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Theater Review: FOREVER PLAID (42nd Street Moon)
GLAD PLAID Forever Plaid, an Off-Broadway musical revue written in the late eighties by Stuart Ross, takes place in the in-between, or whatever exists between this life and the next. The Plaids, a prototypical guy group in appearance, harmonies and temperament, find themselves dead right at the top of the show. But, they have been…
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Theater Review: THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (Revolution Stage Company in Palm Springs)
BEE THERE AT REVOLUTION! Revolution Stage Company, which had a winner earlier in the year with Avenue Q, has another hit musical comedy on its hands with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a charmer full of wit, humor and heart. Featuring a fast-paced, superbly giddy and touching book by Rachel Sheinkin (Tony and…
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Theater Review: PRELUDE TO A KISS, THE MUSICAL (World Premiere at South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa)
WITH A MAGICAL IMBALANCE, THIS KISS IS MORE LIKE A PECK In the world of theater, revivals and adaptations often serve as a bridge between eras, illuminating how the sensibilities of one time can resonate, or clash, with those of another. Craig Lucas‘s Prelude to a Kiss, originally developed as a 70-minute play commissioned by…
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Theater Review: SENSE OF DECENCY (North Coast Repertory Theatre in San Diego)
FASCIST LOGIC CAUSES US TO LOOK HARD IN THE MIRROR When we think of all the Nazi monsters, Adolf Hitler’s name reigns supreme. But it’s only a short step down the ladder to be revolted by men like Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, and Hermann Göring. Many such key figures committed suicide before they could stand…
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Theater Review: TOUCHING THE VOID (Apollinaire Theatre Company in Chelsea, MA)
THE MOUNT EVEREST OF PLAYS It’s hard to say what is the most breathtaking aspect of the Apollinaire Theatre Company’s masterful production of Touching the Void: Is it David Greig’s deeply satisfying script based on Joe Simpson’s memoir of the same title? Is it the fantastic acting by Patrick O’Konis (amazing as climber Joe), the…
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Theater Review: SHERLOCK HOLMES CONFIDENTIAL (Desert Ensemble Theatre in Palm Springs)
LEGENDARY MAN OF DISTINCTION — AT LEAST IN HIS MIND Directed by Jerome Elliott Moskowitz and written by Tony Padilla, Desert Ensemble Theatre presents an alternate version of the Sherlock Holmes origin story that’s witty, delightful and involving. 1890 London: Sherlock Holmes (Alex Price) is asked to solve a case for Scotland Yard by Inspector…
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Theater Review: THE SECRET COMEDY OF WOMEN (National Tour at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA)
SECRET COMEDY IS NO SECRET ANYMORE In The Secret Comedy of Women, directors, writers and stars Barbra Gehring and Linda Klein are two women who you would swear were besties from childhood. They shared similar passions and interests in comedy, crafting and collecting — and they also both kept childhood diaries. One day while reading…
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Theater Review: GUN & POWDER (Paper Mill Playhouse)
ONCE ON THIS PRAIRIE Developed at Signature Theatre in Virginia, the new musical Gun & Powder has stormed into Paper Mill Playhouse with enough energy to light the Manhattan skyline. The book and lyrics by Angelica Chéri are based upon truth and legend that have been passed down like the telephone game since 1893: Mary…
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Theater Review: SOLO: A SHOW ABOUT FRIENDSHIP (Gabe Mollica at Calderwood Pavilion in Boston and on Tour)
THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR Up-and-coming storyteller Gabe Mollica has brought his “sweet not sappy” 90-minute Solo: A Show About Friendship to Boston after 80 Off-Broadway performances and an excerpt on This American Life, the NPR radio show and podcast. Directed by noted monologist and queer disability activist Greg Walloch, and written as well as…
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Theater Review: THE TUTOR (NCTC in San Francisco)
New Conservatory Theatre Center is offering The Tutor, a gripping and thought-provoking three-person drama that tells a timely story of love, lies, survival, and culture. With insightful minimal staging by Sahar Assaf, the performers pile-drive Torange Yeghiazarian‘s whip-smart dialogue into a powerful intimate ride that never lets up. Debórah Eliezer, Lawrence Radecker, Maya Nazzal Debórah…
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Theater Review: NATASHA, PIERRE, & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Cygnet Theatre in San Diego)
GREAT COMET! Who would have thought that a paltry 70 pages from a mammoth novel by 19th-century Russian author Leo Tolstoy would inspire one of the hits of the recent off-Broadway and Broadway musical scene? Yet here it is at the Cygnet Theatre. This show joins a brilliantly eclectic score and book by an outstanding…
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Theater Review: MR. PARKER (Dezart Performs in Palm Springs)
GET A PARKER TICKET Michael McKeever’s newest play Mr. Parker, under Randy Brenner’s sublime direction is Dezart Performs’ final production this season running through April 21. McKeever, (Daniel’s Husband) has written a well-acted, swift, 90-minute portrayal of domestic life. Terry Parker, a 54-year-old gay writer residing in the condo building Ansonia on the Upper West…
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Theater Review: NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Cygnet Theatre Company in San Diego)
BEDAZZLED WAR AND PEACE SIZZLES ON STAGE Let’s face it: If you haven’t read Leo Tolstoy’s 1869 novel War and Peace by now (with its 1400-plus pages), you probably aren’t ever going to. Fortunately for you, Dave Malloy read it and apparently loved the heck out of it. So much so, in fact, that he…
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Theater Review: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (CVRep)
NICE WORK! CVRep is closing its 23/24 season this month with a bewitching production of Nice Work If You Can Get It running through April 28th. Like other “new” Gershwin musicals including Crazy For You (a reimagining of Girl Crazy) and My One and Only (derived from Funny Face), Nice Work is crafted from remnants…
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Theater Review: THE BOYS IN THE BAND (Palm Canyon Theatre in Palm Springs)
Still impactful, The Boys in the Band, now playing at Palm Canyon Theater until April 21, is largely based on playwright Mart Crowley‘s own life in 1960s’ Manhattan. The 1968 play was a sensation Off-Broadway, won Tony for Best Revival of a Play in 2019 starring an all-gay cast, and was filmed twice. When the…
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Theater Review: KING HEDLEY II (A Noise Within)
A Noise Within continues their 2023-2024 season with a fine production of King Hedley II by August Wilson. This ninth play in his ten-play cycle about the Black experience in twentieth-century America is loaded with the symbolism, spirituality, and superstition we have come to know from his writings. The exceptionally talented Aaron Jennings plays the…
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Theater Review: OPHELIA (World Premiere at the Odyssey)
I FEEL YA, OPHELIA Acclaimed playwright, director, and actor Stefan Marks has outdone himself taking on three roles in his World Premiere play Ophelia, now at the Odyssey Theatre through May 18. It’s a tale of family history, the journey to find love, the heartbreak of dementia, struggling to forgive yourself for past mistakes, and…
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Theater Review: KAIROS (East West Players)
A HEARTBREAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL MINDFUCK “He was immortal, so he couldn’t die, but this pain, it was agony — it was a wound that would never heal. So he begged the other deities to make him mortal. He knew that death was the only way to stop the pain.” Sylvia Kwan Laughter and pain are always…
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Theater Review: THE PRIDE OF LIONS (Theater Rhinoceros)
A MAJESTY OF DRAG QUEENS BECOMES A PRIDE OF LIONS Founded in 1977 The Castro District’s Theatre Rhinoceros is the longest-running queer theater in the nation. This month is the world premiere of non-binary playwright Roger Q. Mason’s boundary breaking play The Pride of Lions. 1928, New York City. Mae West’s play, The Pleasure Man,…
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Theater Review: FAT HAM (Geffen Playhouse in Westwood)
Then trip him that his heels may kick at heaven Hamlet soliloquy / Shakespeare Fat Ham by James Ijames — who received a Pulitzer for his play — is an unbridled, entertaining, and funny take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, outrageously turned on its ear. Elsinore castle is transported to a lovely house in a suburb of…
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