125 stories by "Terry Morgan"
I'm combining two reviews in one article this week, one unique solo show at the Pasadena Playhouse and a sequel to a popular play at East West Players. These productions are not connected in…
What is real? Perhaps more than any time in human history, there is more of an ability to realistically fake anything. Worse, there are any number of people actively trying to use those tech…
"Only connect," wrote E. M. Forster in his 1910 novel, Howards End, an epigraph encouraging the merging of the mind and the heart so as to live a fuller life. That doesn't mean it's easy to …
When one reads the title The Night of the Iguana, one hopes that it will be one of those Fifties flicks about radiation creating a giant iguana terrorizing hapless humans. But, alas, it is n…
 As I trust you all know, back in 1743 an Italian playwright named Carlo Goldoni wrote a play in the commedia dell'arte style called The Servant of Two Masters. It probably swept the Ita…
Gone are the days of yore when sex farces frolicked across the theatrical landscape like so many smarmy bunnies, slamming doors and likely featuring partial nudity, if one lived in a part of…
I've been reviewing theatre for twenty-eight years and writing criticism for thirty-five years in total. Early on I came up with what I think of as "the Critic's Prayer," which is: "Dear God…
One of the most important things that art does is to put a spotlight on or explore topics that would otherwise not get the public notice that they deserve. The primary beauty of art is the o…
Patrick Hamilton's 1938 play, Gaslight, is the only theatrical title I can think of that later became a verb, and moreover one that's still in use today. The show was a success, running as A…
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In my most recent review on this site, I discussed my general wariness about imposing new directorial takes or twists on Shakespeare works. Once in a rare while, these changes can illum…
I usually am somewhat wary of "new takes" or "twists" on classic plays, with cause. Changing the time period of a story or modernizing the text is no guarantee that the play will be any fres…
Sometimes, although not commonly, sheer visual spectacle without significant content is enough to qualify a play as a success. A lot of critics recently have been opining this about the Harr…
There's a line in Tom Jacobson's new play, Tasty Little Rabbit, which reads, "Today's blasphemy is tomorrow's orthodoxy." Five words, but they're imbued with so much historical truth. Almost…
Morgan's Rule #1 about theater reads thusly: When a play doesn't work, ninety-five percent of the time it's due to the writing. Sure, sometimes an actor doesn't quite connect with a part, or…
As a Literature major in my distant past, I have a shameful confession to make " I've never read Jane Eyre. I've read Ulysses and Absalom, Absalom, Toni Morrison and Annie Proulx, but never …
Bat Boy: The Musical premiered in 1997 here in Los Angeles at the Actors' Gang Theatre, then went on to the West End and Off-Broadway, garnering awards and making the world somewhat safer f…
Well, it took nine years, but the Harry Potter play has finally arrived in Los Angeles. I knew it would possibly be a while before it got here after premiering in London in 2016, but I didn'…
Antaeus Theatre Company has an excellent and longstanding reputation for being expert with classical theater work, from Ibsen to Pinter, with a particular affinity for Shakespeare. As best a…
Amidst the current blitzkrieg of corruption currently happening from the new presidential administration in this country, it's difficult to gather focus to write a theater review. I mean, it…
I have said before in these pages that I think Steve Yockey is one of the most original playwrights currently working. His combination of dark humor, oddball subject matter (ghosts, demons, …
It's late December, when the events of the year are summed up and judged by the media, and why should I withhold praise? Every year has amazing theater in Los Angeles " sometimes a bit more,…
Photo credit is Ashley Erikson.
Ah, it's that time of year again, when the holiday lights go up, the temperature dips to the perilous lows of seventy-five degrees and children everywhere…
One thing that sadly doesn't seem like it's about to change in America anytime soon is the country's love of guns. Whether it's the byproduct of decades of fearmongering politicians and Fox …
One of the things I most admire about the work of Stephen Sondheim is that he actively tried new things within the musical format. He certainly set himself technical challenges, such as tell…
Although new plays can be exciting and are crucial to the continuing vitality of theatre, I'm especially fond of older works, the more obscure the better. It's cheap time travel, immersing o…
