Shari Barrett

MEET MARKET Have you ever gone to a speed dating event where singles meet, spend a few minutes talking to one person, and then move on to the next person, each for a pre-arranged chat session time? For those who have, and especially for those who never tried it, Last Call Theatre is presenting Love…

WHAT FUN GETTING LOST IN AUSTEN Fresh from its smash hit engagement at Theatre 40, Jane Austen in 89 Minutes has moved into the artistically appropriate Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills for a limited 10-performance run. Performed by a cast of seven madcap ladies and gents who bring all six of Jane Austen’s beloved novels…

IN A YEAR WHERE EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG, THIS WRONG MAKES EVERYTHING RIGHT The Tony Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, also crowned Best New Comedy at the 2015 Olivier Awards, is a sidesplitting Broadway hit written by Mischief Theatre’s Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields. At La Mirada Theatre in Hackensack (kidding…it’s in…

HEAVENBOUND ROUSES THE SPIRIT AT WILSHIRE EBELL THEATRE In the face of so much destruction from the ongoing Los Angeles fires, a bright event brought a sense of spiritual peace during Heavenbound, a musical written, directed, and produced by Don B. Welch at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre on January 11. Welsh assembled a knockout cast…

Accompanied by the rockin’ 4-piece Troubadorchestra led by music director Ryan Whyman, the always-entertaining, hip and sassy Troubadour Theater Company (The Troubies) is generating tons of fun with their latest mash-up, the world premiere of Home Alone-ly Hearts Club Band at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, areThe premise is familiar to fans of the group: The…

DEAD ON ARRIVAL The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, adapted for the stage by Mark Shanahan from Agatha Christie’s 1926 novel, premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas in 2023. It’s no surprise that the West Coast premiere at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills is only the second production, as Shanahan’s script draws out the…

PRIVATE EYES IS SO PRIVATE THAT YOU’LL CROSS YOUR EYES TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT Perhaps Shakespeare was right to say “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” At least that seems to be the case in Steven Dietz’s Private Eyes, a “Comedy of Suspicion” now onstage at Theatre…

MEMORIES OF CHERISHED TIMES As we age and our memories fade away, certain items from our lifetime can trigger both happy and unpleasant memories, making us feel in the moment without worrying about what we may have already forgotten. Thus, your life can become a joyous celebration of happy times filled with love and great…

TIED TO THE RAILROAD TRACKS OF A SILLY MELODRAMA, OR CUTE CAN ONLY GO SO FAR Popular during the Victorian era in England, a melodrama is a sensationally overly dramatic piece with lots of comedy, especially when the exaggerated characters (the ingénue, handsome leading man, older wiser woman, and dastardly villain) break the fourth wall…

A BUMPY RIDE INTO THE AFTERLIFE Like many small, non-profit theatre groups, NEO Ensemble Theatre is nomadic by nature, moving from theater to theater to present modern, socially relevant plays or offering online programming on a pay-what-you-want basis. Their latest, staged in-person production is the world premiere of Michael Merton’s dark comedy I’ll Be With…

CIVIL UNREST When I walked into the very small and incredibly intimate Broadwater Studio Theatre, I immediately thought about Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, about a couple of loners looking to connect, given the small, Western-style motel room designed by Joel Daavid. But the world premiere of Shem Bitterman‘s The Civil Twilight, directed with emotional…