Thursday, March 27, 2025

Inside 'Maybe Happy Ending,' the revolutionary robot musical that has Broadway audiences aglow by Ashley Lee

This intimate spectacle was a hit in Asia for years, before the isolation of the pandemic and the existential threat of AI. The Times spoke with the cast and creative team about the musical'…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:47AM
Wednesday, March 26, 2025

All's unfair in love and identity politics in Echo Theater Company's 'One Jewish Boy' by Charles McNulty

Echo Theater Company artistic director Chris Fields directs the West Coast premiere of 'One Jewish Boy,' Stephen Laughton's two-hander starring Sharae Foxie and Zeke Goodman

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:42PM
Monday, March 24, 2025

Ron Sossi, founder of the provocative Odyssey Theatre in L.A., dies by Cerys Davies

Ron Sossi, who challenged theater conventions in Los Angeles as the artistic director of the Odyssey Theatre for a remarkable 50-plus years, has died.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:05AM
Friday, March 21, 2025

Kennedy Center contract employee strips nude in protest video and is promptly fired by Jessica Gelt

Kennedy Center contract employee Tavish Forsyth, troubled by President Trump's takeover of the national arts institution, strips naked and delivers a 35-minute protest poem suggesting that a…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:54AM
Thursday, March 20, 2025

Hugh Bonneville stars in an impressively poised revival of 'Uncle Vanya' at Berkeley Rep by Charles McNulty

Hugh Bonneville stars in 'Uncle Vanya,' a co-production between Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company, directed by Simon Godwin.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:42AM
Sunday, March 16, 2025

Now streaming, Irish Rep's 'Beckett Briefs,' headlined by F. Murray Abraham, asks the essential questions by Charles McNulty

Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham stars in 'Krapp's Last Tape,' one of three short Samuel Beckett plays on offer in 'Beckett Briefs,' an Irish Rep production now available for streaming via the…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:25PM
Saturday, March 15, 2025

How a photo of Nazis eating blueberries inspired Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich's Holocaust play by Charles McNulty

'Here There Are Blueberries' tells the story of an album of historical photos documenting the lives of ordinary Germans who were part of the bureaucracy of the Holocaust. Authors Moisés Kau…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:50PM
Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran deliver 'A Streetcar Named Desire' for the ages by Charles McNulty

Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran star in Rebecca Frecknall's production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:38PM

Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal's 'Othello' breaks 'Harry Potter's' Broadway record by Kaitlyn Huamani

'Othello,' starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, hasn't officially opened on Broadway yet, but the show's earnings for its preview performances have already broken a record.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:38PM

L.A. Opera's silly 'Così fan Tutte' saved by the singing by Mark Swed

L.A. Opera sets 'Così fan Tutte,' Mozart's sophisticated study of love and constancy, in a swanky American country club.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:38PM
Monday, March 10, 2025

Appreciation: Playwright Athol Fugard proved the pen could be mightier than the sword by Charles McNulty

An appreciation of South African playwright Athol Fugard, whose plays that bore witness to the cruelty of apartheid, including 'Blood Knot,' 'Boesman and Lena,' 'A Lesson From Aloes' and 'My…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:34PM

New LACMA building to get three outdoor artworks to join 'Urban Light' and the Rock by Jessica Gelt

The L.A. County Museum of Art announces three commissions for large-scale outdoor art around its new David Geffen Galleries, including one work that could end up being a civic landmark like …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:08AM
Friday, March 7, 2025

'Gracias Gustavo': Details of the L.A. Phil's plans for Dudamel's final season by Jessica Gelt

A golden era at the Los Angeles Philharmonic approaches its end as the organization announces its final season under Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel before he departs for the New…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:50AM
Thursday, March 6, 2025

'Hamilton' cancels Kennedy Center run after Trump takeover by Kaitlyn Huamani

'Hamilton' creator Lin-Manuel Miranda said he doesn't want the show to play at what he called the 'Trump Kennedy Center.'

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:20AM
Wednesday, March 5, 2025

A new revival of Suzan-Lori Parks' 'Topdog/Underdog' misses the beat at Pasadena Playhouse by Charles McNulty

Pasadena Playhouse revival of 'Topdog/Underdog,' Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, stars Brandon Gill and Brandon Micheal Hall in a production directed by Gregg T. Daniel.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 05:06PM
Sunday, March 2, 2025

Review: '44,' a musical satire about Barack Obama by one of his campaign insiders, cuts up at the Kirk Douglas by Charles McNulty

Written, composed and directed by Eli Bauman, a former Obama campaign organizer, '44,' about Barack Obama's presidency, returns to L.A. at Kirk Douglas Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:26PM
Friday, February 28, 2025

Commentary: How exuberant, ambitious operas in L.A. score big despite small casts and modest budgets by Mark Swed

Los Angeles is in the midst of a de facto chamber opera festival with productions across the region tackling the social and political issues of the moment.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:48PM
Saturday, February 22, 2025

Their community in ashes, the Palisades Symphony finds solace in music by Thomas Curwen

A month after the Palisades fire, the Palisades Symphony Orchestra performed a two-hour program dedicated to musicians who lost their homes and to the community.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:08AM

Kennedy Center says J6 Prison Choir is not a 'confirmed event,' despite what Steve Bannon says by Jessica Gelt

The Kennedy Center downplays CPAC comments from longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon that a choir composed of Jan. 6 rioters will perform at the Kennedy Center.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:36AM
Friday, February 21, 2025

Review: 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' brings authentic magic to the Hollywood Pantages by Charles McNulty

The Tony-winning play 'Harry Potter and Cursed Child' has its Los Angeles premiere at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:17AM
Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Commentary: Shakespeare's portrait of an insecure, paranoid tyrant makes this the perfect time for 'Macbeth' by Charles McNulty

David Tennant and Cush Jumbo deliver a 'Macbeth' for the ages, but the curse of Shakespeare's tragedy isn't easy to avoid.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:44AM
Sunday, February 16, 2025

'This isn't a history lesson': Inside the new musical about Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass by Ashley Lee

The bold stage show '3 Summers of Lincoln' — starring Ivan Hernandez, Quentin Earl Darrington, Carmen Cusack and Saycon Sengbloh — will play at La Jolla Playhouse through March 30.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:28PM
Saturday, February 15, 2025

Review: Twyla Tharp at her best in 'Aguas da Amazonia' premiere with Philip Glass score by Mark Swed

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, Twyla Tharp Dance premieres 'Aguas da Amazonia' with Philip Glass' score in Santa Barbara, Costa Mesa, Palm Desert and Northridge before it heads for the Ke…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:52AM

Review: 'Old Friends' pay tribute to Sondheim in a luxurious pre-Broadway celebration at the Ahmanson by Charles McNulty

Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga star in 'Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends' in a pre-Broadway run at the Ahmanson Theatre.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:52AM
Thursday, February 13, 2025

New Kennedy Center board makes Trump chairman, prompting Shonda Rhimes and others to resign by Jessica Gelt

A new board of Trump allies makes him chairman of the Kennedy Center and fires the arts organization's longtime leader, Deborah Rutter.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:03AM
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

'Love Game' is an interactive play that unfolds inside an L.A. bar — and you're Cupid by Todd Martens

The immersive, choose-your-own-adventure show from Last Call Theatre puts the story in the hands of the audience.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:50AM

Douglas Lyons writes comedies centering Black women. How his trilogy could change theater by Ashley Lee

IAMA Theatre's workshop production of Douglas Lyons' time-travel adventure "Don't Touch My Hair" runs through Feb. 24.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:50AM

Review: 'Bacon' treads the line between love and abuse for teenage boys in a Rogue Machine powerhouse by Charles McNulty

Rogue Machine Theatre presents the West Coast premiere of Sophie Swithinbank's 'Bacon,' a two-hander directed by Michael Matthews that explores masculinity, bullying, sexuality and trauma.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:50AM
Monday, February 10, 2025

Review: 'Noises Off,' Michael Frayn's ingenious farce, doesn't have to be perfect to succeed by Charles McNulty

Tony winner Anna D. Shapiro directs a revival of Michael Frayn's backstage farce at the Geffen Playhouse in a co-production with Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:33PM
Sunday, February 9, 2025

Trump to make himself chair of the Kennedy Center, says he'll dismiss board members by Jessica Gelt

President Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint himself chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The org says it has 'received no official communications' about…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:59PM
Saturday, February 8, 2025

Review: Larissa FastHorse's 'Fake It Until You Make It' has its historic premiere at the Taper by Charles McNulty

'Fake It Until You Make It,' a satiric farce by Larissa FastHorse ('The Thanksgiving Play'), has its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, in a production directed by Michael John Garcés.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:58PM

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