Los Angeles

A VERY COLD WAR BETWEEN THE SEXES I was a huge fan of Peter Lefcourt’s 1999-2001 Showtime series Beggars & Choosers. It was something of a bomb financially but a great favorite of those who work in the entertainment industry, who delighted in its dark yet fizzy take on the business of television — the…

ANTAEUS’ MACBETH ISN’T DREADFUL, BUT IT DIDN’T FILL ME WITH DREAD The Antaeus Company is not known for shying away from difficult material, especially when it comes to classical theatre, and their talented troupe typically breathes new life into old works with aplomb. Yet, their new double-cast production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth seemed somewhat flat, at…

ALL YOUR HARD WORK NEEDS MORE HARD WORK It’s safe to say that no writer sets out to pen an unexceptional play, but despite all of his hard work, the end result falls short. Such is the case with Miles Brandman’s All Your Hard Work, presented by the Brimmer Street Theatre Company and making its…

ALL FOR ONE Commonalities of the human experience take center stage in Mental Creatures: An Original Play With Music currently making its world premiere at the Lounge Theatre 2 in Hollywood. Written and performed by Jay Jacobson, the solo venture strives to show the sameness in all of us. Just in case the audience might…

“TONGUES IN TREES, BOOKS IN THE RUNNING BROOKS” In order to make me laugh, a Shakespeare comedy must be well-cast.   This man’s musings on the darker territories of the heart have never been exceeded in 400 years; nobody has come up with a better picture of human frailty than Macbeth and Lear, and if you…

AIMLESSLY ADRIFT ON GOLDEN POND After seeing the stage version of On Golden Pond, now playing at The Glendale Centre Theatre, it’s impossible not to think how much more rewarding it would have been to stay home, curl up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn, and watch the 1981 film version starring…

I AM NOT MY COCK When a new Godzilla movie came out in 1998 the marketing pundits urged, “Size does matter.” But when it comes to a woman’s sexual satisfaction with her partner’s penis size, apparently size doesn’t matter, at least, not to most women. Yet, many men seem to be obsessed with the size…

TWO CRITICS; TWO STAGED READINGS; BASICALLY ONE OPINION From Jason Rohrer: Plays in the Park, Brian Conners’ collection of one-acts (only one of which is set in a park), intends to showcase its writer (who also directs) in the glow of its rotating cast of Actors’ Studio headliners.   Mark Rydell, Ed Asner and Esai Morales…

GRIN AND SMILE AND LAUGH-ALOT Full disclosure: I am a big fan of Monty Python   and have seen five productions of Monty Python’s Spamalot. On Broadway, in Vegas, two touring companies in Los Angeles and now Musical Theatre West’s production currently running at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. High art it is…

THIS ALMOST GREAT NIGHT Andrew Dolan, a working actor perhaps better known as a writer, had his second completed play produced first, in a Los Angeles world premiere: last season’s knockout EST production of his very smart race-and-academic politics piece, The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King.   That play exemplifies all that is most promising…

LEARNING OF A DEATH PENALTY FOR ONE’S EXISTENCE Uganda has an alarming history when it comes to human rights violations, but recent developments against gay people are horrifying. In 2005, Ugandan police arrested a lesbian couple in their home, strip-searched and fondled them, and then released them without filing charges. In 2008, the couple won…

THE SIZZLE’S A FIZZLE It is an uncontestable fact that every play August Wilson wrote justifies being looked at again and again. It has been fascinating to see how the moral, political and emotional life of African-Americans has been given the sweep of history by concentrating on the ten decades of a tumultuous century and…

FLUFF IS NOT ENOUGH Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies is precisely the type of title that peaks curiosity leading one to think that with such a clever and catchy name it has to be good. Not so fast.   Celebrating its 10-year anniversary production, the show presented by Drew Brody / The Infinite Monkey…