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Theater Review: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (Palm Canyon Theater)
OOH LA LA FOR LA CAGE AUX FOLLES With songs by the incomparable Jerry Herman, bookwriter Harvey Fierstein once again broke ground after his Torch Song Trilogy with La Cage aux Folles. It was groundbreaking as the first Broadway musical to prominently feature a gay couple as main characters along with an ensemble of drag queens,…
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Theater Review: DOGS (Red Theater in Chicago)
HOT DOGS! Red Theater’s Take on Speed Eating is a Fast and Furious Glimpse into the Fascinating Sometimes you need to head in a different direction to uncover life’s true hidden treasures. The Edge Off Broadway, an unassuming theatrical venue just south of Bryn Mawr, harbors one such gem in Red Theater’s Dogs, which opened…
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Theater Review: THE GOLDEN GIRLS MEET THE SKOOBY DON’T GANG: THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BUSH (Hell in a Handbag Productions at The Chopin Theatre)
THE SKOOBY ON HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THIS BUSH, OR SKOOBY DON’T GO? DEPENDS ON YOUR TASTE Hell in a Handbag Productions‘ world premiere of The Golden Girls Meet the Skooby Don’t Gang: The Mystery of the Haunted Bush promises a highly entertaining evening with drag, raunchy humor, and beloved characters young and old….
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Theater Review: THE ORPHANS’ REVENGE (The Group Rep at Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood)
TIED TO THE RAILROAD TRACKS OF A SILLY MELODRAMA, OR CUTE CAN ONLY GO SO FAR Popular during the Victorian era in England, a melodrama is a sensationally overly dramatic piece with lots of comedy, especially when the exaggerated characters (the ingénue, handsome leading man, older wiser woman, and dastardly villain) break the fourth wall…
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Theater Review: INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP (North Coast Repertory Theatre)
INCIDENT AT NORTH COAST REP IS ANOTHER IN A LINE OF HITS THAT NEED NO HELP Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a nostalgic domestic comedy drama now on view in an illuminating and highly entertaining production at North Coast Rep. Written by Katie Forgette, and first staged five years ago, it now…
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Theater Review: FALLEN ANGELS (Aurora Theatre in Berkeley)
COWARD’S ANGELS ARE A LAUGH RIOT Almost one hundred years after its somewhat scandalous debut, Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels is enjoying a revival at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre, where it runs through November 17. Michael Barrett Austin & Kina Kantor The British playwright is enjoying a revival of his own in the Bay Area, with a…
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Theater Review: THE GULF – AN ELEGY (New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco)
EXPLORING THE GULF IN A RELATIONSHIP New Conservatory Theater is premiering in it’s West Coast debut, Audrey Cefaly’s 2017 play The Gulf – An Elegy. This intense one-act two-hander traces the seemingly laid back relationship between two women: Betty (Lauren Domingo) and Kendra (Amy Meyers). They’re spending a lazy afternoon on a small fishing boat…
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Theater Review: THE PIANO LESSON (A Noise Within)
A WELL-PLAYED PIANO Though the surface plot of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is fairly simple ’” an estranged brother and sister argue over whether to sell or keep a beautiful piano that has been in the family for generations – that simplicity is very deceptive. For the piano is not only a valuable instrument…
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Theater Review: PRU PAYNE (SpeakEasy Stage Company at Calderwood Pavilion in Boston)
MEMORY AS AN ACT OF LOVE The East Coast premiere of playwright Steven Drukman’s snappy and cleverly written Pru Payne is movingly brought to the stage under SpeakEasy Stage founder Paul Daigneault’s direction. A top-notch cast gives voice to Drukman’s script, led by the especially impressive Karen MacDonald in the demanding role of Pru, a…
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Theater Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (Antaeus Theatre Company in Glendale)
WICKEDLY WITTY WILDE Sometimes you just need to take refuge from the contemporary world with a classic play. And when it’s delivered as delightfully and professionally as Antaeus Theatre Company’s season opener, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, rejoice and feel the load lifting off your shoulders, if only for two-plus hours. While the…
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Theater Review: THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Oasis and Ray of Light Theatre at Oasis Nightclub)
HOT PATOOTIE, BLESS MY SOUL, I REALLY LOVE THIS ROCKY SHOW If you’re a veteran fan of the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ray of Light‘s production at the ever-fabulous Oasis Nightclub takes it not so much to another level as another dimension. If you’re a virgin (at least if only a virgin to…
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Theater Review: I’LL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY (NEO Ensemble Theatre at The Loft Ensemble Theatre)
A BUMPY RIDE INTO THE AFTERLIFE Like many small, non-profit theatre groups, NEO Ensemble Theatre is nomadic by nature, moving from theater to theater to present modern, socially relevant plays or offering online programming on a pay-what-you-want basis. Their latest, staged in-person production is the world premiere of Michael Merton’s dark comedy I’ll Be With…
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Theater Review: THE CIVIL TWILIGHT (Broadwater Studio Theatre in Hollywood)
CIVIL UNREST When I walked into the very small and incredibly intimate Broadwater Studio Theatre, I immediately thought about Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, about a couple of loners looking to connect, given the small, Western-style motel room designed by Joel Daavid. But the world premiere of Shem Bitterman‘s The Civil Twilight, directed with emotional…
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Theater Review: RENT (Jaxx Theatre)
It’s amazing that this earnest, energetic, enthusiastic ensemble doesn’t spontaneously combust navigating the tiny playing area between viewers on both sides in an alley theater configuration. It’s truly a remarkable feat while executing the large crowd scenes and tight choreography. Rent has a romantic history: Jonathan Larson, its author and composer, died suddenly of an…
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Theater Review: GLORIA (Chance Theater)
GLORIA, HALLELUJAH! Unless you can see Gloria at The Chance Theater tonight or tomorrow, this may be a review of record, as it ran only two weeks after opening night, but I tell you this is what theater should be: unique, sharp, funny, adventurous. The author, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, continues to be one of contemporary theater’s…
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Theater Review: I DO! I DO! (Revolution in Palm Springs)
IT DOES AND IT DOESN’T A moving exploration of one couple’s life together, I Do! I Do! is an intimate two-character Broadway musical that spans half a century as it focuses on the ups and downs of spouses Agnes and Michael — home life, childbearing, emotional quarrels, and empty-nesting. I wonder that many people have…
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Theater Review: PRIMARY TRUST (Goodman Theatre)
YOUR PRIMARY CHOICE FOR GREAT THEATER. TRUST ME. The Goodman’s Chicago-premiere production of Primary Trust by Eboni Booth is everything I’ve been craving in theatre lately. Directed by Malkia Stampley, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play about loss and loneliness is intimate, dripping in empathy, but most importantly full of hope. I’ll even dare to say it’s…
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Theater Review: KIMBERLY AKIMBO (National Tour, Pantages)
YOUR GREAT ADVENTURE AWAITS If you rearrange the letters of “progeria,” you can get “opera rig,” or “rigor ape,” or “prior age.” That last one is befitting. Progeria is an incredibly rare syndrome that causes people to age faster than normal. Though the turmoil of high school, a troubled home, and growing up in New…
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Theater Review: ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD (Road Theatre)
A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money. — W. C. Fields I highly recommend the World Premiere of Robbin, From the Hood, which opened last Friday at Road Theatre. It is playwright Marlow Wyatt’s creative protest to American capitalism. It’s entertaining and timely with surprising plot twists. In Wyatt’s re-imagined tale, corporate…
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Theater Review: HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE (AGAIN) (Steep Theatre at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater in Chicago)
AN EXTREMELY HEAVY PORTRAYAL OF ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH It’s no secret that the Catholic Church has a sordid history of covering up sexual abuse, and many have made art on this topic to keep it in the spotlight (pun intended, as the 2015 film Spotlight is an excellent example). This is the first…
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