1,324 stories by "Charles McNulty"
The character, now in the musical at the Ahmanson Theatre, is beloved — and radical.No, that's not a UFO hovering over the Music Center. It happens to be Mary Poppins, who has glided b…
William Friedkin's film of Tracy Letts' play leaves little to the imagination, and that can really mess up your mind.William Friedkin's film of Tracy Letts' play"Killer Joe" is nasty, brutis…
In a sensational production of John Logan's play at the Mark Taper Forum, an artist of highbrow ambition has accepted a lucrative commission, and guilt results. As imagined by John Logan in …
Neither voice nor body is what it was. Still, she lives the emotions of her songs, and that goes a long way, even on a night held up by delays.The crowd was growing restless at the Hollywood…
Soho Rep's 'Uncle Vanya' takes its time while Sydney Theatre's version moves at a quick pace. Each staging is effective, and each shows how timeless Chekhov can be.NEW YORK — Anton Che…
With a short rehearsal time it's no wonder the musical stops short of perfection, but the comic level of the Mel Brooks work remains high."The Producers" returned to Los Angeles for three pe…
The director delivered opening ceremonies for the Olympics that celebrated both the eccentricity and enlightenment that are fascinatingly entwined in Britain's cultural DNA. Olympic openin…
Are we really living in a post-racial world? It seems like we’re back in the 1990s, when all hell broke loose on Broadway after the British star Jonathan Pryce was cast as the Eurasian…
The star juggles family with an actor's life. These days, that includes co-running a Sydney theater troupe with her husband. Their latest — Chekhov's 'Uncle Vanya.'On the surface, Cate…
A diabolically stilted dialogue and some patchy performances trip up the new Geffen Playhouse work, although its striking design and effective music are standouts.Two questions immediately p…
The company's staging of 'Richard III' and 'As You Like It' may emphasize plot over psychology, but the classics are still a lovely way to spend a summer night.There are as many ways to rean…
The Tony Award-winning play communicates the staggering waste of war but provides an opportunity to reconnect with the childhood enchantments of bedtime fables, folk tales and storybook adve…
In his graceful assuming of various characters, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine lobs a searing riposte at Uganda's anti-gay bill in a new solo show.He roams the night in menacing military police garb…
Full of the gritty textures of the '70s, August Wilson's play does something today's artists should emulate — reveal how rooted we are in our uniquely styled moment of history.The noti…
A study of American involvement in the Soviet-Afghan war, J.T. Rogers' 'Blood and Gifts' artfully lays out the shortsightedness of foreign players in a rocky region.Dramatic works about Afgh…
The Rogue Machine production of Enda Walsh's 'The New Electric Ballroom' at Theatre/Theater captures the haunting spectacle of three sisters who often revisit the past.Enda Walsh's "The New …
At the Tony Awards, artistic quality and risk-taking win out over commerce as the little musical 'Once' and 'Clybourne Park' triumph.Will wonders never cease: David slayed Goliath in a rare …
“Follies” bid farewell to the Ahmanson Theatre on Saturday night, and the emotion in the house was as charged as the emotion coursing through the Weismann Theatre, where the ex-F…
Should Audra McDonald make room on a mantel? Is the movie world's new Spider-Man golden? And what about all those 'Follies' nominations?The Academy Awards telecast has been such a snooze in …
In a Monkey Wrench Collective production, Mark Ravenhill's play has a darker view of the artistic underground.Mark Ravenhill, the English playwright best known for his play with the unprinta…
The new 90-minute musical by Michael John LaChiusa and Ellen Fitzhugh benefits from its SoCal setting and its study of identity. But it's too diffuse.Commercial success has eluded Michael Jo…
A new body of domestic work on Broadway, including Tony front-runners 'Clybourne Park' and 'Other Desert Cities,' marks a strong change of pace for playwriting.Had you polled theater pundits…
Gershwin purists, this "Porgy and Bess" is probably not for you, even though its official title is "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess." The cast album of the current Broadway production is a str…
The quirky musical at the La Jolla Playhouse about contestants trying to win a pickup could use a tuneup, but its folksy, low-key approach is seductive."Hands on a Hardbody," the new musical…
Visiting L.A. after New York, this landmark Stephen Sondheim work is a dazzling reminder of how brilliantly constructed a musical can be.There's so much to praise in the blissful Broadway re…
