Ah, "Madama Butterfly," Puccini's classic operatic tale about a Japanese geisha and an American Navy lieutenant who meet in Nagasaki and fall in love as they sing to each other "" in Italian…
Early on in the London stage production of "All About Eve," Gillian Anderson's Margo Channing removes her stage makeup in a bright dressing room mirror. As she swipes away the layers, Anders…
When does 28 equal 12? Or 41 equal 8? And how is it even possible that 22, 25 and 35 could all equal 11? The answer: When you are casting grown-ups to play kids onstage. Sure, boys will stil…
Disney's "The Little Mermaid" live concert is set to return to the Hollywood Bowl next month just in time for the film's 30th anniversary, with Lea Michele as golden-voiced mermaid Ariel, Ch…
Actor and playwright Heidi Schreck, former high school oratorical champion, brings her one woman show, "What the Constitution Means to Me," to Broadway at a time when her old championship to…
When actor and writer Heidi Schreck was a high school student in Wenatchee, Wash., she was racking up college tuition money by giving speeches on the majesty of the Constitution in contests …
La Virgen de Guadalupe " an apparition of the Virgin Mary " is an icon of the Catholic faith, the patron saint of Mexico and a symbol of Mexican independence venerated throughout the America…
Many are likely to misconstrue Stephanie Alison Walker's new play "Friends With Guns" as a forceful defense of gun ownership. They couldn't be more wrong. Second Amendment issues are periphe…
It is dawn on Sunday morning and a sliver of blue light has begun to emerge from behind the Chocolate Mountains, illuminating the steely waters of the Salton Sea. Several dozen people, in an…
Imagine you're holding a bar of Wonka's Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight. The name alone promises deliciousness inside. A name's a powerful thing, especially if it has delivered satis…
Even the grandest stories, full of epic adventures, are built of everyday experiences. Mary Zimmerman creates theater magic in much the same way, bringing the world's foundational tales aliv…
Community is at the heart of several plays on the 99-Seat Beat, our weekly look at Los Angeles' stages. Folks support one another through daily challenges in 1968 Boyle Heights, work shoulde…
Rita Moreno is going from EGOT to "PEGOT." The 87-year-old actress, singer and dancer is adding a Peabody Award to her long list of accolades. She's this year's recipient of the storytelling…
Get ready to meet the new Marian the Librarian. Sutton Foster is joining the Broadway revival of "The Music Man," producer Scott Rudin announced on Monday. After a six-year absence from the …
It's a Shakespeare production with an occasional interlude, a jingle performed to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." The nursery rhyme is what the Los Angeles Drama Club's young theater s…
The bottled-up fury of female caregivers grows to seismic proportions in "Marys Seacole," Jackie Sibblies Drury's new play that combines strands of theatrical DNA from Adrienne Kennedy and C…
At a time when the politics of identity has become a central subject of theatrical inquiry, it's only fitting that African American dramatists have been leading the charge. With their diverg…
In 2007, Los Angeles Opera launched an outreach project that has turned into an annual tradition: The company took over the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and staged Britten's "Noah's F…
Some day, female choreographers will get their due. And eventually a program of dances made exclusively by women will cease to be an anomaly. Until then, here's a warm nod to Ballet Hispá…
The Sleeping Beauty Festival Ballet Theatre offers a full-length, family-friendly staging of the Tchaikovsky classic. Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Sun., 2 p.m. $42-$55.…
Capsule reviews are by Charles McNulty (C.M.), Philip Brandes (P.B.), F. Kathleen Foley (F.K.F.), Margaret Gray (M.G.) and Daryl H. Miller (D.H.M.). Openings Carney Magic Magic and comedy wi…
If you've ever had the dizzying feeling you're watching the world through the twisted reflection of a fun-house mirror, you're already familiar with the central metaphor of "Fuddy Meers," no…
"Hype Man," the third in Idris Goodwin's series of hip-hop "break beat" plays, is an audacious choice for the Fountain Theatre. Let's face it, most stage audiences do not appear to be of the…
Perseverance in the face of adversity is a common theme this week on "The 99-Seat Beat," our selections from L.A.'s theater scene. The human spirit endures, whether in the mythic quests of a…
Times critic Charles McNulty lays out the most promising theater for spring, including Wiest in Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days," Hnath's "Dana H.," Vardalos in "Tiny Beautiful Things" and the …