TWO PLAYS IN ONE What is the purpose of theater? Some say that it is to reflect reality while being entertaining, enlightening, and/or educating. Yet when Shakespeare wrote that theatre is d…
THE SHADOW OF A GREAT PLAY The birth of the Irish Republic occurred around Dublin in 1916. Aiming to end British rule, Irish Volunteers staged an insurrection known as the Easter Rising, a r…
WHO IS TO SAY WHAT IS REAL? Tom Stoppard is the thinking person's playwright. Ever since his breakout hit Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in 1967, the erudite scribe has been earmarked…
WHAT WE FIND IN THE ATTIC IS A CASE OF THE CUTES It was a privilege to witness Snapshots: A Musical Scrapbook at Northlight Theatre, for this reviewer has never seen anything like it before.…
LITERATURE NOT MEANT TO BE STAGED Halfway through the first act of Brand at Red Tape theatre, it occurred to me that I had no idea what was going on. First of all, it can be argued that Henr…
THIS MUSICAL IS MURDER Dear Drury Lane Theatre: Since your production of Sweeney Todd is closing this week, please allow me to write a love letter to you for giving me the privilege of witne…
A PALE SHADE OF RED The closing stage picture in John Logan's 2010 Tony-winning Red at the Goodman is about as thrilling and breathtaking as theatre gets: as Abstract Expressionist painter M…
FORGIVE AND FORGET The Amish people of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania taught the world a sobering lesson in 2006 when they instantly forgave the man who murdered five girls in their one-room sch…
GHOST LIGHT LEAVES US IN THE DARK Assassin Dan White ensured Harvey Milk's legacy when he shot the openly gay San Francisco politician. The gay community continues to hold Milk as a martyr t…
LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST, FOUND, LOST, LOST, AND FOUND I'm not so sure that this William Shakespeare has a future as a playwright. Oh, the man can write, but his newest play, Love's Labor's Lost …
GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST Banners of slain leaders in world history, made to look as though they were hastily and inexpensively painted, chillingly greet us at the entrance to the New Theatre at …
AMBIGUITY WITH PURPOSE If you read the spiritual/psychotherapeutic tome A Course In Miracles, it states that miracles occur as a result of a shift in perception; that meaning lies not in the…
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY We learn very little about the history of the African Company (the world's first known African-American theater company) and even less about Richard III in The African C…
DROOPING MAGNOLIAS One of six female denizens at a rural beauty salon in Louisiana states that, from the Southern male's point of view, "You either shoot it, stuff it or marry it." Well, tha…
AN UGLY DUCKLING OF A MUSICAL In Stephen Schwartz' musical My Fairytale, now receiving its American premiere at PCPA in Solvang, well-known storyteller Hans Christian Anderson has an idea fo…
THE ONLY THING THAT MAY NEED A CHANGE IS THE TITLE We hear that that the only thing constant is change, yet we struggle against change, we fight against change, and some are even willing to …
AN OUNCE OF MISSTEPS IS WORTH THIS POUND OF FLESH Before you run off to see The Porters of Hellsgate production of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice " and I surely hope that you d…
THANKS FOR THE MEMORY Occasionally, I attend theater with no intention of reviewing a show, but afterwards my spirit is so refreshed by an uplifting and inspiring experience that an urgent p…
I HAD A GAY OLD TIME A letter to Sandra Bernhard: Dear Sandy: Oh my God, it thrilled me to no end when I was assigned to review your latest show at REDCAT: Sandra Bernhard: I Love Being Me, …
NO TROUBLE HERE Although the run of Pacific Opera Project's Trouble in Tahiti was two days long, I had to check out this new company whose mission it is to use local talent and bring afforda…
DOG GONE Having immersed myself in forty Fringe shows this year, I have become highly suspect of those shows that bounce from Fringe to Fringe across the land, cross-promoting like oversexed…
WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT? At the top of Melissa James Gibson's This, five urbanite thirty-somethings take part in an innocent parlor game that inadvertently goes awry for one of them: an unsusp…
NEVER FORGET Writer/performer Tom Dugan's solo show Nazi Hunter " Simon Wiesenthal capitalizes on the strengths of the famous Nazi hunter " his resilience, tenacity and humor " but largely o…
THE FANTASY FIZZLES Since 1933, Pageant of the Masters has been a Southern California must-see for tourists and locals alike. The professionalism with which they stage tableaux vivants (l…
A LIBERTY BELL OF A SHOW STILL RINGS TRUE Strength. Courage. Character. Fortitude. These are traits that have inspired Americans, both in our leaders and in folklore. The 1968 musical 1776, …