163 stories by "Don Shirley"
Which theater company attracts the most young adults? Why can't Clybourne Park coincide with A Raisin in the Sun? Would 33 Variations fit the Taper better than the Ahmanson?
Madonna or whore? Three big musicals examine this stereotype of young women: Dangerous Beauty, Gigi and Rock of Ages, with mixed results.
A Noise Within's Comedy of Errors is a perfect fit in the burlesque hall dreamed up by director Michael Michetti, but why is Actors Co-op's King Lear set in 1850s California? Plus comments o…
The new Atwater Village Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA offer two views of sex-besotted characters in Mlle. God and Crack Whore Galore--Live. Why can't Sister's audiences ask tougher …
Of two new musicals with similar roots, Adding Machine adds up to more than Loving Repeating. In the group therapy genre, Circle Mirror Transformation requires less suspension of disbelief …
The Author at the Kirk Douglas raised big questions about how theater artists and audience deal with inflammatory subject matter such as porn and suicide. Meanwhile, Wrinkles offers a very d…
A Noise Within's Comedy of Errors is a perfect fit in the burlesque hall dreamed up by director Michael Michetti, but why is Actors Co-op's King Lear set in 1850s California? Plus comments o…
The number of Equity contract productions in LA grows. Small shows at big theater and vice-versa. Misbehaving in Long Beach and La Mirada.
Mayor Garcetti talks arts. "Twilight of Schlomo" in Garcetti's former district. Afterlife plays, including "Prudencia Hart." The pared-down Greeks.
Lincoln Heights wasn't big enough for the BFA's late Carmen Zapata -- let's revive her Olvera Street dreams. A cougher competes with Beckett. Hershey Felder's Lincoln, the sequel.
Distractions inside theaters -- rustling of paper, coughing, snoring, light from phones -- require coping strategies. Two four-actor musical revues continue on Santa Monica Pier and in NoHo.
Don Shirley saw 263 productions (so far) in LA theaters in 2013. Here he remembers and highlights the top 10 percent.
Four productions use "A Christmas Story" for their own ends. Also, commentary on the musical "Christmas Memory," an Aladdin panto and "Miracle on South Division Street".
Where are the locals in the Wallis' post-"Parfumerie" season? Bette Midler evokes Sue Mengers. "The Steward of Christendom" and "Peter and the Starcatcher" occupy CTG's downtown venues.
The LA Weekly cuts back on its theater coverage. Two Scandinavian plays, Strindberg's "Creditors" and "Save Me," an adaptation of Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler," bounce off each other.
"Play Dead," "We're Gonna Die," Endgame," "Exit the King" -- these plays may inspire thanksgiving that we're still alive. "The Normal Heart" and "The Homosexuals" depict changes in gay cultu…
Mighty moms are on stage in the Colony's "Miracle on South Division Street," Theatre Banshee's "By the Bog of Cats," Production Company's "Look Homeward, Angel" and "The Nisei Widows Club."
Pasadena Playhouse specializes in anger and fury. "Gidion's Knot" and "Rabbit Hole" explore the aftermath of sons' deaths. Theaters serve the communities of Skid Row -- and Rancho Cucamonga.
Companies to the southeast of Los Angeles dominate the musicals categories at the Ovation Awards. But where are the brand-new made-in-LA musicals?
LATC goes to the Great Plans for "the road weeps, the well runs dry" and the better "Wild in Wichita." Plus "4000 Miles" at South Coast Rep and musicals about Walt Disney and Eva Peron.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween -- witness "Wait Until Dark," "Urban Death Tour of terror," "The Afflicted," "Wicked Lit." But "Invisible Cities" is a different story.
Deception isn't so shameful in some comedies -- witness "Fast Company," "Don't Dress for Dinner," "The Guardsman" and "The Liar."
LA's Neil Simon moment features big productions of "The Sunshine Boys" and the far better "Broadway Bound." Actors Co-op stages an intimate "Ah, Wilderness!"
LA was rife with site-specific theater last week, with three Radar L.A. productions and Chalk Rep's "Gallery Secrets." Plus other thoughts on Radar L.A.
Lorenzo Pisoni's "Humor Abuse" at the Taper is a better solo take on sons and fathers than Luis Alfaro's or Trieu Tran's solos at the Douglas. Plus the latest Shakespeares in Pasadena.
