A WORD OR TWO: 96% – SWEET
SWEET McAnuff’s production has the polish we’ve come to expect from this Tony-winning director, but the show’s gleam is all Plummer, who having held this stage almost single-handedly in “Barrymore” has...
View ArticleAN IDEAL HUSBAND (SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE): 83% – SWEET
SWEET It’s always a pleasant surprise to discover a gem in a most unlikely setting, and that’s what I experienced last Saturday night when I attended a performance of Oscar Wilde’s comedy An Ideal...
View ArticleABOVE THE FOLD: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER Henson wins us over with her likability. She provides glimpses of a conscience that Weinraub runs roughshod over, but unfortunately it’s not enough to keep us emotionally invested in this...
View ArticleVANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE: 84% – SWEET
SWEET The show, directed by David Hyde Pierce following Nicholas Martin’s Broadway staging, opened at the Mark Taper Forum on Sunday in tiptop shape. Indeed, you can mark this down as a shimmering...
View ArticleTARTUFFE (A NOISE WITHIN): 76% – SWEET
SWEET Overall it’s a delightful revival. If the darker nuances at times threaten the cascading hilarity, that won’t prohibit the enjoyment of so swankly appointed, proficiently acted a classical bauble...
View ArticleHARMONY (AHMANSON): 78% – SWEET
SWEET Manilow’s’ ‘Harmony’ pleases despite a few sour notes. Paul Hodgins – OC Register SWEET Its leitmotif is nothing less than the true nature of harmony, which this disparate, diverse sextet found...
View ArticleBATTLEDRUM: 75% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET But the book and lyrics (by Doug Cooney) and the music (Lee Ahlin) lacked sophistication. The 75-minutes or so of the show had to cover too much terrain (emotional as well as physical) to...
View ArticleMACBETH (A NOISE WITHIN): 78% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Elijah Alexander as Macbeth and Willcox do suggest a lot of sexual passion in their early scenes, but at least at the performance I saw, Alexander’s vocal delivery sounded lighter than...
View ArticleA SONG AT TWILIGHT (PASADENA PLAYHOUSE): 90% – SWEET
SWEET This production of “A Song at Twilight” is a reminder that there’s more to Coward than Champagne bubbles and intoxicating quips. What could very easily have turned into a vintage case study of a...
View ArticleCRAZY FOR YOU (CANDLELIGHT PAVILION): 100% – SWEET
SWEET So hurry on down to Candlelight Pavilion for a true treat and enjoy a good meal and great show. Robert Machray – Stagehappenings SWEET The songs are all Gershwin, the dancing is virtually...
View ArticleCOME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA (A NOISE WITHIN): 100% – SWEET
SWEET The ANW cast members inhabit their 1950 characters with stunning authenticity. G. Bruce Smith – Stage and Cinema SWEET Fortunately, the current revival of Inge’s 1950 drama “Come Back, Little...
View ArticleEVERYTHING YOU TOUCH: 82% – SWEET
SWEET The performances, particularly of the two leads, are confident, nuanced and memorable. And the rich sensory feast Kubzansky and her team have served up — which also includes lighting by Jeremy...
View ArticleTHE TALLEST TREE IN THE FOREST (MARK TAPER FORUM): 64% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Daniel Beaty brings this story to the Mark Taper Forum in his solo show “The Tallest Tree in the Forest,” a respectful and intelligent if dramatically disappointing recap of Robeson’s life....
View ArticleTHE GERSHWINS’ PORGY AND BESS (AHMANSON THEATRE): 89% – SWEET
SWEET Diane Paulus’ direction of “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” is mesmerizing. It features a cast of strong actors, abundant laughs amidst serious moments, and some of the most beautiful vocals this...
View ArticleSTUPID FUCKING BIRD: 96% – SWEET
SWEET The reason you need to stop and buy tickets now – is it closes July 27th and the rest of this ensemble cast is remarkable. Throw in the fact that it’s beautifully designed and crisply directed –...
View ArticleBUYER AND CELLAR: 98% – SWEET
SWEET Wicked without being unnecessarily cruel, Buyer and Cellar takes jabs at the cult of celebrity while reminding us why we’re so fascinated by it in the first place. Streisand’s eccentric behavior...
View ArticleWE WILL ROCK YOU (AHMANSON THEATRE): 45% – BITTER
BITTER But it’s not the lame plot that’s the problem here. (Nobody else knows what “Bohemian Rhapsody” is about either.) Rather, “We Will Rock You,” with a script by Ben Elton, feels like such an...
View ArticleHAPPY DAYS (BOSTON COURT): 100% – SWEET
SWEET This production, which features Broadway veteran and multiple Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub, Adams’ real-life husband, in the role of Willie, Winnie’s there-but-not-there life partner, preserves the...
View ArticleCorrection: The Los Angeles Newspaper Group is NOT Going to Take All Theater...
Editor’s Note: Please see comments from executive editor of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, Michael Anastasi, below in the comments section. We apologize for the misinformation but are going to leave...
View ArticleMARJORIE PRIME: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER A terrible play, and depressing as well, playwright Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime is set in a not-too-distant future and imagines a world where sophisticated robots have been fashioned as...
View ArticleGOOD PEOPLE (LA MIRADA THEATRE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET The dilemmas facing the life-battered protagonist of “Good People” are perhaps strategically manipulated, but that doesn’t make them any less relevant, humorous or dramatically engrossing. In...
View Article4000 MILES (SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE): 90% – SWEET
SWEET Amy Herzog’s contemporary exploration of kinship, adulthood and self-discovery receives a warm, capable production in its Los Angeles debut at the Sierra Madre Playhouse. Directed by Christian...
View ArticleTHE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (A NOISE WITHIN): 85% – SWEET
SWEET Overall, “The Importance of Being Earnest” was an absolute delight. The actors suited their respective characters, the scenery was quite beautiful in a simplistic way, and there were plenty of...
View ArticleJEKYLL & HYDE: THE MUSICAL (CANDLELIGHT PAVILION): 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Some of the finest voices I’ve heard at Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre along with Jason James’ assured direction make for a first-rate Jekyll & Hyde out Claremont way, with Janet...
View ArticlePOPE! AN EPIC MUSICAL: 75% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER If exuberance and good intentions were enough, Pope! might come closer to the epic experience predicted in its title. As it is, for this audience member, this one just didn’t fly. Ellen Dostal –...
View ArticleTHE WHIPPING MAN (SOUTH COAST REP/PASADENA PLAYHOUSE): 82% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET Although the story starts with a bang, the exposition required to catalog all of the exceptions and coincidences responsible for the incredible scenario soon bogs things down. Director...
View ArticleCLOWN BAR: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER Contrasted against Robledo’s 2012 staging of Adam Szymkowicz’s comic-book-inspired satire Hearts Like Fists at Theatre of Note, this second collaboration disappoints. Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw...
View ArticleTHE MISSING PAGES OF LEWIS CARROLL: 71% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Playwright Lily Blau receives a strong mounting of her world premiere The Missing Pages of Lewis Carroll at the Theatre @ Boston Court. Director Abigail Deser glides her able cast through what...
View ArticleCINDERELLA (AHMANSON THEATRE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Mark Brokaw’s production, with its quick-assembly storybook set by Anna Louizos, hadn’t settled into the Ahmanson by Wednesday’s performance. Josh Rhodes’ choreography looked clumsy, and the...
View ArticleJULIUS CAESAR (A NOISE WITHIN): 94% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET Ultimately this lively but scattershot production, instead of bringing “Julius Caesar” back to life, buries the play deeper in the sands of time. Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET Directors...
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