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Theater & Concert Preview: MY FAIR LADY IN CONCERT (Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa)
THE RAIN IN SPAIN, UNRESTRAINED At full symphonic scale, My Fair Lady finally sounds the way it was written to be heard George Bernard Shaw got what he deserved. He spent decades refusing to let anyone set Pygmalion to music, having been burned once already by an operetta adaptation of Arms and the Man that…
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Theater Review: DEATH OF A SALESMAN (A Noise Within, Pasadena)
THE DREAM ON CREDIT A clear-eyed, unsentimental staging that lets Miller’s argument land with full force Arthur Miller finished Act I of Death of a Salesman in a single day and the rest in six weeks, which tells you something about the pressure behind it. He had been watching his uncle Manny Newman for years,…
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Opera Review: GILGAMESH: THE OPERA (Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts)
EPIC SOURCE, EPIC SCORE, EPIC PRODUCTION An ambitious new opera that struggles to connect its spectacle to a coherent narrative Want to know the quickest way to make me hesitate seeing a new musical? Append “: The Musical” to the title. So, here we have Gilgamesh: The Opera (which seems oblivious to at least seven…
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Dance Review: ALVIN AILEY DANCE COMPANY (In Residence at the Music Center; Program B)
The Music Center’s exhilarating 2025–2026 Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center season includes the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater which continued its exclusive Southern California multi-year residency with The Music Center with seven stupendous performances in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this weekend, March 25-29, 2026. This review covers the selections presented as Program B on…
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Music Review: LANG LANG PLAYS BEETHOVEN (Pacific Symphony)
FATE AND THE NEW WORLD Beethoven’s Egmont Overture was still settling into the air above Segerstrom Concert Hall when it became clear that Monday evening March 23 was going to demand more than the usual pleasant surrender to familiar music competently played. Carl St.Clair opened the Pacific Symphony’s program with the Egmont, followed by Dvorak’s…
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Theater Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Nocturne Theatre in Glendale)
SUPERSTAR STILL RISES Nocturne Theatre’s high-concept staging proves that even a familiar rock opera can still feel fresh, fierce, and electrifying First, a Biblical passage…“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8 It is confounding when you learn that Jesus Christ Superstar, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim…
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Theater Review: KIM’S CONVENIENCE (Ahmanson)
A SMALL SHOP WITH A BIG HEART A delightful, tender surprise arrives at the Ahmanson—and quietly wins you over Sometimes the most unassuming shows sneak up and steal your heart. Kim’s Convenience, the stage original that inspired the Netflix series, arrives at the Ahmanson not with fanfare but with warmth, humor, and a disarming sincerity…
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Theater Review: YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (Morgan-Wixon Theatre in Santa Monica)
BIG CAST, BIG LAUGHS, BIG HEART A joyful Morgan-Wixson production proves this classic still delivers the goods Community theatre rarely aims this big—or lands this charmingly. The Morgan-Wixson Theatre’s You Can’t Take It With You is that happy reminder of why this 1936 chestnut still works: a huge, game cast, a director who understands rhythm,…
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Theater Review: SEX, LIES AND HAROLD PINTER
CIVILITY ON THE BRINK OF CHAOS Jack Heller’s polished production reveals Pinter’s menace, even if it could use a bit more disorder First, a joke: “How many Harold Pinters does it take to change a light bulb?” Answer: “Change?”(pause)“A light bulb? Into what?(pause)“Ah, asparagus.” In many ways, Harold Pinter (1930–2008) was a literary assault on…
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Theater Review: THE COLOR PURPLE (Zephyr Theatre, Chromolume Theatre Company)
CAN ANYONE SAVE THIS MUSICAL? A committed cast and strong vocals can’t overcome a rushed, softened adaptation that drains the story’s power In their mission statement, Chromolume Theatre is “dedicated to presenting Broadway’s forgotten musical theatre gems.” So, for their current production, they’re doing The Color Purple at The Zephyr Theatre. With two major Broadway…
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Theater Review: THE BEST BOARDING HOUSE IN DELAWARE (Electric Lodge)
HOME IS WHERE THE HORROR IS A boarding house of quiet menace and killer detail Writer/director Marja-Lewis Ryan is back, and her latest show arrives at The Electric Lodge in Venice with a killer premise and, thankfully, a production that knows exactly how to serve it: not with winks or indulgence, but with precision, restraint,…
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Dance Review: BALANCHINE: TWIN MASTERPIECES (American Contemporary Ballet)
BAD MOOD? BALANCHINE WILL FIX THAT American Contemporary Ballet’s twin masterpieces turn live strings into a reset button for the soul Two string duos. Two ballets. Both pairs similar in structure and running time, but containing glimpses of unlimited invention within fixed limitations. For their spring program, American Contemporary Ballet performs two works from George…
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Theater Review: FAIRVIEW (Rogue Machine Theatre)
WHEN COMFORT TURNS INTO A TRAP Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer-winning play dismantles what we think we’re watching Marie-Françoise Theodore, iesha m. daniels Writing honestly about Fairview without ruining it is close to a contradiction in terms. The play runs on surprise, on jolts timed so precisely that a critic who telegraphs them is doing active…
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QUINCY’S WORLD: THE NEW FOUNDING FATHER OF AMERICAN MUSIC (MUSE/IQUE at The Wallis)
A THRILLER OF A CONCERT MUSE/IQUE’s vibrant tribute traces the extraordinary career of one of America’s greatest musical innovators Quincy Jones changed the face of music as a bold, brave, multi-hyphenate music mogul whose storied legacy is unlike anyone else’s—as a record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger, and cultural force. Over a career spanning more…
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Theater Review: WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (South Coast Rep)
A CLASSIC THAT STILL CUTS DEEP A perfect cast brings Albee’s brutal masterpiece roaring to life—if with slightly less bite than usual There’s a reason Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? refuses to age: it’s one of the greatest plays ever written, a savage autopsy of marriage, illusion, and the lies we need to survive. South…
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Theater Review: THE SHARK IS BROKEN (Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach)
THREE MEN IN A BOAT, WAITING FOR A FISH At Laguna Playhouse, the making of a blockbuster becomes a chamber piece about ego, craft, and survival Gildart Jackson, Will Block, and Adam Poole The mechanical shark that tormented Steven Spielberg during the filming of Jaws in the summer of 1974 was nicknamed Bruce, after the…
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Concert Review: FROM MOZART TO MAHLER (Pacific Symphony)
INTIMACY AND ENORMITY: MOZART AND MAHLER IN COSTA MESA Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488, is a peculiar piece to a classical program. It omits oboes entirely, replacing them with clarinets for a softer, more inward blend, and there are no trumpets or drums at all, no means of making a…
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Theater Review: ALL MY SONS (Antaeus Theatre)
THE POSTWAR AMERICAN NIGHTMARE STILL RESONATES A gripping Antaeus revival reminds us how easily communities excuse the unforgivable A successful small-town businessman, a distraught wife, a lovelorn idealistic son, and the ghost of a missing pilot haunt the yard. The themes that moved audiences in the 1940s still touch us today in Antaeus Theatre Company‘s…
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Theater Review: GOD OF CARNAGE (South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa)
CIVILITY CRUMBLES, BUT THE COMEDY NEVER BUILDS South Coast Rep’s revival exposes how thin satire needs sharper direction to truly sting Melinda Page Hamilton and Kim Martin-Cotten The first time I saw Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage was at The Ahmanson Theatre with an all-star cast, one so good that they practically hid that the…
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Dance Preview: STILL/HERE (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company on Tour at Royce Hall)
STILL HERE, STILL ESSENTIAL The tour of Bill T. Jones’s landmark dance comes to Royce Hall with undiminished force The first time I saw Still/Here, it was at BAM. It was 1994, the year of Stonewall’s 25th Anniversary and The Gay Games in NYC. So, yes, there was celebrating, but the AIDS epidemic was still…
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