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Pre-Broadway: A WONDERFUL WORLD, THE LIFE AND LOVES OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG / A New Musical (New Orleans & Chicago)
LOUIS ARMSTRONG MUSICAL HEADED FOR BROADWAY AFTER NEW ORLEANS & CHICAGO It has been announced that A Wonderful World, A New Musical about the Life and Loves of Louis Armstrong will play a pre-Broadway engagement in New Orleans and Chicago this fall with James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) starring as Armstrong. Mirroring Armstrong’s own musical path from New Orleans…
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Theater Review: GREASE (La Mirada Theatre)
GET READY TO BE GREASED UP The year is 1959, when rock and roll was giving birth to the Sexual Revolution and the turbulent 1960s were about to burst on the scene. Record companies were releasing over a hundred singles every week and the country was about to radically change. In its original raunchy incarnation,…
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Theater Review: HEAR HER SING FOR FREEDOM (Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA)
THIS FREEDOM RINGS In a weekend of numerous uplifting events celebrating the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Hear Her Sing for Freedom stood out for bringing forward the life and role of Coretta Scott King, who married Dr. King in 1953. Coretta Scott was a serious vocalist and political…
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Dance Recommendation: BIG FIVE OH! (Pilobolus’s 50th Anniversary Tour)
Pilobolus, the groundbreaking, legendary, international dance sensation, returns to Pepperdine in Malibu on January 25, 2023 (the company’s 15th time there!), the MAC in Chicagoland On Feb. 5 and many more locations as part of the company’s “Big Five Oh!” tour celebrating a half century of radical creativity and boundary pushing. (See below for cities and…
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Theater Review: PRELUDES (Lyric Stage in Boston)
PRELUDE TO A BREAKTHROUGH The Lyric Stage Company brings powerful performances to Dave Malloy’s remarkable evocation of the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff’s struggles with a creative block through hypnotherapy. Rachmaninoff himself is portrayed as two characters. One called Rachmaninoff (Dan Rodgriguez) sits at a white baby grand through most of the show, providing a stunning shower…
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Theater Review: MIDWINTER REVELS: A SOLSTICE CELEBRATION – TALES FROM ELLIS ISLAND (Sanders Theater at Harvard and Online)
LET THE REVELS’ SUN SHINE IN TO YOUR HOME Like the waning of the old year and the arrival of the new that it celebrates, The Revels organization has returned to the stage in 2022 with a new name and new elements that express the organization’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion while retaining the…
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Theater Review: LIFE OF PI (American Repertory Theater in Cambridge)
COME FOR A THEATRICAL EVENT; STAY FOR THE STORY The eye-popping special effects of Life of Pi are reason enough to see this show. When video, lighting, and sound designers Andrzej Goulding, Tim Lutkin, and Carolyn Downing transform the solid stage of at A.R.T. not into dew, but a liquid — a spontaneous gasp and…
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Theater Review: 2 PIANOS, 4 HANDS (North Coast Rep in Solano Beach)
2 PIANOS + 4 HANDS = 194 HAPPY ATTENDEES Around twenty years ago, piano bars started featuring “dueling pianists,” who would go back and forth, taking turns playing pop songs and, occasionally, interacting. It was all the rave for a little while, so it wouldn’t be surprising if theatergoers thought that’s what this show (written by Ted…
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Theater Review: LITTLE WOMEN, THE BROADWAY MUSICAL (Chance Theater in Anaheim)
LITTLE WOMEN IS A BIG TRIUMPH FOR CHANCE The four March sisters come alive on the stage of Bette Aitken theater arts Center in Anaheim. The Chance Theater’s returning production of Little Women, The Broadway Musical — book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, music by Jason Howland — is a triumph, as well…
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Theater Review: Big Fish (Coronado Playhouse in San Diego)
REELING IN A SWEETLY SUNG FAIRY TALE Some theater should cause you to think deeply, stir your motivations, and cause you to be a better person for the ride you were on. And some theater is just to make you smile. Big Fish is a smiler : and there’s nothing wrong with that. Will Bloom…
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Theater Recommendation: AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ (Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura)
ONE OF THE ALL-TIME FEEL-GOOD MUSICALS COMES TO RUBICON Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a sizzling celebration of Fats Waller’s music ’” songs that he made famous in a career that ranged from uptown clubs to downtown Tin Pan Alley to Hollywood and concert stages around the world. This delightful revue conceived by Murray Horwitz & Richard Maltby…
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Theater Review: THE CHINESE LADY (Central Square Theater in Cambridge)
BONE-DEEP CHINA Afong Moy was brought to the United States by Boston-born traders known as the Carnes Brothers, merchants who exhibited Moy in a room filled with “Chinese curiosities” including money, musical instruments, and a bell, along with vases, rugs, and other decorative objects that were available for purchase. Moy, believed to be the first…
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Theater Review: THE CHILDREN (Moxie Theatre in San Diego)
THE CHILDREN IS NOT CHILD’S PLAY One of the challenges of reviewing theater is figuring out how much to divulge without giving away what the playwright wants to let unfold. The Children is one of those plays where it’s almost impossible to say what it is about in any sort of cohesive way because twists…
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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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Opera Review: EL íšLTIMO SUEôO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO (San Diego Opera at the Civic Theatre)
DAY OF THE DEAD, WITH A TOUCH OF KAHLO’S HUMOR If you think this is going to be the story of Frida Kahlo’s life set to operatic music, you’ve got another think coming. Conversely, if you might skip this show because you think you don’t know enough about the lives of artists Frida Kahlo and…
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Broadway Opening and Album Review: A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL (Broadhurst Theatre)
CRACKLIN’, SWEET, BEAUTIFUL, AND CHERRY A Beautiful Noise, the new Broadway bio-musical that tells the extraordinary story of singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, opened for previews at the Broadhurst on November 2, 2022, the same day that the Original Broadway Cast Recording became available on all platforms. The CD will be released on Dec. 2 (pre-order here),…
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Theater Review: INTO THE BREECHES (North Coast Repertory in Solana Beach, San Diego)
WOMEN IN PANTS? WHERE WILL IT ALL END? It’s 1942 and most of the men in Rhode Island are off to war. As such, most theatres, especially those who focus on the heavily male casts of Shakespeare, are shut down. But Oberon Playhouse’s assistant director Maggie Dalton (Melanie Lora) has another idea. With her husband…
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Opera Review: EL íšLTIMO SUEôO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO (San Diego Opera at the Civic Theatre)
THE ULTIMATE DREAM The tumultuous relationship between legendary Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and muralist Diego Rivera has inspired many films, books, operas, and musicals. El último sueí±o de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego) is a world premiere Spanish language opera that is co-commission by the San Diego Opera with San…
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Extras: WILL LEGISLATION PROTECT GIG WORKERS IN THEATER – OR SIMPLY RESTRICT OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITY GROUPS?
Will Legislation Protect Gig Workers In Theater – Or Simply Restrict Opportunities For Minority Groups? When it comes to stage and cinema, productivity relies completely on gig workers. However, new legislation has started to threaten that delicate ecosystem. According to British drama mag The Stage, legislation coming into force in California will threaten the ability of…
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