JANE AUSTEN’S EMMA
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011
183 years before Hate At First Sight turned into Happily Ever After for Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail, a bickering Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley finally realized they were Made For Each Other in Jane Austen’s Emma. As fans of the 1996 movie adaptation (starring a very British Gwyneth Paltrow) or the more recent Pride And Prejudice (with Keira Knightley—no relation to George—as Emma’s literary cousin Elizabeth Bennet) are well aware, contemporary romantic comedies owe more than a minor debt of gratitude to Miss Austen.
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THE BUSY WORLD IS HUSHED
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
As an antidote to the strident, demonizing voices of the “Christian” Right, Keith Bunin’s The Busy World Is Hushed comes as manna from playwriting heaven. Bunin’s 2006 off-Broadway hit not only spotlights a gay-affirming branch of Christianity, it also features a lead character who is both a refreshingly open-minded member of the clergy and a mother so accepting of her son’s sexual orientation that she actively encourages his quest for Mr. Right.
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ROOM SERVICE
Friday, January 21st, 2011
When a baseball pitcher launches the ball with a reverse spin, sending it curving toward the side of the plate from which it was thrown, it’s called a screwball. (Trust me. I looked it up.) Not surprisingly, the comedy genre that bears its name follows its namesake’s example by taking surprising turns and behaving in entirely unexpected ways. As a result, a screwball comedy guarantees more laughs per minute than just about any other theater or film genre, precisely what 1930s audiences needed in the Depression years which followed the Stock Market Crash.
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BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
There’s a fine line in theater between “period” and “dated.” A play that’s dated is one that’s no longer appropriate for a contemporary audience and may even be offensive to current sensibilities. On the other hand, a period play delights us with its look back at the way we were, as seen through then-contemporary eyes. That’s why, when someone recently described Neil Simon’s Barefoot In The Park as “dated,” my immediate response was, “No, it’s not dated at all. It’s period.”
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FOREVER PLAID
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
The Plaids of Forever Plaid are back, entertaining Glendale Centre Theatre audiences with their close-harmony vocals and amusing between-song patter in a 90-minute revue that couldn’t be a better choice for the retired seniors who make up the bulk of GCT audiences—and should prove entertaining to the under-65 set as well.
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CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
There’s no treat for an avid theatergoer quite like the treat of seeing something absolutely fresh and original. Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is just such a treat.
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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Friday, January 14th, 2011
If adapting a novel for the stage provides a writing challenge for any playwright, imagine how daunting the task becomes when the novel in question has been voted the “Best Novel Of The 20th Century.”* Christopher Sergel took on this challenge in his 1990 stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s beloved Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill A Mockingbird, and though the resulting script does not rise to the level of its source material, its latest revival reestablishes The Production Company’s standing as one of L.A.’s finest and provides two hours of edifying, thought-provoking, beautifully acted, and ultimately inspiring theater.
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GROUP: A MUSICAL
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Musical group therapy might not be an effective way for people to work on their psychological problems and personal issues. There might not even be such a thing for that matter, or at least not as Adam Emperor Southard imagines it in Group: A Musical. One thing is certain, however. Musical group therapy is one terrific idea for a show, and Southard’s very first musical makes for one terrific evening of theater. As produced by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble, Group: A Musical starts out promising, keeps getting better, and by the end of its second act, has earned every decibel of the audience cheers which erupted at Opening Night curtain calls.
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