ONE FROGGY EVENING Once again, Musical Theatre Guild (MTG), a company of professional performers who present concert-staged readings, has produced a stellar offering of a rarely-seen musical…
SIXTY MILES TO NOWHERE The setting for Dan LeFranc's Sixty Miles to Silverlake is the front seat of a car. Ky (Sean Bolger) has picked up his son Denny (Ethan Dubin) from a soccer game, as h…
A REFRESHING RAIN When reviving an oft-produced play like N. Richard Nash's The Rainmaker, the hope is that the director will somehow put a new spin on the production so that the piece doesn…
FEELING A LITTLE BLUE In 1992, a friend insisted that we see Blue Man Group: Tubes at the tiny, cramped Astor Place Theatre in New York City. At the time, people were calling it a new genera…
THERE'S MUCH TO DESIRE One of the most truly inspiring films of the last year was Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, not just for its devotion to Joffrey's legacy, but because the docu…
GET THEE TO BEING SHAKESPEARE There's simply no other way to encourage your attendance to Being Shakespeare than to submit my unequivocal good word. Those who fret at comprehending Shakespea…
AS GOOD AS IT GETS In his extraordinary production of Good People at the Geffen, director Matt Shakman has validated the necessary ingredients of a great show: First: Storytelling. In descri…
THE IMPORTANCE OF A BIG BROTHER When you hear of Billy Elliot being a phenomenal world-wide success, it is almost shocking that the popular musical (music by Elton John, book and lyrics by L…
AWAKENING TO THE FACT THAT IT’S A POORLY-WRITTEN MUSICAL I feel sorry for the cast and crew of Over the Moon Productions (OTM). The hard-working Broadway-caliber talent in Spring Awake…
KILLER HUNK, KILLER SET, AND KILLER STORY MAKE UP FOR BLOODLESS PERFORMANCES As evidenced by his astoundingly beautiful production of Ira Levin's 1978 comedy-thriller Deathtrap, Jon Imperato…
THE DISNEYFICATION OF LINCOLN’S DEATH In many ways, Hershey Felder is a theater machine. In his four previous self-crafted one-man shows, the earnest and multi-talented actor/pianist/c…
A CHARMING MUSICAL WITHOUT A VIEW Theatre lore maintains that creating a successful new musical for the stage is more difficult and trying than creating peace in the Middle East. Noticing th…
SOMEHOW, IT KEEPS ON WORKING For those who have never seen the 1978 musical Working, the Production Company's current revival may be somewhat of a revelation. The subtitle of Studs Terkel's …
ODD CASTING CHOICE NEARLY SINKS SHOW There is a perplexing and ultimately infuriating casting choice in the Old Globe's production of Anna Christie that nearly sinks Eugene O'Neill's 1921 ta…
OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE While Theatre Unleashed's cast and crew have a gloriously and unashamedly good time bringing The Spidey Project to the West Coast, it's a shame that their sour…
AMERICAN NIGHT SUCKS, BUT IT SWALLOWS Juan José, a Mexican cop sick of being on-the-take, has crossed the border in search of citizenship, leaving his pregnant wife behind. Panicking over f…
HATE THE MUSICAL, BUT LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THE PRODUCTION Whether you love or hate the musical version of The Color Purple, no one, and I mean no one, can or will deny that this is one of the fi…
ALVIN AILEY " REMEMBER HIS NAME AIDS wreaked havoc on the theater world in all of its incarnations, and the crushing effects of its devastation remain with us today. So many ingenious cre…
THREE YEAR SWIM CLUB SWIMS UP STREAM Ever since mankind began telling tales, the "overcoming adversity" story has remained ever-popular. From cave wall pictures depicting a hunter's prowess …
A BLUEPRINT FOR ACTIVISM The Occupy Wall Street movement would do well to take a tip from the longest running show in Chicago, Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (TML). The event may tak…
TO STAGE AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM Now in its 60th season, Musical Theatre West (MTW)Â is currently reviving Man of La Mancha with the astronomical performance of Davis Gaines as its driving for…
3-D THEATRICALS MAKES QUITE A SOUND The 70MM, Panavision aerial shot of Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and entourage trekking over the border into Switzerland in The Sound of Music (1965…
PLAYWRIGHT AWARENESS With three produced plays under her belt, Annie Baker is quickly becoming THE playwright to watch in the American Theatrical landscape. Her first play, Body Awareness (o…
THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD 18 year-old Jesus of Nazareth has heard some distressing news from his sucky carpenter of a father, so he bails Galilee with his whiny, Girl, Interrupted-like f…
MIST OPPORTUNITY I was troubled after the opening of the West Coast Premiere of Chicago playwright Keith Huff's A Steady Rain at Marin Theatre Company. I couldn't shake the feeling that this…