LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Playwright Joan Beber's concept of Roy Cohn in her intriguingly nightmarish Hunger: In Bed with Roy Cohn, now onstage at the Odyssey Theatre, comes off a self-indulgent, spoiled, gluttonous, untrusting child monster, which certainly does not add up to a positive view of his humanity. In Angels in Am...

Cirque du Soleil's magnificent world of insects has arrived at Santa Monica Pier for a two-month stay. ...

Both history and literature are peppered with intense stories of sibling rivalry--the most contentious of which often recount the environmental and circumstantial forces that pit them against one another, sometimes resulting in wrenching, tragic results. Added to this cannon almost a decade ago was ...

Red Hot Patriot written by Margaret Engel & Allison Engel directed by David Esbjornson @ the Geffen Playhouse through February 12...

Fruit Fly written by & starring Leslie Jordan directed by David Galligan @ the Celebration Theatre through February 18...

On Sunday January 15 producers Michael Sterling and Tony Monsour presented the second week of the annual six-week competition LA's Next Great Stage Star 2012, now in its sixth knockout year. Twenty very talented contestants are competing for the title which will be announced at the end of the final...

Incredible to believe but the Palm Springs Follies is in its 21st season with an all new production called Hot!Hot!Hot! Equally unbelievable is the fact that I have seen and reviewed 10 of these shows since 2005, which means I've returned sometimes twice in one season. I'm really hooked on the Folli...

It is common knowledge that a movie director's vision shapes the outcome of a film, meaning that irregardless of the quality of the actors' performances, film is most assuredly the director's medium. Now in translating Tennessee Williams' screenplay Baby Doll to the stage, Joel Daavid is proof posit...

Proving that no two shows are ever alike, STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG--back for a return engagement at the Irvine Barclay Theatre through January 1--isn't your kids' (or Jason Segal's) kind of Muppets. While certainly as cute and quirky as their child-friendly counterparts, these naughty cousins of Jim Hen...

Sam Harris has perfected a pretty good stand-up act over the years. He loves to expound on everything from show business and Liza Minnelli ... to surgeries and artificial body parts ... to dieting and even whine about how a toddler can radically alter one's comfortable lifestyle...he's into sharing ...

For those who prefer theatre with a message, this is your play; for those who prefer a screamingly funny time, you've also come to the right place - Joe Marshall's The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever! is now making its West Coast premiere at the Avery Schreiber Theatre. Yes, it's sacrilegious, irrever...

GMCLA (Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles) annually present the best holiday concert in town. Honoring both Chanukah and Christmas, this year's show entitled Naughty & Nice was most definitely more nice than naughty with special guest artist Melissa Manchester at the top of her form. There were most de...

One normally doesn't expect to see an operatic baritone put on an intimate jazz cabaret showcase, yet in Paulo Szot's Orange County debut, the audacious notion proves to be a surprisingly pleasant affair. Performing as part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Cabaret series, the Tony Award-winnin...

Tribute artist Peter Mac as Judy Garland is motivation enough to go on down to the Gardenia for a fun-filled evening of entertainment, and with Christmas fast approaching, what could be more pleasurable than a stroll down memory lane and TV's delightfully homespun The Judy Garland Christmas Special...

Now performing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County, California through January 1, the current touring stage production of IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS--a beguiling, surprisingly-winsome re-imagining of the classic 1954 Paramount Pictures musical motion picture of the same name-...

White Christmas is always a treat on film (1954) and even brighter on stage. The touring and original Broadway productions, which played Los Angeles only once at the Pantages in 2005, were gloriously directed by Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Randy Skinner, who turns the second act opener 'I Lov...

Armed with brand new costumes, sets, choreography and orchestrations created specifically for this nine-performance production, Musical Theatre West's nostalgic yuletide offering of WINTER WONDERETTES--Roger Bean's holiday-themed sequel to his popular 60's-set off-Broadway hit THE MARVELOUS WONDERET...

With such memorable Christmas shows before it like It's a Stevie Wonderful Life, Santa Claus Is Comin' to MOTOWN andFrosty the Snow Manilow, A Christmas Westside Story joins the ranks of the Troubies' very, very best. Why? Because everyone's now classic film favorite A Christmas Story blends perfect...

On Sunday evening December 11, actress Thea Gill, well known for Showtime's Queer as Folk, made her cabaret debut at Sterling's Upstairs at Vitello's. This stunning beauty can really sing and her show entitled Body and Soul allowed her avenues as singer/actress that she truly loves, but has little o...

Sam and Bella Spewack's My Three Angels is one of those black yet heartwarming Christmas comedies, akin to It's A Wonderful Life, that really digs into the underbelly of the human condition. Christmas is never joyful for those facing unsettling economic and personal problems that cry out for even a ...

As familiar and beloved asThe Wizard of Oz? Not quite, but getting there, slowly but surely, Wicked has an international fan following to boggle the mind. And it has sold more t-shirts than any show in Broadway history. Now in a return engagement at the Pantages, this scaled down tour of Wicked stil...

On Sunday December 4 Las Vegas' popular female trio Dangerous Curves performed @ Sterling's Upstairs @ Vitello's. Lisa Smith, Karen Michaels & Margaret Menzies, who comprise Dangerous Curves sang solo and together in a 75 minute varied set that just about blew their audience away. All three are dis...

It is a well-known fact that during the creation of a new musical, songs will come and go. Rewrites are a painstaking part of the process and there are many reasons why a song - even a good one - may never make it to opening night. As the story develops it might no longer makes sense, the character ...

'Rise above it!' was a phrase used throughout Rose Kennedy's long life (1890-1995) to get her past the personal turmoil and tragedies that beset her and her large Irish clan. One question overheard by many in the audience on the opening night at Theatre 40 of Kathrine Bates' The Color of Rose was 'H...

Tribute artist Peter Mac, nominated for 4 BWW Awards 2011, left his dresses in the closet November 25 and 26 to present an intimate evening of song at the Gardenia in honor of his favorite composers.Potpourri was almost the title of the show, Mac explained, because the composers as diverse as Harold...