Los Angeles

A YEAR IN THE LIFE Jonathan Larson’s Rent is in a musical theater empyrean; indeed, productions are as ubiquitous as the stars in the firmament. The show is about a year in the life of bohemian artists struggling to survive, and if that sounds familiar, Larson based his 1997 work on Puccini’s opera La Bohème,…

MAN’S FAVORITE CAST On Nathan Stuffel’s terrific set of a loading dock behind a hotel, it is 1938 Los Angeles. These are tough times for everyone, but especially the Black employees who must belittle themselves to keep their jobs as cooks, maids, etc. The unscrupulous white boss Avery (Darrell Phillip) is part overseer and carpetbagger…

MIND YOUR PEES AND QUEUES People start revolutions because they want something that authorities are controlling. Jefferson wanted to declare independence. Norma Rae wanted to improve factories. Katniss wanted to feed masses. Bobby Strong in the musical Urinetown — now in a truly smashing production at Long Beach Playhouse — wants to pee for free….

CHEAP THRILLS WON’T LIFT YOUR SPIRIT You never forget your first. Mine happened in the West End of London in the year 2000. The Woman in Black (Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s gothic horror novel) marked the first time I was ever scared shitless in a theater. Not a movie theater, mind you: the…

GOLF IS ON COURSE, BUT JUST A BIT UNDER PAR Pittsburgh in 1997 is the setting for the last of renowned playwright August Wilson’s series of 10 dramas that highlight aspects of African-American life in the 20th century. His is a play about gentrification, but a fascinating aspect of the 2005 work remains a rare…

YOU WANT THE TRUTH? SEE THIS ASTOUNDING PRODUCTION. Many are familiar with A Few Good Men, the 1992 courtroom drama film starring Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Demi Moore, which uses clashes of egos and attitudes to bluntly raise provocative issues, including the self-justifying arrogance of power and the complacency of a society that assigns…

A THREE-HOUR HOME RUN Clearly and cleanly, tried and true director Cynthia Ferrer and choreographer Alexis Carra Girbés trust the heart out of Adler and Ross’s 1955 Broadway classic, Damn Yankees.  Musical Theater West’s fall treat at Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach is glowing and glorious fun. Their faithful recreation gets richly rewarded by…

WHAT WILL YOU INHERIT? That Matthew Lopez’s sprawling near-7-hour 2-part play, with 3 acts in each part, keeps us captivated is quite a feat. Beautifully written, funny, sad, and hopeful, The Inheritance — a remarkable if flawed piece of ensemble theater — is a fresh, realistic look at gay life in NYC with reflections on…