LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Mike Birbiglia is an undoubtedly remarkable storyteller. The way his latest solo show, The Old Man and the Pool, which is playing now at CTG’s Mark Taper Forum, is structured is clean, snappy, clear, and concise....

In the end, the pathos that jut through the humor are jagged and piercing, leaving audiences with a lingering sense of both emptiness and hope, like a light flashed on and off in a dark room, the afterimage seared onto the memory....

King Liz is the premise for a television show at best, and, despite the noble work of those who are trying to pass it off as a piece of live theatre, its plot points, the characters’ relationships, and the narrative are only strong enough to grab our interest through the next commercial break....

The work is smart, kinetic, occasionally a bit raunchy and a blast. Basically, this is part of the evolution of improvised comedy, only with better music. The Groundlings should be so cool....

What did our critic think of ACROBUFFOS' AIR PLAY at The Broad Stage?ACROBUFFOS’ AIR PLAY tells its own story of friendship and fun with a little competition in between through fans and props. It is silly and tender, and one of the most beautiful performances you will ever see. ...

There have been jukebox musicals for decades, but never has a jukebox been so overstuffed that the 45s came spiraling out of the cabinet, spinning off the stage to decapitate the audience. This Tony-winning musical extravaganza is completely ridiculous and utterly intoxicating. It pounds you into su...

ISC’s unique brand of Shakespeare in the park has long been a summertime favorite for Angelenos of all ages. PESTLE is a work of Francis Beaumont, not the Bard, but as adapted and staged by director Melissa Chalsma, this loopy bit of play-within-a-play meta is every bit a comic winner....

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM is given a fresh spin by the Open Fist Theatre Company, changing the setting from Athens, Greece, to Athens, Georgia, in the antebellum South to mixed results....

With its award-winning book by Steven Levenson and score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the touring version of DEAR EVAN HANSEN offers the same gut punches along with assurances that life for the Hansens, the Murphys and the millions of nameless, faceless lonely souls out there on the internet may y...

Featuring a superb performance from Emmy-winning improv king Wayne Brady as Lola, this new Hollywood Bowl production of KINKY BOOTS---which continues with two more performances July 9-10---marks the triumphant return of the annual summer musical to the world famous venue, armed with a very timely pr...

Director Mike Donahue’s production on the Geffen’s Cates stage is so intelligent, well-crafted and downright fun that A WICKED SOUL IN CHERRY HILL seems destined to have a future beyond Westwood....

The work of director Guillermo Cienfuegos, Alex Neher and Justin Preston is brave, honest and frequently stomach-churning, the kind of character study that should frighten the hell out of anybody (particularly parents)....

Writer and performer D’Lo exudes coolness in his purple print button down and Lakers cap, and from his first entrance, it is evident that we are present for a fully polished, fully fleshed-out tour de force evening of theatre....

Endearingly inspirational and beautifully performed, COME FROM AWAY---as experienced in this relaunched post-lockdown tour now playing at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through June 26, 2022---certainly proves itself worthy of repeat visits. At its core, the show is a hopeful, positive...

What did our critic think? Audiences can’t help but compare and contrast, especially when the production is jumping through hoops to remind us of what made the film special. That becomes a bigger problem when the show itself fails on its own merits. While remaining faithful to its source material,...

What did our critic think? Joseph has woven an intricate veil of social commentary which haunts the two characters. King James might be a play about a Black man finding a way to advocate for himself, a white man figuring out how his access to wealth has affected him, or two friends navigating the te...

Exuding pure joy, blissful camaraderie, and high-energy theatrics, this exuberantly performed new SoCal production of IN THE HEIGHTS—continuing through June 26, 2022 at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts—feels like such an emotionally amped-up, escapist antidote to the divided times ...

As directed by Tim Dang for the Sierra Madre Playhouse, KING OF THE YEES is a comedy and a quest, a Caroll-ian plunge through Chinatown led by a sure-handed guide who is seeking some penetrating answers. The author of the hit play CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND is a rock star and this gem from 2017, staged wit...

The show couldn’t be more relevant today. The world feels like a hopeless place so much of the time that it’s difficult to remember that in the end, we’re all connected and need each other to get by. Perhaps that’s why COME FROM AWAY is so poignant. It reminds of us our own humanity and the ...

Set in a hotel room on a mission trip to Thailand, MAN OF GOD four high school girls must grapple with the possibility of their Pastor being a sexual predator. Read our BWW critic's review. ...

Funny, outrageous, and surprisingly thought-provoking beneath all its biting sarcasm, Mike Lew's reverberating satire TIGER STYLE!---now on stage at OC's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through June 5, 2022---shines a light on the merits of a controversial parenting style and whether it results ...

Tales of Midas, Orpheus, Aphrodite, Lucina, Alcyone, Iris, Phaeton, and Ceyx cohese together like a perfectly simmered, aromatic stew of human passion, sex, humor, greed, whimsey, and heartbreak in a rare revival of Mary Zimmerman's multi-award winning theatrical event, METAMORPHOSIS at A Noise With...

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 three-act play OUR TOWN has a superb new iteration now performing at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA through June 4, 2022. Directed by Beth Lopes, the show employs a wonderfully diverse cast, as it re-stages its seemingly ordinary but ultimately ...

Despite some instances of inventive staging and plenty of technical blares and flashes, John Gould Rubin’s production is as wrongheaded as it is irritating to sit through. Read our BWW critic's review. ...

The absorbing script by S. Asher Gelman tries to take on the insensitivity and transitory nature of dating in the age of the internet and hook-up apps, though in the end, it’s really about the more organic and timeless issues of humans just trying to connect....