HOLDING THE MAN

The Aussies have set up shop at the Matrix Theatre as a troupe of L.A.-based actors from Down Under aptly-named the Australian Theatre Company present the Southern California Premiere of the true-life coming-of-age/coming-out/coming-to-terms-with-AIDS play Holding The Man, exciting news indeed for Angelinos in search of quality theater Ozzie-style.
(read more)

110 IN THE SHADE

Director extraordinaire Richard Israel and an impressive cast of Los Angeles triple-threats have joined forces at Actors Co-op for an inspired intimate revival of 110 In The Shade, the 1963 Broadway musical adaptation of N. Richard Nash’s perennial favorite The Rainmaker.
(read more)

UNORGANIZED CRIME

Oscar nominee Chazz Palminteri and Tony nominee Elizabeth Rodriguez bring their Hollywood/Broadway talent/star power to Kenny D’Aquila’s savagely funny goodfellas comedy Unorganized Crime, now getting its World Premiere at Hollywood’s Lillian Theatre under David Fofi’s razor-sharp direction.
(read more)

SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS

What becomes a legend most?

When the legend in question is Oscar-nominated film icon Leslie (An American In Paris, Lili, Gigi, The L-Shaped Room, etc., etc., etc.) Caron, what becomes the legend most is a triumphant return to the stage in Richard Alfieri’s Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks. Add to the equation six-time Ovation Award winner David Engel as Miss Caron’s onstage partner and what you have at the Laguna Playhouse is a production Broadway can only wish were on the Great White Way.
(read more)

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Misfit kids once again rule as Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre presents The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, one of the past decade’s crowd-pleasingest musicals, and whether it’s your first time at The Bee, or your eleventh (as it was for this reviewer), you’ll be smiling—and cheering on the competitors—from start to finish.
(read more)

INTO THE WOODS

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony-winning Into The Woods receives its first major L.A.-area production in nearly a decade as 3-D Theatricals presents a beautifully acted, assuredly directed, and gorgeously designed revival of the contemporary classic, though all concerned must surely be wishing they’d had the benefit of a couple more previews before Saturday’s technical-glitch-marred Opening Night.
(read more)

PASSION PLAY

Chance Theater challenges adventurous theatergoers and rewards them in equal measure with director Trevor Biship’s powerfully staged vision of Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play, three acts, two intermissions and all. Bows may not get taken till nearly three-and-a-half hours after curtain, but if you’re anything like this reviewer, you’ll find yourself enthralled from fanciful start to emotional finish.
(read more)

WAKE

An agoraphobic mortician, a homeschooled teenager, an increasingly forgetful grandmother, the ghost of a deceased spouse, and a man who just might sweep all the doldrums away take center stage in Carey Crim’s not-quite-perfect dramedy Wake, whose West Coast Premiere at South Pasadena’s Fremont Centre Theatre benefits enormously from Matt Kirkwood’s deft direction, an all-around terrific ensemble, and a topnotch production design.

(read more)

« Older Entries Newer Entries » « Older Entries Newer Entries »