Saturday, March 21, 2015
BITTERSWEET 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 01:34AMFriday, March 20, 2015
SWEET However, “Carrie” is a better musical than before, but it’s still not a great one. Gore’s tunes are pleasant but, barring Carrie and Mom’s songs, not very individuate…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:19PMBITTERSWEET How favorably you respond to this drama probably depends on how much you care about Jonathan and the issues he has with his Jewish identity. As portrayed by Weiss, under Nicole D…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:45AMSWEET All of these ideas have potential. Maybe it could have all come together if the play had a longer run time. (It’s 90 minutes and without an intermission). As it stands, this mishmash…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 12:34AMThursday, March 19, 2015
SWEET The Catherine Wheels Theatre Company’s presentation of Lifeboat, an extraordinary tale of survival and friendship, stars Ashley Smith as Beth and Hannah Donaldson as Bess. They are b…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 11:43PMSWEET Joshua Wolf Coleman’s triple-role expertise and Natalie De Luna’s dizzy Fanchette complete an ensemble that knows just how far to push for laughs and gets them, resulting in a knee…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 06:47PMSWEET The wonderful Theatre West Company of performers and artists did it again by presenting a very visceral drama with such artistry and passion, that you better pack some tissue paper wit…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:38PMSWEET Smart, quirky and always engaging, this seriocomic tour de force explores mysteries of love, existence and human connection with the best precision staging a finely tuned, 12-member pr…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:29PMTuesday, March 17, 2015
BITTER The delivery also seems off. One shouldn’t have to work hard to castigate “pansy publishers in Jew-town,” or deem young people “deluded, silly little fuckers”; surely such v…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 09:51PMSWEET From that opening, the play’s grim trajectory becomes inevitable. That it also proves such a deliciously laugh-packed ride can finally be attributed to the split-second precision of …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:57PMSWEET In a well-paced staging, director Marya Mazor boldly addresses the vagaries of her material. Kaitlyn Pietras’ striking projection design ably delineates the shifting milieus, as does…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 05:22PMFriday, March 13, 2015
BITTER Director Jules Aaron does a workmanlike job trying to give the story some form and structure and interest. He is defeated by the bulk of the amateurish cast who just can’t do much m…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 12:43AMThursday, March 12, 2015
SWEET This play would not have had the impact it had if it weren’t for the music and video elements of the play. They added to the energy and excitement of the production. It was ambitous …
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 10:53PMTuesday, March 10, 2015
BITTERSWEET The play’s dense, fertile symbolism, initially so promising, begins to feel hollow. Like so many dreams, it promises to teach us something but dissolves into a series of compel…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:40PMThursday, March 5, 2015
SWEET Sound designer John Zalewski is responsible for heightening this intimacy through the soundtrack, which is emitted through speakers hidden around the space. The effect is dizzying as i…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 05:38PMSWEET Under Bruce Kimmel’s pizzazzy direction, Broadway and regional theater vets Sandy Bainum, Jill Marie Burke, Cynthia Ferrer, Stephanie Fredricks, Dana Meller, and Adrienne Visnic simp…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:36PMTuesday, March 3, 2015
SWEET Adapted from an anthology of poetry by Edgar Lee Masters, writer and director Maureen Lucy O’Connell blends the poet’s words with traditional songs to create a show that wi…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:20PMBITTERSWEET Unfortunately, the rest of the play tends towards the shallow, and is not as appealing. The script morphs into a melodrama, romance and coming-of age tale, with a bit of comic, d…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:44PMSWEET A tastefully elegant production of Maltby & Shire’s CLOSER THAN EVER brings the duo’s beautiful and thought-provoking songs to life in the intimate performance space at…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 02:49PMMonday, March 2, 2015
SWEET While Bermingham virtually inhabits the role – fearlessly so – throughout, Quilter’s script is the brilliantly penned blueprint of ICT’s staging. From it, director John Henry D…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:59PMSunday, March 1, 2015
SWEET Solid stagecraft, tautly quirky writing and crackerjack acting distinguish this compelling Los Angeles premiere of playwright Sharr White’s celebrated 2013 study of a neurologist who…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 08:33PMSaturday, February 28, 2015
BITTER Unfortunately, in their current staging of Michael Feingold’s translation at A Noise Within, co-directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott never quite balance the play&…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 01:14AMThursday, February 26, 2015
SWEET This show should not be missed. It is part of our collective history highlighting distinctive moments of a man who made us laugh and think. His incredibly fast and clever lyrics defini…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 11:44PMSWEET Forgive them their voice-over. Give in to their Temptation and let the rest of text wash over you as you enjoy this immersive gem. And buy tickets now, this is one that’s sure to…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 07:21PMSWEET Director BRIAN SHNIPPER and his superb cast make both stories, past and present, compelling. Greg Simay – MyBurbank SWEET You don’t have to be a Civil War buff to enjoy the lat…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 02:17AMWednesday, February 25, 2015
SWEET Troy Kotsur, a deaf actor, plays Teacher, a fractious bully whose semi-coherent verbal harangues are the source of his catastrophic charisma. Under the direction of Stephen Rothman, Ko…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 04:42PMTuesday, February 24, 2015
BITTERSWEET That said, at its heart the piece is a sincere, well-intended contrivance that gets its laughs like clockwork but isn’t exactly unfamiliar. Audiences with an appetite for light…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 09:00PMBITTERSWEET The staging is of such high caliber and the material has so much import that it would have been nice to see these artists put more faith in the sophistication of their audience �…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 07:22PMBITTERSWEET Garry Hynes’ production, which opened Saturday at the Mark Taper Forum, is a shade too respectful. The Tony-winning Irish director treats the text as though it were a castl…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:35PMBITTERSWEET The jokes and the witty numbers (“The Butler’s Song” brings down the house) don’t feel quite big or splashy enough to distract us from the low stakes. Choreog…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 03:05PMMonday, February 23, 2015
SWEET Unlike much new musical theater, “Loch Ness” is a charming, pleasingly quirky, wholly original concept. Its fine staging at Chance shows that theaters taking a chance on a new, unp…
SOURCE: Bitter Lemons at 10:39PM 
