Los Angeles Theater Reviews

BWW Review: BOLLYWOOD KITCHEN is Much More Than a Cooking Show
by Ellen Dostal - January 24, 2021

Even before the performance began, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop smelling the spices. Two of the three ticket levels for Geffen Playhouse’s world premiere of BOLLYWOOD KITCHEN include a Bollywood Box sent to your home. This beautifully designed box – easily a keepsake in and of itself –  contains re...

BWW Review: BREATHE Takes Philicia Saunders on a Life-Changing Journey
by Ellen Dostal - December 20, 2020

Like most solo productions, Philicia Saunders’ BREATHE comes from her own experiences. Unique to her telling however is the method by which she relates that story. Necessitated by a global pandemic that has forced audiences to view theatrical productions from behind a computer screen, Saunders has e...

BWW Review: Brooks & Marshall's Joyous Gift of HOLIDAZE HARMONY
by Gil Kaan - December 20, 2020

You know you're in for a fun show when HOLIDAZE HARMONY starts off with the two performers singing 'The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late),' while breathing in helium balloons. HOLIDAZE HARMONY features the delightful song stylings of two charismatic Broadway performers Terron Brooks and Kamila...

BWW Review: PASIÓN LATINA at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - December 14, 2020

On Sunday afternoon, December 12, 2020, well known operatic soprano Ana Maria Martinez hosted a concert of song from many parts of the world where Spanish is spoken. The singers, from Spanish speaking backgrounds, were at one time or are currently members of the young artist program at Lyric Opera o...

BWW Review: THE FIVE MOONS OF LORCA at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - December 13, 2020

The Five Moons of Lorca is a combination ballet and choral work that tells of the life and death of early twentieth century Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca. He called for a return to the origins of European Theatre and he questioned the social mores of contemporary theatrical pract...

BWW Review: THE FUTURE at Geffen Playhouse Weaves Illusion and Storytelling into a Virtual Crowd-Pleaser
by Ellen Dostal - December 13, 2020

THE FUTURE at The Geffen is a smart new production, once again written by Helder Guimarães and directed by Frank Marshall, that highlights Guimarães’ ability to weave illusion and storytelling into a satisfying theatrical crowd-pleaser. With the indisputable skill of a master illusionist and the und...

BWW Review: COVID FAN TUTTE at Methodist Church In Camarillo
by Maria Nockin - November 23, 2020

On Sunday afternoon November 22, 2020, Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented COVID Fan Tutte, an updated version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte’s Cosi Fan Tutte. The perfomance was presented drive-in style in the parking lot of the United Methodist Church on Anacapa Drive in Camaril...

BWW Review: CITIZEN DETECTIVE at Geffen Playhouse: Chelsea Marcantel's Play Stirs The Pot Without Setting it Aboil
by Evan Henerson - November 22, 2020

Figuring out whodunit feels like a bonus of this diverting if light slice of drama rather than its primary aim....

BWW Review: LA CORONA AND IL PARNASO CONFUSO at Methodist Church In Camarillo
by Maria Nockin - November 22, 2020

On Saturday evening November 21, 2020, Pacific Opera Project (POP) presented two rare, one-act operas by Christof Willibald Gluck, La Corona and Il Parnaso Confuso to a drive-in audience of 90 cars in the parking lot of the United Methodist Church on Anacapa Drive in Camarillo, CA....

BWW Review: LONG BEACH OPERA'S SONGBOOK at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - November 16, 2020

On Sunday November 15, Long Beach Opera (LBO) presented Songbook, an online  program of 20 new songs by relatively unknown composers. It was LBO board member, Raulee Marcus, who had the idea to commission songs rather than have a gala fundraiser. LBO created a list of established opera composers who...

BWW Review: THE ANONYMOUS LOVER at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - November 15, 2020

Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was a Black man born in 1745 to a slave and a slaveholder on the island of Guadeloupe. Few know Bologne wrote operas and most of them have been lost. Only L’Amant Anonyme remains in its  entirety. You can hear some of the stylistic traits of both Mozar...

BWW Review: GHOSTWALK 2020 at Santa Paula Theatre Center
by Shari Barrett - October 11, 2020

As one of the lucky October-born people, the celebration of Halloween has always been a very important occasion for me as it is just a handful of days after my birthday. Growing up enjoying playing dress-up at this time of year always brought out my imagination into the realm of spirits, goblins, an...

BWW Review: INSIDE THE BOX at GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
by Jonas Schwartz-Owen - October 11, 2020

The Geffen is hosting a game night and it's a goofy, geeky, glorious distraction from the gloom and doom of 2020. Created and led by puzzle enthusiast David Kwong, this latest version of the Geffen Stayhouse series, Inside The Box, is a perfect way to connect with others in these isolating times....

BWW Review: THE DRAG by Mae West Presented by The City Of West Hollywood and Classical Theatre Lab
by Shari Barrett - October 01, 2020

Westa??s play, in which she turned her anger at injustice into witty repartee, tells of a married but closeted high society man who throws a wild drag ball that proves to be a fateful event in more ways than one, given the various degrees of scandal going on around so many of the characters. Written...

BWW Review: Nancy Ma Searches for HOME While Growing Up Sandwiched Between Two Disparate Cultures
by Shari Barrett - September 30, 2020

This very personal, one-woman show speaks to that universal truth in all our lives, with each of us fighting to be who we are and struggling to live an independent life as best we can. But like Nancy, sometimes that only leads to loneliness - and just being alone a?" not able to love yourself enough...

BWW Review: THE PUZZLE WITH THE PIAZZA at Torrance Theatre Company
by Shari Barrett - September 21, 2020

THE PUZZLE WITH THE PIAZZA tells the story of septuagenarian Althea Witlin, who has one jigsaw puzzle among her large collection that shea??s never worked. It contains 3,000 pieces and now she has less than a day to finish it, because poor health has forced her to move in with her younger sister Ina...

BWW Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES MEETS THE BULLY OF BAKER STREET at Culver City Public Theatre
by Shari Barrett - September 20, 2020

a?oeSherlock Holmes Meets the Bully of Baker Streeta?? offers a new twist on the beloved and brilliant Arthur Conan Doyle tales of London's greatest detective. This time 'round, Holmes is confounded by a mysterious menace lurking very close to his home. But just who is the Bully of Baker Street? And...

BWW Review: THE ART OF FACING FEAR Produced By Company Of Angels and Rob Lecrone
by Shari Barrett - September 13, 2020

Opening in São Paulo, Brazil to audiences of as many as 600 viewing devices per night, and followed by an African/European run featuring a cast from three different continents, THE ART OF FACING FEAR has now arrived in the United States and runs Saturdays at 5pm Pacific and Sundays at 3pm Pacific th...

BWW Review: ELEKTRA, LIVE FROM VIENNA STAATSOPER at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - September 12, 2020

A tireless Elektra, Ricarda Merbeth paces herself well for this marathon role. She sang with polished solid mid-range tones and an easy top that could be heard through the waves of colorful Straussian sound emitted by Franz Welser-Mösta??s full orchestra. Her curse of Chrysothemis was not the most b...

BWW Interview: Lesley Fera on Creating the PRETTY LITTLE WINE MOMS Podcast
by Shari Barrett - September 11, 2020

Combining her television and stage experience has led Lesley and her husband Ned Mochel to create the podcast, 'Pretty Little Wine Moms,' producing new episodes every Wednesday. Lesley hosts the show along with her 'Pretty Little Liars' co-stars and friends Holly Marie Combs and Nia Peeples. But it ...

BWW Review: Delightful Comedy IT HAD TO BE YOU at Torrance Theatre Company
by Shari Barrett - September 08, 2020

The first play in the series was IT HAD TO BE YOU, written by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna, on Sunday, September 6 at 6pm. This delightful comedy, directed by Gary Kresca, shares a fantasy story created by Theda Blau (Jessica Plotin), a failed actress, health food nut, and would-be playwright who...

BWW Review: THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL at Fountain Theatre
by Shari Barrett - September 06, 2020

Part history, part mystery and part ghost story, Bayezaa??s lyrical integration of past, present, fact and legend turns Emmetta??s story into a soaring work of music, poetic language and riveting theatricality, transformed into an online format that breaks the notion of what a virtual performance ca...

BWW Review: AMERICAN STREET KID by Writer/Director Michael Leoni
by Shari Barrett - August 25, 2020

We are taken along with Michael Leoni during his journey with homeless teens in Los Angeles as they learn to trust him with his camera and willingly expose the truth and illuminate the hardcore reality of this American crisis which has no apparent easy or available solutions to get kids off the stre...

BWW Review: COKORINOS RECITAL ON LA OPERA WEBSITE at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - August 22, 2020

Known in opera houses across the globe for his excellent comedic timing and first-rate singing, bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1985 and went on to make his debut during that company's 1987-1988 season. In a new a?oeLiving Room Recitala?? on th...

BWW Review: Sacred Fools Continues REPRISE Streaming Series With THE VALUE OF MOSCOW
by Shari Barrett - August 21, 2020

With a keen eye for the most well-coordinated staging of any online production I have seen to date, director Carrie Keranen has expertly adapted the blocking from the staged 2018 play to make it appear the socially distancing cast members appearing in individual boxes are actually in the same apartm...