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Theater Review: THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (Arena Stage, DC)
FORBIDDEN LOVE AND THE GILDED AGE GLOW IN ARENA’S DAZZLING PRODUCTION, BUT THE AGE OF INNOCENCE LINGERS Playwright Karen Zacarías (Destiny of Desire which premiered at Arena in 2015, Native Gardens) breathes new life into Edith Wharton’s 1920 classic The Age of Innocence, blending period drama with sharp social commentary. Set in Gilded Age New…
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Theater Review: SUCH SMALL HANDS (Chance Theater)
A WHISPER THAT ECHOES There are plays that knock you over with intensity. And there are those that seep in, settle under your skin, and stay there long after the lights come up. Adam Szymkowicz‘s Such Small Hands falls firmly in the latter category. This quiet but devastating meditation on memory, mortality, and devotion opened…
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Theater Review: FLY BY NIGHT (Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City)
A MUSICAL THAT CURVES IN CONCENTRIC CIRCLES Fly by Night, an affecting chamber musical which premiered in 2014 at Playwrights Horizon, has been described as a “darkly comic rock-fable,” and that’s about as accurate as any attempt to define this quirky show. With a book, music, and lyrics by Kim Rosenstock, Will Connolly, and Michael…
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Theater Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Coachella Valley Repertory in Cathedral City)
If you need proof that Andrew Lloyd Webber was more consistent in creating great musicals before helping turn Broadway into the spectacle-driven British juggernaut of the 1980s, look no further than Jesus Christ Superstar, now playing at CV Rep through March 23. Few musicals have the staying power of this groundbreaking rock opera penned by…
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Theater Review: FROU-FROU: A MENAGERIE OF SORTS (Boston Court in Pasadena)
A MENAGERIE GONE MAD–IN THE BEST WAY Boston Court has never been a company to play it safe, and John Anthony Loffredo‘s world premiere of Frou-Frou: A Menagerie of Sorts is no exception. Inspired by The Glass Menagerie, it starts with Tennessee Williams’ delicate world of longing and repression—then gleefully smashes it to bits, rebuilding…
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Theater Review: BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL (Open Fist)
OPEN FIST’S BAT BOY SINKS ITS TEETH IN — AND DOESN’T LET GO Bat Boy: The Musical has returned to Los Angeles with a vengeance. This outrageous comedy/horror Off-Broadway musical, which originated right here in L.A. at The Actors Gang in 1997, is a campy, off the wall delight. And in the claws, er, hands of…
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Theater Review: THE DARK HEART OF DOOLEY STEVENS (Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company in San Diego)
THIS WILD RIDE SHOULD BE DOOLEY NOTED Francis Gercke—both the playwright and Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company‘s artistic director—welcomed the audience prior to the matinee. During his greeting, he remarked, “If at various points in the play you find yourself thinking, ‘I’m not sure I’m entirely following this,’ don’t worry. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to…
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Theater Review: THE PROM (Foothill Music Theatre)
WHO ARE YOU ASKING TO THE PROM? It may not be high school or college prom season just yet, but in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least three theatre companies have decided it’s time to dust off their corsages and take The Prom for a spin. And given the recent American political events that…
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Theater Review: WHERE WE BELONG (Umbrella Stage)
UNTYING THE SPELL Tongva and Mescalero Apache actor GiGi Buddie delivers a spellbinding performance in Where We Belong, an autobiographical one-woman show by Madeline Sayet, who weaves a deeply personal narrative about the intersection of her Native identity and her love of Shakespeare. The Umbrella Stage production, directed by Tara Moses (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma),…
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Theater Review: 44: THE OBAMA MUSICAL (Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City)
A SKETCHY, SPREAD OUT SEND-UP SAGS WITH SLUGGISH SATIRE I like to go into shows completely blind. Sometimes that backfires, but usually not before the show even starts. On Thursday, I walked into the opening-night performance of 44: The Obama Musical—a show framed as Joe Biden’s hazy recollection of Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency….
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Theater Review: THE IRISH AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY (Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, MA)
IT’S NOT SO MUCH HOW IRISH BECAME AMERICANS — IT’S HOW AMERICA BECAME IRISH Greater Boston Stage Company’s lively production of Frank McCourt’s The Irish and How They Got That Way ennobles often painful history with music, physical comedy, and funny tales. Directed by A. Nora Long, the show is set in a realistically appointed…
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Theater Review: GRAND CONCOURSE (Dezart Performs)
IS IT REALLY HUMAN TO FORGIVE? Dezart Performs’ Grand Concourse—which opened on Friday—is a stunning interpretation of Heidi Schreck’s (What the Constitution Means to Me) introspective, emotionally rich drama about faith, service, and the limits of forgiveness. Set in a Bronx church’s soup kitchen, the play follows Shelley, a nun grappling with a crisis of…
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Theater Review: WEST SIDE STORY (The Nocturne Theatre)
The Nocturne Theatre’s West Side Story proves that “professional community theatre” can still hit you in the gut like a Broadway-caliber production. With a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, this reimagined staging of the 1957 classic was innovation on steroids, making full use of its in-the-round setup,…
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Theater Review: I LOVE YOU BECAUSE (Chromolume Theatre at the Zephyr Theatre)
I COULD’VE LOVED YOU BECAUSE Chromolume Theatre’s production of I Love You Because at the Zephyr Theatre tries to charm, but struggles under the weight of a broad acting style and a perplexingly monotonous book. A modern musical twist on Pride and Prejudice set in New York City, this 2006 show boasts delightfully bouncy 1980s-style…
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Theater Review: ART (Lyric Stage of Boston)
THE REDEEMING POWER OF ART Picture this. A white wall—or is it gray? or a blank canvas?—and a pale tile floor. Are we in an austere modern art museum or gallery? The lights go out and when they come up again, a man stands at the edge of the stage and begins to complain about…
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Theater Review: MARY SAID WHAT SHE SAID (Robert Wilson and Isabelle Huppert at NYU Skirball)
HAIL MARY “Based on the letters of Mary Queen of Scots, Mary… is the testimony of Mary Stuart as she awaits martyrdom, accused of involvement in the most notorious plots of the time. On the eve of her execution, after nineteen years in captivity, she tells her passions and torments.” At NYU Skirball, the great…
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Theater Review: A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (SpeakEasy Stage Company at Calderwood Pavilion in Boston)
A MAN OF GRAVE IMPORTANCE Each of us is both a man of no importance and of grave importance, which is why A Man of No Importance—crafted by musical theatre’s top-tier triumvirate of Terrence McNally (book), Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), and Stephen Flaherty (music)—feels so universally appealing, touching, topical and urgent. This intimate musical becomes even…
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Theater Review: ALABASTER (Fountain Theatre)
RUMINATING ON RUMINANTS As a way to heal from recent tragedies, Alice (Erin Pineda), a big-city photographer, visits June (Virginia Newcomb), a reclusive artist on a small farm in Alabaster, Alabama. June has answered Alice’s call for externally scarred women willing to be photographed for an upcoming project (not a coffee table book, she insists)….
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Theater Review: TARANTINO LIVE: PULP ROCK (CineVita)
THE SHOW WITH A BEAT TO A PULP You walk in, and boom! You’re hit with this electric vibe, like stepping into a Tarantino flick—one minute, you’re feeling cool, the next minute, you’re questioning if you’ve just stepped into a fever dream. It’s sleek, it’s gritty, and it’s dripping with style. The show you’re gonna…
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Theater Review: TWELFTH NIGHT (Antaeus Theatre in Glendale)
WHAT PRODUCTION, FRIENDS, IS THIS? After a ship wreck, Viola and her twin, Sebastian, land on different shores, each fearing the other has perished (consider them separated at surf). And by the time they are reunited, love, pranks and much romantic confusion will have played out in Shakespeare’s fleet comedy about passions, mistaken identities and…
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