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, …
THE SAME OLD RHYME I herewith invite you to check out The Troubies (especially those who may call yourselves Newbies). Though their antics are puerile You'll smile for a while With this asso…
MARK ME DOWN AS MILD ABOUT HARRY What's a critic to do when he desperately wishes to support Los Angeles theatre, but also desires to hold theatre to a higher level? During the intermission …
I'M IN THE NUDE FOR LOVE The main reason that the Groundlings company remains L.A.'s number one improv training and performance space is their emphasis on character work. When actors come to…
THANKS FOR THE MEMOIRS If there were an award for "The Best Idea for a Theatrical Entertainment," the winner surely would be Celebrity Autobiography, in which celebrities read the actual mem…
LOW PLATELETS In his vision of a new translation of Frederico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding, director Jon Lawrence Rivera offers a diverse cast and updates the original 1933 setting in Spain …
A TERRIFIC STORY AND EVEN BETTER MAGIC SHOW; BUT THE TRICK IS BEING ABLE TO SEE IT Suave and debonair Guy Hollingworth is not only a full-time British barrister (specializing in intellectual…
WHEN GOOD ENOUGH IS NOT ENOUGH The Los Angeles Times needs to be a player on the world stage and therefore assigns Critic-at-Large Charles McNulty to review plays in NYC and London. While th…
HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEWS 2011 [Editor's Note:Â Our either amazing or insane (you decide) theater correspondent Tony Frankel saw what is believed to be in the area of 40 Fringe sh…
THEY'VE GOT MAGIC TO DO It simply cannot be avoided: with Fun Family Festival of Tragedy, L'Enfant Terrible, a startlingly brilliant new theatre company, is poised and ready to take over the…
YOU WILL LIKE IT VERY MUCH INDEED Credit adapter and director Tony Tanner for As You Like It " The Musical; he freely adapted Shakespeare's Forest of Arden comedy into a text that contains t…