BWW Review: WOOD BOY DOG FISH - A Simply Wonderful Puppetted Multi-Media WOW!November 23, 2015In the world premiere of WOOD BOY DOG FISH, playwright Chelsea Sutton has intricately written a very dark re-telling of Pinocchio and his maker Geppetto, fully utilizing the perfect combination of ocean video projections, mood-enhancing music, modular set pieces, fantastic costumes, and most every effective stagecraft trick in theatrical history (both high-tech and low).
BWW Review: STREEP TEASE - A Very Funny All-Male Homage to MerylNovember 16, 2015In his STREEP TEASE, Roy Cruz has created an entertaining, all-male revue of Meryl Streep interpretators using actual (or actual-esque) dialogue from Ms. Streep's many films. With minimal use of props and just a hint of costume enhancements, this talented nine-membered Streepers perform some side-splitting scenes with a few serious ones thrown into the mix. Some Meryl Streep roles just seem more than ripe for parody, er, homage.
BWW Review: Amazing Vocals Still Don't Make REUNION an Event You Might Want to AttendNovember 9, 2015With the impressive resumes and awards the REUNION team of writers and director/choreographer possesses, one would expect a first-rate show with dazzling choreography, wonderful songs and an involving plot. The world premiere of REUNION greatly benefits from the sensational, though sadly underused, vocal talents of their twelve-member cast.
BWW Review: BOOTYCANDY - A Very Tasty Treat With SubstanceNovember 1, 2015The Celebration Theatre has picked a perfect production, the Los Angeles premiere of playwright Robert O'Hara's BOOTYCANDY, to inaugurate their new home @ the Lex. Entertaining, and with prominent reoccurring social themes of gay acceptance and upended racial stereotyping.
BWW Review: THE SPARROW, An Intriguing Performance Piece Not Quite Ready for FlightOctober 30, 2015The west coast premiere of THE SPARROW successfully intrigues as a stylistic performance art piece with some stunning visuals utilizing backlite scrims, clever choreography and inventive staging, with some haunting original music by Gregory Nabours. Kudos to Kristin Browning Campbell's scenic design and Tasheena Medina's choreography using school desks as percussive accents and balls and books as dancing props.
BWW Review: A Solid UNCLE VANYA Showcases Some Incredible TalentsOctober 19, 2015The West Coast premiere of Annie Baker's translation of Anton Chekhov's classic UNCLE VANYA receives a brilliant mounting from the Antaeus Theatre Company. Robin Larsen directs her talented cast in a steady, flowing pace with just enough quiet moments to contrast the volatile, high emotional ones.
BWW Review: Intense WATCHING O.J. Provides A Delicate Balancing Act of Dejá Vu TensionsOctober 12, 2015In the world premiere of his WATCHING O.J., playwright David McMillan deftly balances both sides of the black and white/innocent vs. guilty/jubilant and angry reactions of a multi-racial neighborhood in their varied responses to the infamous O.J. Simpson verdict in 1995. A cross-section of races and occupations make a volatile combustion fueled by the explosive portrayals of the stellar cast.
BWW Review: Uber Clever ICU Provides Terrific Transfusion of Laughs Via Superb CastSeptember 28, 2015What a witty script! What a fine cast! What an incredible first act! The world premiere of playwright Fielding Edlow's ICU immediately grabs your attention the moment you enter and take a seat in the waiting room of an unnamed New York hospital. With precision machine-gun delivery of Edlow's brutally frank and wickedly smart dialogue expertly directed by Brian Shnipper, the first act simply whizzes by before intermission hits.
BWW Review: Powerfully Passionate HIT THE WALL Pulls No PunchesSeptember 20, 2015The West Coast premiere of Ike Holter's HIT THE WALL vividly illustrates what might have happened that fateful night in 1969 when Stonewall became the flashpoint for what many consider the start of the gay liberation movement. With director Ken Sawyer's inventive staging, the audience becomes almost fully immersed in the play's actions. The stage seems to be every available space where an audience member's not physically sitting.
BWW Review: Despite Solid Acting & A Classic Sartre Script, NO EXIT's No FunSeptember 18, 2015Jean Paul Sartre's 1944 NO EXIT receives a sturdy mounting by the InterAct Theatre Company. Kent Minault directs his gifted cast spouting out Sartre's lines ever so trippingly and sensibly on their respective tongues. Any faster readings would have been unintelligible. Bravo to the cast for their commitment, intensity and believability in this possibly realistic situation. Who really knows what it's like to be in Hell?
BWW Review: THE EXPERIMENT Wows In Insanely Clever Rocky Horror/Hedwig Mash-UpSeptember 14, 2015What do you get when you combine two already proven, successful musicals- The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch? THE EXPERIMENT - A ROCKIN' FRANK + WIGHEAD INSANE CABARET, the current extremely entertaining mash-up from the brilliantly creative minds of Creating Arts Studios. Cleverly written by Todd Martens and assuredly co-directed by Shannon Sukovaty and Lee Marshall.
BWW Review: THE PRINCES OF KINGS ROAD - An Intriguing Destination for Deep DiscoveriesSeptember 13, 2015EST/LA's world premiere of playwright Tom Lazarus' THE PRINCES OF KINGS ROAD succeeds as an involving, albeit slow moving, character study of three very interesting characters. John Nielsen easily evokes all of Schindler's various emotions and attributes, bottled up and rejuvenated. Ray Xifo deftly telegraphs Neutra's total joy in re-uniting with his old friend. Heather Robinson adeptly portrays the many sides of Nurse Rothstein.
BWW Review: WHEN STARS ALIGN Aligns a Simply Superb One ActSeptember 7, 2015The world premiere of WHEN STARS ALIGN possesses and blends together all the ingredients of a perfect time at the theatre - a brilliant cast; a formidable director; a solid, realistic script flowing at a comfortable, steady pace; and top-notched production elements. Then intermission interrupts.