Our Los Angeles Critics
View All »
.jpg?format=auto&width=100)
BWW Reviews: Murray Mednick's Latest Bows at the Lounge Theatre
After years of popularity with innovative 'realism-plus' theatre, Murray Mednick's work stands tall, and surprisingly this is my first taste of a Mednick play. I hope it's not my last! My first being The Fool and the Red Queen, now receiving its world premiere production at the Lounge Theatre in Hol...
BWW Reviews: As On Broadway GCT Revives Ever Popular ANNIE
The phenomenally successful 1977 Broadway musical Annie took America by storm and has been filmed twice. After 35 years, and especially now during our country's - what seems to be unending - economic slump, its Depression era optimism holds up better than ever, and in GCT's current well-staged prod...
BWW Reviews: BITCHSLAP! at Macha Theatre Sparks with Davis/Crawford Pairing
By the time you leave Darrin Hagen's Bitchslap! you'll either hate or adore two of Hollywood's legendary divas, namely Bette Davis - the actress and Joan Crawford - the movie star. Both left a trail of indelible marks by which to be judged. They were bitchy, glamorous - well, at least Crawford - fie...
BWW Reviews: Peter Mac Rocks with JUDY AND COMPANY
Judy and Company with Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Peggy Lee, Tallulah Bankhead and Katie Hepburn, ladies of screen, theatre and TV all sharing top billing, as usual is a joyous Peter Mac show. At the all new Peter Mac Supper Club in Hollywood, Garland opens and closes with a bevy of her hits includ...
BWW Reviews: Brinkley Headlines CHICAGO Tour in L.A. Return
The six-time Tony-winning 1996 Revival of CHICAGO is still earning cheers and packing in audiences both on Broadway (now in its 16th year!) and its still-running national tour--the latter of which has shimmied its way back to L.A. for a return engagement at the Pantages Theatre through May 27. This ...
BWW Reviews: Re-Animator the Musical Returns
When it first came out in 1985, RE-ANIMATOR quickly became a hit among horror fans and established a cult following both for the film and its mad scientist, Jeff Combs, who played Herbert West. Graham Skipper plays West in the musical and is just as fiendish as his film counterpart and funnier than ...
BWW Reviews: EVANGELINE, THE QUEEN OF MAKE-BELIEVE: A Delightful Coming-Of-Age Story
Few artists are as truly homegrown as Los Lobos, the Grammy Award-winning East L.A. band whose eclectic musical style and distinctive voice are much loved by Angelenos of all ages and cultures. This is the first time their music will appear in a theatrical production and that reason alone is sure to...
BWW Reviews: Dale Griffiths Stamos' Mini Plays at Beverly Hills Playhouse Will Turn You LOVESTRUCK
Playwright Dale Griffiths Stamos has conceived an intriguing world premiere evening of short one-acts, 10 -15 minutes each, called Lovestruck, all dealing with the theme of love: parental love, love based purely on sexual attraction, marital love, love for those over 70, homosexual love and even abu...
BWW Reviews: Elegant Heiress at Pasadena Playhouse
Upon seeing The Heiress, based on Henry James' novel Washington Square, one is transported to a distant world. If middle-class values existed, they were certainly not recognized by the inhabitants of 1850 Washington Square, where members of the elitist branch of society insisted on being surrounded ...
BWW Reviews: ICT's West Coast Premiere The Fix Proves Dark, Gripping Fare
Receiving its long overdue west coast premiere is The Fix, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London in 1997 and then made its way finally to the US playing in Virginia, but never landing on Broadway. It's pure political satire with music, in the style of a rock opera, but, unlike pure rock ...
BWW Reviews: May Kritzerland Pays Tribute to Unsung Broadway Songwriters at Sterling's
On Sunday May 6 Kritzerland presented its monthly show, May's entitled Broadway Bound: Unsung Songwriters at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Bruce Kimmel and Adryan Russ produce a terrific evening of entertainment with an emphasis on tunes rarely if ever heard and featuring a bevy of top-notch m...
BWW Reviews: SCOTTSBORO BOYS Triumphantly Opens Tour at Old Globe
The Scottsboro Boys
book by David Thompson
music & lyrics by John Kander & Fred Ebb
directed & choreographed by Susan Stroman
Old Globe, San Diego
through June 10...
BWW Reviews: La Mirada Presents Impressive MISS SAIGON Revival
If you're looking for a good example of what great hidden gems are being produced at Southern California regional theaters these days, then look (and listen) no further than the enjoyable revival of the smash musical MISS SAIGON currently playing at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts thro...
BWW Reviews: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET Rocks to Life in the O.C. through 5/6
Inspired by one fortuitous day that still resonates in the timeline of rock-and-roll history, the Tony Award-nominated Broadway hit MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET--now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through May 6--is a genuinely enjoyable, musically-rich stage show that's high o...
BWW Reviews: Therapeutic BRIDGE CLUB Makes Better TV Fare Than Theatre
During the first half hour of Richard Raskind's world premiere The Bridge Club, I was genuinely engaged by its unusual set of circumstances, its believable dialogue and two main characters Jack (Christopher Franciosa) and Sue (Nancy Dobbs Owen). I really got to like both of them and so wanted the pl...
BWW Reviews: Colony Offers Rollicking Dames at Sea
Few musicals capture the flavor of the early Cole Porter revues and Busby Berkeley musical films quite as well as Dames at Sea. Its constant silliness, instantaneous breaks - for no apparent reason - into song and dance... and parody of just about every musical show, especially 42nd Street, make it...
BWW Reviews: Melody Hollis Rocks Sterling's Once More with Melodyland
On Sunday April 29 Melody Hollis presented the new installment of Melodyland at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Incorporating some different songs into the set like 'I'm the Greatest Star', 'Tchaikovsky', 'You've Got a Friend in Me', 'Hamlet' and a couple of others, material she has performed in...
BWW Reviews: Geffen Presents Breathtaking PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE
Many plays have been written about Europe in the throes of the Holocaust and its devastating effect on the Jews who lived not only in Germany, but in other German-speaking countries such as Austria and Vienna. The future of those children was severely limited or drastically cut short. Mona Golabek i...
BWW Reviews: SCR Stages World Premiere Musical CLOUDLANDS, Ends 5/6
Despite an intriguing premise and a lovely-sounding score delivered by a brilliant cast, CLOUDLANDS--the stirring but jumbled new Adam Gwon/Octavio Solis musical now having its commissioned World Premiere production at South Coast Repertory through May 6--just doesn't quite wow your socks off. Thoug...
BWW Reviews: Hot Latin Music and Incredible Talent Shine in Upright Cabaret’s RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT At The Annenberg Theatre
Last night The Annenberg Theatre played host to Chris Isaacson's Upright Cabaret and the latest installment of his American Icon Series, RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT, which plays tribute to the Latin pop-rock music made famous by Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Santana and more. There were many things to love ...
BWW Reviews: Funny Parodies Rule MTW's FORBIDDEN BROADWAY 2, Ends 4/29
Full of biting wit and hilarious parodies of various popular Broadway shows--and the famous actors that star in them--Musical Theatre West's cabaret-style send-up FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: GREATEST HITS, VOLUME 2 plays its final, laugh-filled set of performances this weekend ending April 29 at the Carpent...
BWW Reviews: Rousing BILLY ELLIOT Earns Worthy Cheers in L.A.
Charming and unabashedly buoyant, BILLY ELLIOT--which danced away with 10 fairly well-deserved Tony Award wins including Best Musical back in 2009--is a smile-inducing, pleasingly-staged musical based on the 2000 film. The stage musical version's national tour has finally stopped in Los Angeles for ...
BWW Reviews: Cabrillo's ONCE UPON A MATTRESS Great Family Fare
Once Upon a Mattress/book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller & Marshall Barer/music by Mary Rodgers; lyrics by Marshall Barer/directed by Richard Israel...
BWW Reviews: Peter Mac's Judy at Carnegie Hall Winning Entertainment
On April 20 and 21 Peter Mac repeated one of his most challenging shows honoring Judy Garland: Judy at Carnegie Hall. To sing all 26 dynamic tunes at the highest peak as well as to replicate in minute detail the deliciously droll Garland anecdotes about her encounters with a chic Parisian hairdresse...
Videos
|
The Most Happy Fella North Coast Repertory Theatre (6/03-6/28) |
|
Melt : The Play The Marilyn Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Institute (6/11-6/13) |
|
Millennials Are Killing Musicals Colony Theatre (4/30-5/17) |
|
"Turn the Page: A wink, a song & the next great chapter" Palm Springs Cultural Center (5/23-5/23) |
|
MPAT's Burt Thunders Presents: The First Annual Fundraiser to Save the Whales Zephyr Theatre (6/06-6/25) |
|
Trench The Broadwater Studio (6/06-6/28) |
|
Jack Johnson Greek Theatre - U.C. Berkeley (10/01-10/01) |
|
The Last Dinner Party Fox Theater (5/27-5/27) |
|
OTR: Provenance Chance Theater (7/29-7/29) |
|
Case Closed?? Upstairs @El Centro (Main Space) (6/13-6/26) |
| VIEW ALL SHOWS ADD A SHOW | |
Get Los Angeles's #1 Theatre Newsletter
Get the best news & discounts for Los Angeles Shows & beyond.
