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Los Angeles
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Theater Review: FOR THE LOVE OF A GLOVE (Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan Theater in Los Angeles)
IF THE GLOVE FITS… On the heels of Leaving Neverland — the jaw-dropping 2019 documentary that explores the sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson — comes the world premiere of a musical that posits a bizarre, untold story of the King of Pop. For the Love of a Glove is a ribald, lampooning satire that…
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Opera Review: GIANNI SCHICCHI & L’ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES (Pacific Opera Project)
A DAZZLING DOUBLE BILL The laudable Pacific Opera Project gave us two sparkling gems of operatic joy this week: a double bill of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortilèges. Director Josh Shaw has updated both operas to the mid-1950s, a period which suits both pieces well — old enough for temporal distance…
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Theater Review: THE LAST SHIP (National Tour)
A SHIP THAT REMAINS DOCKED Sting’s musical The Last Ship has been in a shakedown cruise since it opened in Chicago six years ago. Based on last night’s star-studded opening night at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles, this retooled version sadly remains docked. Sure, it’s got a decent new book that jettisons jetsam from the…
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Concert Review: LEA DELARIA (The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles)
DELIGHTFULLY DELIRIOUS DELARIA She’s butch, bold, brazen and brash. She’s riotous, raucous, ribald and rebellious. She scats with style and scurrilously scours political cads. And above all, she’s enormously entertaining. Since the mid-eighties, I’ve seen her on Broadway as well as her solo shows, some mostly singing and some mostly stand-up. Last Saturday night, January…
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Theater Review: VOLTA (Cirque du Soleil)
PLENTY OF WATTAGE, EVEN WITH AN OBSCURE STORY Cirque du Soleil is back with its latest touring show, which opened last night, January 21, at Dodger Stadium. At its best, Volta provides all the pleasures of a Cirque production — knockout acts of grace, athleticism, skill, creativity, and danger. The show does have difficulties associated…
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Theater Review: NOWHERE ON THE BORDER (Road Theatre Company in North Hollywood)
BYOC: BRING YOUR OWN CANTEEN In an effort to spark dialogue on Trump-era immigration, The Road Theatre Company has mounted a revised version of Carlos Lacámara’s Nowhere on the Border, a play that premiered at The Hayworth Theatre in 2006 during the presidency of George W. Bush. While this partially-rewritten work is a testament to…
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Theater Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (Mark Taper Forum)
WHAT WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME MEANS TO ME Given the barrage of nasty nightly news, I don’t doubt that Americans are champing at the bit for a large slice of patriotism as they watch America seemingly evolving and devolving at once. And there isn’t a document that represents our constantly changing America more…
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Theater Review: BABETTE’S FEAST (Lamb’s Players Theatre in San Diego)
SIMPLE PLEASURES IN THIS FEAST The Shakers have a song in their hymnal that reads: ’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ’Twill be in the valley of love…
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Concert Preview: LILLIAS WHITE (Samueli Theater at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa)
MY WHITE NIGHT I first saw Lillias White when she made her Broadway debut in Barnum in 1981; I’ve been watching her work for almost four decades since, and I promise you she never fails to blow the roof off the joint (happy are those who saw her “Effie” in the 1987 revival of Dreamgirls)….
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Opera Review: KING ARTHUR (Long Beach Opera)
KING ARTHUR DETHRONED If you’re a hardcore Henry Purcell fan, don’t expect anything resembling his original 1691 semi-opera, King Arthur, in Long Beach Opera’s production, which opened yesterday, Jan. 12, at the Beverly O’Neill. (A semi-opera is an unusual form of early opera that was half-sung and half-spoken.) Even in John Dryden’s libretto, there is…
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Music Preview: SONGS OF FANTASY (The Fox Singers in Santa Monica)
A FOX FANTASY The Verdi Chorus is So Cal’s only choral group which centers around the dramatic and diverse music for an opera chorus. The Fox Singers, who constitute the professional ensemble of this wonderful chorus, are presenting, for one-night only on Sat. Feb. 1 at 7:30, a program devoted to all things fantastical. You…
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Dance Preview: DANCE AT THE ODYSSEY 2020 (Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles)
AN ODYSSEY IN DANCE There is more dancing going on in L.A. than ever, but it’s difficult to discover these great little companies, as they have short runs and — being financially constrained — a short outreach. By offering its 4th annual Dance at the Odyssey 2020, Odyssey Theatre will give you many chances to…
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Los Angeles Theater Preview: GROUNDLINGS MIX TAPE (The Groundlings Theatre)
MIXING IT UP For over four decades, The Groundlings has proved itself to be one of the premiere comedy troupes in the nation, creating more stars than the Big Bang. Performers showcase material that arises from improvisation workshops, and the scenes that have been created are legendary. The problem is, once the current Main Stage…
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Concert Preview: NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH KRISTIN CHENOWETH (Disney Hall)
A KRISTIN PRESENT FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE The supremely talented platinum blonde speaks in a small voice and possesses a very petite, yet bodacious body. When she sings, however, we get very unique, beautiful and extraordinarily powerful musical notes in perfect pitch. At 4’ 11”, this wacky and vulnerable powerhouse is the new amalgamated American…
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Theater Review: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME (Greenway Court Theatre)
AN AMAZING INCIDENT Meet Christopher, a wannabe bloodhound who has significant social, behavioral and communication challenges; we assume the unnamed disorder is on the autism spectrum, but this magnificent play isn’t about his mental challenges. The British teen — the unlikely hero of Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel and Simon Stephens’ equally valued adaption, The Curious…
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Theater Review: THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (Group Rep at the Lonny Chapman Theatre)
NOT A SEVEN-COURSE DINNER, BUT FILLING JUST THE SAME While on a Midwest lecture tour, arrogant and overbearing critic and radio commentator Sheridan Whiteside slips on an icy doorstep, injures his hip, and is confined to a wheelchair in a small Ohio town for six long weeks of recovery. He completely disrupts and unnerves the…
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Opera Review: DER RING DES POLYKRATES (Numi Opera at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles)
A RINGER Erich Wolfgang Korngold is best known for his grand scores of the golden age of movie music – principally for such swashbucklers as The Seahawk, Captain Blood, Anthony Adverse and The Adventures of Robin Hood. Andre Previn praised these great scores thus: “His wonderful melodies, orchestrated in the most gorgeous Richard Strauss-oriented manner, are a joy…
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Music Review: HANDEL’S MESSIAH (Los Angeles Master Chorale at Disney Hall)
HANDEL TO PERFECTION There’s little to say about Handel’s Messiah that hasn’t already been said. That this great work has been a seasonal favorite for two hundred and fifty years, assures us it will be performed at least annually for at least the next two hundred and fifty, and beyond. The scale of the piece…
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Concert Preview: DIANNE REEVES: CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE (Disney Hall)
DIANNE TIME IS HERE She was the first singer to ever perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and she returns this Friday, Dec 2, 2019, to get your jazz going with a holiday confection of yuletide treats. Songbird Dianne Reeves is easily one of my favorite voices, and I’m astounded how many folks are not…
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Theater Review: JULIUS CAESAR (Warriors for Peace at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood)
HAIL, CAESAR! Shakespeare’s 1599 history play has, of course, had many lives – conservative as well as wildly interpretive – which has kept the slain Dictator of Rome in the forefront of our histories. Some directors have kept to the known facts as imagined by the Bard, and some have modernized it for contemporary comment….
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