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BWW Reviews: King of Pop is 'IMMORTAL' in Cirque du Soleil Arena Tour
It seems eerie yet fitting that the Los Angeles stop of Cirque du Soleil's MICHAEL JACKSON: THE IMMORTAL WORLD TOUR took place over the weekend at none other than the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It is, after all, the very same venue where Jackson held rehearsals for his planned 2009 World Tour 'T...
BWW Reviews: Definitive Art @ Pasadena Playhouse
As I watched Yasmina Reza's fine play Art for the fourth time, now in an excellent production at the Pasadena Playhouse directed by David Lee, I realized that seeds for her God of Carnage were firmly planted in Art. The male friends mention the term deconstruction several times, referring to the cha...
BWW Reviews: West Coast Premiere EL NOGALAR Sizzles at the Fountain
Tanya Saracho's El Nogalar means The Pecan Orchard in English, so its similarity to Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard rings a bell even before one sees the play. There are differences between the two, of course. Saracho has taken out most of Chekhov's male characters and leaves but one: Lopez (Just...
BWW Reviews: Brilliant Broadway Bound Clybourne Park Jolts Audience at the Ahmanson
Bruce Norris deservedly won the 2011 Pulitzer for his brilliant study of human nature Clybourne Park, which picks up where Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun leaves off. Now at the Mark Taper Forum, Park's director Pam McKinnon holds tight reins over an outstanding ensemble, all of whom play ...
BWW Reviews: ROY COHN Given a Fresh Look at Odyssey
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...
BWW Review: OVO - Cirque du Soleil's Theatrical World of Insects
Cirque du Soleil's magnificent world of insects has arrived at Santa Monica Pier for a two-month stay. ...
BWW Reviews: Powerful Performances Elevate SCR's 'TOPDOG/UNDERDOG'
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 ...
BWW Reviews: Kathleen Turner Replicates the Excessively Open Political Wit of Molly Ivins
Red Hot Patriot
written by Margaret Engel & Allison Engel
directed by David Esbjornson
@ the Geffen Playhouse
through February 12...
BWW Reviews: Leslie Jordan's Fruit Fly a Sweetly Amusing Addition to His Autobiographical Plays
Fruit Fly
written by & starring Leslie Jordan
directed by David Galligan
@ the Celebration Theatre
through February 18...
BWW Reviews: LA's Next Great Stage Star 2012 Presents a Dazzling Array of Talent
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...
BWW Reviews: PS Follies' HOT!HOT!HOT! Lives Up To Its Title
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...
BWW Review: Lillian Theatre's Extended Production of Baby Doll - Worth Your Time
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...
BWW Reviews: STUFFED AND UNSTRUNG's Naughty Puppets Return to Irvine
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...
BWW Reviews: Sam Harris & Friends Play El Portal
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 ...
BWW Reviews: THE GAYEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER - Something for Everyone
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 Scores Once More with Annual Christmas Concert
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...
BWW Reviews: Tony Winner PAULO SZOT Sings and Sways in O.C. Cabaret Debut
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...
BWW Reviews: Peter Mac Offers a Delicious Judy Garland Christmas Special
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...
BWW Reviews: Sweet WHITE CHRISTMAS Tour is a Wonderful Winter Treat
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-...
BWW Reviews: Costa Mesa Guarantees a WHITE CHRISTMAS
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...
BWW Reviews: MTW's WINTER WONDERETTES Revival Brings Yuletide Cheer To Long Beach
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...
BWW Reviews: Troubies' A CHRISTMAS WESTSIDE STORY Rocks the Falcon
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...
BWW Reviews: Actress Thea Gill Brings BODY AND SOUL to Sterling's
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...
BWW Reviews: Group Rep Lights Up with MY THREE ANGELS
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 ...
BWW Reviews: WICKED Returns Triumphantly to the Pantages
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...
Videos
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The Most Happy Fella North Coast Repertory Theatre (6/03-6/28) |
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Melt : The Play The Marilyn Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Institute (6/11-6/13) |
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Millennials Are Killing Musicals Colony Theatre (4/30-5/17) |
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Tristan and Yseult Electric Company Theatre (6/02-6/24) |
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For Want of a Horse Atwater Village Theatre (4/17-5/25) |
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An Evening with Garrison Keillor Smothers Theatre (5/21-5/21) |
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Paris + Juliet The Broadwater Studio (6/05-6/28) |
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Ball Boy Los Angeles LGBT Center, Davidson / Valentini Theatre (6/09-6/27) |
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Three Days Grace, I Prevail & The Funeral Portrait SAP Center (11/18-11/18) |
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OTR: A New Play OTR: A New Play (11/23-11/27) |
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