LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Make way everybody, we've got some new kids in town and they're out to take over musical theatre one song at a time. Of course, I'm referring to Kritzerland's latest cabaret show at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal. On Sunday, January 5th, Bruce Kimmel's New Kids in Town! featured nine terrific up...

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68 Cent Crew is presenting the West Coast premiere of STOREFRONT CHURCH, the final installment of John Patrick Shanley's trilogy called Church and State, which began with the critically acclaimed DOUBT, for two more weeks through January 11, 2014 at the NoHo Arts Center....

An Evening with Danny Kaye/conceived, written & performed by Brian Childers/directed by Stephen Nachamie/musical direction by Jeff Biering/El Portal Mainstage, NoHo/New Year's Eve, December 31, at 4 pm and 9 pm...

It's the most wonderful time of the year, especially for the Group Repertory Theatre Company, which for more than three decades has provided holiday cheer for children-in-need....

'I have played behind Frank Sinatra all around the world and in the recording studios in Hollywood since 1959. Now along comes Robert Davi who, in my opinion, is the only one that comes close to having the voice, the acting chops, and the charisma that the Ol' Man had. Listen and become a life-long ...

For the Record: Baz Luhrmann in Concert is the brainchild of Christopher Lloyd Bratten (musical director) and Shane Scheel (producer) who have previously produced concerts incorporating the music from the films of the Coen Brothers and also John Hughes and Quentin Tarantino, among others. The Luhrma...

On Sunday December 22 the amazing Cortes Alexander presented his Thou Swell Noel to a packed house at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Alexander has such frenetic energy and charm that, and I've said this before, you just want to wrap him up. What a joyous Christmas present...and with his two glo...

A Steam-Punk chorus of cadaverous ghouls, zombified and singing Christmas carols in twitching harmony is about as far from traditional as you can get, and quite possibly the most satisfying prologue for A CHRISTMAS CAROL I've ever seen....

On Monday December 16 Adam Wylie and Carly Bracco presented their cabaret evening Holiday Our Way at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal billed as A Night of Music, Magic and Madness....and literally turned the place upside down....

Ah, yes. 2013 was indeed an outstanding year for theater in Southern California. Even better: Orange County---my home base---boasted some of the best shows, period---marking an exciting theater renaissance in brilliance and artistry that I hope continues to grow here inside L.A.'s next door neighbor...

The Troubies' traditional holiday mashups are some of the company's most anticipated shows of the year. Past hits like A Christmas Westside Story (A Christmas Story with the music of West Side Story), Rudolph the Red Nosed ReinDOORS (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Doors), and The First Jo-...

Aladdin and His Winter Wish/written by Kris Lythgoe/directed by Bonnie Lythgoe/Pasadena Playhouse/through December 29 For a few years the prolific Lythgoe family have been entertaining us at Christmastime, first at the El Portal in NoHo and now at the Pasadena Playhouse with a British style panto...

L.A.'s Hottest New Holiday Tradition A CHRISTMAS CAROL: TWIST YOUR DICKENS! Returns to CTG's Kirk Douglas Theatre for a Limited Run through December 29, 2013....

A Little Night Music/book by Hugh Wheeler/music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/directed by Jonathan Fox/Ensemble Theatre Company (etc) at the New Vic, Santa Barbara/through December 22 only...

One of my very favorite Christmas stories of all time is A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote about his boyhood growing up with his eccentric cousin Sook Faulk. Geraldine Page played Sook in a 1966 telefilm, and it was later remade for television in the 80s with Patty Duke. It is the Page version tha...

Thomas Dunne (Brian Dennehy) was historically speaking the Chief Superintendent of the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) and a Catholic loyal to the British crown, responsible for maintaining the established order in a time of revolution....hardly an easy position for one to find himself in 1932 when...

Four Clowns Jr.'s foursome packs a lot of punch into its 45-minute original family show about one clown's journey to a planet 'somewhere like earth.' This is pure interactive fun - the kind you can have while sitting in your seat without worrying you'll be dragged up onstage to suffer some horrifyin...

White Christmas, always a treat on film (1954), creates a unique and refreshing glow 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 turned the secon...

In Annie Hall, Woody Allen famously paraphrased Groucho Marx saying, 'I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.' In SEASCAPE WITH SHARKS AND DANCER by Don Nigro, we meet two lonely people who attempt to fuse a relationship that works for both of them, but...

Bette Midler and Sue Mengers. Two iconic Hollywood female personalities of the last fifty years. Midler scored with her first movie The Rose in 1979, after many successful years in New York, on and off-Broadway. She was and has remained an iconic performer for the Gay community, and with strong choi...

It just wouldn't be Christmas in Los Angeles without BOB'S HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY bringing a lot of deranged hilarity into the mix. Fortunately the show is back for its eighteenth year of putting the laughter, as well as a bit of a drunken mess, into the holiday season....

What happens when you combine a nameless boy, a ship called Neverland, a duplicitous Pirate and some rope? Theatrical magic. And that is exactly what happened when 'Peter and the Starcatcher' opened last night at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles....

On Tuesday December 3 sublime singer Spider Saloff appeared at Rockwell Table and Stage for an evening of Cool Yule accompanied by electric jazz pianist Richard Eames. I say sublime, as there are a rare few like Saloff who can really sing, wrapping their heart around the lyrics of a song and then ...

GCT's all new version of their annual holiday hit A Christmas Carol has Dickens' heartwarming classic story, incorporating the atmosphere, texture and mood of dingy, poverty-stricken London of the 19th century with great set pieces and costumes, music, dance and some pretty amazing special effects. ...