Evan Henerson is a longtime arts and features writer who lives in Southern California. He is the former theater critic for the Los Angeles Daily News and has written for such publications as American Theatre, Playbill Online, Stage Directions and Backstage.
Jeff Gould’s THE MARRIAGE ZONE, a romantic dramady laced with dose of retro sci-fi, is not particularly deep or penetrating, but that doesn’t make this second LA staging at 905 Cole any less fun.
In the 100-minute, decades-spanning duration we spend with this woman who feels so very recognizable, Ziegler, director Maggie Burrows and actors Nadine Malouf, Ryan Vasquez and Michaela Watkins leave us affected, contemplative and more than a little bit heartbroken.
For his production of ALL’S WELL, director Peter Francis James has much to work with including plenty of solid actors and an equally strong technical team, but the production’s frothy overlay often feels off key
A dopey story combined with campy acting, an uninteresting score and a general air of corniness halt this sloppy mashup of history and mythology in its tracks.
Featuring a cast who seamlessly transport us to a working-class Dublin community in 1964 – with music to match – ANW’s production spotlights not just its leading player, but pens a love letter to the lure of the stage
Tenderly staged by director Fidel Gomez, the docudrama boils our stomach juices more over the circumstances of our country than over what we witness being played out among the central characters.
LOST CELLPHONE WEEKEND takes a clever premise – the reimagining of Billy Wilder’s 1945 film THE LOST WEEKEND, replacing it with cellphone/internet addiction and setting it to music – and has a lot of fun with the endeavor
This CURSED CHILD is a banquet of magical delights that also happens to be a crackling good story, which should delight series neophytes and Potter-lovers alike.
To watch these singers perform these numbers is to dream about entire revivals of Sondheim shows built around some of these actors, maybe even productions that have their genesis at the Ahmanson.
With its gung-ho company of actors, clever construction, wicked cool set and general overall braininess, FAKE IT sails blithely along for 90 minutes, liberally trafficking in chuckles and cringes.