LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

The world premiere of playwright Tom Jacobson's WALKING TO BUCHENWALD receives a sturdy outing from Open Fist with the ensemble's strong performances of his three-dimensional characters steered firm-handedly by Roderick Menzies....

While watching Crystal Sep lveda perform during the opening of Pacific Standard LA/LA's Condemned To Be Modern exhibit, I couldn't help but think of a quote by Frank Lloyd Wright: 'Space is the breath of art.' Poetic in its simplicity, it is an observation that is particularly eloquent when consider...

A cross between a murder mystery and a psychological drama told with a high-tech showmanship flair, the intriguing touring production of Simon Stephen's Tony Award-winning play THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME now in Costa Mesa at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts throu...

For those of us who have lived through the passing of a loved one from cancer, it may seem an impossibility to create humor out of that heartbreaking situation. But the West Coast Premiere of Halley Feiffer's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kette...

Just as so many retired Americans over the age of 55 are choosing to sell their homes and take to the roads crisscrossing our nation in motor homes or campers for extended periods of time, a growing number of Australian retirees, called Grey Nomads, are choosing to continuously circumnavigate the wo...

Performed in both English and Spanish to appeal to a broader Los Angeles fan base, the family friendly musical fantasy Disney's Aladdin, Dual Language Edition is set in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Agrabah, where a beloved Disney princess named Jazm n decides to rebel against her father the ...

CARMEN, the title character in Georges Bizet's opera, is a young woman who wants the social freedoms nineteenth century men simply took for granted. Sung magnificently by Ana Maria Martinez, Carmen is suave and self-confident, but enroute to certain destruction. Currently, L A Opera is offering an ...

The neon blue Son of Semele sign casts faint light on to the outdoor lobby where the audience gathers until the house opened. As you walk inside the theatre, it is as if you were entering your high school's black box building. Thirty-five seats rest in front of the stage, and all but one were filled...

There are many reasons why THE FANTASTICKS original off-Broadway production ran a total of 42 years and 17,162 performances, making it the world's longest-running musical which continues to enchant audiences around the world. Aside from it being a 'Romeo and Juliet' type story we can all relate to, ...

The small dining room at a local studio was an excellent choice to showcase a classic dysfunctional family living an upper-class life as they descended into chaos over the course of one year. With each of the family members in this dark comedy only really thinking of themselves and their own needs, ...

It's official. I have a new favorite thing, and it is called MUSE/IQUE. You would too if you'd been in the audience for GLOW/TOWN, the third in a 3-part series celebrating Motown and its roots Saturday night at Caltech. From the structure of the program to the sophistication of the environment, Arti...

As a lifelong fan of David Bowie and human rights equality, when I heard The Los Angeles LGBT Center was hosting a return performance of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles (TCLA) to its Renberg Theatre the weekend of August 26-27, 2017 to perform planet Earth's first staged concert production of Bowie'...

The 1941 ARSENIC AND OLD LACE gets a dusting off from the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble providing a wonderfully expressive vehicle for the acting talents of Sheelagh Cullen and Jacque Lynn Colton as Abby and Martha Brewster, the seemingly harmless and most delightful murderers of their single unattached ...

Chico's Angels, the comedy drag troupe celebrating their 14th year performing in the bowels of Silver Lake's Casita Del Campo, delivers once again with their latest laugh-filled riot CHICO'S ANGELS 4: CHICAS ARE 4EVER. Think 70's TV classic Charlie's Angels re-envisioned as Latina drag queens at the...

When I found out John Mayall "The Godfather of British Blues" was going to be at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica on Friday, August 25, I rushed to get tickets to be in the presence of the man who directly influenced generations of the greatest musicians of all time during his impressive musical care...

If you're looking to get a definitive Janis Joplin biography/musical (in the vein of the Carole King musical BEAUTIFUL), then you may be disappointed with A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN, the short-lived 2013 Broadway musical. More akin to a tribute concert rather than actual musical theater, a new region...

TROUBLE IN MIND, the scathingly funny and thought-provoking backstage drama about interracial politics by pioneering African American playwright Alice Childress, is currently enjoying a brilliant revival at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Malibu thanks to director Ellen Geer's vision of the grou...

The glamorous passenger train Twentieth Century Limited, which ran between New York and Chicago between 1902 and 1967, is the main setting for the musical screwball comedy ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY now playing through August 27 at the Pan-Andreas Theatre, 5119 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038. Ba...

From the award-winning Celebration Theatre, producers Nathan Frizzell and Tom DeTrinis, whose hilariously twisted minds brought you Go-Goy Boy Interrupted, comes the hilarious solo show SO LONG BOULDER CITY, a satire of the almost-Best Picture winner LA LA LAND. Its genesis began when co-writer/sta...

Now playing at Theatre of NOTE is the west coast premiere of WELCOME TO THE WHITE ROOM, written by Trish Harnetiaux and directed with constant, attention-getting movement by Megan A McGuane. In the small, black box theater, we discover Ms. White (Sierra Marcks), Mr. Paine (Chris Gardner), and Jennin...

Byron Lane has written a brilliant tour de force for Tom Lenk as Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton. As cleverly written by Lane, sharply directed by Tom DeTrinis, and played to perfection by Lenk; the heightened reality of Tilda Swinton graces the Celebration Theatre (landing from her home Jupiter) to rese...

With UMPO BRIDESMAIDS, executive producer Kate Pazakis continues her unbroken string of audience-pleasing musical parodies of pop culture flicks. Tony winner Marissa Jaret Winokur ably takes the directorial reins with Christopher Youngsman leading the triple-threat talents through a fast pace, high-...

For those who have never attended THE PAGEANT OF THE MASTERS live show or its sister event THE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS in Laguna Beach, you are missing a wonderful treasure of not only art but theatrical spectacle during which historical works of arts are brought to life with real people stepping in to...

Each summer, the Torrance Theatre Company opens its season with a musical production at the James Armstrong Theatre. This year, it's SISTER ACT, the feel-good musical comedy smash based on the hit 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg as disco diva Deloris Van Cartier, who witnesses a murder and is pu...

ISC sets TWO GENTS in the 1950s, accompanied by a live band on stage playing an infectious rock 'n' roll score. Musical director Dave Beukers' arrangements are bright and sexy with a beat that's perfect for dancing (think Elvis Presley during his Sun Records days or Jerry Lee Lewis). It's a choice t...