Los Angeles

THE ZOMBIE JOE AESTHETIC With each new production, inch by inch, layer by layer, we get closer and closer to tasting the artichoke heart of Zombie Joe. It is not a question anymore of which production is better; it is a question of how complex the new images are and how they sustain the mystique…

TOO MANY STONES, NOT ENOUGH POCKETS Marie Jones’s Stones In His Pockets is one of those plays that separate the boys from the men.   Fifteen characters that range in age, gender, accent, and change with rapid-fire succession, played by two actors. It is a surefire gauge to differentiate between the good and the great.   And…

THANKS FOR THE MEMORY Occasionally, I attend theater with no intention of reviewing a show, but afterwards my spirit is so refreshed by an uplifting and inspiring experience that an urgent plea for your attendance is my only priority. It was at the Ruskin Theatre that my need for ensemble acting of the highest order…

NO TROUBLE HERE Although the run of Pacific Opera Project’s Trouble in Tahiti was two days long, I had to check out this new company whose mission it is to use local talent and bring affordable opera to Los Angeles. With only one piano accompanying five singers in the overheated Santa Monica Playhouse, there were…

NEVER FORGET Writer/performer Tom Dugan’s solo show Nazi Hunter – Simon Wiesenthal capitalizes on the strengths of the famous Nazi hunter – his resilience, tenacity and humor – but largely overlooks his checkered results and disputed claims that he flushed out nearly 1,100 war criminals. Dugan has crafted a show in which the retiring Wiesenthal…

MARK ME DOWN AS MILD ABOUT HARRY What’s a critic to do when he desperately wishes to support Los Angeles theatre, but also desires to hold theatre to a higher level? During the intermission of I’m Just Wild About Harry at Crown City Theatre, one patron’s comment summed up this critic’s complex condition perfectly: “You…

I’M IN THE NUDE FOR LOVE The main reason that the Groundlings company remains L.A.’s number one improv training and performance space is their emphasis on character work. When actors come to the Groundlings, they begin a series of classes in which proven methods are used to teach improvisational and sketch writing technique, ultimately creating…

LOW PLATELETS In his vision of a new translation of Frederico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, director Jon Lawrence Rivera offers a diverse cast and updates the original 1933 setting in Spain to 1952 in Central California. But neither decision has helped to shed new light on either the playwright or his play about a bride…