It’s fitting that the musical Girlfriend, which opened last night at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, is playing Los Angeles in the summer. Summer is practically a character in the show, both driving the events and creating the perfect backdrop to take the audience back to a place of young love and longing. The show, which … More Theater Review: Girlfriend at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
It is always impressive when a work that is centuries old features themes that still manage to ring true today. That is definitely the case for The False Servant, a co-production of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and the Evidence Room that opened this past weekend. The False Servant is one of over thirty comedic plays written by … More Theater Review: The False Servant at Odyssey Theatre
I’ve always found there to be something magical about outdoor theater in the summer. Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum, situated so deep into Topanga Canyon that it’s easy to forget you’re in Los Angeles, is the enchanting outdoor venue currently home to Lynn Riggs’ 1930 play Green Grow the Lilacs, which opened last night. While Green … More Theater Review: Green Grow the Lilacs at Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum
When I revisited Matilda the Musical at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre last night after previously seeing it on Broadway in early 2014, I was hoping my initial issues would seem less glaring without the incredibly high expectations I held the first time. The movie Matilda is a childhood favorite of mine, and I remember how ecstatic I was when … More Theater Review: Matilda at the Ahmanson
While the setting of Picnic, William Inge’s classic play that first debuted on Broadway in 1953 and opened at North Hollywood’s Antaeus Theater last night, may be literally dated, its universal themes still ring almost unnervingly true. Works that deal with innate human needs and desires can be almost timeless—whether it’s Kansas in 1952 or Los Angeles … More Theater Review: Antaeus Theater’s Picnic
If you were alive in the 90s, you need to get yourself down to LA’s Rockwell Table & Stage to see The Unauthorized Musical Parody of Cruel Intentions. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I attended this past Friday night, but boy did I enjoy every second. For starters, I am slightly embarrassed to admit … More Theater Review: Cruel Intentions (The Unauthorized Musical Parody)
It’s rare to see an acclaimed musical that is close to your heart and nearly a decade old presented in a way that makes you feel as if you are seeing it for the first time. It is even more rare to have this happen two years in a row. I first saw Deaf West’s Spring … More Theater Review: Deaf West’s Spring Awakening (Redux)
From the moment you enter the Vortex, the downtown LA warehouse performance space that is home to the current immersive production of American Idiot, it’s clear it is not the Idiot many theater fans came to know and love on Broadway and on tour over the past several years. This is Idiot like you haven’t seen it before, stripped down … More Theater Review: American Idiot LA at the Vortex
Although you get the sense early on in the national touring production of Cinderella, currently playing at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre, that this version of the popular fairy tale isn’t quite the one you grew up with, this point is really driven home at the end of act one. As Cinderella flees the ball at midnight, she … More Theater Review: Cinderella at the Ahmanson
Here’s the great thing about seeing a Disney musical—it is often impossible to wipe the smile off your face for hours, sometimes even days, afterwards. Beauty and the Beast (my personal favorite) was the first Disney Theatrical Production in 1994, and has since been followed by The Lion King (1997), Mary Poppins (2004), Tarzan (2006), The … More Theater Review: Newsies at the Pantages
ON STAGE & SCREEN 