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Theater Review: BECOMING A MAN (World Premiere at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA)
CAN THIS MARRIAGE BE SAVED? The creative and absorbing world premiere of P. Carl’s Becoming a Man at A.R.T. brings the joys and challenges of gender transition for one person and those who love him. Based on playwright P. Carl’s memoir of the same name, this world premiere theatrical adaptation which opened last night is…
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Theater Review: BETWEEN TWO KNEES (PAC NYC)
GULPING FOR BREATH BETWEEN TWO-HUNDRED LAUGHS What a unique, congenial, brilliantly imaginative show! You will laugh for a very long time and, if you are a European descendant, you will feel guilty but in the right way. Don’t fall for insecure people who think of history and facts as “woke” matters. Between Two Knees, at…
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Theater Review: NEXT TO NORMAL (Round House Theatre, DC)
AN EYE-OPENER Prior to Next to Normal at Round House Theatre a giant, obtrusive woman’s eye projected onto the back wall (projections by Nicholas Hussong) stares and blinks out at the audience. This impossible to ignore image is just the start of the haunting 2009 rock musical by Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (lyrics, book)…
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Theater Review: MARILYN, MOM & ME (International City Theatre in Long Beach)
HOW I WISH MARILYN MONROE WAS MY MOM In Luke Yankee‘s Marilyn, Mom & Me, the playwright-director takes the audience on a ruminative journey based on the complex relationship with his mother, character actress Eileen Heckart, and her recollection of the unique friendship she forged with America’s timeless sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, on the set…
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Theater Review: JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN (Huntington Theatre in Boston)
GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE POWER Kimberly Belflower’s riveting John Proctor is the Villain, which had its world-premiere at Studio Theatre in D.C. in 2022, opened last night at The Huntington. It is a work of profound inspiration, and — with spot-on direction by Margot Bordelon (…what the end will be for Roundabout) and a knockout nine-member…
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Theater Review: GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY (North American Tour)
MCPHERSON EXPLOITS DYLAN IN GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY Girl from the North Country is one of those shows that sounds promising in the abstract: a musical incorporating songs by Bob Dylan. Whatever you think of Dylan’s singing voice, it’s undeniable that he wrote some great songs–and a few of them are used in this…
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Theater Review: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (San Diego Musical Theatre)
SEEING FIDDLER AGAIN AND AGAIN IS A GREAT TRADITION It’s no surprise that this 1964 triumph ’” with an irresistible book by Joseph Stein and unimprovable songs by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick ’” keeps surprising us with our own humanity. It’s 1905 in a small Russian village called Anatevka, and a fiddler plays a…
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Theater Review: CHICAGO (National Tour)
ALL THAT JAZZ AND MORE The national tour of Chicago at the San Diego Civic Theater — now through Sunday — reaffirms what generations of theater fans have recognized. This musical ranks among the major theatrical entertainments in the history of American musical theater. For verification, consider the full house at the Wednesday night performance…
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Theater Review: HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (Chance Theater in Anaheim)
WIG SNATCHED! 1998 QUEERGENDER MUSICAL STILL SLAYS IN 2024 In the pantheon of (so-called) rock musicals, Hedwig and the Angry Inch holds a distinct and unparalleled position, merging raw energy with emotional depth in a way that few other shows can claim. Witnessing its 1999 iteration with Michael Cerveris in the lead role was a…
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Theater Review: CLYDE’S (Moxie Theatre Company in San Diego)
SANDWICHING GOOD STORYTELLING BETWEEN TWO SLICES OF COMEDY Remember Linda Lavin’s old TV sit-com Alice? And her co-waitresses: the sassy Flo (“Kiss my grits!”) and the ditzy Vera at the truck stop diner? And the owner, cranky-but-loveable Mel, giving them hell through the kitchen passthrough as he cooked everything up? Well, flip that around so…
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Theater Review: MY HOME ON THE MOON (San Francisco Playhouse)
WHAT THE PHO IS GOING ON? Pho (pronounced in 2 sounds, sliding up at the end: fo/É™, like your saying “fur” with a strong New York accent) is a Vietnamese soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, protein (usually beef, sometimes chicken) and herbs (depending on the chef, it can include spices such as ginger,…
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Theater Review: STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills)
YOU MIGHT WANNA MISS THIS TRAIN Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 psychological film noir thriller Strangers on a Train, which he directed and produced to mixed reviews, was based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. But since then, the film has been regarded much more favorably; and in 2021 was selected for preservation…
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Theater Review: LITTLE PEASANTS (Food Tank at The Burren Backroom in Somerville, MA)
SOLIDARITY FOREVER The workshop reading of Food Tank’s Little Peasants at The Burren Backroom, a venue known more for Irish, Bluegrass, Appalachian, Roots, Jazz, and Blues than theater, is all the more engrossing for being rough around the edges. With a tight script by Bernard Pollack, dramaturgy and production by Elena Morris, and the excellent…
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Theater Review: MYSTIC PIZZA THE MUSICAL (National Tour)
A TASTY SLICE OF 80s NOSTALGIA In the ever-evolving landscape of film-to-stage musical adaptations, the latest entrant Mystic Pizza emerges as a charming addition. Based on the eponymous 1988 cult-classic film delight, we are brought back to the quaint environs of Mystic, Connecticut, and the intertwined lives of three young Portuguese-American women, childhood friends working…
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Theater Review: ALL THINGS EQUAL — THE LIFE AND TRIALS OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG (Pre-Broadway National Tour)
FROM NOTORIOUS TO VICTORIOUS Michelle Azar vividly invokes the spirit of famed jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Rupert Holmes’s one-woman show All Things Equal. As implied in the play’s subtitle The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ginsburg faced many trials in and out of the courtroom. Set in Ginsburg’s chambers at the United…
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Theater Review: CULT OF LOVE (Berkeley Repertory Theatre)
CULT OF LOVE TAKES YOU FROM “HO, HO, HO” TO “HOLY CHRIST!” The Dysfunctional Family, whether in a comedy or drama, is a staple of storytelling, from The Bible and Shakespeare to Netflix. We all have one. And what better fodder for drama is there than the dysfunctional American family? Throw in the trope of…
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Theater Review: TINY LITTLE TOWN: A NEW MUSICAL (Theatre Movement Bazaar at Broadwater Theater)
TINY LITTLE TOWN OPENS WITH A BANG, BUT GETS CORRUPTED BY INCOHESIVE STYLES Theatre Movement Bazaar’s Tiny Little Town, a new musical comedy now playing at the Broadwater Main Stage, starts out with a bang. The entire company gathers to perform the opening title number, done in the style of a 1970s variety special, begging…
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Theater Review: ENGLISH (Old Globe in San Diego)
Learning another language is like becoming another person. — Haruki Murakami Years ago, I ran a teambuilding class using improv games for an I.T. group. Despite the diversity of heritage and appearances in the group, there was only one person in the group who was an immigrant. “Min” had a thick Chinese accent and, despite…
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Theater Review: THE LION KING (National Tour)
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER IT’S THE KING OF MUSICALS OR NOT; IT’S THE KING OF EXPERIENCES Endearing heroes and villains. Shakespeare and ancient myth. Coherent storytelling. Anthropomorphic jungle animals. Gorgeous African chanting. Transfixing puppet pageantry on a pythonic, prodigious level. A celebration of theatrical ingenuity. Forty-nine cast members –six of whom are South African. Over…
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Theater Review: POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE (Geffen)
A TOOTHLESS POTUS Seven women propping up one man at The White House — that’s the premise behind Selena Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. The widely produced play, which had its Broadway debut just a little over a year ago, is political but not partisan because its critique of…
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