SANTA MONICA PLAYHOUSE MAIN STAGE

by Shari Barrett - March 01, 2026

Director Max Mayer keeps the action authentic and story realistically contrite after helping execute the play’s workshop, making this production an especially meaningful return to the material....

by Evan Henerson - February 27, 2026

Embodied by the exciting Ann Noble and surrounded by a solid cast, Richard and his dastardly deeds are every inch at home within the world of Guillermo Cienfuegos’s sweet and seedy production of RICHARD III for A Noise Within....

by Andrew Child - March 02, 2026

LuPone has woven an unexpected, eclectic musical collage that leads to two clear conclusions; she knows what sounds good in her voice and she knows how to sell a song....

by Tracey Paleo - February 25, 2026

NATURAL SELECTION is an excessive existential exploration of the ways women encounter their own subjectification.  Playwright Stacy Adelman, gets the point across – in the first 20 minutes. ...

by Shari Barrett - February 24, 2026

Hilarity ensues as alcohol is consumed, leading to brilliant cat and mouse games during which laughs abound....

by Evan Henerson - February 22, 2026

With so many delights and leaning heavily into both the political moment that is recounts and what America is experiencing in the here and now, HERE LIES LOVE rocks as aggressively as it rallies....

by Michael Quintos - February 20, 2026

Initially billed as a show that was 'lovingly ripped off' from the 1975 cult classic film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Tony Award–winning 2005 Broadway musical comedy MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT™ gleefully gallops back onto the stage in a brand new production with its signature coconut-clack...

by Cary Ginell - February 18, 2026

Musical Theatre Guild, the Los Angeles-based company that produces staged readings of long-forgotten, rarely seen musicals, has done it again with a stellar and highly entertaining production of the 1970 musical Applause. ...

by Shari Barrett - February 18, 2026

I really enjoyed the story, acting and staging, along with recognizing the Yiddish comments, behavior and attitudes from my own life being raised by a close-knit Jewish family....

by Michael Quintos - February 17, 2026

Directed by James Vásquez with musical direction by Ryan O'Connell and choreography by Shani Talmor, this remarkably solid new production of the 1965 Tony Award winner boasts haunting visuals and superb performances from its assembled ensemble, led by a trio of excellent leads that offer three dist...