Areas We Cover
Categories
Theater
-
Theater Review: HANDS ON A HARD BODY (Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park)
A WORKING-CLASS ENDURANCE CONTEST TURNS INTO A MUSICAL OF HOPE AND DESPERATION A spirited, heartfelt production that balances humor with grit Victory by attrition is the name of the game in the musical Hands on a Hard Body at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center’s Codding Theatre in Rohnert Par, through March 1. Mark Bradbury, Shannon…
-
Opera Preview: RIVERSIDE LYRIC OPERA (Grand Re-Opening Gala Concert on March 7)
OPERA RETURNS TO RIVERSIDE, AND IT’S BRINGING A 54-PIECE ORCHESTRA The Riverside Lyric Opera’s gala concert on March 7 marks a rare moment for the Inland Empire: a full-scale operatic event with world-class talent, right in its own backyard. Riverside has one of the largest collections of Mission-style architecture in Southern California, a university campus…
-
Theater Review: CHEZ JOEY (Arena Stage)
A CLASSIC MUSICAL REBORN AS A RHYTHM-DRIVEN NIGHTCLUB EXPERIENCE A propulsive, jazz-infused staging that reclaims Pal Joey’s cultural roots At Arena Stage, Chez Joey is less a revival of Pal Joey than a sleek, rhythm-driven reinvention that returns the material to the cultural currents that shaped it. Drawing on John O’Hara’s original stories—first published in…
-
Theater Review: PIPPIN (Revolution Stage Company in Palm Springs)
A PRINCE IN SEARCH OF PURPOSE AND MEANING Revolution’s vibrant, dance-driven production showcases impressive skill and theatrical flair Pippin offers musical theater lovers the complete package: great characters, adventure, a stimulating book by Roger O. Hirson and cheeky, sophisticated songs by Wicked‘s Stephen Schwartz—a score that got more than one kid addicted to its still-in-print…
-
Theater Review: A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (Apollinaire Theatre Company)
OBSESSION, HONOR, AND THE COST OF BETRAYAL A riveting staging, driven by a ferocious central performance, fully unleashes Miller’s tragic power In a riveting production from Apollinaire Theatre Company, under the tight direction of David R. Gammons, a masterful Jorge Rubio wrings every ounce of sexual frustration and cultural rage as Eddie in Arthur Miller’s…
-
Theater Review: THE SEAGULL (Red Theater)
A LAKESIDE ESTATE OF ART, AMBITION, & UNREQUITED LOVE A richly acted, visually striking Seagull that finally delivers a fully realized Nina A gorgeous and enormous Arcadian painting of a lake, covering almost the entire back wall, is the first thing you notice as you walk into the Edge Off-Broadway Theatre. This splendid reproduction of…
-
Theater Review: THE GRADUATE (Indio Performing Arts Center, Desert Theatreworks)
A CLASSIC TALE OF SEDUCTION, AWKWARDNESS, AND GROWING UP Desert Theatreworks delivers a lively staging that balances humor with the story’s darker undercurrents Most Americans over 50 no doubt remember Mike Nichols’ film The Graduate, so the chance to see the story live in Indio is an appealing one. Adapted for the stage by Terry…
-
Theater Review: MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT (North American Tour)
HOLY GRAIL, WHOLLY DATED A high-energy tour packed with talent, nostalgic chaos, and humor that doesn’t always land in 2026 Risking impalement by a heavily armored knight, and death by cheeky British puns, I joined a lively crowd at Segerstrom Hall for Monty Python’s Spamalot. Shockingly, I am a virgin—to the musical, that is. The…
-
Theater Preview: MARILYN, MOM & ME (Reading with Morgan Fairchild to Benefit PS Art Museum)
On February 28 and March 1, 2026, Morgan Fairchild will be featured in a staged reading of Marilyn, Mom & Me, Luke Yankee’s new play about his mother, Eileen Heckart, and her intense friendship with Marilyn Monroe during the shooting of the 1956 film, Bus Stop. All proceeds from the event will support ongoing programs…
-
Off-Broadway Review: THE DINOSAURS (Playwrights Horizons)
A RECOVERY GROUP WHERE LITTLE IS REVEALED AND LESS IS RESOLVED Superb performances anchor a script that withholds more than it delivers In the 1980s, film snobs treated TV like it had crashed the gala in sweatpants. In the 1990s, vinyl purists and digital nerds debated as if civilization hinged on compression. Theatre is the…
-
Theater Review: IN THE WAKE (The Bent at Palm Springs Cultural Center)
ELECTION NIGHT NEVER ENDS — AND NEITHER DO THE ARGUMENTS Lisa Kron’s In the Wake revisits post-2000 political disillusionment through a fracturing group of friends While the production of Lisa Kron’s In the Wake by The Bent is stupendous, it is not always an easy play to like—but it is a compelling one to wrestle…
-
Theater Review: SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA (Geffen Playhouse)
THREE SYLVIAS, ZERO THRILLS Beth Hyland’s world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse arrives with the kind of literary bait that makes theater people clasp their reusable water bottles in delight. Sylvia Plath’s ghost returns to her old Boston apartment. A present-day novelist moves in. The novelist unravels as her marriage curdles and her deadline circles…
-
Theater Review: MISS JULIE (Court Theatre, Chicago)
STRINDBERG UNDER SIEGE A misfire in almost every way possible, this visually aggressive production overwhelms the play’s naturalistic power. “Uh oh,” was my first thought when the wall of lights behind the set for Miss Julie started flashing during the obligatory pre-show announcement to turn off phones. That sense of impending doom only grew when…
-
Theater Review: INCITATION TO THE DANCE (Theatre West)
A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE A smart, suggestive script meets a production that can’t quite generate the heat it promises. No, it’s not a typo. With a title guaranteed to make you double-take, Michael Van Duzer’s unabashedly gay new play, Incitation to the Dance, opened last Friday at Theatre West. David Mingrino, Casey Alcoser, Michael…
-
Theater Review: AMADEUS (Pasadena Playhouse)
PATRON SAINT OF THE SECOND-RATE A rigorously intelligent and theatrically thrilling revival that restores Shaffer’s parable to full force Schopenhauer once drew a distinction between talent, which hits a target no one else can hit, and genius, which hits a target no one else can see. The remark could serve as an epigraph for Peter…
-
Theater Review: HEDDA GABLER (Remy Bumppo)
IBSEN’S ICONIC ANTIHEROINE STILL MAKES A MESS OF POLITE SOCIETY A sleek, sharply acted production driven by a magnetic central performance, even at a lightning pace Redtwist Theatre may have “Defiant Femmes” as its seasonal theme, but headstrong, prickly, and complicated women are commanding stages all over Chicago at present. For its first production of…
-
Theater Interview: ADAM KARSTEN (Director of “Guys and Dolls” at CVRep)
The Coachella Valley Repertory (CVRep) continues its 2025-2026 season by rolling the dice on one of Broadway’s most decorated masterpieces: Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls. Running from February 25 through March 15, 2026. This new production brings the colorful underworld of 1930s New York to the desert, blending high-stakes gambling with the unpredictable business of…
-
Theater Review: COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA (American Blues Theater)
MISERY, MARRIAGE, AND A MIDWEST LIVING ROOM THAT CAN’T HOLD IT ALL A powerhouse pairing turns Inge’s domestic ache into something bruising, intimate, and hard to shake It may be the season of love, but the zeitgeist in Chicago theatre seems to be the season of miserable couplings. There’s Strindberg at Steppenwolf and Court; Ibsen…
-
Theater Review: MI CASA ES SU TEATRO (Mishpocha Woods Artist Compound in Austin)
The success of Hyde Park Theatre’s Mi Casa Es Su Teatro (A dangerously domestic DIY fringe fest) — lies in its ability to showcase the symbiotic relationship between art and community. The works presented this year — ranging from the polished dramaturgy of Bradley Michalakis to the improvisational spirit of Drew and Vivian’s Recommended For…
-
Theater Review: THE HOBBIT (Young People’s Theatre of Chicago at Greenhouse Theater Center)
TOLKIEN’S CLASSIC QUEST BECOMES INVENTIVE ENSEMBLE STORYTELLING A clever, resourceful adaptation that turns theatrical minimalism into maximum adventure. Taking you “There and Back Again” in the best possible way, this sparkling production is a delight. The first thing that hits you when you walk into the upstairs theater at the Greenhouse is Jacqueline Penrod’s gorgeous,…
Search Articles
Please help keep
Stage and Cinema going!
