All stories by Shari Barrett on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Theater Interview: MICHAEL MATTHEWS (Currently Directing ‘Cabaret’ for 5-Star Theatricals) by Shari Barrett

COME TO MICHAEL MATTHEW’S CABARET With the amount of political turmoil and rising antisemitism in the world right now, it seems the perfect time to present an updated staging of the popula…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:38AM
Thursday, February 27, 2025

Concert review: WOMEN OF ROCK (Long Beach Symphony Orchestra POPS Series) by Shari Barrett

GREAT CONCERT, BUT LIGHT ON ROCK As part of its POPS series, always a fun and friendly way to enjoy an entertaining night out, Long Beach Symphony, now in its 90th season, welcomed guest con…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 05:19PM
Thursday, February 20, 2025

Theater Review: LOVE GAME (Last Call Theatre at The Virgil) by Shari Barrett

MEET MARKET Have you ever gone to a speed dating event where singles meet, spend a few minutes talking to one person, and then move on to the next person, each for a pre-arranged chat sessio…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:51PM
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Theater Review: THE BROTHERS ABELSON SINCE 1946 (Electric Lodge in Venice) by Shari Barrett

A TIME CAPSULE OF GENERATIONAL LOVE, PAIN, AND RESILIENCE Every family has a unique mix of personalities, each member knowing their place and how to maneuver others to get what they need. Bu…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:19PM
Monday, February 3, 2025

Theater Review: JANE AUSTEN IN 89 MINUTES (Theatre 40 at Greystone Mansion) by Shari Barrett

WHAT FUN GETTING LOST IN AUSTEN Fresh from its smash hit engagement at Theatre 40, Jane Austen in 89 Minutes has moved into the artistically appropriate Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills fo…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 07:11PM
Sunday, February 2, 2025

Dance Review: MEMORYHOUSE (Los Angeles Ballet at The Wallis in Beverly Hills) by Shari Barrett

KEEPING MEMORY ALIVE Memoryhouse, which premiered in 2023 as the first full-length ballet directed by Los Angeles Ballet’s new Artistic Director Melissa Barak, is an abstract work compose…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 12:28PM
Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Theater Review: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts) by Shari Barrett

IN A YEAR WHERE EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG, THIS WRONG MAKES EVERYTHING RIGHT The Tony Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, also crowned Best New Comedy at the 2015 Olivier Awards, is a si…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:52PM
Sunday, January 19, 2025

Theater Review: HEAVENBOUND (Wilshire Ebell Theatre) by Shari Barrett

HEAVENBOUND ROUSES THE SPIRIT AT WILSHIRE EBELL THEATRE In the face of so much destruction from the ongoing Los Angeles fires, a bright event brought a sense of spiritual peace during Heaven…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 09:40AM
Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Theater Interview: RON HARNER (Director and Playwright of Union Station at The Broadwater in Hollywood) by Shari Barrett

ON THE RIGHT TRACK Prior to his new play Union Station, playing at the Broadwater Main Stage Jan 23-26, Ron Harner wrote and directed three other plays: The Ones Who Leave (2019), Spitting F…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:29AM
Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Concert Review: KRISTIN CHENOWETH HOLIDAY CONCERT (LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion) by Shari Barrett

SMALLTOWN ROOTS, BIGTOWN PERFORMER Personable Kristin Chenoweth – the original Glinda in the Broadway musical Wicked – was a delight last night in L.A. This is Kristen as a regular gal f…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:34PM
Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Theater Review: HOME ALONE-LY HEARTS CLUB BAND (The Troubies at the Colony in Burbank) by Shari Barrett

Accompanied by the rockin’ 4-piece Troubadorchestra led by music director Ryan Whyman, the always-entertaining, hip and sassy Troubadour Theater Company (The Troubies) is generating tons o…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:21PM
Friday, November 22, 2024

Theater Review: THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD (Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills) by Shari Barrett

DEAD ON ARRIVAL The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, adapted for the stage by Mark Shanahan from Agatha Christie’s 1926 novel, premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas in 2023. It’s no s…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:53AM
Monday, November 11, 2024

Theater Review: PRIVATE EYES (Theatre Palisades) by Shari Barrett

PRIVATE EYES IS SO PRIVATE THAT YOU’LL CROSS YOUR EYES TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT Perhaps Shakespeare was right to say “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.�…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:39AM
Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Theater Review: DIVA THE PLAY (Zephyr Theatre) by Shari Barrett

MEMORIES OF CHERISHED TIMES As we age and our memories fade away, certain items from our lifetime can trigger both happy and unpleasant memories, making us feel in the moment without worryin…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 12:40AM
Thursday, October 31, 2024

Theater Review: THE ORPHANS’ REVENGE (The Group Rep at Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood) by Shari Barrett

TIED TO THE RAILROAD TRACKS OF A SILLY MELODRAMA, OR CUTE CAN ONLY GO SO FAR Popular during the Victorian era in England, a melodrama is a sensationally overly dramatic piece with lots of co…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 10:19PM
Thursday, October 24, 2024

Theater Review: I’LL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY (NEO Ensemble Theatre at The Loft Ensemble Theatre) by Shari Barrett

A BUMPY RIDE INTO THE AFTERLIFE Like many small, non-profit theatre groups, NEO Ensemble Theatre is nomadic by nature, moving from theater to theater to present modern, socially relevant pla…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 03:00AM
Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Theater Review: THE CIVIL TWILIGHT (Broadwater Studio Theatre in Hollywood) by Shari Barrett

CIVIL UNREST When I walked into the very small and incredibly intimate Broadwater Studio Theatre, I immediately thought about Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, about a couple of loners looking …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:14PM
Thursday, October 17, 2024

Theater Review: ROBBIN, FROM THE HOOD (Road Theatre) by Shari Barrett

A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money. — W. C. Fields I highly recommend the World Premiere of Robbin, From the Hood, which opened last Friday at Road Theatre. It is playwright …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:08AM
Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Theater Review: THE WISDOM OF EVE (Whitefire Theatre) by Shari Barrett

BACKSTAGE BROADWAY BACKSTABBING: ALL ABOUT THE WISDOM OF EVE Any fan of film noir most assuredly has seen the 1950 major motion picture All About Eve, which shares the story of a young Broad…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:09PM
Saturday, October 12, 2024

Theater Review: BLOOD/LOVE (Crimson Nightclub, Hollywood) by Shari Barrett

VOCALIZING VAMPIRES & THE UNDULATING UNDEAD BITE ME! SUCK ME! ROCK ME! From Dracula to Dark Shadows, vampires have always been an entertainment staple during the Halloween season. This y…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:59AM

Theater Review: THE (MOSTLY) TRUE STORY OF A COMMON SCOLD (L.A. Performing Arts Productions, Promenade Playhouse) by Shari Barrett

As a female journalist myself, I was curious to learn about the life of Anne Royall, a former maid who married her employer, a landed gentleman in the early 1800s when such marriages were ra…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:57AM
Thursday, October 10, 2024

Theater Review: TESLA: A RADIO PLAY FOR THE STAGE (Tour at Cal Tech and Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center) by Shari Barrett

AN ELECTRIFYING TESLA Much has been written about Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla, the inventor of alternating current, radio and so much more, ever since his name became one of the w…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:59AM
Friday, September 20, 2024

Theater Review: 3 FACES OF STEVE: SONDHEIM IN CONCERT (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble) by Shari Barrett

A MASTER OF MUSICAL THEATER; TWENTY-SEVEN SONGS; THREE GREAT PERFORMERS; ONE TERRIFIC REVUE 3 Faces of Steve: Sondheim in Concert at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble is a revue that spans the breadt…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:31AM
Thursday, September 12, 2024

Theater & Event Review: DISCOSHOW (Spiegelworld at 3535 Las Vegas Boulevard) by Shari Barrett

AN AUTHENTIC 70S NEW YORK DISCO EXPERIENCE FROM DUSK TO DAWN On Saturday September 7, 2024, live entertainment and hospitality trailblazer Spiegelworld and Caesars Entertainment hosted a dus…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 01:17AM
Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Theater Review: ABSINTHE and SUPERFRICO RESTAURANT (Spiegelworld at Caesars Palace and Chelsea Tower) by Shari Barrett

ABSINTHE I FELL FOR YOU For a most salacious evening of “adult” delights, head on over to Absinthe at Caesar’s Palace which is surely the #1 Greatest Show in Las Vegas history (it has…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 08:08PM
Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Theater Review: HAPPY FALL: A QUEER STUNT SPECTACULAR (Renberg Theatre Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center) by Shari Barrett

Now playing at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theatre is the world premiere of Happy Fall: A Queer Stunt Spectacular. Performed by an enthusiastic and energetic ensemble, and writt…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 04:31AM
Thursday, August 1, 2024

Theater Interview: HERSHEY FELDER (Star and Writer of the World Premiere “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar: A New Musical Play” by Shari Barrett

For 26 years, pianist/actor/playwright/producer Hershey Felder has conjured the spirits of George Gershwin, Frederic Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt, Leonard Bernstein, Piotr Ilyic…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 10:20PM
Sunday, July 7, 2024

Theater Review: UNBROKEN BLOSSOMS (East West Players) by Shari Barrett

A TIME-TRAVELING UNBROKEN BLOSSOMS REVEALS BIGOTRY AND MISOGYNY Before seeing the world premiere of Unbroken Blossoms by Philip W. Chung at East West Players, I had never heard of the 1919 A…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 11:29PM
Sunday, June 23, 2024

Theater Review: TINY FATHER (Geffen Playhouse) by Shari Barrett

GOOD LESSONS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES Sometimes life throws you for a loop when fun times take a turn in unexpected ways, changing your whole life in an instant. Such is the story at the cente…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:35PM
Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Theater Review: DURAN DURANTONY & CLEOPATRA (Troubadour Theater Company at the Colony Theatre in Burbank) by Shari Barrett

NICE ASP! Troubadour Theater Company is a free-wheeling, no holds barred, commedia dell’arte-flavored, slapstick-driven Los Angeles based ensemble of actors, musicians, and comedians that …

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 02:40AM
Saturday, June 8, 2024

Theater Review: IT’S ONLY A PLAY (Torrance Theatre Company) by Shari Barrett

FRANTIC ANTICS FUEL THE HUMOR Terrence McNally updated his 1986 Off-Broadway comedy It’s Only a Play for Broadway in 2014 featuring an all-star cast including F. Murray Abraham, Matthew B…

SOURCE: stageandcinema.com at 06:37AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre