Theater Review: After Hours Theatre Company’s The Last Five Years

June 10, 2019

After Hours Theatre Company made a name for themselves as innovators in Los Angeles theater with last year’s hit immersive production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, where audience members donned hospital gowns and participated in pre-show activities, becoming a part of the asylum. For their next show, they chose The Last Five Years, which … More Theater Review: After Hours Theatre Company’s The Last Five Years

Theater Review: The Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages Theatre

June 8, 2019

The longest running show on Broadway is back in Los Angeles for a spell, this time with a new staging specifically designed with touring in mind. The Phantom of the Opera has been a musical theater mainstay since its West End debut in 1986, and with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, and … More Theater Review: The Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages Theatre

Theater Review: Dana H. at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre

June 3, 2019

When playwright Lucas Hnath (A Doll’s House, Part Two, The Christians) was in college, his mother, Dana Higginbotham, went through a traumatizing ordeal. Dana struggled to speak about this painful experience with her son, so he eventually had fellow theater creator and collaborator Steve Cosson interview her about it. Hnath then adapted these interviews to … More Theater Review: Dana H. at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre

Theater Review: Les Misérables at the Pantages Theatre

May 11, 2019

Les Misérables, arguably one of the most iconic and well-known musicals in theater history, is back at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Cameron Mackintosh’s production was conceived in 2009 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the epic tale and played over 1000 performances on Broadway beginning in 2014. Incorporating new scenery inspired by the paintings of … More Theater Review: Les Misérables at the Pantages Theatre

Theater Review: Crime and Punishment at Edgemar Center for the Arts

April 29, 2019

If you find the page count or the dense subject matter of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment too intimidating, Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus’s award-winning stage adaptation might be more palatable. Clocking in at a cool 90 minutes and featuring only three actors, this version boils the classic tale down to the essentials, while still … More Theater Review: Crime and Punishment at Edgemar Center for the Arts

Theater Review: Diana of Dobson’s at Antaeus Theatre Company

April 22, 2019

It is rare to see a play written in 1908 that can be described as feminist, but Diana of Dobson’s, currently playing at Los Angeles’s Antaeus Theatre Company in a rare production, is a delightful surprise. Written by British suffragist Cicely Hamilton and directed by Casey Stangl, this romantic comedy challenges typical notions about what … More Theater Review: Diana of Dobson’s at Antaeus Theatre Company

Theater Review: The Niceties at Geffen Playhouse

April 20, 2019

Most people who went to college likely remember office hours as a phenomenon that you were glad existed, but rarely utilized. But in The Niceties, a play by Eleanor Burgess currently in its west coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, office hours become a battleground between a professor and a student who … More Theater Review: The Niceties at Geffen Playhouse

Theater Review: Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre

April 18, 2019

Most people hear the term “falsetto” and think of the vocal technique used by male singers to sing notes above their natural range, often resulting in a sound that is strikingly high and, in a sense, untraditional. It is not very obvious why the musical Falsettos, which opened last night at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson … More Theater Review: Falsettos at the Ahmanson Theatre

Theater Review: The Unauthorized Musical Parody of 10 Things I Hate About You at Rockwell Table & Stage

April 11, 2019

For the latest entry in the popular UMPO (Unauthorized Musical Parody Of) series at Rockwell Table & Stage, creator, writer, and executive producer Kate Pazakis has taken on 10 Things I Hate About You, the fan-favorite 1990s rom-com starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. And I promise you’ll be more than just “whelmed” by this … More Theater Review: The Unauthorized Musical Parody of 10 Things I Hate About You at Rockwell Table & Stage

Theater Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Pantages Theatre

March 28, 2019

Believe it or not, the characters in the musical version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory do not actually enter the titular chocolate factory until the very end of act one. That’s right, over an hour in to this perplexing adaptation there is nary an Oompa Loompa in sight. Willy Wonka sings about a world of … More Theater Review: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Pantages Theatre