This musical is one that everyone loves, but it is not an easy one to put together and do right. Tor Campbell, the Director and Choreographer, has accomplished that with an abundance of clever ideas, high energy, style, conviction and talent. The entire Cast is on top of it, feeling and selling this... (more...)
Playwright Peter Quilter's END OF THE RAINBOW packs a powerful punch in the gut under director Michael Matthews sure-handed guidance of his talented cast. Two moments of RAINBOW rate as the must, MUST-see moments for any Judy Garland aficionados - when the astonishing Angela Ingersoll totally morphs... (more...)
Climbing the corporate ladder has always been easy for some and difficult for others. This somewhat-dated story, given how the 'Me Too' movement has changed the male-female office environment these days, follows the rise of J. Pierrepont Finch, who uses a little handbook called 'How To Succeed In Bu... (more...)
Playwright David Henry Hwang's YELLOW FACE receives a most sturdy mounting from co-producers Firescape Theatre and Yolk Productions in association with the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Director Robert Zimmerman guides his talented cast of seven with a sure hand, mining the maximum laughs and feels from ... (more...)
Playwright Henry Ong admits that when he stumbled upon Tirso de Molina's "La celosa de si misma" (Jealous of Herself) during the Playwrights' Arena (PA) for the Golden Tongues series to introduce audiences to the treasures of the Golden Age of Spanish theater between 1590 to 1681, a PA-partnership w... (more...)
August 5th, 2018
During the summer months at the Hollywood Bowl, it is still light out when the evening's program begins, which afforded me the chance to take a look around and peruse the patrons. It seemed a bit atypical as far as age range of most Bowl goers; a rather young and hip group. It wa... (more...)
In the minds of many people, the name Hells Angels brings up images of outlaws in black leather, riding on loud motorcycles and always being up to no good just like Marlon Brando in "The Wild One." Never having met any members of that "social club" before, when I heard former Hells Angels leader Geo... (more...)
TITUS ANDRONICUS is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest tragedies. Characters are stabbed, beheaded, mutilated, raped, baked in a pie, and one is even buried up to his neck and left to die. At first glance it may not sound like an obvious choice for families who attend the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare ... (more...)
Now an award-winning writer and director, Barra Grant has created one of the most entertaining, informative, and hysterically funny solo shows I have ever seen. With her marvelous writing style and self-effacing humor, along with the brilliant direction of Eve Brandstein (who worked with Barra for 1... (more...)
Can eating a pie be a religious experience? It can if it was made by Jenna, the diner waitress in the Broadway musical WAITRESS, who turns ordinary ingredients like butter, sugar, and flour into mouthwatering slices of life in a pie tin.... (more...)
Somewhere in the world tonight there are 7 performances of the hit musical MAMMA MIA! onstage entertaining audiences. In fact, the show based on the music by Swedish pop group ABBA, has become so popular that the only continent where a regional or touring production has not occurred is Antarctica, ... (more...)
With Frank Fetta conducting the Marina del Rey Symphony and Nancy Dobbs Owen's Portrayal thru Dance of Leonard Bernstein's and Jerome Robbins' famed works, in celebration of his 100th Birthday, this marvelous concert took place at Marina del Rey's Burton Chase Park, where the ocean meets the land. T... (more...)
Gloria Gifford is a stage-trained actress from New York City, giving her the necessary background to understand the intricacies of people caught up in a place where the traffic is loud and people live in close proximity to each other, yet still think it's necessary to always be screaming at one anot... (more...)
There are plays that tell a story and there are plays that ponder ideas. Murray Mednick's latest world premiere MAYAKOVSKY AND STALIN is the latter, an intellectual dissection of two Russian revolutionaries who were as integral to Eastern European history as beets are to borscht. But in Mednick's dr... (more...)
For the past several summers, I have attended the Festival of Arts and The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach. But this year, I also decided to also visit two other art festivals along Laguna Canyon Road rather than spend any time cruising the town as I had done before. The full-day of explorin... (more...)
On a warm summer evening, a full moon highlights and envelops the outdoor three-piece dance concert at the intriguing and wondrous Walt Disney Concert Hall. Unlike the musical concerts and programs that are normally held there, these three dance pieces were choreographed, each in a different area ou... (more...)
The world premiere of Michael Leoni's FAMOUS receives a phenomenal, all-encompassing mounting from An 11:11 Experience in their new venue, The 11:11, in the heart of West Hollywood. Director Leoni drives his all-around talented cast at a neck-breaking speed like an expert racecar driver lapping his ... (more...)
World Premiere of playwright Aruna Harjani's WEST BOLLYWOOD received an earnest mounting at The Matrix Theatre. The outstanding, high-energy choreography by Danish Bhandara greatly complemented this mash-up (or clash) of West Hollywood gay life and the more traditional Indian culture. All involved e... (more...)
Even if you have seen it before, I cannot stress enough how miraculous the current production of ANNIE is at the Hollywood Bowl, directed with creative ingenuity by Michael Arden. Featured in the cast of incredibly talented triple-threat (acting, singing, dancing) performers are Ana Gasteyer as the ... (more...)
Quite possibly the most popular family-friendly stage musical of all time, ANNIE---the classic 1977 Tony Award winner for Best Musical based on Harold Gray's 'Little Orphan Annie' comic strip---seems like a no-brainer choice to appear as the annual all-star summer musical at the world-famous Hollywo... (more...)
When it comes to seeing a fresh new show with low or even non-existent expectations, nothing is more pleasurable and satisfying than walking out at the end of it with a huge, beaming smile on your face. That was the giddy communal feeling that I and an ecstatic audience experienced recently during t... (more...)
A major theme running throughout THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW musical is transvestism which, according to O'Brien, was not originally meant to be as prominent as it ended up being after its original London production starring the cross-dressing, incredibly sexy Tim Curry as Frank-n-Furter. Brilliantly cont... (more...)
One thing's for sure – country musicals are an awful lot of fun. There aren't very many of them and, if you can name one at all, it's most likely THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS or THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM. But there is another rarely produced gem that is just as enjoyable – PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES ... (more...)
Norm Foster has written over sixty plays which have been produced all over the world. Selections from this most-produced Canadian playwright have been included at Theatre 40 for many years, but this time the group is excited to present the U.S. Premiere of his appropriately titled new play SCREWBALL... (more...)
Director Dan Fishbach returns to the Odyssey Theatre, following up his smartly-directed JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS from last season, with his equally smartly-directed SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM. Strong vocals notwithstanding, Fishbach has managed to also feature the comedic und... (more...)
BWW Review: No Sleepin' on the Job in DREAMGIRLS at The Cupcake Theater
BWW Review: Ingersoll's Garland Reincarnated in An Excruciatingly Raw END OF THE RAINBOW
BWW Review: HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS Musical Comedy Satirizes the Brotherhood of Backstabbing Men in the 1960s Corporate World
BWW Review: YELLOW FACE - A Strong FACE to Be Reckoned With
BWW Review: THE BLADE OF JEALOUSY Cuts Deeply Into the Superficial Life We Lead in Los Angeles
BWW Review: BON IVER & TU ~ MUSIC AND THE MOVES ~ ENTERTAINING AND EVOLVING ~ COME THROUGH at The Hollywood Bowl
BWW Review: OUTLAW George Christie Offers Audiences an Insider's Look at Hells Angels
BWW Review: Revenge is Never Sweet in Independent Shakespeare Co.'s TITUS ANDRONICUS
Review: Barra Grant Shares Personal Tales of Growing Up as MISS AMERICA'S UGLY DAUGHTER
BWW Review: WAITRESS Bakes Up Slices of Life in a Pie Tin and Changes Lives in the Process
Review: MAMMA MIA! Celebrates the Power of Family, Friendship and the Universal Need for Love and Acceptance
Bww Review: BERNSTEIN AT 100: Symphonic And Choreographic Lushness By The Sea At Burton Chase Park
Review: THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT Inaugurates the Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Hollywood
BWW Review: Murray Mednick Probes History in MAYAKOVSKY AND STALIN
BWW Review: Spend a Day Filled with Artistic Delights at Art Festivals and THE PAGEANT OF THE MASTERS in Laguna Beach
BWW Review: Under The Moonlight MOVES AFTER DARK Shines at Walt Disney Concert Hall
BWW Review: Michael Leoni's FAMOUS Stunningly Depicts the Dark Side of Fame
BWW Review: WEST BOLLYWOOD - An Energizing Show That'll Make You Wanna Dance
Review: Michael Arden Directs ANNIE with Creative Ingenuity at the Hollywood Bowl
BWW Review: Salonga, Grier, Hilty, Bart & Company Lead Charming Arden-directed ANNIE at the Hollywood Bowl
BWW Review: Endearing and Fun SCHOOL OF ROCK Surprises at Segerstrom Center
Review: Thoroughly Entertaining THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW Captivates Audiences at the Maverick Theater
BWW Review: PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES Will Win You Over Hook, Line, and Sinker
Review: U.S. Premiere of Norm Foster's SCREWBALL COMEDY Generates Laughs at Theatre 40
BWW Review: SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM - A Tasty Feast for Sondheim Aficionados
