Los Angeles

IT TICKS, IT BOOMS, IT EXPLODES! Theatre Palisades has struck gold with its astoundingly entertaining and moving production of Jonathan Larson‘s Tick, Tick … BOOM! Expanding the cast from three to six, director Lindsay Johnson takes what normally feels like a song cycle and turns it into a full-fledged story, upping the emotional resonance of…

A MASTER OF MUSICAL THEATER; TWENTY-SEVEN SONGS; THREE GREAT PERFORMERS; ONE TERRIFIC REVUE 3 Faces of Steve: Sondheim in Concert at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is a revue that spans the breadth of Stephen Sondheim’s work. Director Angelina Réaux, the soprano who personally knew and worked with the great composer, joins world-class singers Michael Sokol, baritone,…

TRYING TO MAKE LIFE BETTER AT ANY COSTCO Head north to the small town of Lewiston, Idaho, and you’ll discover how the town got its name. One of the town’s main attractions is the Lewis and Clark Discovery Center. Located along the banks of the Snake River, the center chronicles the journey of 19th-century explorers…

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED Take a look at the highly decorated diorama just before you go upstairs to the Henry Murray Theatre for one of the most exciting world premieres you will ever see. It’s a miniature school room with one open text book about statistics and others involving math problems. Notice the circles….

GRANDMA’S A BADASS It’s Grandma Maria Porkalob Sr.’s 60th birthday party, she’s living in her son’s mother-in-law basement and he’s just given her a karaoke machine as her birthday present. She’s about to fire it up to tell granddaughter Sara Porkalob her dramatic life story. Upstairs, her birthday is being both celebrated by most of…

TRIUMPH OF THE WILL I love how the press notes for A Noise Within‘s stupendous revival of Thornton Wilder‘s The Skin of Our Teeth  noted a quote from original director Elia Kazan: “I overheard one couple talking as they left the theater. ‘What’s it all about?’ the man complained to his wife. ‘Why, George,’ she said,…

A MUSICAL THAT’S TOO CIVIL TO RESONATE Union soldier Jeffrey N. Davis (no relation to President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis), is on the hunt for his best friend, Albert Cashier, a fellow soldier in the the 95th Illinois Infantry. Following a skirmish, the brave sharpshooter Cashier stayed behind to place a…

THE DOUBLE V GETS A DOUBLE D It’s a shame that Carole Eglash–Kosoff’s  period drama The Double V is such a lackluster, overwritten, repetitive piece of didacticism. The story is one which should be told. It concerns the The Pittsburgh Courier, which served the large Black population based there. In 1942, they receive a letter from…

Now playing at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is the world premiere  of Happy Fall: A Queer Stunt Spectacular. Performed by an enthusiastic and energetic ensemble, and written by Lisa Sanaye Dring  with Rogue Artists Ensemble, director Sean Cawelti interviewed over a dozen stunt performers (several closeted) who shared intimate stories about the challenges they…