Los Angeles

“ANOTHER THING I LIKE IS THE HOME-RUN TROT†It is not so much that time has been unkind to Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out but that we were perhaps too kind to it in the first place. Now, stripped of its self-importance and with enough time having elapsed since it won all its prizes and…

ALTHOUGH BUMPY, MERRILY DOES INDEED ROLL ALONG Because Actors Co-op’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along whirls along like a carnival ride, you would think the centrifugal force of Richard Israel’s staging would have actors flying from the stage. The opening number, “That Frank†has players smoothly whipping around at just the…

REMEMBERING TOM If revivals are to be the mainstay of our national theater – thereby turning our theaters into museums – then interpretative artists are going to have to find ways to guarantee that theater continues to be a living, breathing organism. One way is to rediscover the elements that define a classic and unify…

THE TALE OF THE JOURNALIST’S STRIFE Some playwrights have all the luck: Charles Busch wrote a series of theatrical cult hits in the 1980’s, such as Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, that were concurrently a send up and homage to classic movie genres; the main reason they were so damn funny is that Mr. Busch donned…

PERFORMANCE POWER Question: Why revive They’re Playing Our Song? Answer: Stephanie J. Block. Question: Why create a musical like Leap of Faith? Answer: Raul Esparza. Suggestion: Why not write a good musical for Stephanie J. Block and Raul Esparza? Reason: They would send a good song soaring into the stratosphere. Question: How can you be…

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins wants you to think about what you think about race in America. His agitprop play,  Neighbors, is intentionally provocative, knowingly provocative, and (wisely so) humorously provocative. His intention is to stir up the debate regarding race in America (specifically black versus white). His setting is a suburban neighborhood where…

STREEPED DOWN TO NOTHING A friend called me and said that comedian Roy Cruz, who reenacted Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly (The Devil Wears Prada) in his stand-up act, decided to collect an impressive array of actors to perform an evening of monologues from Meryl movies. You have to see Taylor Negron do Sophie’s Choice,…

NOW IS THE WITHERS OF OUR DISCONTENT For 15 years, the Troubadour Theater Company (AKA, The Troubies) have amalgamated freely altered classics with music of a particular artist – creating riotous sketch/improv/entertainments that are liberally seasoned with an air of Commedia dell’Arte; this gives the immensely talented players the opportunity to act, sing, dance, improvise,…

A MIXED DRAG If Parasite Drag were a product of Playwriting 101, its author, Mark Roberts, would be the brightest kid in the class. He has an ear for dialogue, a sure way of shaping a scene, and beautifully subtle insights into women, a rare enough gift these days, especially in a male playwright. Â  And…

PULL THE CHAIN AND FUDGE IS MADE! MilkMilkLemonade is the sweetest – and most incendiary – gay love story this reviewer has ever seen. It is the story of a couple of children – Emory, who wants to be a girl, and Elliot, a bully who torments Emory but who, of course, really likes him…

WHEN A MARRIAGE GOES WRONG Let’s not pull any punches. The Los Angeles critical community is under attack. And this reviewer is leading the charge against them. Just as they admired en masse the woefully inadequate revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s How The Other Half Loves in Long Beach a few months ago, they have lavished…

MILLER CLASSIC STILL DELIVERS Emmanuel Ax brought new life to Brahms Concerto No. 2 last week at the Hollywood Bowl. Should you then refuse to see the piece with another pianist? Of course not. Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, which received an astounding rendering recently at the Raven, deserves to be seen in the revival…

AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY Reviewer on the phone with his editor: “Listen, I got a problem. I just got out of The Exercise over at The Lounge Theatre. Listen, it’s not going to be a pretty review. I feel almost maligned. I’m so upset that I can’t – nor do I even want – to…