Areas We Cover
Categories
Los Angeles
-
Theater Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (starring Jason Alexander at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts)
JASON ALEXANDER ISN’T FIDDLING AROUND — HIS POIGNANT PERFORMANCE GROUNDS THIS REVIVAL In Lonny Price’s revival of Fiddler on the Roof, Jason Alexander’s performance as Tevye stands out as the production’s defining accomplishment. Alexander, well known for his comedic prowess on television, surprises here by sinking into the rich, layered pathos of Tevye — a…
-
Theater Review: PRIVATE EYES (Theatre Palisades)
PRIVATE EYES IS SO PRIVATE THAT YOU’LL CROSS YOUR EYES TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT Perhaps Shakespeare was right to say “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” At least that seems to be the case in Steven Dietz’s Private Eyes, a “Comedy of Suspicion” now onstage at Theatre…
-
Theater Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL (National Tour)
TIME I’LL NEVER GET BACK Without hyperbole, I can say that Back to the Future is the worst musical I have ever seen. Any time I see a show that truly knocks it out of the park, it fills me with so much joy to be able to review it. Nothing quite compares to the…
-
Opera Review: DON BUCEFALO (Pacific Opera Project at The Garibaldina in Los Angeles)
PACIFIC OPERA PROJECT UNEARTHS A TREASURE In the often unexplored corners of the operatic repertoire lie forgotten gems that, when rediscovered, shine brightly. Pacific Opera Project’s revival of Don Bucefalo by Antonio Cagnoni is one such treasure. Premiering in Milan in 1847, Don Bucefalo enjoyed considerable success in its time but has since slipped into…
-
Theater Review: DIVA THE PLAY (Zephyr Theatre)
MEMORIES OF CHERISHED TIMES As we age and our memories fade away, certain items from our lifetime can trigger both happy and unpleasant memories, making us feel in the moment without worrying about what we may have already forgotten. Thus, your life can become a joyous celebration of happy times filled with love and great…
-
Opera Review: SANCTA SUSANNA: A HORROR OPERA (Source/Filter Music Collective at Heritage Square Museum)
OH, SUSANNA!! For two performances only, October 24 & 25, 2024, two-year old Source/Filter Music Collective took a big step, producing its first fully-staged opera: Paul Hindemith (music) and August Stramm’s (libretto) scandalous 1921 Sancta Susanna. Timed for Halloween and staged inside the Lincoln Avenue Methodist Church at Heritage Square Museum, this production also marked…
-
Opera Review: ROMEO & JULIET [ROMÉO ET JULIETTE] (Los Angeles Opera)
The Los Angeles Opera‘s revival of Gounod‘s Roméo et Juliette dazzled in its opening performance last night, thanks to extraordinary vocal performances and masterful conducting. With Amina Edris and Duke Kim delivering passionate portrayals of the star-crossed lovers, and Domingo Hindoyan leading the orchestra in a lush, romantic interpretation of Gounod’s score, the evening was…
-
Recommended Theater: LIFE AND TIMES OF MICHAEL K (Handspring Puppet Company and Baxter Theatre at The Wallis)
THE WALLIS HOSTS EXTRAORDINARY THEATER Handspring Puppet Company (War Horse) joins Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre to bring Life & Times of Michael K to the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis in Beverly Hills November 21 to 24, 2024. I was lucky enough to catch it at St. Anne’s Warehouse in Brooklyn and it’s a must-see to…
-
Theater Review: THE ORPHANS’ REVENGE (The Group Rep at Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood)
TIED TO THE RAILROAD TRACKS OF A SILLY MELODRAMA, OR CUTE CAN ONLY GO SO FAR Popular during the Victorian era in England, a melodrama is a sensationally overly dramatic piece with lots of comedy, especially when the exaggerated characters (the ingénue, handsome leading man, older wiser woman, and dastardly villain) break the fourth wall…
-
Concert Review: RUFUS-RETRO-WAINWRIGHT-SPECTIVE (Rufus Wainwright at The Wallis in Beverly Hills)
A RUFUS CONVERT During Rufus Wainwright‘s homey, intimate concert last night at the packed 500-seat theater at The Wallis in Beverly Hills, he chuckled that he didn’t really want to do A Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective again. Constantly appearing in different shows, he noted that the three-night engagement here was “a lot.” And he ain’t kiddin’. Over three nights,…
-
Highly Recommended Concert: WE ARE VERY BIZET (The Verdi Chorus Fall 2024 Concert Celebrating Verdi and Bizet)
“VOTRE TOAST” TO THE VERDI CHORUS The Verdi Chorus’s 41st season begins with its Fall 2024 show, We Are Verdi Bizet, led by Anne Marie Ketchum, who is has been, well, very busy as the Artistic Director for 41 consecutive years. The Verdi Chorus is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily…
-
Highly Recommended Screening: MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS (West Coast Exclusive at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood)
GET READY TO BE INSPIRED Music By John Williams, an all-new documentary on the life and career of the legendary composer, will have a limited theatrical release, but beginning Friday, the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood will be showing a West Coast Exclusive in a limited engagement November 1-7, 2024. From his early days as…
-
Highly Recommended Theater: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (starring Jason Alexander at La Mirada Theatre)
L’Chaim. “To Life” indeed. There’s a ton of it, not to mention humor, sorrow and wisdom in the 1964 Stein/Harnick/Bock musical triumph, Fiddler on the Roof, which opens soon at La Mirada Theatre, the only So Cal location that truly creates Broadway-style productions (their recent outing, Waitress, was an eye-popping marvel). This exciting new revival…
-
Concert Review: FROM MEXICO TO HOLLYWOOD: GOLDEN AGE CINEMA (LA Phil at Disney Hall)
FROM MEXICO TO HOLLYWOOD TO DISNEY HALL, THIS PROGRAM OF FILM SCORES ENTHRALLED With John Williams’s name attached to the program that played last weekend at Disney Hall, I knew had to attend. From Mexico to Hollywood: Golden Age Cinema contained some of the most memorable scores from the best films of Mexico’s Época de…
-
Highly Recommended Screening: NOSFERATU, A SYMPHONY OF HORROR (Disney Hall on Halloween)
A SILENT SCREAMS One of the spookiest horror films ever made was completed before most of today’s audiences were born. Nosferatu, a 1922 German Expressionist horror film about the vampire Count Orlok directed by F. W. Murnau may be far better known for its creepy-ass make-up given to the vampire, but horror buffs understand that…
-
Theater Review: THE PIANO LESSON (A Noise Within)
A WELL-PLAYED PIANO Though the surface plot of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is fairly simple ’” an estranged brother and sister argue over whether to sell or keep a beautiful piano that has been in the family for generations – that simplicity is very deceptive. For the piano is not only a valuable instrument…
-
Highly Recommended Concert: RHAPSODY IN JAZZ: ORIGINAL 1924 VERSION OF RHAPSODY IN BLUE & MORE GERSHWIN (Conrad Tao; Christopher Rountree/wild UP; The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra at The Soraya, Saturday November 16)
GERSHWIN’S RHAPSODY IN JAZZ Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue turns 100 this year, so the piece is receiving a fair amount of attention: Just this week, CBS Sunday Morning ran this segment, and earlier this year, columnists for the The New York Times and Los Angeles Times debated the merits of a work entrenched in the American psyche….
-
Theater Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale)
WICKEDLY WITTY WILDE Sometimes you just need to take refuge from the contemporary world with a classic play. And when it’s delivered as delightfully and professionally as Antaeus Theatre Company’s season opener, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, rejoice and feel the load lifting off your shoulders, if only for two-plus hours. While the…
-
Theater Review: I’LL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY (NEO Ensemble Theatre at The Loft Ensemble Theatre)
A BUMPY RIDE INTO THE AFTERLIFE Like many small, non-profit theatre groups, NEO Ensemble Theatre is nomadic by nature, moving from theater to theater to present modern, socially relevant plays or offering online programming on a pay-what-you-want basis. Their latest, staged in-person production is the world premiere of Michael Merton’s dark comedy I’ll Be With…
-
Theater Review: THE CIVIL TWILIGHT (Broadwater Studio Theatre in Hollywood)
CIVIL UNREST When I walked into the very small and incredibly intimate Broadwater Studio Theatre, I immediately thought about Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, about a couple of loners looking to connect, given the small, Western-style motel room designed by Joel Daavid. But the world premiere of Shem Bitterman‘s The Civil Twilight, directed with emotional…
Search Articles
Please help keep
Stage and Cinema going!
