The Dance of Death Photos - Off-Broadway

What did our critic think of AIN'T TOO PROUD - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS at Broadway San Jose?

Glen Tetley Legacy completes its first virtual ballet staging.  The Rite of Spring (1974) one of choreographer Glen Tetley’s most technically difficult works received its premiere engagement by Suzhou Ballet Theatre on September 12, 13, 2020 in China at the Suzhou Culture and Arts Center before a live audience.

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 25 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.

Last year, in 2018, the third annual Dancers For Good Benefit supporting the Actors Fund Dancers Resource in East Hampton was so impressive that I challenged the founders to 'high-kick it up a notch even higher next year'. I'm thrilled to announce that not only did they clearly accept that challenge, they superseded all expectations!

Saturday, July 6, 2019 The tortuous true story of Mayerling was first set to music composed by Franz Liszt, by Kenneth MacMillan, in 1978; a giant Choreographer and Innovator in the world of Ballet. MacMillan's Mayerling is the forboding story of the 1889 Murder/Suicide of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth's Syphilitic and addicted son, Prince Rudolf, and his teenage lover, Mary Vetsera. The Royal Ballet, which has not performed in Los Angeles in 24 years, has stepped out on a limb to present this. This is not your usual Ballet Company fare. Contrary to the usual fluffy story about love conquers all, this is not that in the least. We find flawed and even demented characters pouring their hearts out, in the name of love and adoration.

Presented through July 8 at part of the Whitefire Theatre Musical Mondays, the updated and unrated SHAME OF THRONES: The Musical, directed by Rachel Stein, produced by Steven Christopher Parker, Steven Brandon, Erin Stegeman, and Ace Marrero is a riotous romp through not only the beginning of the series where all of the major characters were introduced, but also manages to throw in plenty of groan-worthy jabs at every character and situation during its entire run.

Tara Theatre present their second annual festival of female artists, 'I'll Say It Again!', after a highly successful inaugural season marking the centenary of the women's right to vote. Fierce and unapologetic, 'I'll Say It Again!' celebrates women's voices through theatre, music, comedy and dance across 21 events.

In this two-person character study, Joey Brant (R. Emmett Lee, who more than adequately took on the challenge of learning to speak Hebrew for the part) is a Jewish divorce lawyer in his 60s who never had a bar mitzvah ceremony. For reasons which become clear in the story, Joey's bar mitzvah ceremony must take place at the synagogue he attended five decades ago where his grandson Ben Goldman will carry on the family tradition with his own bar mitzvah in a matter of months. Joey, a thoroughly secularized man, must now re-connect with the faith of his ancestors, but promptly alienates the synagogue's regular instructor. But when Joey goes to meet with the temple's new rabbi for his bar mitzvah lessons, he is shocked to find a woman is now in charge.

Musicals come in different forms. Musical comedies, such as 'Cinderella' and 'School of Rock' intend to entertain. Musical dramas--think 'Dear Evan Hansen,' 'Come From Away,' and 'Hamilton,' relay thoughtful ideas in words, song and dance. The musical tragedy, such as 'Sweeney Todd' and 'The Kiss Of The Spider Woman,' which is now on stage at Blank Canvas, finds a 'victim' in a society which doesn't understand or appreciate them, resulting in dire consequences.

Classic Stage Company devotes the beginning of 2019 to the timeless emotional and social resonance of August Strindberg, with new productions of two acclaimed adaptations-Yael Farber's Mies Julie and Conor McPherson's new version of The Dance of Death-presented in repertory.

Satchmo comes to life on stage as he is portrayed by another famous New Orleanian, Barry Shabaka Henley, a veteran actor with 25 years of stage, screen, and film credits that only define the career of a man who is capable of successfully pulling off such a complex roll. (Henley's Acting Bio) Drama Desk, Obie, and Olivier Award winner, Henley, will wow you as he radiantly delves into the heart and mind of the jazz legend, as well as portraying the other two men who both shaped and shook the man, Joe Glaser and Miles Davis.  Henley effortlessly glides between the three characters, and the seamless staging transports your mind to another time and place making each moment hypnotically authentic.