Areas We Cover
Categories
Theater
-
Theater Review: INTIMATE APPAREL (Pasadena Playhouse)
BEST TO LOOK AT THE QUILT AS A WHOLE, NOT THE INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS Intimate Apparel is a delicate but persuasive play about Esther (Vanessa Williams), a gifted black seamstress in 1905 who begins a series of missives with George (David St. Louis), a strapping, fetching, and younger Caribbean man working on the Panama Canal. The…
-
Theater Review: SISTER ACT (National Tour)
NUNBEARABLE If there’s one thing I hate, it’s to see a classic movie adapted for the stage for no apparent reason. Instead of transferring the heart and sassiness that made the movie Sister Act such a classic film, the makers of the Broadway musical, now on its national tour at the Auditorium Theatre, decided to…
-
Theater Review: DEATH OF A SALESGIRL (Bootleg Theater)
BETTER THAN THIN MINTS FROM A GIRL SCOUT The World Premiere of Patricia Scanlon’s Death of a Salesgirl is a must-see surreal tragicomedy presented by The Bootleg Theater. Its fresh and innovative use of space coupled with its inspired use of integrated multimedia make the already powerful piece that much more immediate to today’s attention…
-
Theater Review: 44 PLAYS FOR 44 PRESIDENTS (The Neo-Futurarium in Chicago)
PRESIDENTIAL AFFAIR OR LAME DUCK? Every four years, the American people come together to debate important issues, engage in democratic dialogue, and realize they agree on absolutely nothing. All they can agree on is the importance of who will be the next President. The Chief Executives, powerful and sometimes power-hungry men, are the subject of…
-
Theater Review: THE DOCTOR’S DILEMMA (A Noise Within)
JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED Even though the legislation for a public health care option passed by Democratic majority in Congress, matters of wellness and proper treatment are anxieties that still plague the hearts, souls, and minds of all mortal individuals. It concerns us greatly because we hunger to make the most of our lives;…
-
Theater Review: KRAPP’S LAST TAPE (Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City)
LIKE THE LAST, AND THE ONE BEFORE THAT About twenty minutes into John Hurt’s solo performance Wednesday, the character Krapp’s voice on tape said, “Extraordinary silence tonight.” And as the live actor playing Krapp and the capacity house at the Kirk Douglas Theatre listened intently to this recorded mention of silence, a real live watch…
-
Theater Review: BLACK N BLUE BOYS/BROKEN MEN (Goodman Theatre in Chicago)
A STORY TO TELL Writer/Actress Dael Orlandersmith has many stories to tell in her one-person show at the Goodman, but they all encompass the same theme: abuse. Specifically, involving boys and men, both the abusers and those who have been abused’”physically and sexually. The fictional characters are channeled through Orlandersmith, a powerful writer who is…
-
Theater Review: THE OTHER PLACE (Magic Theatre in San Francisco)
THE PUZZLE BOX OF THE SOUL Critics should avoid discussing plot in their reviews, but playwright Sharr White has unintentionally placed a challenge before me: Because the play is a labyrinthine unraveling from the start, divulging any but the slightest bit of plot may irrevocably alter your experience. What I can tell you is that…
-
Broadway Review: CHAPLIN (Ethel Barrymore)
WHAT’CHA GONNA DO? In a poignant moment in Act II of the new musical Chaplin, cultural icon Charlie Chaplin realizes that life is not a movie. One has to take the tears with the laughter, and there is no guarantee of a happy ending. As it turns out, life is not really a musical either….
-
Theater Review: BLAGOJEVICH, BLAGOJEVICH! (Athenaeum Theatre in Chicago)
NOT REALLY, NOT REALLY! The most pressing question I had walking out of Athenaeum Theatre’s Blagojevich, Blagojevich! was “Was that really necessary?” We’re already familiar with the long, hysterical end of Rod Blagojevich’s career’”a thing so jam-packed with comedy on its own that a show dedicated to making fun of it seems redundant. Still, there…
-
Theater Review: THE GRÖNHOLM METHOD (Falcon Theatre)
CORPORATE FOUR-PLAY As the audience files into the Falcon Theater for The Grönholm Method, the sleek, stark and sterile meeting room of Fortune 500 company Burnham + Burnham is in full view, courtesy of Brian Webb’s beautifully realized set design. You’re not sure why, but its crisp corporate cleanliness—complete with designer water bottles, sparkling crystal…
-
Theater Review: MARY POPPINS (National Tour at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles)
PRACTICAL PERFECTION There is a good-natured pragmatism at work in the stage musical version of the film classic Mary Poppins, now back in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson through September 2. It knows what we want it to be, and in almost every case, it gives it to us happily; with meticulous care and affection’”and…
-
Theater Review: STEPHEN SONDHEIM: IN CONVERSATION (Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa)
IT COULD HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL Attendees who had never seen Stephen Sondheim being interviewed in person must have been licking their chops with every juicy morsel that the legend said about himself to the packed house at Segerstrom Concert Hall–especially those who have been listening to Sondheim’s musicals for years. The great Broadway composer sat…
-
Theater Review: LA SOIRÉE (Riverfront Theater)
CAMPY BUT ARTISTIC Take a handful of world class circus acts, add a bit of cabaret and burlesque, and you have La Soirée, the entirely enjoyable show in town for two weeks at the Riverfront Theatre. The entertainment originated at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, drew positive reviews, and took its show on the road…
-
Theater Review: THE EXORCIST (Geffen Playhouse)
NO EVIL. NO GOOD. There are few who do not know the story. The devil possesses Regan, the innocent 12-year-old daughter of movie star Chris MacNeil, who is working on a film in Georgetown. A bevy of fascinating characters, most of whom are experiencing a crisis of faith (religious or otherwise), become tested to their…
-
Theater Review: THREE SISTERS (Steppenwolf Theatre)
TRACY LETTS ADAPTS THREE SISTERS FOR STEPPENWOLF Tracy Letts calls his version of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters an adaptation, but other than some changes in language it’s still the great Russian dramatist’s play, a human and humane account of characters mired in boredom, disappointment, failure, loneliness, and frustration. The Steppenwolf is premiering Letts’ revision in…
-
Theater Review: DEATH AND HARRY HOUDINI (House Theatre of Chicago)
MAGIC ALL AROUND Death and Harry Houdini was the House Theatre’s first production back in 2001 and it’s been something of a meal ticket for the company over the years. The production played in Chicago earlier this year, transferred to Miami for a successful run, and is now back at the Chopin Theatre, selling out…
-
Theater Review: BLOOD AND GIFTS (Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre; La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego)
GRIPPING PLAY EXPLORES THE TANGLED WEB BORN OF AN IDEALISTIC WAR Set primarily in Pakistan along the Afghan border, J.T. Rogers’ Blood and Gifts begins in 1981, a critical point in the Cold War. Brezhnev’s Russian invasion of Afghanistan has Reagan in a quagmire: how does the U.S. attempt to stop the spread of communism…
-
Theater Review: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (National Tour)
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL (HIS)TORY People all over the world never seem to tire of Elvis Presley, even if that means watching mediocre impersonators like the “Thai Elvis” at Palm’s Thai restaurant in Hollywood. For an incredibly convincing impression of Elvis, including a one-of-a-kind ensemble performance, simply walk down Hollywood Boulevard to the Pantages Theatre and…
-
Theater Review: NOBODY LOVES YOU (World Premiere Musical Comedy at the Old Globe)
MUSICAL TAKES ON REALITY TV What better place than the stage to examine the phenomenon of Reality TV? One would hope that by now, Americans would be wise to the fact that these shows, whether romantic or adventurous, are not reality at all. In the new musical Nobody Loves You, the protagonist Jeff says that…
Search Articles
Please help keep
Stage and Cinema going!
