Los Angeles

Suburbia is too close to the country to have anything real to do and too close to the city to admit you have nothing real to do. — American essayist Sloane Crosley First, I want to acknowledge the passing of Ron Sossi, Founding Artistic Director of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, who made theatre in LA…

THE FAIRY TALES BREAK– AND THAT’S THE POINT The stories are still here. Cinderella. Jack. Little Red. Rapunzel. A Baker and his Wife, tangled in a curse and each other. Into the Woods has always worn its source material like a costume—but it keeps a blade tucked underneath. Musical Theatre West’s new production doesn’t sharpen…

BEE MINUS Now playing at Wisteria Theater in North Hollywood is one of the few wonderful musicals from this century so far, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, by William Finn (music and lyrics) and Rachel Sheinkin (book). Now 20 years old, this delightful musical follows a group of middle schoolers as they struggle…

LOOM WITH A VIEW Ghost Road Theatre’s The Unraveling pulls you into its strange, hypnotic orbit and doesn’t let go. This is a truly original work with some breathtaking theatrical coups. Ann Noble is mesmerizing as Susan, a reclusive former professor who loved teaching Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, but modern-day students and their ever-present…

SWINGS BIG, SHINES BRIGHT All Roads Theatre Company just set the bar sky-high with One for My Baby, a slick, jazz-soaked tribute to the music of Harold Arlen. This is old-school showbiz at its best—big voices, big orchestrations, and enough high-voltage talent to power a city block. With a Broadway-caliber cast and an 11-piece band…

A WHISPER THAT ECHOES There are plays that knock you over with intensity. And there are those that seep in, settle under your skin, and stay there long after the lights come up. Adam Szymkowicz‘s Such Small Hands falls firmly in the latter category. This quiet but devastating meditation on memory, mortality, and devotion opened…

A MENAGERIE GONE MAD–IN THE BEST WAY Boston Court has never been a company to play it safe, and John Anthony Loffredo‘s world premiere of Frou-Frou: A Menagerie of Sorts is no exception. Inspired by The Glass Menagerie, it starts with Tennessee Williams’ delicate world of longing and repression—then gleefully smashes it to bits, rebuilding…

OPEN FIST’S BAT BOY SINKS ITS TEETH IN — AND DOESN’T LET GO Bat Boy: The Musical has returned to Los Angeles with a vengeance. This outrageous comedy/horror Off-Broadway musical, which originated right here in L.A. at The Actors Gang in 1997, is a campy, off the wall delight. And in the claws, er, hands of…

A SKETCHY, SPREAD OUT SEND-UP SAGS WITH SLUGGISH SATIRE I like to go into shows completely blind. Sometimes that backfires, but usually not before the show even starts. On Thursday, I walked into the opening-night performance of 44: The Obama Musical—a show framed as Joe Biden’s hazy recollection of Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency….

The Nocturne Theatre’s West Side Story proves that “professional community theatre” can still hit you in the gut like a Broadway-caliber production. With a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, this reimagined staging of the 1957 classic was innovation on steroids, making full use of its in-the-round setup,…

I COULD’VE LOVED YOU BECAUSE Chromolume Theatre’s production of I Love You Because at the Zephyr Theatre tries to charm, but struggles under the weight of a broad acting style and a perplexingly monotonous book. A modern musical twist on Pride and Prejudice set in New York City, this 2006 show boasts delightfully bouncy 1980s-style…

RUMINATING ON RUMINANTS As a way to heal from recent tragedies, Alice (Erin Pineda), a big-city photographer, visits June (Virginia Newcomb), a reclusive artist on a small farm in Alabaster, Alabama. June has answered Alice’s call for externally scarred women willing to be photographed for an upcoming project (not a coffee table book, she insists)….