241 stories by "Milo Shapiro"
THESE WINGS ARE FLAMING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE In our divided nation, there are still a few universals that bring us together. Puppies. Mother's Day. Pizza. And, tagging close behind on the p…
I had a blind date. I waited two hours on the corner. A girl walked by. I said, "Are you Louise?'" She said, "Are you Rodney?" I said, "Yeah." She said, 'I'm not Louise." Â Â " Rodney …
TRUE ZEST IN TRUE WEST As my sixtieth year on earth winds down, I'd like to believe those years have seasoned me with a strong degree of wisdom, patience, and finesse. As I said, I'd like to…
WE, THE THEATRE, IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION Heidi Schreck wrote this mostly-autobiographical play and starred in it when it played on Broadway, where it was Tony-nominated for Bes…
GANESHA GRANTS GRACE IN A GLORIOUSLY GRITTY JOURNEY The Hindu religion has multiple gods. Ganesha, also called Ganesh, is revered as the god of wisdom, luck, and beginnings. His beloved spir…
THIS WILD RIDE SHOULD BE DOOLEY NOTED Francis Gercke"both the playwright and Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company's artistic director"welcomed the audience prior to the matinee. During his g…
CONTINUOUSLY ENTERTAINING What's most striking about the excellent we are continuous by Harrison David Rivers (The Bandaged Place, This Bitter Earth) is that it doesn't just break the …
GOOD GOLLY, MISS DOLLY! Under Randy Slovacek's direction for San Diego Musical Theatre, Hello, Dolly! festoons the theater with a cumulatively enchanting restoration of this infectious delig…
NEIL SIMON IN PALM SPRINGS WITH AN AGENDA Jon Robin Baitz' Broadway drama Other Desert Cities "which opens this week at Cygnet Theatre"depicts a crisis of apparent betrayal and imminent expo…
EVERYONE WILL LIKE IT HOT It wouldn't be a valid review to simply write, "I loved it!" a hundred times and ship it off to my editor. However, if you're looking for a bottom line or a simple …
IT'S WORTH WAITING UNTIL DARK Playwright Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark debuted on Broadway in 1966, set in the contemporary world of its time in Greenwich Village. Lamplighters is now…
BACK TO BACK TO THE FUTURE For those of us old enough to remember the summer of '85, when the movie Back to the Future reigned in movie theaters, here's a daunting thought: Marty's 30-year t…
YOU'LL BUY THIS HEART In my ninth-grade English class, Mr. Rozran taught that a short story, versus a novel, should aim to capture a small slice of life, leaving much of what happened before…
PICTURE IT: MIAMI, 1985, AGAIN, BUT WITH SINGING When Bea Arthur initially gave a firm "No" to participating in the 80s sit-com The Golden Girls, she nearly denied millions of soon-to-be loy…
THESE CREATURES ARE DEFINITELY STIRRING UP HOLIDAY SPIRT AT LAMPLIGHTERS Ken Ludwig's story begins with a homey Uncle Brierly (Christopher T. Miller) wanting to read to us the famous poem th…
LITTLE WOMEN WITH A BIG PRESENCE Allen Knee took on a daunting task in creating a play from Louise Mae Alcott's hefty 1868"69 two-volume novel, but he also cuts back the narrative for the mu…
A PLAY THAT RAISES THE ESCOBAR Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and corrupt politician who founded and ran the deadly MedellÃn Cartel. Known as "the king of cocain…
EVERYTHING ODD IS NEW AGAIN Before ABC-TV made 114 episodes of the 1970-1975 sit-com The Odd Couple starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugma), there was the movie starring Jack Lemmon and Walte…
TALLULAH'S BACK IN TOWN, DAHLING! "Don't touch my purse! Touching a woman's purse is like touching her vagina! Except, I can only put so much in my purse." Not quite a lady-like quote fo…
WILL YOU STILL NEED ME, WHEN I'M (LOOKING) SIXTY-FOUR? How would you live your life if you knew you were going to die of old age … in your late teens? All teens experience appearance issue…
THERE'S SOMETHING GOOD IN ROTTEN So you're a somewhat-talented duo of playwrights, living in 1595 England, with actors eager to work with you and a benefactor hiring you to produce a play. W…
THE WAY SHE WERE Envisioning a Barbra Streisand concert, one pictures $1000 seats at the Dolby for a show where every word has been discussed, rehearsed, and teleprompted. By contrast, at El…
HOT PATOOTIE, BLESS MY SOUL, I REALLY LOVE THAT ROCKY SHOW The first shock for some readers may be that there was no typo omitting the word "Picture" before "Show" in the title. Before a…
BRIDGING FAMILY DYNAMICS IN THIS CLASSIC North Coast Rep's next offering, A View from the Bridge, a landmark drama from 1955, takes on new relevance today. Opening tonight, September 11, and…
WILDE-LY FUNNY SCRIPT IN GOOD HANDS Many scripts become dated after 130 years, but thanks to Oscar Wilde's clever wit, The Importance of Being Earnest " which runs at Lamb's Players Theatre …
