LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

The East West Players' latest, the world premiere of Giovanni Ortega's CRIERS FOR HIRE, most entertainingly introduces a wonderful injection of Filipino culture in early 1990's Los Angeles via a fusion of laugh-inducing situations and tear-duct-emptying relationships. Jon Lawrence Rivera quite ably...

I cannot remember when a play has touched me as strongly as the West Coast premiere of Barcelona by Bess Wohl, currently onstage at the Geffen through March 5. From the moment I entered the Gil Cates Theater and looked onstage at the attic apartment in Barcelona, with its dark, haunting, d...

Autobiographical one-man shows are out there in abundance; audience interest and overall success of each depends totally on the appeal of the individual performer. When you have a super talented man like James Mellon, who with his partner of 25 years Kevin Bailey has brilliantly run the NoHo Arts Ce...

Only one more night tonight Monday February 15 to catch celebrated stars of stage, screen and television Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss in Dearest Friend, a reading of the actual love letters of second U.S. President John Adams and his First Lady, Abigail Adams. These powerful and moving ...

Actor/playwright John Posey charismatically performs his one-man show FATHER, SON & HOLY COACH providing multi-faceted, well-rounded performances of multiple, distinct characters. Writer Posey has written the leading role of John (the Son) that fits like a glove for actor Posey, both in the physical...

Ask musical actors/actresses what is their favorite Broadway musical of all time and they most often concur, West Side Story. Why? It has phenomenal music by Leonard Bernstein, with concise poetic lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a tight and gripping book by Arthur Laurents, and brilliant choreogra...

In THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (ABRIDGED), the history of the United States receives an incredibly well-scripted, hysterically reenactment in just under two hours of simply inspired theatre. Jerry Kernion quite ably directs his very talented cast of three at a swift pace with just seconds enough...

Leave it to the creative folks over at 3-D Theatricals, Orange County's award-winning Broadway-caliber theatrical company, to be the entity responsible for this splendid new regional production of DISNEY's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST---the 1994 stage adaptation of the studio's gorgeous Academy Award-winnin...

Years ago, comedian extraordinaire George Burns inhabited God on film; when he spoke, we listened. The world was in love with Burns, so who presently has the charisma, that same unmistakable appeal? Why, Sean Hayes, of course! Everybody loved him as rambunctious but likable Jack McFarland in TV's W...

On Monday, February 8 LA's Next Great Stage Star 2016 Presented by Princess Cruises came to an exciting conclusion on the mainstage of the NoHo Arts Center. After an amazing 90-minute program in which the 20 contestants gave 150% to their uptempo songs from Broadway shows, fifteen contestants wer...

Now on stage in an exquisite new regional production at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through February 21, 2016, John Logan's riveting Tony Award-winning two-character play RED imagines a specific time period in the life of world-renowned abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko (played with...

In Jack & Jill, playwright Jane Martin introduces us to a fictitious contemporary couple, both from previous failed marriages, who meet, have a reluctant affair, replete with doubts and insecurities, and eventually tackle marriage. At the very top they are skeptical about love and commitment - a...

Those fascinated in viewing the everyday life of a Courtney Love-esque rock star might find Echo Theatre Company's world premiere of playwright Sheila Callaghan's BED captivating and involving. Those interested in sympathetic characters to spend an hour and a half with might have their patience/atte...

Filled with eye-popping visuals, optical trickery, risky stunts, hilarious audience participation, and lots of hammy showmanship (complete with Solid Gold-style background dancers-slash-magicians' assistants), THE ILLUSIONISTS - LIVE FROM BROADWAY is a supremely entertaining if occasionally cheesy s...

With some judicious editing, this Austin Pendleton-directed 95-minute solo SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN (actually Part One in a trilogy) would make a stunning stand-alone one act. Jen Danby has written this fictional interview of an already deceased Sharon Tate chockfull of very interesting celluloid facts...

The world premiere of playwright Stephen Sach's DREAM CATCHER receives a strong mounting at the Fountain Theatre powered by the intensity of its two strong performers Brian Tichnell and Elizabeth Frances. Cameron Watson ably directs this one continuous eighty-minute confrontation  between Roy and h...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart/ music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/Cabrillo Music Theatre, Thousand Oaks/directed by Lewis Wilkenfeld/choreographed by John Charron/through February 14 A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum is sillines...

Nice workshop presentation of the world premiere of Diana Amsterdam's THE DODGERS. Maybe, joints should have been passed out along with the programs, so that the audience could be on the same plane as the characters in the opening scenes - as Dave Solomon directed - in a most relaxed, lethargic sta...

Celebration Theatre solidly mounts (as they're always known to do) a stunning production of the Los Angeles premiere of DREAM BOY. All the acting and tech elements flawlessly gel in this intriguing drama, firm-handedly and smoothly directed by Michael Matthews, mesmerizingly guiding you through t...

It's no surprise that a palpable, uproarious reception greeted the opening night performance of EMPIRE - THE MUSICAL, a brand new stage show featuring book, music, and lyrics by Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull---currently having its 'out-of-town' premiere at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing...

EMPIRE THE MUSICAL has been knocking around in the wings ever since Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull began writing it in 1999. Its first fully-staged production took place at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood in 2003 and it has had periodic readings through the years in both Los Angeles and New York. ...

Guys and Dolls/music & lyrics by Frank Loesser/book by Joe Swerling and Abe Burrows/based on stories by Damon Runyon/directed by John LaLonde/Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre, Claremont/through February 27...

In his early days circa 1984, when he won 13 consecutive weeks on TV's Star Search, Sam Harris was flatly denied work on TV and in film because he was labeled 'too theatrical'. This quality - and I say quality - is what makes a performer exceptional; it sets him apart from the crowd, separating ...

This Skylight Theatre Company's production of playwright Tony Abatemarco's world premiere of FOREVER HOUSE will be the play I compare/measure all other plays I see this year -- and this is only January! Elizabeth Swain deftly directs her talented cast with never a lag or dull moment; with only time ...

Much like the opening night performance I experienced at the show's debut at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood last month, I was once again blown away by Menzel's incredible musical gifts with the show's opener at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa (which plays through January 24). Even be...