LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

REDCAT debuted an eclectic program of new works this week during its 12th Annual New Original Works Festival - two dance/movement-based pieces and a third that fused theatre and live music to create an absurdist performance art piece based on early twentieth century Surrealism....

Ruskin Group Theatre's world premiere of Sneaky Ole Time makes for a delightful, easy-breezy, light-hearted two hours filled with clever songs by Grammy-winning writer Paul Overstreet and solid performances by its cast of nine triple-threats.  Michael Myers directs his talented ensemble at a steady...

In Scene Two of Lynn Riggs' play, Green Grow the Lilacs, farm girl Laurey Williams speaks passionately to her Aunt Eller about the ranch where she grew up:...

Popular across the country for many years, Always Patsy Cline celebrates country/pop singing superstar Patsy Cline, her music and her warm down.to.earth persona. Endearing from the get go, the show's success depends on the right casting. Its two actresses must be perfect fits for their roles. Loui...

Rob Mersola has written a wonderfully witty, realistic, totally shocking 'family drama' in the world premiere of his Luka's Room. Two major surprises in plot you will not see coming. But after theses 'surprises,' you realize Mersola has previously set up the plot points to make total sense. A brilli...

If, for some inexplicable reason one didn't know, the world premiere of Citizen: An American Lyric  will make it a point to educate you that racism exists. The multi-awarding winning book of poetry of the same name by Claudia Rankine, on which Stephen Sachs has adapted, will reinforce the many inst...

Definitely one of this current millennium's funniest stage shows, the world-famous Hollywood Bowl certainly chose wisely in its decision to stage the hit musical comedy Monty Python's SPAMALOT as this year's all-star annual summer stage musical spectacular, which was welcomed with plenty of sustaine...

Hollywood Bowl succeeds again with their most entertaining, head-shakingly pun-ny, visually stimulating production of Monty Python's Spamalot. Director BT McNicholl keeps his talented cast soft-shoe-ing, high kicking, horse-riding, sword lifting and just laugh-inducing at a steady, 'can't catch my b...

Last Monday, Rockwell played host to the incredibly entertaining performers The Skivvies, the duo of Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley aptly named because they perform stripped down versions of recognizable songs in their... well, skivvies....

Baby boomers don't normally show their approval at the theater by leaping to their feet and giving standing ovations during a performance… unless they happen to be seeing A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN at Pasadena Playhouse. The power of remembrance combined with the powerhouse performances of Mary Bri...

When Bent first premiered in 1979 its persecution of gays in Nazi Germany was a real eye opener. This was before the onset of AIDS...in the first scene, the depiction of Max's (Patrick Heusinger)one night stand and his gay relationship with a dancer could have been taken right out of contemporary ...

In its California premiere The Fabulous Lipitones by John Markus and Mark St. Germain sounds like a silly promo for an overrated sexual enhancement product and with its initially corny lines could easily fall into the category of 'sitcom onstage' comedy, but thank heavens it rises far above and be...

From the moment you enter the Group rep theatre and see a warmup football practice onstage, the tone for the play is set. You are about to watch, breathe, eat and sleep football. At least that is what Vince Lombardi did as head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959-1968. Now onstage at the theatr...

Bravo to Chance Theater for taking on this mainstream hit and making it actually feel like a fresh, awesome little indie. Now playing through August 9, the latest offering from Orange County's bold, award-winning regional theater company is their own 'intimate' theater re-staging of HAIRSPRAY, the 2...

The talented five-member cast, directed by Alan Shearman, certainly must be commended on their commitment and enthusiasm as they interact with the audience as second-rate circus artists and plow through their intentionally bad vaudeville routines. Just as a clown must know the correct techniques to ...

Couerage Theatre Company mounts a fine-tuned production of Failure: A Love Story, playwright Philip Dawkins' fresh, unique take on a ill-fated family in the early 1900s. Michael Matthews smoothly directs and inventively stages his large talented, triple-threat cast as they sing, dance and act out th...

OC's award-winning regional theater company 3-D Theatricals' latest effort is a remarkably admirable, visually-stunning iteration of Disney's TARZAN® THE MUSICAL that defiantly dazzles and entertains despite the inherent, unavoidable shortcomings of its licensed source material (a problematic book ...

As the cliche goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That is perhaps partly the philosophy behind the rather faithful stage adaptation of the gloriously wonderful movie musical SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, now once again charmingly replicated in a smile-inducing local production at Musical Theatre West tha...

The touring company of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA performed a magnificent self-produced cabaret titled OSCAR UNMASKED, consisting of performances from Oscar winning songs and scores. In addition, audience members had the chance to bid on three items in a live auction. The cabaret raised about $10,000 ...

On Sunday, July 19 pop/ rock/soul balladeer Mark Arthur Miller brought his uber entertaining show Soul Searching to an SRO crowd at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. The man tells his story about growing up on the south side of Chicago in the 60s via the tunes that shaped him, notably those of...

As an attempt to increase its cultural relevance, involve the community, and expand its audience base, Shakespeare Orange County's ROMEO & JULIET is an admirable venture. Directors Mike Peebler and John Walcutt have integrated several hometown groups to appeal to its neighboring communities: the Vie...

The best scripted comedy drag troupe in Los Angeles, Chico's Angels lives up to its stellar reputation with Chico's Angels 3: Chicas in Chains. From the crazy, lightning-quick minds of Kurt Koehler and Kay Sedia, Chico's Angels' third episode mashes up high school mean girls with tough prison bitche...

What do the 1950s have in common with 1912? Ages of innocence, both. When Meredith Willson wrote his story with Franklin Lacey about a con artist bamboozling an Iowa town in 1912, which formed the substance of his musical The Music Man (1957), the effect became like that of N. Richard Nash's The...

TARZAN THE MUSICAL is the latest winner in a string of ambitious musicals by the Dawson producing team at 3-D Theatricals (Gretchen, Daniel, Jeannette and T.J.). Perhaps it isn't surprising that a family run company would know the kind of heart it takes to bring to life a Disney adventure musical a...

Considered Andrew Lloyd Webber's first official musical in the late 60s, in spite of the fact that it really took off after Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has within itself a miraculous power to entertain and inspire...especially the young among us who dare t...