LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

On May 12, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented a searing rendition of RIGOLETTO, Giuseppe Verdi's dark tale of curses and murder. Recently, General Director Placido Domingo said of this work, 'I can think of no opera that better demonstrates the power of deeply emotional music melded with incredibly g...

Kate Pazakis, executive producer of the UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY OF series, continues to top herself and her uber-talented team of artists in their latest creation THE UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY OF CLUELESS. Director Jimmy Smagula ever-so-smartly runs his triple-threat cast of eight through a ra...

Perhaps the best way to start writing about Elizabeth Gregory Wilder's play PROVENANCE is to share its definition, as it pertains to the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature, not the capital of Rhode Island. Now being performed at Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro's Ar...

In the years before computers and cell phones to assist Bernard with scheduling, he uses a datebook and the world globe sitting on his desk to keep track of where each of the three stewardesses he plans to marry will be travelling, and has managed to keep 'one up, one down and one pending.' But Bern...

What made the Hot List? BLUES IN THE NIGHT at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, ICE at 24th STreet Theatre, LOST IN THE LIGHT by CRE Outrach at The Blue Door in Culver City, SCHOOL OF ROCK at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE at The Road Theatre Company on L...

The smart and witty script by Stan Zimmerman & Christian McLaughlin keeping the one-liners and puns steadily coming make for a fast-paced one-act. Easy to tell the writers really know their way around gay and Jewish life. Zimmerman most assuredly directs his talented cast of four in a quick stride, ...

As kid musicals go, SCHOOL OF ROCK isn't half bad. It falls somewhere between ANNIE and MATILDA on the Richter scale of stories about downtrodden kids overcoming obstacles to win in the end. It's got enough emotional oomph to tug on your heartstrings and it gives you plenty of reasons to happily che...

Stidley Theatrical's world premiere of SOLO MUST DIE: A MUSICAL PARODY succeeds in presenting an intentionally cheesy production of a fan fiction written by Hugh, a nerdy Star Wars aficionado. All performers fully commit to their individual and collective antics as various Star Wars characters, as s...

Somewhere in a cheap hotel in Chicago, circa late 1930s, three women are singing the blues. Two have been around the block and seen it all. One is woefully wise beyond her years. All have been burned by the flames of desire and lovers who have done them wrong. This is the set-up for BLUES IN THE NIG...

Tao, means the path, or the Way; it is 'ever present, but must be manifested, cultivated and perfected in order to be realized.' That is the tenet applied in this extraordinary production of Japanese drumming, dazzling choreography and a unique, charming on-stage presence by the entire Cast....

Having seen 42nd Street when it first opened on Broadway, and seeing this version all these years later, was refreshing and really made me happy that tap is still one of the most enjoyable forms of entertainment to watch or do....

Seduced by the notion that, in America, winning is everything, an immigrant loses sight of what is really important in Leon Martell's world premiere play, ICE. Commissioned by 24th STreet Theatre to commemorate its 20th anniversary, the 65-minute one act highlights the plight of every hopeful soul d...

I have seen and loved many shows by The Dollface Dames performed at other locations in our city, each show having a different feel to it along with each group's own style of choreography. There is so much variety, within their shows and the venues where they perform, no two shows have ever been alik...

Sunday was gorgeous. So gorgeous, in fact, the first half of the day distracted me-cutting my trek to the Dudamel/LA Phil concert dangerously close. After running home and tossing on my short-suit, I threw myself into the middle of Columbus avenue in a frenzied flail-praying for a lit cab. Luckily, ...

Director Simon Levy, who has won much acclaim for his current production of Chaim Potok's The Chosen at the Fountain Theatre, now brings his directorial insight on achieving assimilation into America to the Sierra Madre Playhouse's production of THE IMMIGRANT, written by Mark Harelik about his grand...

A Noise Within most successfully revives their 2011 audience favorite, Michael Frayn's 1982 NOISES OFF. Co-directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott sure-handedly lead their comically gifted cast through a fast moving two-hour-forty-minute romp of the most expert props handling, laser shar...

Directed with crackling energy by Dana Resnick at the Odyssey Theatre, BAD JEWS opens the evening after Poppy's funeral, a beloved family patriarch who survived the Holocaust, hiding his most precious gold possession under his tongue for two years. Now that he is gone, a family battle to inherit th...

With their latest Friday and Saturday night show GROUNDLINGS ROYAL WEDDING, the vastly talented Groundlings troupe has done it again with much responding side-splitting laughter to their funny, funny in-house scripts, their comic timing and expert delivery. The comedically gifted cast of ten whip th...

DEAR JOHN, WHY YOKO? with music by Anzu Lawson and Joerg Stoeffel, book and lyrics by Anzu Lawson, tells the untold story of a love that changed the world and defined an era fraught with the same type of protests taking place now. It is my hope by sharing your story, we may all be lucky enough to li...

Armed with a grand, sweeping songbook from Rodgers and Hammerstein, and a romantic, progressive-for-its-time book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan, it is difficult not to be continually enchanted by SOUTH PACIFIC, the groundbreaking 1949 stage musical based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winni...

Everyone knows who Gene Kelly is, but after seeing this wonderful tribute to the many sides of him, you can't help but feel love in your heart for what he accomplished, how he felt about life, love and happiness, work, and for the amazing gifts he gave to all of us....

The second play in this year's Block Party is AMERYKA, written and directed by Critical Mass Performance Group Artistic Director Nancy Keystone, which continues through April 29, 2018 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Plan to arrive early so you can take advantage reading all the informati...

What our schoolbooks lack in historical accuracy, art can sometimes pick up the slack by being a reliable, more enthusiastic source to fill in those gaps. This becomes abundantly clear immediately upon experiencing the haunting yet beautifully-dramatized world premiere play LITTLE BLACK SHADOWS, Kem...

For a few decades, The Complexions Dance Company has been my very favorite company to see perform. They did not fail me again. Literally mind-blowing performances from this visit to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion....

On Sunday, April 22, 2018, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra gave a matinee performance of Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms together with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor....