FLIM FLAM: HOUDINI AND THE HEREAFTER
Sunday, July 6th, 2014
“Spiritualism” may not be the first word to spring to mind when master illusionist/escape artist Harry Houdini and Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson-creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are mentioned, but it is precisely this fascinating but lesser-known aspect of the two men’s lives on which playwright Gene Franklin Smith has based his World Premiere drama Flim Flam: Houdini And The Hereafter, now entertaining and elucidating audiences at Malibu Playhouse.
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THE CURSE OF OEDIPUS
Saturday, July 5th, 2014
Spending time with the Ancients has rarely if ever been as exhilarating as it is in Kenneth Cavander’s The Curse Of Oedipus, an Antaeus Company World Premiere which proves that even the deadly dullest of theatrical genres, Greek Tragedy, can end up the opposite of boring when given fresh new life by the right creative team.
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LAND LINE
Tuesday, July 1st, 2014
“When a health crisis forces Terry to move back into his parents’ basement, his best friend John supports him with laughter, sympathy, bravado, and finally, honesty.”
Rarely has a press release taken such pains to be detail/spoiler-free, so in the interest of honoring Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA’s wishes, let me simply say: If you’re in the mood for a beautifully written, exquisitely acted, and often quite funny tearjerker, make plans to see Stephen Dierkes’ World Premiere dramedy Land Line—and should eye makeup be your thing, be sure your mascara is waterproof.
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DOG AND PONY
Sunday, June 15th, 2014RECOMMENDED
A trio of utterly fabulous Broadway leading ladies led by the magical Nicole Parker are reason enough to catch The Old Globe’s latest World Premiere musical, Dog And Pony, though the show itself, despite Roger Rees’ effervescent direction, still needs a good deal of work.
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THE COUNTRY HOUSE
Friday, June 13th, 2014
Dinner With Friends. Shipwrecked! Collected Stories. Sight Unseen. Coney Island Christmas. And now comes Donald Margulies’ latest, The Country House, a captivating look at a contemporary American Royal Family of stage and screen, with stage-and-screen star Blythe Danner bringing her own brand of radiance to the Geffen Playhouse. Who could ask for anything more?
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NICKEL MINES
Wednesday, June 4th, 2014
On October 2, 2006, a 32-year-old husband and father entered an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, took hostage ten girls ages 6 to 13 , shot five of them to death, critically injured the remaining five, then took his own life. Hardly the stuff of your average, everyday musical, and in fact Andrew Palermo’s Nickel Mines (co-written with Shannon Stoeke and Dan Dyer) proves neither average nor everyday but something quite extraordinary indeed, tragedy turned into art, and the power of grace as it may never have been shown before.
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BACKYARD
Monday, June 2nd, 2014
Some teenagers turn to sex. Others turn to drugs. Still others turn to rock ‘n’ roll. The teenagers in Mickey Birnbaum’s violent but exhilarating Backyard turn to wrestling, and so too do the adults in their lives.
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DORIAN’S DESCENT
Saturday, May 31st, 2014NOT RECOMMENDED
A quartet of stellar performers, a gifted composer/musical director, and L.A.’s costume designer du jour at his most over-the-top fabulous can’t, unfortunately, save the Oscar Wilde-based World Premiere musical Dorian’s Descent from descending into three hours’ worth of clichéd dialog and lyrics, jarring tonal shifts, and good intentions gone disastrously bad.
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