Inform and Entertain
The Last Confession Theatre Review TV’s Poirot, Suchet, Sleuths and Shoots the Papal Bull Roger Crane’s The Last Confession is first rate drama at its best. Not only does it tackle the big issues but it also has a top notch cast that delivers solid, riveting performances. The ensemble is rather cannily led by David […]
A Method to Their Madness: Hey Stella! The “playwrights” for Harold & Stella: Love Letters are the eponymous Harold Clurman and Stella Adler, those stage legends who co-founded the fabled Group Theatre back in the 1930s. Stella, but of course, went on to become America’s foremost apostle of “Method” acting after her circa 1935 trip […]
Geer Does Lear: Much Ado About the 21st Century Relevancy of a Shakespearean Plot Point Hark! To paraphrase Juliet: “What light through yonder canyon breaks?” Why, it’s none other than the launching of the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum’s season at its Topanga Canyon outpost, which rather gloriously kicked off June 7 with a production of […]
Gonzo-liers: Gilbert and Sullivan Mock Inequality with a “republican Monarchy” It’s funny how ideas ooze up from the collective psyche and into the public discourse and the arts. Sometimes this takes the form of symbolism, other times more straightforward expressions, in new works. In other cases, artists may hearken back to earlier pieces that have […]
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks: Thank Heaven for Not-So-Little Girls: Dancing Miss Lily Playwright Richard Alfieri’s two-acter two-hander Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is a good, if very predictable, tale. But what makes Lessons worth slipping into one’s ballet shoes for and dashing down to Laguna Beach to buy a ticket is the […]
Porgy and Bess Theatre Review: Gershwin — You Is My Man Now! Quite simply put, the Ahmanson Theatre’s splendiferous production of Porgy and Bess as directed by Diane Paulus is a joy to behold. It includes numerous immortal numbers composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics penned by his brother Ira that are surpassingly lovely, among […]
“The Artist Must Take Sides”: A Triumphant Must-See One-Man Show about Paul Robeson Writer/performer Daniel Beaty doesn’t miss a beat in his stand-up-and-cheer (at the top of your lungs!) one-man show about and tribute to Paul Robeson. He was thePrinceton, New Jersey-born son of a runaway slave who went on to become the African American […]
A Song at Twilight: Twilight’s Last Gleaming: The Beards and the Bard Same sex marriage has, as of this writing, just been legalized in Britain. What does this have to do with Noël Coward’s A Song at Twilight, which was written in 1966? At that time, homosexuality was still illegal in the U.K., and the bard […]
Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival 2014: Giving Voice Theatre Review Holding Up One Half of the Stage Lights. The 21st annual Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival: Giving Voice — which celebrates female diversity onstage — and its opening night Champagne Gala and Awards Ceremony at Venice’s Electric Lodge got off to a great start on March 27. […]
The Death of Klinghoffer: Hell’s Bells All Right. Long before there was Captain Phillips there was Leon Klinghoffer. This American Jew sailing aboard the Achille Lauro was afflicted not by a virus or malfunctioning toilets or even running aground or other ailments that have affected cruise ship passengers in recent years. Rather, on Oct. 7, 1985, […]
