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Tony Frankel
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Los Angeles Concert Feature: ALAN CUMMING SINGS SAPPY SONGS (Disney Hall)
CUMMING AND SAPPY Yes, Disney Hall is a large venue for a cabaret act, but you can expect Tony Award-winning actor Alan Cumming to turn the venue into the most intimate hotspot when he presents Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs this Sunday, January 29 at 7:30. In addition, you can expect much more than the…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: DUDAMEL & BATIASHVILI (Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto & Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with the LA Phil)
REAWAKENING A FAMILIAR CONCERTO It’s astounding to have heard countless performances of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto–both live and in recordings–and still be amazed that a newer interpretation can be so exciting, inventive, and breathtaking. Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili recently took me aback with her release on Deutsche Grammophon with the Staatskapelle Berlin (Berlin State Opera Orchestra) led by Daniel…
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Cabaret Review: JERRY HERMAN: THE BROADWAY LEGACY CONCERT (Samueli Theater at SCFTA)
JERRY HERMAN’S LEGACY ISN’T IN JEOPARDY, BUT  TRIBUTE CONCERTS ARE With  an evening of Jerry Herman tunes sung by Broadway powerhouses Ron Raines, Karen Morrow, Debbie Gravitte, Jason Graae and Scott Coulter (pictured left), what could go wrong? Not much. But not much was spectacular either. A pleasant outing for those strolling down memory lane, this tribute…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: STORM LARGE SINGS THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra)
TWO STORMS HIT L.A. THIS WEEKEND You think the winter storms slamming So Cal are something? Well, singer, songwriter, raconteur, author, actor, playwright, and powerhouse performer Storm Large is joining Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for a rare performance of The Seven Deadly Sins–and they’re coming to the L.A. area for two shows this weekend only,…
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Tour Review: TORUK – THE FIRST FLIGHT (Cirque du Soleil, North American Tour)
JAMES CAMERON MEETS CIRQUE DU SOLEIL Cirque du Soleil writes a new chapter in make-believe with Toruk – The First Flight, a not so typical two-hour fantasy inspired by (but not based on) James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar. For one thing, there are no clowns (a happy relief for those who find them becoming more acrobatic…
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Los Angeles Cabaret Review: A NIGHT AT THE STORK CLUB (Three Clubs Lounge in Hollywood)
A SALUTE TO GREAT SONGS AND A GREAT CLUB Any excuse to expose selections from the Great American Songbook to a modern audience works for me. And a cabaret revue entitled A Night at the Stork Club does just that. Playing at Hollywood’s Three Clubs for one weekend only, this accessible entertainment gives a nod to…
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Los Angeles Theater Review: THE LION (Geffen Playhouse in Westwood)
THE MANE EVENT Watching the Los Angeles premiere of writer/performer Benjamin Scheuer’s one-man show The Lion, directed by Sean Daniels, the element I am most taken with is Mr. Scheuer’s radiant charisma. His earnestness, his sincerity, his spiritual and emotional investment, are penetrating as he tells his story, mostly through songs, accompanying himself on different guitars’”six…
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Los Angeles Music Review: TOVEY & CHEN PERFORM TCHAIKOVSKY & SIBELIUS (LA Phil at Disney Hall)
‘TWAS BRILLIG, AND THE SLITHY TOVEY The witty, charming raconteur and conductor Bramwell Tovey has never failed to have the audience in the palm of his baton-filled hand. As energetic and high-spirited as ever, Tovey, the former Los Angeles Philharmonic principal guest conductor at the Hollywood Bowl, led us on a journey as disparate as the three…
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Theater Review: AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL (Pre-Broadway Run at the Ahmanson Theatre)
WHIMSY WASHOUT Adapting a film or play into a musical is a dicey proposition. There’s no perfect formula, but theater’s great librettists—Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner, et al.—knew that however well the source material worked, scenes had to be shuffled, characters dropped, and songs written to establish character and advance plot. The creators of Amélie,…
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Theater Review: THE KING AND I (National Tour)
NOT ALWAYS THE ROYAL TREATMENT, BUT STILL A PRINCELY KING It’s no puzzlement why The King and I is oft-revived. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s semi-historical domestic drama’”the unlikely alliance between a Siamese monarch in the 1860s and a British governess/tutor’”shows how history is all about people at pivotal points. Change comes from unexpected places in improbable…
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Los Angeles Theater/Music Preview: NOTES OF A NATIVE SONG (Stew & The Negro Problem at REDCAT)
TAKING NOTES TO THE NEXT LEVEL Los Angeles native Stew, born Mark Stewart, is one of today’s most fascinating songwriters. He has released both solo albums and with his band, The Negro Problem. He became well known to the theater world in 2008, when he made the transition from the pop-rock scene to Broadway. The…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: COOL YULE (Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles)
MAKE THE YULETIDE GAY Attending GMCLA’s Holiday Spectaculars is more like a pilgrimage for me, and is a no-brainer when choosing my wintertime concerts. This year’s musical extravaganza, Holiday Spectacular: Cool Yule, plays at Glendale’s gorgeous Alex Theatre for four performances beginning this Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016, and running through Sunday. And while there is no…
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National Tour Theater Review: IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS
I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS WITH A BETTER SCRIPT I suppose it’s possible that Irving Berlin’s White Christmas might succeed with audiences. Possible, that is, if they are willing to tolerate a lame, cliché-ridden plot in exchange for large samplings of the Irving Berlin songbook accompanied by tap dancing and snow (and even tap dancing in…
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Los Angeles Theater Preview: WONDERFUL TOWN (Los Angeles Opera)
WONDERFUL WONDERFUL Never heard of the 1953 musical, Wonderful Town? Well, certainly you’ve heard of composer Leonard Bernstein and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Even though the songs are terrific, none of them have entered the hit parade. Bernstein offers catchy melodies in tunes that range from conga to an Irish jig, and the lyrics…
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Los Angeles Theater Preview: SHE LOVES ME (Musical Theatre West in Long Beach)
EVERYBODY LOVES SHE LOVES ME I’ll be the first to admit that it may be impossible to create a bad production of the 1963 jewel-box musical She Loves Me. This perfect show, based on the 1937 play Parfumerie by Miklós László, is so resplendent, so charming, and so well-constructed that a 2011 gathering of literati…
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Los Angeles Theater Review: THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Druid Theatre at Mark Taper Forum)
BLACK COMEDY AND KITCHEN SINK DRAMA: A BEAUTY-FULL IRISH STEW While the horror and suspense aren’t as palpable as previous efforts of The Beauty Queen of Leenane’”Martin McDonagh’s 1996 black comedy’”the dark humor, bleakness, and romance positively boil over, making Galway’s Druid Theatre Company’s revival a recommended trip. For 20 years, 40 year-old spinster Maureen…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: HADELICH and URBAŠƒSKI (Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall)
BEYOND COMPARE In the past five years, I have encountered only a handful of fresh-to-the-scene classical soloists who completely enraptured’”those who combine the old-school magnetic quality of superlative technique with energetic experimentation, soul, and discovery. Among the electrifying performers that have made me literally lean forward in my seat are cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianists…
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Los Angeles Theater Preview: THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE (Musical Theatre West in Long Beach)
BOYS WILL BE BOYS Musical Theatre West’s (MTW) Reiner Reading Series begins its 2016-17 season with a musical from the beginning of the second decade of the Broadway Musical’s Golden Age. Some say this era began with Oklahoma! in 1943, but it’s also safe to say it began in 1927, the year that Showboat was born. The fully…
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Los Angeles Music Preview: DVOŘíK & SIBELIUS / ROUVALI & MOSER (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
DVOŘíK & SIBELIUS AT DISNEY HALL An LA Phil favorite, prizewinning German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser (pictured left) makes his return under the baton of exciting young Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali (pictured below) for a performance of Dvořák’s monumental and much-loved cello concerto. Also this Friday through Sunday (Nov. 11-13, 2016), Rouvali leads the acclaimed L.A. orchestra in…
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Los Angeles Opera Preview: AKHNATEN (LA Opera)
THE PHARAOH-EST OF THEM ALL Egyptian Pharaoh Akhnaten was not just provocative in his lifetime. Today, over three millennia after his reign, Egyptologists still debate theories about his life and relative importance. After his death, succeeding Pharaohs did their best to erase every trace of the man who had dared to displace the many gods…
Theater Review: ST. NICHOLAS (Black Button Eyes / City Lit / Chicago)
by Croydon Fernandes | July 3, 2026
in Chicago, TheaterFAST PAYOUT CASINOS USA 2026 — 5 BEST INSTANT WITHDRAWAL CASINOS RANKED
by Michael Carr | July 3, 2026
in ExtrasTheater Review: MEN OF SOUL (Black Ensemble Theater / Chicago)
by Mitchell Oldham | July 1, 2026
in Chicago, Theater
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