LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Unquestionably one of musical theater's most beloved, iconic classics, WEST SIDE STORY---the stirring Broadway musical that features a book by theater titan Arthur Laurents, music by the incomparable Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by living legend Stephen Sondheim---remains a still-resonant masterpie...

Dazzling originality and elegant artistry blend together in the spectacular show, THE ILLUSIONISTS - LIVE FROM BROADWAY, now playing at the Hollywood Pantages. Much more than a magic show, the artists who make up this 'Magnificent Seven' exhibit a stunning array of feats that will constantly leave y...

In director Damaso Rodriguez's version of ROMEO AND JULIET, a group of actors gathers to put on the play in a graffiti-covered alley. A pair of dumpsters, two wooden pallets, and a movable iron ladder makes up the bulk of the set pieces. Everything is covered in spray paint and decay....

It is refreshing to watch family dysfunction where family members, striving to make thing better, do honestly care about one another. In Bathsheba Doran's The Mystery of Love & Sex we are presented with quite a divergent platter at first glance, but as time progresses and with so many transformation...

After a series of breakthrough plays such as Stoneface and Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, which went on to larger venues and are still waiting in the wings for Broadway, the  brilliantly innovative Sacred Fools Theatre has moved into the remodeled Lillian Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard. Wi...

America has had a long tragic history of sending brave young people off to foreign lands to fight in life-endangering wars, only to see those who have survived come home forever changed. This idea lingers over the new engaging musical DOGFIGHT, now having its Los Angeles/Orange County-area premiere ...

DON QUIXOTE is a fantastic Los Angeles Ballet production, filled with the dreams of the Don (Adam Luders), the love of Kitri and Basilio (technically perfect and emotionally evocative dancers Julie Cinquemani and Kenta Shimizu) and the adventures that follow them during this epic tale. There is som...

TEMPEST REDUX's certainly an welcomed addition to John Farmanesh-Bocca's resume of his visceral, modern re-workings of Shakespeare classics. Farmanesh-Bocca's trademark physicality shines in the inspired pairing of Dash Pepin and Willem Long, both portraying Prospero's slave Caliban in tandem. Their...

The world premiere of playwright Stefanie Zadravec's entrancing COLONY COLLAPSE receives an ingenious audience-immersive staging as the 50th mainstage production of The Theatre @ Boston Court. Jessica Kubzansky firm-handedly directs her cast of ten stellar acting talents in the hold-your-breath in...

With music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown, THE WIZ is an urban retelling of the classic fantasy story based on the children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Filled with beloved songs, incredible dance numbers, tornadoes, munchkins, and skateboarding mon...

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...

How often have you wondered what it would be like to go back in time and talk to an historical icon? Katori Hall's THE MOUNTAINTOP is a gripping and often humorous re-imagining of events the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that won London's 2010 Olivier Award for best ...

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...

Written, directed and choreographed by three-time Emmy Award-winner Debbie Allen, Freeze Frame takes audiences on a rollercoaster ride through some of LA's toughest streets where gangs, poverty, violence, and drugs are an everyday reality. Originally commissioned by the Brisbane Arts Festival, Fre...