Thursday, April 23, 2015
BITTERSWEET Unlike the hunt in “Bengal Tiger In The Bagdad Zoo”, Joseph’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, I found myself on the hunt for some rhyme and reason to be excited or enthralled …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:44PMTuesday, April 21, 2015
SWEET If you are looking for a wonderful afternoon of fun, laughter and sheer enjoyment – get yourself along to Theatre West, Cahuenga Boulevard West, Hollywood and see Storybook Theat…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:03PMSWEET “Never Givin’ Up” gathers us into a civic body to contemplate these subjects from a human-centered point of view. This is what the theater, even in an artistically re…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 06:48PMMonday, April 20, 2015
SWEET This is what life is all about. Carol Kaufman Segal – Reviewplays BITTERSWEET Director Mary Lou Belli keeps the play moving but there is not much she can do with the inert writin…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 10:27PMSWEET This sort of piece doesn’t contain much surprise; its value is as a reminder of what we already understand – that is, the horror of war – but many of us choose not to think about…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 09:11PMBITTERSWEET The challenge with The Break of Noon is that after nearly two and half hours, I wasn’t sure what all that button pushing added up to. This being a City Garage production, t…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:25PMSWEET Though its story line is linear, coherent, and accessible, Witch Ball nevertheless calls to mind absurdist theatre pieces such as Tristan Tzara’s The Gas Heart and other dada-esque w…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:02PMBITTER The volume and interchangeability of plot developments suggest a story in search of something to say. The punchy gimmick — an anchorman who starts to pray — could conceiva…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 06:41PMFriday, April 17, 2015
SWEET Though not without new-show quirks, Matt Donnelly, Jamelle Dolphin and Andy Cooper’s fervent, thoughtful musical study of legendary record store Dolphin’s of Hollywood and …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 06:37PMSWEET By show’s end, we come to love and appreciate Monica Piper, and all she’s endured; when someone is able to dig deep into one’s own challenges, along the oft bumpy roa…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 02:35PMWednesday, April 15, 2015
BITTERSWEET It’s a fascinating premise, despite a basic predictability and some credibility problems. It’s hard to believe that, if Gordon was that intent on giving his brain to science,…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 02:48PMBITTERSWEET Those delicate, rich moments are why I had to fight a visceral distaste for the play’s unearned ending, which undermines the story and its characters’ bravery in the face of …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 02:28PMFriday, April 10, 2015
BITTERSWEET But as with farce, the enemy of any black comedy is pathos, and director Ben Rock lays it on with a trowel in a weirdly melodramatic and grisly Act 2 that only succeeds in smothe…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:38PMWednesday, April 8, 2015
SWEET Edwards’s script could use some snips here and there, but it’s an entertaining and humorous blend of light- and dark-heartedness. The performances are both resonant and convincing …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 02:20PMTuesday, April 7, 2015
SWEET Of Good Stock is well supported by the unsurpassed quality of stagecraft that we’ve come to expect from SCR. Of particular note is Tony Fanning’s scenic design, which ingen…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:58PMSWEET I recently attended a great new one woman show called Prison Boxing making it’s world premiere at The Skylight Theatre Skylab on Vermont. It’s a very good biographical show…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:27PMFriday, April 3, 2015
BITTERSWEET Ultimately this lively but scattershot production, instead of bringing “Julius Caesar” back to life, buries the play deeper in the sands of time. Margaret Gray –…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 05:45PMThursday, April 2, 2015
SWEET In short, “Newsies” is a critic-proof, resolutely entertaining, slightly exhausting romp, with a strong company and no end of technical flash. If it’s more throwback …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:47PMSWEET This is, overall, a great production. It’s astute, uproarious, heartbreaking, and above all honest. It dares to look at the nature of relationships as they are put to the test. The s…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:39PMSWEET The play raises questions on the nature of radicalism and appeasement that are more allegorical than immediate. Still, it takes you to another place and another time with considerable …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:19PMWednesday, April 1, 2015
SWEET Mark Brokaw’s production, with its quick-assembly storybook set by Anna Louizos, hadn’t settled into the Ahmanson by Wednesday’s performance. Josh Rhodes’ chore…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 09:55PMBITTERSWEET If Greig’s drama were more fully imagined, this idea might have a more powerful effect. “Dunsinane” is intelligently arranged, but the characters are more or le…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 06:04PMTuesday, March 31, 2015
BITTER Mildly amusing, never hilarious or truly imaginative, American Wee-Pie is feel-good family fare, the sort of inoffensive comedy suitable for older children should you need to bring th…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 06:53PMBITTER Traditions are meant to be reinvented, but a revival that is more interested in creating indoor fog effects than in uniting its cast can’t help but founder. McGarry’s Mrs.…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 05:13PMSWEET That long-ago teapot tempest, its perpetrator, his victims and both their risible naiveté and rude disillusionment are all faithfully resurrected as if freshly ripped from today’s h…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:26PMWednesday, March 25, 2015
SWEET This wanders a bit from the play itself, although my intention has been to underscore that Little Fish and the fine actors appearing in “Taking Sides” have given us an engaging and…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 09:50PMBITTER Despite acting up a gale-force storm, the ensemble is finally unable to lift Miller’s language and situations from the earthbound and mundane into something more satisfyingly mythic…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:28PMMonday, March 23, 2015
BITTERSWEET Director Alyson York creates a superb foundation; the pacing is light and quick. The cast demonstrates their thespian skills admirably. The play is charming and funny. The only w…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:47PMSaturday, March 21, 2015
SWEET Kudos to Adams’ and Harris’ strong commitments to their flawed, volatile characters. How interesting that playwright Harris has written a stronger, meatier, more grounded, …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 05:32PMSWEET The evening is entertaining, fun and will pluck at your nostalgic musical theater heart-strings — if you’ve got ‘em. Jessica Salans – Stage Raw BITTERSWEET Putting it T…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:36PMBITTERSWEET More problematic (especially for purists) is a sometimes loose directorial rein on the scansion; allowing actors to emote through shifting emphasis may further character insight,…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 01:34AM 
