Evan Henerson - Page 5

From the opening storm to the closing musical number, the Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center is awash in buzzes, cries, whooshes, rattles and clangs. What did our critic think of THE TEMPEST at Antaeus Theatre?

the latest Broadway revival of INTO THE WOODS that wraps up its national tour at the Ahmanson Theatre, is fantastic. Director Lear deBessonet’s spin on this tale of wishes granted and their consequences both embraces the spirit of Lapine’s original productions and also sends the material off in a different direction.

In FETCH CLAY, MAKE MAN, Will Power investigates the friendship as a fascinating dual study in individual character and cultural identity. Under Debbie Allen’s rocking direction at the Douglas, the play is as exciting as it is thoughtful.  THE BEAR’s Edwin Lee Gibson and Ray Fisher act the daylights out of it.

As the depiction of a chance encounter between two very different people, THE MOUNTAINTOP has some interesting observations to make. But the second the stakes change and Camae proves to be something other than who she first presented herself to be, the play springs a leak and stumbles to its hagiographic and predictable conclusion.

As creatively at home as Anna Deavere Smith has been delving into multiple perspectives on the Crown Heights riots of 1991 and the fallout from the Rodney King verdicts of 1992, a traditionally-structured play – even one about a figure as arresting as Billie Jean King - may not be in her artistic wheelhouse.

The production that opened June 10 at the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theater was consistently enjoyable, but never enchanting. Set in the Regency area and using a mixture of music (here a court violin, there a ukelele) to foreground the play rather than drive it forward, Marshall’s production suffers from inconsistent casting. It also drags.

Gunderson’s storytelling and her love of Shakespeare is another. It’s also icing on a most tasty cake that may not be for all palates. If you get the running gag of a character’s passion for PERICLES, this one’s for you.

The tour of SIX at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, is 90 minutes of partying with performers Khaila Wilcoxon, Storm Lever, Natalie Paris, Olivia Donalson, Courtney Mack and Gabriela Carrillo as killer – or maybe make that killed? - MCs.

WWhat seems like a deceptively simple premise develops several intriguing layers in Alessandro Camon’s SCINTILLA, enjoying its world premiere at the Road Theatre. Equal parts domestic drama and a harrowing investigation into the results of climate change, SCINTILLA is as impactful as it is unrelenting.

Carryl’s play is as tight as it is immediate, an inspired-by-the-headlines jolt of storytelling that cuts across racial unrest, the psyches of our men in blue and even the January 6 insurrection.

What did our critic think of 1776 at Ahmanson Theatre? In contemporary theater - as in life - optics matter. A lot. Given current trends in theatrical programing, the musical 1776 would probably never get staged. Granted, Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone's 1969 take on the sturm and drang surrounding the Second Continental Congress's decision to form a new nation may be a patriotic Tony Award-winner.

This production of Inge’s play (also a 1955 movie) has its moments while consistently delivering the longing, the dissatisfaction and, yes, also the sensuality that PICNIC offers up. ur critic think of PICNIC at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble?

As solidly staged and forcefully acted as this TWILIGHT is, the production is both problematic and comes across feeling like something is missing.

Simon Levy’s production at the Fountain Theatre is a smartly-acted brain-tickler that makes its points and lands its blows with humor and intellect

The Pasadena Playhouse has drawn the curtain on its 2023 Sondheim Celebration with a lush and poignant rendering of SUNDAY. Directed by Sarna Lapine, the production is a west coast remount of her 2017 Broadway revival with an entirely new cast, but with the same technical team.

Huzzahs, most certainly, to New Village Arts Executive Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner not only for having the moxie to program Butterworth’s play in the first place, but also for directing it with the passion, fire and insight that the play deserves.

BASEBALL SKY, directed by James Vasquez, is a message-heavy, odd coupl-y tale that feels like a Latinx mash-up of THE KARATE KID and FIELD OF DREAMS.

Where the classics are concerned, L.A. doesn’t have any institution stronger than A Noise Within and if director Guillermo Cienfuegos, his wonderful actors and designers are working hard, they sure make it looks easy. From the first glimpse of that rampaged stage to the final dance, this MUCH ADO is an end-to-end delight.

Given the heightened emotions and nuclear climaxes of Colston’s play, there is something almost operatic in scope about THE FIRST DEEP BREATH.

Alessandra Assaf, who enacts the Hollywood icon in 12 O’CLOCK TALES WITH AVA GARDNER, the play she has written with Michael Lorre, brings out all of the actress’s fire, charisma and messiness.