TO LAUGH OR NOT TO LAUGH The Westmorelands of Vicksburg, Mississippi, are, on the surface – at least when one first encounters them – just too perfect for words. Bobby and Kate have been married for nineteen years and are still in a state of wedded bliss, he still romantic with her, she still horny…

DARK? NOT SO MUCH. WORTHWHILE? OH, YEAH. The real stars of  Oklahoma!, presented by the Musical Theatre of Los Angeles, are Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Hammerstein’s 1943 book is solidly funny and sweet – it avoids creaking with age because it shuns overt sentimentality, and the lyrics are chock-full of poetic imagery and clever internal…

GOOD THING PICASSO STUCK TO HIS DAY JOB When addlepated Michel Leiris (pronounced LAY-REE) pops out of the upstairs bedroom in his darkened Paris home to prepare for the visit of Pablo Picasso, he begins a series of pratfalls, antics and missteps that thrust us into the world of farce. Early into Act I of…

ALL OVER TOWN: FROM HOLLYWOOD TO TOPANGA After all is said and sat through, there is no profoundly new revelation in Joel Drake Johnson’s carefully observed Four Places that would finally illuminate the wrenching drama that takes place, but it is nevertheless invigorating to hear the cool intelligence of the writing and the way the…

THE BOYS IN THE BEDROOM In the fifth of the ten scenes which comprise Joe DiPietro’s  Fucking Men, a free-wheeling adaptation of Arthur Schitzler’s  La Ronde, the production at Celebration Theatre finally takes hold and grips its audience in an irresistible vise and doesn’t let go right through the next three scenes. But more about that later….

WHEN THE PLAY’S NOT THE THING, BUT THE ACTING SHINES In the theater, the first-rate performer still holds sway over the second-rate play. I was reminded of this recently when asked by someone what she should see if she sees only one play in New York. I did not recommend August: Osage County or South…