR at Laguna Playhouse
by Amanda Callas - October 26, 2023

The Angel Next Door is a glittering, effervescent hit romantic comedy by Paul Slade Smith at the historic Laguna Playhouse. It’s an elegant, sweet-dry glass of champagne, bubbling over with non-stop laughs, merriment, glamor, and high-spirited hijinks. It’s hard to think of more fun you could have a...

Review: Musical Theatre West's Heartwarming THE SOUND OF MUSIC Blesses Long Beach
by Michael Quintos - October 25, 2023

MTW's pleasantly perky, traditionally-executed production comes across as a show that's very eager to please, armed with a keen, fine-tuned goal of making sure both fans and newbies to this beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein classic are left feeling uplifted and happy. The show continues through Novemb...

Review: SHE at Antaeus Theatre Company
by Harker Jones - October 25, 2023

SHE is a moving, lyrical story with deft characterizations, luminous performances, and a poetic quality that reflects our heroine’s dreams...