STARRY STARRY NIGHT David Roussève’s full-length dance piece that opened at REDCAT last night is something of a miracle. Choreographed, written, and directed by Roussève, Stardust effectively amalgamates so many elements of multi-disciplinary performing arts–theater, story, dance, multi-media–that it should be a template for any dance company that desires to move, touch and inspire their…

THE HEART OF THE MATTER Larry Kramer’s blistering condemnation that chronicles the early years of the AIDS epidemic has arrived with an intimate production that highlights the urgency of the play but produces mixed results in casting and direction. A brilliant juxtaposition of love story and agit prop, The Normal Heart follows activist and unruly…

COUNT THIS SHEEP AND FALL ASLEEP As dull as its premise is exciting, Jaime Robledo’s production of Edward Einhorn’s 2010 play, adapted from Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, could not be further divorced from its source. The novel is a philosophical visit to the defining boundaries of human nature, and…

A VOYAGE YOU HAVE TO TAKE Have you ever been to a Chamber Concert of virtuosic musicians in a grand venue such as Walt Disney Hall or Carnegie Hall but wished you could experience the program in an intimate setting? Do you wish that you could be just a few feet from the musicians? Have…

YON METHINKS SHE STANDS Over the last year or so, some of my best time in an audience has been spent watching Paige Lindsey White.   Twice in collaboration with director Jessica Kubzansky at Boston Court, once with Debbie Devine at 24th Street, this actor has embodied the reasons I revere artists.   Sometimes portraying children, sometimes…

SHAFTED! There’s a story to be mined in “them thar” hills of West Ver-ginny but unfortunately The Burnt Part Boys, making its west coast premiere at the Third Street Theatre, doesn’t dig deep enough to unearth it. The West Coast Ensemble Theater has ventured below ground before with their award-winning production of Floyd Collins back…

POSITIVELY PEERLESS PERICLES There’s a certain respect lost among most national leaders today, especially here in America, due to the excessive regard for individuals graduated from northeast institutions, and an improper recognition for those who serve in the military’” especially those who fight overseas. The last three Presidents of this country have avoided harm’s way…

THERE IS NOTHING EITHER GOOD OR BAD, BUT CASTING MAKES IT SO Can it really be twenty years now that I have admired Lisa Wolpe’s work? Time and again, the actress has impressed me with her ability to seamlessly inhabit male Shakespearean roles while bringing fresh significance to characters as disparate as Romeo, Iago and…

WOMEN WITH HEARTS OF IRON Before going to see Rogue Machine Theatre’s latest production, Lost Girls, I turned to my companion and asked, “Why is everything that Rogue does so good?” Then a horrible sinking feeling hit. I bet I just jinxed it. It’s a very Jewish idea’”that in praising something out loud, you incite…

THE KEY OF IMAGINATION Many an actor, writer, and director settles for professionalism.   To get it up there and know your lines, to raise a question or resolve a story, to light the performers and make them audible: this seems enough.   And for some kinds of theater, journeyman work is completely adequate. But watching Impro…

MID-LIFE MYSTERIES  AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS A long-married couple says good-bye to the final guests who leave their house after a party. They are known for their parties; for their happy marriage; for their easy charm with one another. Except that tonight, the husband asks his wife for a divorce, shocking himself as well as her. Then, with…