LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Despite outdated, cringe-inducing tropes, McCoy Rigby Entertainment's new production of this ubiquitous rock-and-roll stage musical---now on stage at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through February 12---manages to still entertain thanks mostly to the superb musical numbers energetical...

“On a night like this, anything can happen,” says Lt. James Walker, “The world is never going to be the way it was.” In a strong West Coast premiere at the Victory Theatre directed by Maria Gobetti, Warren Leight’s gut punch of a play, HOME FRONT, proceeds to prove Lt. Walker both correct ...

Despite some deficiencies in the script, MEAN GIRLS still skyrockets in ways most large-scale musicals don’t these days. The young talent on the stage is astonishing and you’ll leave the show wanting to both download the original cast recording and stream the film....

Skillfully melding elements of traditional strip tease with a knowledge and deep affection of the STAR WARS franchise, THE EMPIRE STRIPS BACK figures to attract both leering dude bros and sci-fi obsessed geeks, to say nothing of the curious....

Watching the mega-blast that is AIN’T TOO PROUD, the musical written by Dominick Morisseau based on the group’s history, this critic wanted nothing more than to be able to move like the members of Des McAnuff’s cast even for five minutes....

It is difficult to imagine a better team than conductor Gustavo Dudamel and director Peter Sellars to allow Wagner’s score to freely and mystically float through the Walt Disney Concert Hall uninhibited by stage mechanics and repurpose every inch of the space to paint reverberating aural images....

Serving up a stage adaptation of DIE HARD featuring the music of Heart, the Troubies have once again given L.A. theatergoers a plum of a yuletide gift to unwrap and savor....

While many of the well-meaning narrative tweaks and modernized additions do seem slightly forced and somewhat at odds with the story's original innocence, for the most part, this revised CINDERELLA is a genuinely entertaining, effectively escapist musical filled with joy and magic. MTW's production ...

What did our critic think of PROMISES, PROMISES at Lonny Chapman Theatre? Excellent leads and good singing highlight this attractive show....

BBMT is currently delivering a treat for all ages with their spunky rendition of Tchaikovsky’s popular Christmas ballet, complete with a team of evil mice, gracefully dancing sugarplum fairies, a growing Christmas tree, and all manner of delightful surprises....

Misfiring on a lot of levels though it does, the production’s world premiere, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, has no shortage of electricity. Greene’s young and spirited ensemble pumps away to some quite familiar songs and to others that are less well-known. ...

With the state of the world these days, we need a heroine like Annie. With her positive outlook, her moxie, she should be a role model of hopefulness. We just need a better Annie. And Annie deserves a better vehicle....

Prince Gomolvilas’s tale of a pair of aspiring sibling ghostbusters is actually a shrewd rumination on cultural identity and the processing of grief that also happens to contain – in director Jeff Liu’s solid production – some first-rate scares....

Quite possibly, a perfect production.  Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage’s Tony Award-nominated CLYDE’S at the Mark Taper Forum is heartfelt, funny, and seriously delicious....

The set-up of BROKEN STORY is interesting, it just never catches fire in this lackluster production....

Broadway fan favorite Jessica Vosk's solo cabaret debut at Segerstrom Center for the Arts---which opened Thursday, November 17, 2022 and continues for two additional shows through Saturday, November 19---is, quite possibly, the most enjoyable cabaret concert this reviewer has experienced at the Cent...

Vinny DePonto is an extraordinarily engaging performer who, in front of a simple white backdrop, captivates the crowd like a bonafide vaudevillian....

Where the much-acclaimed TV adaptation of Atwood’s THE HANDMAID’S TALE coincides with the heat of the #MeToo movement, not every Atwood adaptation is created equal....

Loosely adapted from Baz Luhrmann's 1999 hit movie, the campy, sensory overload that is the Tony Award-winning stage adaptation of MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL---now playing at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through November 27, 2022---is an entertaining pop-music-tinged feast for the senses....

What did our critic think of UNSEEN SHEPARD at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022?...

'Aurora's Sunrise' turns a family story into history: 15 years old Arshaluys (her name was changed to Aurora in the US when she entered this country through Ellis Island) - an Armenian genocide survivor who miraculously escaped from death in the Ottoman harem, first fleeing to Saint-Petersburg, then...

It doesn’t help that director Matthew Dunster plays much of Danny Robins’ script for laughs when it could have been amping up some suspense. It would have been more cohesive and had a bigger impact if it hadn’t played as a comedy for most of its 2-hour run time, though it wouldn’t have been ...

Undeniably compelling but also, at times, comfortably predictable, Aaron Sorkin's A FEW GOOD MEN is, for all intents and purposes, really a showcase for enthralling live acting performances. The McCoy Rigby Entertainment production continues at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through N...

There is a reason why August Wilson is one of the more prolifically produced playwrights in modern American theater. He just gets it. The same could be said for RADIO GOLF director Gregg T. Daniel....

Nearly from the second he takes the stage in Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Richard Thomas establishes himself as being comfortably at home both in the clothing and in the moral garb of Atticus Finch. What did our critic think of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at Pantages Theatre...