Bachanalia Pianist Orli Shaham and members of Pacific Symphony offer a program that includes the world premiere of David Robertson's arrangement for piano and string quartet of Bach's Goldbe…
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 Blues in the Night Musical revue…
The U.S. premiere of "What If They Went to Moscow?" at REDCAT merges live performance and filmmaking, reworking of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, "Three Sisters," into an astonishing multimedi…
In the face of moral ambiguity, what does integrity look like? This week, promising shows from the intimate theater scene include a hip-hop-infused drama with a Black Lives Matter story line…
Weekend picks for the final weekend of February include Christiane Jatahy's theater-meets-film work titles "What if They Went to Moscow?" and David Lang's one-man opera, "The Loser," both in…
The black cat with the rhinestone collar. The hand-walking clown. The petunia that dances and sings. These beloved characters and 2,000 other puppets handcrafted by marionette mastermind Bob…
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 The Obsession of Calvin Klein Ry…
"Born to Win," a riotous farce set in the dog-eat-dog world of child beauty pageants, and "The Joy Wheel" a broadly humorous take on a marriage in crisis, lead offerings from L.A.'s small-th…
The new stage musical inspired by the life of Michael Jackson has hit a snag on its way to Broadway amid renewed scrutiny of the pop star's legacy. Three weeks ago, the Michael Jackson estat…
In the darkly comic play "Linda Vista" at the Mark Taper Forum, three lead actors get naked. Not semi-naked, but totally naked. And not to take a bath or get dressed, but in service of some …
Nudity in "Linda Vista" at the Mark Taper Forum is so abundant, actors can hear the audience gasp when it begins. Lead actresses Cora Chantal Thuy and Cora Vander Broek, director Dexter Bull…
As Pasadena Playhouse revives "Ragtime," the theater's leader wonders whether he'll receive letters from viewers who believe the piece has been altered. The 1996 show is based on E.L. Doctor…
With a gorgeous staging and glorious singing, the musical based on the E.L. Doctorow novel captures the momentous turn of the 20th century " the song of a nation stepping toward its future.
"Ragtime: The Musical," based on E.L. Doctorow's sweeping historical novel, swings for the narrative fences. The saga of three sets of characters at the turn of what would come to be known a…
Anna Moench's "Man of God," having its world premiere, centers on young Korean Americans on a religious mission to Bangkok, their pastor and a discovery that upends their world.
Every good comedy has a human engine, and in Anna Moench's funny, creepy and unflinchingly observed "Man of God," that engine is Mimi, played with powder-keg force by Sandy Nguyen. Mimi is o…
Capsule reviews are by Philip Brandes (P.B.), F. Kathleen Foley (F.K.F.) and Daryl H. Miller (D.H.M.). Openings Antony & Cleopatra Harry Hamlin and Joely Fisher star in a staged reading of S…
William Faulkner wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past" " which rings particularly true in the theater, where plays remind us of lost joy, exorcise pesky ghosts, heal wounds, so…
Mark Murphy will step down as executive director of REDCAT at the end of the season, the organization said Tuesday, leaving a key vacancy at one of downtown L.A.'s primary homes for boundary…
As part of its politically incisive season, Tim Robbins' company takes on the Nobel Prize winner's wild play about corrupt authority, "Accidental Death oh an Anarchist."
Opportunities to see high-caliber productions of the work of Dario Fo " the Italian clown, political radical and Nobel laureate who died in 2016 " don't come around all that often. My one go…
If you love pop-driven R&B, singer-songwriter John Legend will headline opening night of the Hollywood Bowl's 2019 season. Fan of Hugh Jackman's boisterous brand of musical theater? The Tony…
Capsule reviews are by Philip Brandes (P.B.) and Daryl H. Miller (D.H.M.). Openings All About Valentina The L.A. native, drag artist and "RuPaul's Drag Race" regular sings, lip-syncs, dances…
The national tour of director Jerry Zaks' exuberantly received revival of "Hello, Dolly!" has finally reached the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. And though it brings us neither Bette Midler, wh…
The celebrated company turns "Negro Folklore From Texas State Prisons" into a stereophonic seance linking generations of African American experience.