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Theater Review: A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER (Laguna Playhouse)
MURDER NEVER SOUNDED SO SWEET The gentleman killer returns to Southern California with a smile that could polish the silver. In a joint run between Laguna Playhouse and North Coast Repertory, this A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder arrives in Laguna looking eager to please and blessedly well cast, though the gilding runs somewhat…
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Theater Review: MR. WOLF (Steppenwolf Theatre)
STUNNING AND UNSETTLING, MR. WOLF IS AT THE DOOR Steppenwolf Theatre’s Chicago premiere of Mr. Wolf is a searing examination of parental sacrifice, loss, and the elusive nature of home. Under K. Todd Freeman’s direction, this production takes what could be an exploitative premise and instead delivers something hopeful and profound. Caroline Neff, Namir Smallwood,…
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Theater Review: THE CEREMONY (Chuang Stage)
MULTILINGUAL PRE-WEDDING JITTERS The sixth play in Mfoniso Udofia’s nine-play Ufot Family Cycle brings us the adorable couple Ekong Ufot (Kadahj Bennett) and Lumanti Shrestha (Mahima Saigal) as they struggle with Ekong’s deeply damaged father (Adrian Roberts as Nsikan Disciple Ufot) in the final weeks of what should be happy preparations for their wedding. The…
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Theater Review: GO PLAY! (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble)
WHAT DOGS REALLY THINK ABOUT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Those of us who have ever lived with a beloved canine companion (I hesitate to use the word “owned” since I question who really owns whom) certainly know the amount of time spent happily together sharing human concerns and feelings with no hope of a canine verbal response….
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Theater Review: MS. HOLMES & MS. WATSON — Apt. 2B (Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester MA)
SLEUTHING FOR LAUGHS? YOU’LL FIND THEM HERE It’s elementary! A clever script, thanks to the prolific and popular playwright Kate Hamill, and superb physical and verbal comedy, thanks to a great quartet of actors, make Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson — Apt. 2B the perfect solution to the puzzle of how to find a satisfying…
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Theater Review: GANGSTA BABY (Open Space Arts)
NOBODY PUTS THIS BABY IN A CORNER A set doesn’t get any sparser than the one for Gangsta Baby, in the sense that there isn’t one. You step in off the street into a basement with two dozen chairs arranged along the walls. In a corner is a small built-in kitchenette, original to the building….
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Theater Review: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR (Shakespeare Theatre Company)
THE WIVES HAVE NEVER BEEN MERRIER The point of The Merry Wives of Windsor was to give Jack Falstaff a bit more time on the stage, beyond the bounds of Shakespeare’s history plays, where his comic genius is hemmed in by the serious matter of battles for land and succession. The character is a big…
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Theater Review: WEST SIDE STORY (Los Angeles Opera)
WEST SIDE SNORING Astoundingly unsatisfying, LA Opera’s many-headed Hydra production of West Side Story, directed with no sense of urgency by Francesca Zambello, opened tonight to a crowd largely made up of donors and subscribers dressed to the nines. Oddly cast, oddly acted, and oddly staged, my head was reeling at the amount of money…
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Theater Review: SILENT SKY (Central Square Theatre)
STAR STRUCK Awe-inspiring lighting design (Eduardo M. Ramirez) and beautiful sound effects and music (Kai Bohlman with Violet Wang) elevate Lauren Gunderson’s fictionalized biography of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (1868–1921) to a meditation on the meaning of human life in relation to the cosmos. This Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science Production, directed by Sarah Shin, also…
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Art | Theater Review: SUBMERGE: BEYOND THE RENDER (ARTECHOUSE NYC at Chelsea Market)
DIGITAL DREAMS, SUPERCHARGED What happens when you combine a century-old boiler room, an army of graphics processing units (GPUs), and some of the most imaginative digital artists? You get SUBMERGE: Beyond the Render, a new exhibition by Artechouse. Now in its second edition, SUBMERGE is an immersive art show, part gallery and part creative experiment….
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Theater Review: LES MISÉRABLES (National Tour in San Diego)
A FAR CRY FROM MISERABLE (UNLESS YOU’RE ONE OF THE CHARACTERS) There’s a lot to gripe about in the world in 2025, but you know what? Spend a little time in 1815 France and you’re going to feel a lot better about your week. Victor Hugo’s novel takes us in deep, and the musical version…
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Theater Review: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (A Noise Within)
ONE MAN, TWO HOURS TOO LONG Ask yourself how much you liked The Play That Goes Wrong series. That’s a pretty good indicator as to your enjoyment of Richard Bean’s 2011 play, One Man, Two Guvnors, now running at A Noise Within. If you liked it, stop reading and go. You’ll have a great time….
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Theater Review: THE RESERVOIR (Berkeley Repertory Theatre)
AN AUTHENTIC, FUNNY ACCOUNT OF SOBRIETY, STUMBLES, AND SURVIVAL Recovery from substance abuse isn’t just about putting down the drug of choice and living happily ever after. The “recovery” part then starts. It involves dealing with who you are in the world without being drunk, stoned or high. It becomes a lifelong process of self-examination….
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Theater Review: RAGTIME (Actors’ Repertory Theatre of Simi Valley at the El Portal)
Ragtime is the epic musical by Terrence McNally (book), with music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow). It weaves together stories of a Jewish immigrant, a Harlem pianist, an upper-class white woman, and historical figures — all pursuing the American Dream amidst societal change, prejudice, and…
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Theater Review: MISERY (Citadel in Lake Forest)
A CLAUSTROPHOBIC MISERY AT CITADEL Citadel Theatre’s production of Misery by William Goldman, based on the novel by Stephen King, is a respectable staging that scratches the itch for a spooky night out this fall, even if it doesn’t fully deliver the chest-tingling suspense of King’s original. As a frequent reader of King’s thrillers, I considers Misery…
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Theater Review: INDECENT (CenterREP at the Lesher Center)
A STUNNING INDECENT REMINDS US THAT FREE SPEECH IS ALWAYS ON TRIAL The triumphs and travails of an itinerant Yiddish theater troupe get a full examination in Paula Vogel’s acclaimed hit play Indecent. A stunning and nearly all-Equity production of the award-winner is now playing at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek….
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Theater Review: RABBITS IN THEIR POCKETS (Lifeline)
TAKE A TRIP DOWN THIS RABBIT HOLE Coping with familial grief has long been fertile ground for theatre, from Rabbit Hole to Hamlet to Antigone, performed almost 2500 years ago at the birth of the art form. The 43rd season opener for Lifeline Theatre, Rabbits in Their Pockets—directed with an eye for character detail and…
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Theater Review: ASHLAND AVENUE (Goodman Theatre)
A STAR VEHICLE ON THE ROAD TO FRANCIS GUINAN I confess to some amount of trepidation as I settled into my seat at the Goodman Theatre, launching its centennial season with the world premiere of Lee Kirk’s Ashland Avenue, directed by Susan V. Booth. For weeks I’d been inundated with promotional images of television star…
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Theater Review: THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (World Premiere, SFBATCO and Z Space)
HOPE IN THE GLOW OF DISASTER Five years ago this month, Sept. 9, 2020, was the infamous day when the Bay Area sky literally did turn orange. Smoke from multiple wildfires blocked the sun, casting an eerie glow across the region. In the middle of the COVID pandemic with no end in sight, the visual…
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Theater Review: BRILLIANT TRACES (Hudson Theatre)
TRACES OF POSSIBILITY Premiering Off-Broadway in 1989, Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces is one of those plays that can be either mesmerizing or exasperating and tiresome. Lacking a firm idea of what it wants to be, Soul Gym Productions’ new mounting at the Hudson for a brief three-day run, fell firmly in the latter. In the middle of…
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