LOS ANGELES THEATER REVIEWS

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...

Director Darko Tresnjak has crafted a visually-appealing world that unfortunately reduces the action of the play to broad strokes enacted in a toy theatre....

SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA is trying to be perhaps too many things at once and not really succeeding at any of them....

These are words that both sing and challenge. If, like this reviewer, you were not previously acquainted with June Jordan, POETRY FOR THE PEOPLE is a crackling introduction....

Wildly surprising and deliciously savage, Yasmina Reza's machete-edged 2006 dark comedy GOD OF CARNAGE—here directed by Marco Barricelli and continues performances at OC's South Coast Repertory through March 21, 2026—has to be one of the most ferocious dissections of modern-day performative civi...

South Coast Repertory’s production of Edward Albee’s dark psychological comedy 100% embodies all the epic frustration and athletic dysfunction which begins and ends with Martha. ...

In what is clearly proving to be the must-see stage production of the new year so far here in Southern California, McCoy Rigby Entertainment's stunning new production of the 1979 Tony Award-winning classic SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET—now playing a limited engagement at the La Mi...

Bitterman’s script encompasses so many universal truths about the battle of the sexes in working out relationships that everyone will identify with the ups and downs that challenge even the closest couple to survive and stay together. The dialogue is fast-paced and delivered with the necessary emo...

Once feels like a revelation, with all the delicate tenderness of a romantic ballad and the foot-stomping joy of a rustic Irish pub on music night....

The playwright’s story structure is engaging and West’s cast is rich with charisma, with the action fitting comfortably into Munroe’s smartly realized stage at the Atwater Village Theatre complex....

Brandon Maggart helped close out The Gardenia's 45 years in West Hollywood with stories, songs, and tales of a life well lived. Daughter Maude Maggart joined for a poignant duet finale....

Adapted from Nicholas Sparks' ubiquitous 1996 novel (and its popular 2004 film iteration featuring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling), THE NOTEBOOK - THE MUSICAL re-stages a generational love story into a quietly sweeping, memory-fractured stage romance that subtly promotes emotional accumulation over...

The writing is sharp and smart and in the end Robert Axelrod gives us, if not hope, a sense that, for as bad as things can get, we can power through....

AVENUE Q is back at North Hollywood's Wisteria Theater with a superb cast and standout vocals that bring fresh life—and plenty of laughs—to the beloved, boundary-pushing musical....

The almost bare bones solo turn – at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre for a quickie six-performance run - is Izzard’s homage to the original performance practices of William Shakespeare, and also to her early years as a street performer....

What Opa Did is masterful and brutally honest storytelling at its best, with each actor dedicated to showing each person as a human being, not just either good or bad, while trying to cope with the reality of their lives in Germany in World War II....

This world premiere musical comedy is fast-paced, hilarious, and sneakily poignant, skewering the utter depravity of reality TV and how it can corrupt even the most wholesome element of humanity – children!...

If the longevity of a Broadway classic is judged by its ability to reflect both its historical significance and its present existence in popular culture, this new revival of THE WIZ is somehow caught somewhere between reverence and reinvention....

Over a convivial 85 minutes directed by Simon Godwin, the shape-shifting Broadway vet Page holds us captive as he demonstrates why he is perpetually in demand as a classical actor, as an interpreter of Shakespeare, and certainly as an enactor of villains....

AN INSPECTOR CALLS is a bit of a soap opera by way of a particularly existential “Twilight Zone” episode while tackling class, entitlement, and status, making it as relevant as it was 60 years ago....

Between Ingrid Michelson’s heart-swelling score, a safe and steady book by Bekah Brunstetter and the co-direction of Michael Greif and Schele Williams, this entertaining but hardly remarkable tale kicks off the 2026 season at the Hollywood Pantages on an appropriately tear-streaked note....

Drag legends Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme have crafted an extravaganza that combines all the stupidity and raunchiness of a campy nightclub act with all the sparkle and polish of the lighter fare being doled out at Radio City this time of year....

As the southland welcomes a return visit from The Acting Company, things remain as topsy-turvey as they must needs be in the woods of Athens. The company visit is a quick hit, but Risa Brainin’s production of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM is the kind of crowd-pleasing, take-no-prison...

Director-writer Justin Meyer has made magic with his energetic and talented co-horts, both on- and off-stage, launching what should become a holiday tradition....

The hilarious and irreverent comedy has become a vital part of every Christmas season in Los Angeles since 1995, and dedicated fans have been returning over the years to laugh at all the riotous antics. ...