Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Forget musicals. The time is now for the American play, and 'An Octoroon' is just one of many groundbreaking works by women and writers of color.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:28PM[SHARE]Thursday, June 10, 2021
Michael Ritchie is stepping down as artistic director of L.A.'s most important theater company. What can his replacement " or replacements " do differently?
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:14PM[SHARE]Wednesday, May 19, 2021
What's wrong with using incentives to increase the vaccination rate? The opportunity to see that new musical should be a reward, not a right.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:55PM[SHARE]Thursday, May 13, 2021
Casting a straight actor in landmark gay role isn't a misstep. It's a recognition of shared struggle.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:13PM[SHARE]Wednesday, May 12, 2021
What ticket buyer wants to spend unnecessary time in a crowded lobby or cramped restroom? Even more important: the broken spell of storytelling onstage.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:15AM[SHARE]Thursday, May 6, 2021
In Geffen Playhouse's "Someone Else's House," multimedia artist Jared Mezzocchi opens the door to his family's haunted 200-year-old New England house.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:19AM[SHARE]Theater has returned to UCLA's Royce Hall, pairing perfect strangers in a private encounter.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:19AM[SHARE]Sunday, May 2, 2021
With the next chapter of the pandemic comes a fear of returning to the roles we all used to perform, even among friends.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:23PM[SHARE]Friday, April 23, 2021
Celebrating Shakespeare's birthday may seem retrograde, but his plays reveal what drama can do. Here's how I advise students to read the work.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:25PM[SHARE]Thursday, April 22, 2021
A James Baldwin-William F. Buckley Jr. debate is fodder for a REDCAT presentation, and CAP UCLA's "Plastic Bag Store: The Film" mixes gravity with whimsy.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:56PM[SHARE]Monday, April 19, 2021
Scott Rudin apologized after allegations of abusive workplace behavior, but he's not the only one. Broadway, it's time to straighten up your act.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:12AM[SHARE]Friday, April 16, 2021
A doc illuminates the dark hold of Sondheim's 'Assassins' in a Classic Stage Company benefit reminding us why theater has been such a pandemic loss.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:36PM[SHARE]Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Two new versions " a National Theatre film coming to PBS and a Public Theater podcast out now " bring new life to Shakespeare's romantic tragedy.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:51PM[SHARE]Wednesday, March 24, 2021
What role can art play in opening eyes to the humanity of people different from ourselves? After the Atlanta-area shootings, the answer is urgent.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:42AM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 16, 2021
COVID-19 restrictions are loosening for cultural institutions even though health experts urge caution. We've haven't yet won the fight.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:22PM[SHARE]Friday, March 12, 2021
A year ago Michael Michetti, one of L.A. theater's most accomplished directors, was about to open the Stephen Sondheim musical "Passion" at Boston Court Pasadena. Then the pandemic hit.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:28PM[SHARE]Saturday, March 6, 2021
Center Theatre Group streams "The Gaze ... No Homo," a Larry Powell play examining the possibilities of Black queer work in white environments.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:04PM[SHARE]Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Daniel Fish, Culture Clash, Dael Orlandersmith, Richard Maxwell, Annie Dorsen and Lars Jan reveal much loss " but also see a way forward.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:37PM[SHARE]Friday, February 12, 2021
REDCAT's digital production of 'Yorick, La Historia de Hamlet' miniaturizes Shakespeare's tragedy into an ingenious hourlong show.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:14AM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 9, 2021
The reading actor isn't a thing of the past, but a refined literary sensibility is valued less than social media savvy today.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:14PM[SHARE]Monday, February 8, 2021
As the Senate impeachment trial gets underway, Shakespeare's tragedy illuminates the politics of rebellion and the quest to maintain a grip on power.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:15PM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Adrienne Kennedy, a Black playwright who's more influential than produced, is celebrated in a rare digital festival not to be missed.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:54PM[SHARE]Monday, January 25, 2021
Theater has suffered from placelessness in the digital era. Mark O'Rowe's "The Approach" roots us somewhere theatrically real.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:40PM[SHARE]Thursday, January 21, 2021
Same stage, different script: For a theater critic watching President Biden's inauguration, the most notable part of the performance is its humility.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:32AM[SHARE]Thursday, January 14, 2021
The nation's overlapping crises have sparked the notion that audiences want to be uplifted, more than anything else. I disagree.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:36PM[SHARE]Monday, January 11, 2021
Pasadena Playhouse streams "You I Like: A Musical Celebration of Jerry Herman," in which paying tribute to the Broadway composer proves harder than it might seem.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:32PM[SHARE]Saturday, December 12, 2020
This was the year that streaming versions of "Hamilton," "What the Constitution Means to Me" and "Ma Rainey" proved stage stories can shine on-screen.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:53PM[SHARE]Friday, June 5, 2020
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
"In Circles," Al Carmines' musical adaptation of Gertrude Stein's "A Circular Play," gets a topnotch revival at the Odyssey Theatre.
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:24PM[SHARE]Friday, September 13, 2019
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Fall theater season highlight for Los Angeles include a musical version of 'Almost Famous,' Bill Irwin in "On Beckett," a revival of August Wilson's "Jitney" and a new standup show by comic …
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:12PM[SHARE] 
