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Event Review: AN EVENING WITH AMOR TOWLES (“Table for Two” Book and Lecture Tour)
A GENTLEMAN FROM BOSTON IN BOSTON Amor Towles, author of the best-selling Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, and The Lincoln Highway as well as the newly published Table for Two, regaled an appreciative audience with anecdotes about his own life, his writing process, and a glimpse into the origins of one of the…
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Theater Review: ONCE (Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura)
SEEING ONCE ONCE IS NOT ENOUGH Ironically, the real-life love affair between collaborators Glen Hansard, an Irish singer-songwriter, and Markéta Irglová, a Czech songwriter, fizzled after John Carney’s 2007 film became a success (well, it’s not called Once for nothing). But the Tony-triumphant 2011 stage musical, now offered in Rubicon Theatre‘s enchanting and bittersweet yet…
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Theater: WAITRESS (La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts)
If the heat in the kitchen is getting you down, you’ll want to head on over to La Mirada Theatre, where the Broadway hit Waitress opens tonight and plays through October 13. Designed by an all-female creative team and featuring Jessie Mueller in its 2016 premiere, it received a Tony nomination for Best Musical (but…
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Concert Review: AN ENCHANTED EVENING WITH BARBRA (Sharon Owens at Magnolia Theatre, El Cajon/San Diego)
THE WAY SHE WERE Envisioning a Barbra Streisand concert, one pictures $1000 seats at the Dolby for a show where every word has been discussed, rehearsed, and teleprompted. By contrast, at El Cajon’s gem of a too-well-kept-secret venue — the 1200-seat Magnolia Theatre (which just had a $7M renovation), entertainer Sharon Owens made it feel like…
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Theater Review: THE CHER SHOW (2024-25 National Tour)
I’VE GOT SOME GREAT NEWS TO CHER The Cher Show, a new musical that follows Broadway’s continuous trend of capitalizing on rockstar jukebox bio-musicals like MJ The Musical and Tina The Tina Turner Musical, stopped at Long Beach’s Terrace Theatre as part of its 2024-2025 national tour (the show closed after a year on Broadway…
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Highly Recommended Dance: HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO (On Tour at Musco Center, Friday Sep 20, 2024)
HUBBA HUBBA HUBBARD Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s is making a rare West Coast appearance next Friday at The Musco Center at Chapman College The Chicago veteran contemporary dance company, one of America’s finest, never disappoints. The quadruple bill next consists of a variety of styles. The first piece, Maria Torres’s Echoes of Our Ancestors (2024) is…
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Theater Preview: RUBICON THEATRE IN VENTURA (2024-2025 Season Announcement)
Rubicon Theatre, Ventura County’s not-for-profit professional theatre company, has just announced the schedule for the company’s 26th season. Rubicon’s 2024-2025 six-show season, entitled “DARE TO DREAM,” continues the company’s commitment to producing innovative professional dramas, comedies, musicals, and outreach programs for the entertainment, enrichment and education of area residents and visitors. Notably, the new season…
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Theater Review: MJ (National Tour at The National Theatre, D.C.)
A TRIP THROUGH MICHAEL JACKSON’S TRIPPY LIFE For those who never had the chance to see Michael Jackson perform live, MJ — the current smash-hit Broadway jukebox musical now on tour at The National Theater — thrillingly brings his spirit and talent back to life. Jamaal Fields-Green as ‘MJ’ and the cast of the MJ First…
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Theater Review: MAMMA MIA! (25th Anniversary Tour at The Kennedy Center Opera House)
THE CAMPY ABBA FEST IS BACK Still an over-the-top, campy, family-friendly entertainment, the 25th Anniversary North American tour of Mamma Mia!, currently at The Kennedy Center Opera House, is the feel-good, powerhouse musical romantic comedy that will thrill ABBA fans. Jalynn Steele (Tanya), Christine Sherrill (Donna), Carly Sakolove (Rosie) For those unfamiliar with the plot,…
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Theater Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL (National Tour)
BACK TO THE FUTURE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD The Broadway tour of Back to the Future, a musical adaptation of the beloved film, has landed at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace as part of a national tour. Directed by John Rando, it is visually marvelous and otherwise totally unmemorable. This is a theatre…
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Dance Review: NASHVILLE DANCE FESTIVAL (Nashville Ballet at the Fisher Center of Performing Arts)
MULLIKIN TO DEUX, AND MORE TO BE DONE No matter the overwhelming amount of hustling singer-songwriters, and evolving identity of what qualifies for country music, there are artistic corners of Nashville deserving attention and support; Nashville Ballet is among the most worthy of these. After 25 years developing under the reliably captivating visions of Artistic…
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Highly Recommended Concert: ALL-FRENCH CHAMBER PROGRAM (Camerata Pacifica at Four SoCal Locations)
Camerata Pacifica is far and away the most programmatically original chamber outfit I know. In addition, the quality of the players is stunning (see my review of Venezuelan-born male Sopranista Samuel Marií±o’s U.S. debut). Based in Santa Barbara, CP performs a monthly series of concerts in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Marino (at the Huntington), and DTLA’s Zipper Hall…
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Theater | Art Review: À LA MODE: THE ART OF FASHION (Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach)
STRIKE A POSE! Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street. Fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. — Coco Chanel Returning to the beautiful outdoor Irvine Bowl in style, Pageant of the Masters is honoring all things that can…
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Theater Review: PETER PAN (National Tour)
HAPPILY EVER EVER IN THE LAND OF NEVER NEVER There have been so many versions of Peter Pan over the years that current viewers might have been exposed to the character in numerous ways. Granted, it’s not too likely that anyone today got to see J.M. Barrie’s original 1904 London staging of his play about…
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Theater Review: COMPANY (2023-2024 North American Tour)
THE COMPANY WE KEEP To wed or not to wed — that is the question that Stephen Sondheim poses in his 1970 musical Company, for which he is the composer and lyricist (with a book by George Furth). James Earl Jones II as Harry, Kathryn Allison as Sarah, Britney Coleman as Bobbie and Judy McLane…
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Theater Interview: HERSHEY FELDER (Star and Writer of the World Premiere “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar: A New Musical Play”
For 26 years, pianist/actor/playwright/producer Hershey Felder has conjured the spirits of George Gershwin, Frederic Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt, Leonard Bernstein, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Irving Berlin on Los Angeles area stages, where his music-composer series was born, and around the world. Along the way, audiences have flocked to his astonishing musical tributes, from…
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Theater Review: CAMELOT (Laguna Playhouse)
A BRIEF SHINING MOMENT AT LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE Sometimes less can be more in the arts. Consider the Lerner and Loewe musical Camelot. The show set a record for the biggest advance sale in Broadway history at the time it opened in 1960. From the creators of My Fair Lady, Camelot seemed to have everything going for it ’” the hit…
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Theater Review: CLUE (National Tour)
MURDEROUS LAUGHTER In 1945, “Cluedo” first came on the scene in the United Kingdom to the delight of board game lovers. Created by game designer Anthony E. Pratt, this beloved family friend board game, better known as “Clue” in the United States, has been a staple in the American zeitgeist for over half a century….
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Theater Review: COME FROM AWAY (National Tour reviewed at Rudder Auditorium at Texas A&M University in College Station)
DYNAMIC DOZEN DELIVERS Turning the backdrop of one of America’s darkest days into a lively and highly entertaining musical, the creators of Come From Away successfully navigated turning terrifying fact into entertaining fiction. Irene Sankoff and David Hein culled real world interviews and insights of those personally involved into an exceedingly engaging book, music and…
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Theater Interview: ALEXI MELVIN (Producer of Broadway’s ILLINOISE & THE NOTEBOOK)
Alexi Melvin has found a new home in the New York theater scene, striving to champion innovative storytelling and artists within marginalized communities. In less than one year’s time, she has co-produced Here Lies Love, and the currently running productions of The Notebook and Illinoise. Born in Redwood City, California but primarily raised in Scottsdale, Arizona,…
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