LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Serving as the gloriously buoyant 56th season-opening production at Orange County's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, AMERICAN MARIACHI---which continues performances through October 5, 2019---is a wonderful play about the love of family and the love for achieving personal dreams. Playwright Jos�...

The Skylight Theatre Company continues to provoke and encourage conversation and education. Their latest offering, opening September 21st, is a strong continuation of that tradition....

Hudson emerged from the darkness as himself with nary a trace of his Poe essence to be seen. Soon he opened the suitcase placed on the stage and as he shared how his adoration of Poe's work began, he transformed himself before our eyes into the Master of the Macabre in all his glory. And by the time...

Sacred Fools Theater Company is launching its 23rd season with the World Premiere of the musical DEADLY by Vanessa Claire Stewart with Music by Ryan Thomas Johnson and directed by Jaime Robledo. Taking place in 1893, a time of hope and optimism as the World's Fair turns the globe's eyes toward Chica...

While I find Beckett's plays often too intensely intellectual for my comprehension, this was not the case with Irwin's seemingly effortless way of donning a bowler hat (or 2 or 3), juggling them until the perfect one is atop his head, and then going on to flop around the stage in his baggy pants and...

Michael Feinstein, once again, brought MGM Movie Classics to life last Saturday with his rare finds and classic orchestrations. The popular Pasadena Pops offering is the last show of the summer season and it ended well, the sound of the symphony invoking the same feeling Judy Garland has when she wa...

Imagine my surprise, even before the September 15 DIRTY TRICKS with The New Bad Boys of Magic monthly event, when I walked into The Three Clubs to find the room where I have seen dozens of shows over the years now completely remodeled to look and feel like a real cocktail lounge performance space! ...

Deaf West's THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR WATER features Sandra Mae Frank (the extraordinary deaf actor who starred as Wendla in all three of their Spring Awakening productions at Inner-City Arts, at the Wallis and on Broadway) as Alice, who uses ASL to communicate along with deaf actor Tad Cooley who por...

Los Angeles Opera opened its 2019-2020 season with Barrie Kosky's production of that most popular of operas, Giacomo Puccini's LA BOHEME. With minimal scenery from Rufus Didwiszus, Kosky's cast made the audience believe they were in the garret and at the toll gate. Only the scenery for the Café Mom...

The Echo Theater Company presents a stunning world premiere of Erik Patterson's HANDJOB. Echo Theatre's artistic director Chris Fields quite ably directs his talented cast, as two sets of actors alternately depict the scenario of a curious, middle-aged gay man hiring a shirtless housekeeper/cleaner ...

Led by Brad Ford, who has starred as CCR's lead singer John Fogerty since 1994, on guitar and harmonica, FORTUNATE SON band members include Mike Franceschini (Aka 'The Butcher') on Guitar/Vocals, Ron Ota (Aka 'The Deacon') on Bass /Vocals, and Dan Murdy (Aka 'The Matrixx') on Drums/Percussion, all o...

Pacific Opera Project (POP) was founded in July of 2011 with the purpose of bringing accessible, affordable, and entertaining opera to audiences across Los Angeles, with productions that are incredibly modern in format, performed with traditional music although on occasion POP has been known to chan...

It's very rare for a play to leave me in tears, the first to stand to applaud a cast during their curtain call. But this was the case when I attended the World Premiere of DOPE QUEENS, brilliantly written and directed by Grafton Doyle at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre, which takes us to real places i...

Here's your first look at the cast of Neil LaBute's romantic comedy REASONS TO BE PRETTY, which takes a truthful look into the fragilities, fears and vulnerabilities we all feel in love while making a case for being yourself, standing up for what you believe in, and making brave choices. Directed by...

Staged on a brilliantly creative two-setting, split-level scenic design by Dane Laffrey which includes a scene-dividing projected face on a screen on which the most extraordinary, ever-changing, light-flashing and color-changing eyes appear, this inventive retelling of a sharp, subversive fable deba...

I'M NOT A COMEDIANa?? I'M LENNY BRUCE focuses on the life and battles of the undisputed comic legend, one of the greatest stand-up artists of the 20th Century. His life and work have had an impact on poetry, politics, music, film and, of course, comedy, becoming a true inspiration for hundreds of co...

Celebrating the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote; assembled and produced by Deborah Brockus, artistic director of the annual Los Angeles Dance Festival. Deborah Brockus has assembled another TKO of a presentation.  This time at the aesthetically invigor...

I was unaware of how Anzu's personal history inspired Ono's spirit to speak so directly to her until I was in the audience at her World Premiere solo show, DEAR YOKO, in which Anzu opened her heart and soul as she revealed how her personal history of non-acceptance as an Asian woman and her overwhel...

Audience members traverse memories, dreams, emotional and real battlefields, coming in contact with a multitude of characters from Dalton Trumbo's life and novel, as we re-visit Johnny's childhood loves, family members, war room generals, soldiers, nurses, and even major religious figures, each per...

The California Premiere of Nick Dear's adaptation of Frankenstein features a heartbreaking performance by Michael Manuel as a creature born innocent but ugly, taught to hate and rebel against humanity. Manuel carries the production on his hulking shoulders, which becomes crippling due to a confoundi...

Sibling rivalry between brothers goes back to the Bible story of Cain and Abel, with one pitted against the other due to jealousy, often resulting in a deadly game of one upmanship. Such is the case between Lee and Austin, two estranged brothers at the center of Sam Shepard's TRUE WEST, who reunite...

The Fountain Theatre, in association with East West Players, soundly mounts the California premiere of Jiehae Park's HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO with a solid acting ensemble, complemented by vividly effective video visuals. Jennifer Chang ably directs her talented cast of six as they weave through t...

The Torrance Theatre Company's production of Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST features a live twelve-piece orchestra conducted to perfection by Bradley Hampton, and a cast of 44 actors from all over Southern California, who donate their time and talent to bring high-quality theatrical performances to T...

The Groundlings' current Friday/Saturday night show GROUNDLINGS TREASURE HUNTERS continues The Groundlings' tradition of making their audiences laugh - and laugh hard! Tony Cavalero, in ten of the seventeen sketches and improvs, maximized his presence on The Groundlings stage with his sharp comedic ...

As the final show of its 10th Anniversary Season, 3-D Theatricals is revisiting the hilarious SHREK - THE MUSICAL, the stage musical adaptation of the hit 2001 Dreamworks animated film, itself an adaptation of William Steig's 1990 novel. Witty, silly, and, at times, surprisingly full of heart, SHREK...