LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

Sitcom, from TV to stage, is primarily the first impression of Elin Hampton's The Bells of West 87th, now onstage at the Greenway Court Theatre through October 13. Hampton comes from TV and most writers of that genre can easily get 'trapped' - like Molly in the play - into the oh so familiar situati...

Funny Girl/book by Isobel Lennart; music by Jule Styne & lyrics by Bob Merrill/directed by Michael Matthews/3D Theatricals/through September 22 at Plummer Auditorium, Fullerton/September 27-29 at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Redondo Beach...

Bare became a cult hit when it premiered in Los Angeles in the fall of 2000. Originally scheduled to run for only six weeks, it ended up playing six months, and became the sweetheart of the musical theatre community, with numerous celebs in attendance and audience members making multiple visits, acc...

On Sunday evening September 1, Kritzerland celebrated its third anniversary and 37th show at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal. Entitled The Songs That Got Away II, it featured a batch of songs from various composers/musicals that Bruce Kimmel considers great but that over time have received far le...

A Short Stay at Carranor/ by William Blinn/ directed by John Gallogly/ Theatre West/ through September 29...

Rapture, Blister, Burn/by Gina Gionfriddo /directed by Peter DuBois/Geffen Playhouse /through September 22...

Hairspray/book by Mark O'Donnell & Thomas Meehan/music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman/choreographed by Orlando Alexander/directed by Martin Lang/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through October 12...

Broadway, Film and TV phenomenon Kristin Chenoweth's first solo concerts at the Hollywood Bowl was, as expected, nothing short of spectacular. Delivering a highly-entertaining, must-see event filled with plenty of laughs, many touching moments, and lots of opportunities to showcase her unique talent...

There's no need to stretch one's imagination when people jump to their feet and dance in the aisles, shaking and grooving the night away. They've already formed their own images and feel the magic. Motown's a fun show with 12 pretty great singers and a full orchestra center stage under the nifty mus...

No matter what kind of a production ZJU Theatre Group is working on you can bet they'll throw themselves into it with everything they've got. Their latest, a dance performance piece called DANCING ON THE EDGE, is no exception. Staying true to their overall aesthetic of raw, creative, smartly crafted...

What can you say about a 6 foot three inch lesbian Jewish mother of two? Well, if she's Judy Gold, she is amusingly offbeat, as quirky as the description sounds and...genuinely funny. Growing up Jewish in New York with all its religious restrictions and where communication consisted of 'either no ta...

The title says it all. Women Are Crazy Because Men Are Assholes is an in-your-face sexual comedy that is indeed aggressive with its sexual encounters. As far as the relationships are concerned - there are five couples - there is merely superficial exploration. The characters, with one exception, are...

Alfred Hitchcock's/The 39 Steps/adapted by Patrick Barlow/based on the book by John Buchan & on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon/directed by Todd Nielsen/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through August 17...

Double Indemnity/reinvented for the stage by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright/based on the novel by James M. Cain/directed by John Gould Rubin/Old Globe, San Diego/Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre/extended through September 1...

Doris & Me/conceived, written & performed by Scott Dreier/directed by Richard Israel/with musical accompaniment by Johnny May and Trevor Mulvey/Welk Resorts, Escondido/Thursday matinees at 1 pm through August 22...

Ava Gardner was the sex symbol who dazzled all the other sex symbols-a fabulous, jaw-dropping beauty who became a Hollywood star. Frank Sinatra was a pop singer who became one of the most popular and successful performers of his time. The torrid and tumultuous relationship between these two showbiz...

Leave it to the ultra-talented, uber-enthusiastic folks at 3-D Theatricals to take an okay-ha-ha show into an OMFG-that-was-super-hella-funny triumph of whimsy and heart. In its glorious, colorful presentation of the first Southern California regional production of SHREK - THE MUSICAL, 3-D Theatrica...

Wrap Your Heart Around It/written, composed and performed by LynnMarie Rink/directed by Michael Kearns /musical direction by Paul Carrol Binkley/Falcon Theatre/through August 11...

Singer/actress Joan Ryan made a rare appearance with a brand new show An Evening with Joan Ryan at Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal on Sunday, July 28 prior to a cross country tour which includes 54 Below in New York. This lady, who has an entire comedic medley labeling herself a belta-holic, rema...

Sometimes it's just a fact - fools rule. Shakespeare knew it and always made sure the fool had a prominent place in his comedies. Alyssa Bradac takes on the role of Feste, the fool, in Shakespeare Orange County's TWELFTH NIGHT and from her first entrance on her 3-wheeled bicycle to her very last bit...

Rogue Artists Ensemble has been performing its FREE summer family show HYPERBOLE: bard around the city over the last few weeks, offering performances at Carlson Park in Culver City, the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, and Grand Park in Downtown Los Angeles. I caught their show this...

The world-famous Hollywood Bowl's annual concert presentation of a Broadway musical is CHICAGO this year, directed by actress Brook Shields and features an all-star cast that includes Samantha Barks, Ashlee Simpson, Stephen Moyer, and Lucy Lawless. The show which opened July 27, is a valiant, admira...

On Friday July 26 and Saturday July 27 Andy DiMino brought his spot-on tribute to Dean Martin to the Encore Dinner Theatre and Club in Tustin, accompanied by a heavenly 12-piece orchestra. A lifelong musician, once a gondolier at the Venetian in Las Vegas, DiMino is a stunningly handsome Italian, wh...

Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's screenplay for the 1959 cult classic film Some Like It Hot relied on one comedy gimmick, that two men, played by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, could escape from Chicago mobsters by donning drag and joining a girl band ...and convince everyone around them that they we...