LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Director David Melville's Forest of Arden has plenty of space for the melancholy, the displaced and the lovelorn alike, even for a frisky French goatherd who warbles merrily as she bags goat poop. ISC free Shakespeare patrons only get one production this summer, but it’s a winner....

MURDER AFTER HOURS is exquisitely well done and will keep you guessing up until the affecting and surprising end. It’s well worth spending an evening in the British countryside among the snipes and snubs of the upper class at the Lonny Chapman....

Filled with incredible showstoppers, many familiar theatrical staples, and some exquisite singing from an all-star cast of theater vets, this well-curated “greatest hits” concert honoring Boublil and Schonberg was a fitting, glorious celebration of the creative partnership responsible for two of...

The universe seems to have contrived to allow them to present a near-perfect production. With the gentle sounds of crickets in the background and the sporadic circling of LAPD’s helicopters, the seasoned cast weaves an intimate tale that is booby-trapped with a million Chekhovian guns which fire r...

Filled with puns and pratfalls, mugging and mannerisms, the energy never flags in this delightful screwball comedy...

The production is entirely fused with the bluish glow of the cellphones which tether the characters together and, in many ways, the continued relevance of the themes of the piece shine through. Musings on connections and loneliness seem freshly pertinent as Bobbie flicks through voicemails alone in ...

Merrily We Roll Along is that rare gem, a grown-up, subtle, perceptive musical that can delight both audiences love musicals and audiences who hate them.  This production by the Inland Valley Repertory Theatre, with brilliant direction by Frank Minano, is complex, bittersweet, funny, heartfelt, ult...

Originally created by PigPen Theatre Co., this engaging, creatively quirky play with music requires audiences to concentrate intently to follow the outrageous tale that involves expansive world-building and a seemingly endless cavalcade of eccentric characters. The family-friendly fantasy continues ...

In Barry Edelstein, we’ve got an adaptor/director who is guiding these proceedings with a rock and roll brio...The production is big, brash, often overreaching, occasionally pandering and utterly arresting through its nearly six hours (over two evenings) of stage time....

The 90-minute 'My (unauthorized) Hallmark Movie Musical, playing at the Irvine Theater Company through August 10, pokes fun at the rom-com genre’s formulaic “Love always wins” conventions while fully embracing its tropes....

Based on playwright and lead actor Tom Alper’s real life experiences, this is a boiler room tale of telemarketing and desperation.  For something that is fiercely realistic and edgy, with a New York fighter’s indie heart, The Pitch is also hilarious, life-affirming, and an insanely good time. ...

Filled with high-energy singing and dancing that explodes out of an inspirational story based on real events, MTW's new production of this Disney stage musical is a guaranteed fun time, thanks to a terrific ensemble, and memorable music from Alan Menken and Jack Feldman. The show continues at the Ca...

Rob Morrow has found a dramatic vehicle that – more than 25 years after its premiere - is deepening and maturing as intriguingly as the actor himself. Baitz’s play is small with a loud heart. Director Mike Reilly, Morrow and co. do it up proud....

5-Star-Theatrical’s gorgeous and faithful production of Sound of Music, playing through July 28 at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks, delivers the classic show that we know and love — no more, no less — with stellar performances, stunning sets, and an energetic cast t...

In attempting to reinvent Peter Pan for a modern audience, NETworks Presentations has embraced a major challenge. On the one hand, they have a gem. Jerome Robbins’ original production was packed with humor, heart, and adventures that captivated generations of audiences, not to mention a beautifull...

Tartuffe: Born Again is an imaginative, hilarious, delightful adaptation of the classic Molière play running at Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum through October 13th. Tartuffe: Born Again is an absolute gem, a sheer, show-stopping delight, and you do not want to miss it....

A glamorous, pansexual, queer 1930s romp through the world of artists, playwrights, interior decorators, and their lovers, Design for Living was an instant hit with the sold-out audience on the afternoon I attended, who loved every minute of it....

By the end, of the night, I was laughing, crying, and cheering for everyone on stage.  You Can’t Take It with You is a heartwarming, delightful gem, a sold-out smash hit for the Group Rep....

Psycho Beach Party is a classic summer comedy at the Matrix Theatre on Melrose through July 7th.  It is glorious, glorious fun, campy, frisky, outrageous, and hilarious from start to finish....

While WENDY’S PETER PAN would be better served by trimming the fat, focusing on more sharpened performances, and allowing its performers room to breathe, children, despite its evening start time, will likely appreciate the show more than adults who will take notice of its distracting bumps and pec...

For its opening night of its 2024 season, the Hollywood Bowl presented a musical celebration of composer Henry Mancini’s 100th Birthday with a concert featuring the Hollywood Bowl orchestra—under the direction of principal conductor Thomas Wilkins and welcomed special guest artists Michael Bubl�...

While it’s true that the story lacks the emotional punch of Broadway faves like Dear Evan Hansen or Les Miserables—or the catchy pop hits of Tony winners like Hamilton or Moulin Rouge—Encore Theatre Group's production of Addams Family is simple and digestible fun....

Mike Lew’s two-hander feels ‘of a time’— and it is impressive how quickly these plays that seem to cater to the art sector’s regrowth post-quarantine both in content and structure already feel stale and dated....

Everyone is phenomenal, from the performers to the musicians to the set director. It’s manically goofy, laugh-out-loud funny, and sexy in its degradation....

The problem is not that it’s bad — it’s certainly serviceable — so much as it’s unmemorable. Something that should never be said about a character as dynamic as Mrs. Doubtfire....