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Los Angeles
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Theater Review: MOULIN ROUGE! (North American Tour at SCFTA)
A GOOD TIME WITHOUT MUCH TO SAY In 2001, Baz Luhrmann co-wrote and directed the jukebox musical movie, Moulin Rouge! The film was especially praised for its highly stylized costumes and production values. In 2019, retaining much of the flamboyance and style, the Broadway production adapted by John Logan and directed by Alex Timbers opened,…
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Theater Commentary: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (National Tour)
TO READ A BOOK. TO SEE A PLAY. TO CORROBORATE LESSONS LEARNED. I have been an avid reader my whole life beginning at the age of eight. I can’t remember the exact year that I read Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, sometime around high school, after which I saw the film. Last night…
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Theater Review: RADIO GOLF (A Noise Within, Pasadena)
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…
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Theater Review: A FEW GOOD MEN (La Mirada Theatre)
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…
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Music and Film Recommendation: FRANKENSTEIN (Original 1931 film, score by Michael Shapiro — LA Opera at Theatre at Ace Hotel)
STITCHED WITH NEW MUSIC The hugely popular annual Halloween mash-up of film and opera at the Theatre at Ace Hotel is back. This time LA Opera has the Boris Karloff shocker Frankenstein on the big screen, complete with mad scientist, bumbling henchman and mob of torch-bearing villagers. This 1931 masterpiece of horror was originally released…
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Theater Review: DAMN YANKEES (Musical Theatre West)
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…
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Theater Review: THE INHERITANCE (The Geffen)
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…
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Music Preview: A VERDI PUCCINI FEST (The Verdi Chorus Fall 2022 Concert in Santa Monica)
A SMORGASBORD OF OPERAS ON ONE PLATE The Verdi Chorus will present its Fall 2022 concert A Verdi Puccini Fest for two performances only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, November 13 at 4:00 pm. As the only choral group in Southern California that focuses…
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Recommended Theater: EVERTHING IN NEW YORK GOES BANG! (Hudson Mainstage Theatre in Hollywood)
Everything in New York Goes BANG!Written and performed by Robert Galinsky One Night Only Debut Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 8 PM Hudson Mainstage Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood For tickets ($25), visit EverythingInNewYorkGoesBangRun time: 60 minutes Following his successful acclaimed solo show The Bench, A Homeless Love Story, NY-based performer Robert Galinsky…
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Theater Review: NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN (South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa)
FOUR-GET ABOUT IT While her career may be skyrocketing as a TV writer, Christina Ham has not mastered the art of playwriting. I felt terrible thinking that after seeing the opening of her world premiere Nina Simone: Four Women at South Coast Rep last weekend (right when the Orange County Museum of Art, OCMA, had…
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Recommended Theater: CINDY & THE DISCO BALL: THE MUSICAL (Garry Marshall Theatre in Burbank)
DISCO BALL BOOGIE BLASTS INTO BURBANK Break out the bell-bottoms and platform shoes because Garry Marshall Theatre is gettin’ down with the boogie with Cindy & The Disco Ball: The Musical. The limited engagement runs Friday-Sunday, October 7 – October 30, 2022. Cindy & The Disco Ball: The Musical time-travels back to a decade that was dy-no-mite!…
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Dance Recommendation: INFERNO & BURLESQUE (ACB)
ACB OPENS 11th SEASON WITH TRIPLE THE HORROR If you’re brave, get front-row seats. Eight Performances Only! Did Hell Ever Look This Good? Photo by Victor Demarchelier. American Contemporary Ballet, L.A.’s most daring and satisfying dance company, opens its 11th season on October 7, 2022, with Inferno & Burlesque, a double dose of gothic horror and…
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Recommended Theater: QUEER RADIO HOUR (Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles)
ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, AT 7:30PM Queer Radio Hour is a live radio play that asks, “What would radio have been like in the 1930s and 1940s if they had let the queer community have a voice?” A modern-but-not-modern twist on the Golden Age of Radio, the show is an over-the-top nod to the style and humor of…
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Recommended Cabaret: JASON GRAAE: GRAAETEST HITS – THE SEQUEL! (Jason Graae at El Portal Theatre, Oct. 21 only)
THIS GUY REALLY DOES DESERVE AN EXCLAMATION POINT What can I say about musical comedy actor and funny man Jason Graae? Well, first, his last name is pronounced “Grah” but his latest one-man cabaret is called Graaetest Hits — The Sequel!, which means we will still be guessing how to pronounce his last name. But…
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Theater Review: SCENE WITH CRANES (REDCAT in DTLA)
CRANES HAS A CLIPPED WING Last night at REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles, CalArts presented a new play by Octavio Solis, and the story is magnificent. In East L.A., a teenager named Nico has been mowed down by a car outside his home, but it’s a mystery as to why. And this was a special…
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Theater Review: HAMILTON (North American Tour)
OUR FUNKY FOUNDING FATHERS A hip-hop Alexander Hamilton? A beat-box Father of His Country? A jumping James Madison and a jiveass Jefferson who disses bigtime in a poetry slam? The ten-dollar bill will never be the same (or the dollar note for that matter). A sassy-spunky 2015 blast from the past set to irresistible rhythms, Hamilton is…
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Jazz Concert Recommendation: SAMARA JOY (Samueli Hall at Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa)
A JOY TO BEHOLD COMES TO SEGERSTROM ONE NGHT ONLY, SATURDAY OCTOBER 1 AT 7 & 9 The jazz world has been abuzz about the 22-year-old New Yorker Samara Joy since she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2019, and rightfully so. Having just released her eponymous debut album, the word is…
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Music Review: CAMERATA PACIFICA (September 2022)
THE MUSIC WHICH REMINDS US THAT IN DESPAIR THERE IS GREAT HOPE Remaining the best salon ensemble in Los Angeles, Camerata Pacifica offers seven programs a year, each curated by Artistic Director Adrian Spence. It is to his credit that each program is chockablock with crackerjack selections from the classical canon, both new and old….
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Theater Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (La Mirada Theatre)
A BRAINDEAD MUSICAL REANIMATED TO GLORIOUS LIFE In 2007, the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein opened on Broadway to largely dismissive reviews. Some say it opened too close on the heels of Brooks’s powerhouse, The Producers. But when the touring version visited Los Angeles years later with original star Roger Bart imitating the film’s star…
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Theater Review: ANIMAL FARM (A Noise Within in Pasadena)
THE FARM-TO-FABLE REVOLUTION IS HERE In what is Los Angeles’s best season since well before the pandemic, comes along the best show of the season. Only in New York would one expect the caliber of talent and technical elements than in A Noise Within’s production of Animal Farm. Riveting, frightening, and entertaining, director Julia Rodriguez-Elliot’s…
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