Los Angeles

STRAWBERRY FIELDS I’m not sure what, but it says something about our young writers and aging audiences that the most durable millennial genre is the coming-of-middle-age medical trauma family drama.   David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, car accident), Jenny Schwartz (God’s Ear, drowning), Margaret Edson (Wit, cancer), Kathryn Walat (Creation, struck by lightning), Brian Yorkey & Tom…

ONE ACT IS COMPANY, SIX IS A CROWD Here’s the thing: an evening of one-act plays always reminds me of those Night of Scenes showcases back in school.   It’s a good chance for writers, actors, directors, and designers to work out, but for the audience…it’s a night of scenes.   So much can go wrong.   In…

BROADWAY VIA THE CATSKILLS AND THE ACTORS STUDIO I like plays featuring middle-aged guys who did everything right and still can’t figure anything out.   So Ron Sossi and Larry Field’s new production of Neil Simon’s 1986 Broadway Bound has a present for me in the character of Jack, the no-nonsense garment cutter whose wife and…

FLAMENCO FEVER AT THE FORD AMPHITHEATRE Last year, after the thrilling, fiery, and passionate flamenco dancer Manuel Gutiérrez displayed a crackling tap and pedal pyrotechnics the likes of which confirmed why Flamenco is so compelling, my companion leaned over and said, “That’s it. I’m booking us on the next flight to Seville.” Well, we never…

DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME Ah Hollywood.   How it glitters.   How it glistens.   How true it is that when you scrape off the layers of tinsel, you find, well, more tinsel.   This musical (Adrian Bewley, book; Joe Blodgett, music; Chana Wise, lyrics) is an affectionate paean to the Good Ol’ Days of Hollywood, when Movie…

SWEET, DREAMY Based on the true story of a rabid blue-collar fan whose dream of making friends with her favorite Grand Ole Opry star came true in 1961, Always… Patsy Cline is an enormously successful 1990 jukebox musical written and “originally directed” by Ted Swindley.   In its latest incarnation at the El Portal through Sunday,…

AGONY UNVISITED In this play by Tim Livingston, apparently his first, an artist and self-proclaimed protagonist named Joey (played by the author’s brother Joey Livingston) complains in verse about his desire to make a living as a rapper; his antagonist brother Tim (an enthusiastic Keenan Jolliff), who “works in finance,” bitches in couplets and iambs…

NO SECRET ANYMORE Boy, oh boy, oh boy, does Scott Dreier (the “Me” of Doris and Me) love Doris Day (the “Doris” of Doris and Me).   I mean, he loooooooooves her. The tag line of his show is: “One man’s obsession with music and movie icon, Doris Day, leads to this loving tribute to America’s…

FATHERS AND SONS The sensitive, expressive, and pensive son. The emotionally cool, impatient, and badgering father. Together, this family dynamic seen throughout history is so familiar that playwright Daphne Malfitano even titles her new play in Latin. Paternus, now receiving its world premiere at Rogue Machine, begins with pater Steve and his scion Stephen trapped…

L.A.’S BIGGEST FAN It surprises me that Lady Windermere’s Fan isn’t produced as frequently as the ubiquitous  The Importance of Being Earnest. Beginning Friday, Chalk Rep is remounting last year’s sold-out, site-specific production, and I highly recommend you give it a visit. The titular character in Oscar Wilde’s play is a vivacious young woman, married only…

FEINSTEIN’S GOT PLENTY OF SOMETHING Charismatic, appealing, boyish, excited, and eager to please, Michael Feinstein appeared before a proliferation of people (and a pulchritude of peacocks) to gush out Gershwin songs at the L.A. Arboretum last Saturday. This consummate showman’s one-man tunefest began with a 1950’s educational-style film on two huge LED video screens on…

A TRIO AND A FIFTH While there are quite a few well-made recordings of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano, rarely will you get a chance to see it performed live. Often referred to as the Triple Concerto, it is a distinctive work in its category; it establishes an amalgamation between the…