IL BIDONE
Saturday, January 19th, 2008RECOMMENDED
“Aging small-time con man Augusto, who swindles peasants, works with two
younger men: Roberto, who wants to become the Italian Johnny Ray, and
Bruno, nicknamed Picasso, who has a wife (Iris) and daughter and wants to
paint. Augusto avoids the personal entanglements, spending money at clubs
seeking the good life. His attitude changes when he runs into his own daughter,
Patrizia, whom he rarely sees, and realizes she’s now a young woman and in need
of his help to continue her studies. His usual partners are away, so he goes in with
others to run a swindle, and they aren’t forgiving when he claims he’s given the
money back to their mark. They leave him beaten, robbed, and alone.”
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NU-QUEER WINTER
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008RECOMMENDED
Sketch comedy has become a popular late night/weeknight addition to our
local small theater scene. Now gay and lesbian theatergoers have their very
own sketch troupe, the funny gang of eight who call themselves The Gay
Mafia. Their latest hour of outrageous skits is cleverly entitled Nu-Queer Winter,
and while not at the level of Saturday Night Live and Mad TV, these out
performers have put together a fun 60 minutes of comedic (and very adult)
entertainment.
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PAGING DR. CHUTZPAH
Monday, December 31st, 2007RECOMMENDED
“Never again will I lie down with a woman of the opposite sex without making a
total commitment,” swears middle-aged Manhattan psychiatrist Dr. Lester
Oronofsky (Marq Del Monte) to his receptionist Myrna Jorgensen (Alycia Tracy).
Oronofsky has, by his own reckoning, slept with “two baker’s dozen” female patients.
(With a private consulting room overlooking Central Park, “how could I resist?”)
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SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE
Sunday, December 23rd, 2007For the past 35 years, Schoolhouse Rock (a Saturday morning cartoon series that
teaches history, grammar, math, science and politics through clever, tuneful
songs) has been entertaining and educating kids of all ages. More recently, the
stage version, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, has become a favorite production of
middle and high school drama departments. Now, Los Angeles is being treated to
its first professional production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
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BOB’S HOLIDAY OFFICE PARTY
Thursday, December 13th, 2007RECOMMENDED
Bob’s Holiday Office Party is an outrageously fun and funny 80 minutes of very non-
conventional Christmas hijinks, though probably not for everyone’s tastes. For the
uninitiated, the following paragraphs will serve as a preview of Bob’s R-rated
humor. But beware. Spoilers abound!
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HERO
Sunday, December 9th, 2007RECOMMENDED
Luis Alfaro’s Hero, directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera, is an intelligent and funny
comedy about a returned Iraq war vet and his L.A. based family. (Hero is both
the title of the play and our the name of one of the protagonists, though both
are used ironically.)
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EXPLOIT THIS
Friday, November 2nd, 2007RECOMMENDED
Fans of sketch comedy will find much to enjoy in Exploit This!, presented by the
Easily Distracted Sketch Comedy troupe, and now playing at the Space Theater
late night Fridays. Written and performed by a young, attractive, and funny
quintet of comic actors and directed at a fast pace by Rick Ferguson, Exploit
This! is 60 minutes of frenetic fun.
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SCREWBALLS
Thursday, November 1st, 2007RECOMMENDED
Screwballs is a mostly very entertaining and often hilarious blend of wacky
characters and situations and the body swapping premise of such films as Freaky
Friday and Like Father, Like Son.
(read more)