Nonprofit theaters are attracting more donors, but audiences keep shrinking, report says by Mike Boehm

A survey of nonprofit theaters nationwide shows that they've upped their game since the Great Recession when it comes to attracting donors and earning money, but that their audiences have co…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:25am on November 5, 2015☆⚑

'Hopscotch,' the opera performed in cars, extends its sold-out L.A. run by Jessica Gelt

"Hopscotch," a mobile opera performed by the experimental company the Industry in 24 cars driving the streets of Los Angeles, is extending its sold-out run. The show, which takes place in ca…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 1:02pm on November 4, 2015☆⚑

Ira Glass' 'Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host' makes a whimsical mix by Steve Johnson

If writing about music is, as the saying goes, like dancing about architecture, then what is dancing about radio? Discover the answer when Ira Glass brings an unlikely dance-radio storytelli…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 9:08am on November 4, 2015☆⚑

LA Stage Alliance picks longtime theater critic Steven Leigh Morris as executive director by Mike Boehm

After more than 25 years of telling the world what he thinks of Los Angeles theater as a reviewer and essayist -- with the mandate to provoke that comes with that territory -- Steven Leigh M…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 6:02am on November 4, 2015☆⚑

With L.A. Opera's 'Moby-Dick,' call it a success by Mark Swed

On the cover of its July issue, Opera News dubbed Jake Heggie "U.S. opera's most successful composer." It was an odd pronouncement for the in-house publication of the Metropolitan Opera Guil…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:30pm on November 2, 2015☆⚑

'Breaking Through' falls into cliched musical traps at Pasadena Playhouse by Charles McNulty

An appealing cast and some gorgeous singing enliven "Breaking Through," a new musical about an old subject " the music industry's uncanny knack for destroying the talent it packages for flee…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:30pm on November 2, 2015☆⚑

'Hamilton's' revolutionary power is in its hip-hop musical numbers by Charles McNulty

"Hamilton," which began off-Broadway at the Public Theater and is now happily ensconced at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre, where tickets are fetching a Russian oligarch's ransom, is the …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 9:28am on October 31, 2015☆⚑

Beware those closing elevator doors in 'Caged' at Theatre Banshee by David C. Nichols

Anyone who has ever wondered about being stuck in an elevator might be intrigued by "Caged" at Theatre Banshee, a guest offering by Mean Machine Productions and Georganne Aldrich Heller. Der…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 8:44am on October 30, 2015☆⚑

There's little insight into the literary sparring partners 'Scott and Hem' by Philip Brandes

Wikitheatre (wik-i-thee-¿-ter) is a newly-coined term for a subgenre of stage docudrama, characterized by slender fictional narrative and dialogue threading various quotes and biographica…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 8:44am on October 30, 2015☆⚑

Bolshoi Ballet names new director to replace Sergei Filin, injured in acid attack by Jessica Gelt

Makhar Vaziev will replace Sergei Filin as the ballet director of the Bolshoi Ballet early next year, the Bolshoi Theater announced Monday. Filin, who suffered severe eye injuries and imp…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 9:55pm on October 26, 2015☆⚑

Supervisor Michael Antonovich: Music Center should turn over records held back from audit by Mike Boehm

The Music Center's refusal to fully open its books to Los Angeles County auditors isn't sitting well with Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who is calling for the downtown performing arts cente…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 9:29am on October 23, 2015☆⚑

This 'All My Sons' needs more of life's messiness and heart by Philip Brandes

A signature unease with the facile promises of the American Dream " and its inherent moral contractions " runs through the plays of Arthur Miller. Where Miller's iconic salesman Willy …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 7:58am on October 23, 2015☆⚑

Antaeus Company's 'Uncle Vanya' is a sharp execution of midlife drift by Margaret Gray

As a child, I couldn't understand why anybody would attend a production of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya"; surely not even the most pretentious adult would choose to watch gloomy Russians with inte…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 5:42pm on October 22, 2015☆⚑

'A Ballerina's Tale' documentary raises profile of ABT's Misty Copeland by Susan King

Misty Copeland seems to be everywhere these days. After 15 years with the American Ballet Theatre, the 33-year-old San Pedro-raised Copeland was promoted from soloist to principal dancer in …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 7:10pm on October 21, 2015☆⚑

Placido Domingo recovering 'satisfactorily' from surgery by David Ng

Plácido Domingo is recovering from surgery to remove his gallbladder and is expected to leave the hospital soon, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The spokeswoman said that the "surgery we…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 8:10am on October 21, 2015☆⚑

'Kansas City Choir Boy,' with Courtney Love, is more staged concert than a musical by Charles McNulty

Courtney Love wears her ghostliness with a rock star's swagger. When she enters the playing area that has been set up at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, where "Kansas City Choir Boy" opened Sunday…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:50am on October 20, 2015☆⚑

Actors in Los Angeles file lawsuit against Actors' Equity over wage hike by David Ng

A small group of actors and theater professionals in Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against Actors' Equity Assn. seeking to reverse the union's new 99-seat theater plan, enacted in…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 5:34pm on October 19, 2015☆⚑

Essential Arts and Culture: The critic's life, vintage plays and vintage couples

I'm Kelly Scott, arts and culture editor of the L.A. Times, back home from trips to New York (yes, I did see "Hamilton," and yes, it's as good as you've heard) and the Central Coast, which i…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:40am on October 18, 2015☆⚑

Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal, 45 years later: 'Love Letters' loaded with nostalgia by Margaret Gray

You could counterfeit money, risking jail time, or you could cast the stars of one of the most profitable romances in movie history and hit the road with a perennially popular stage show. Th…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:50pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑

Geffen Playhouse's 'Guards at the Taj' has elements of 'Godot' and gallows humor by Charles McNulty

Rajiv Joseph, the boldly adventurous author of "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo," begins "Guards at the Taj" on a Beckettian note. The play, which opened Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse's …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:50pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑

Twyla Tharp's 50th anniversary program, while graceful, becomes predictable by Lewis Segal

Twyla Tharp once choreographed different recordings of Frank Sinatra singing "My Way" in the same piece. That double dose of self-aggrandizement should have prepared us for her 50th annivers…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:09pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑

Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks wins $300,000 Gish Prize by Mike Boehm

Suzan-Lori Parks has reason to feel like a million dollars: On Wednesday she will be announced as the winner of the $300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, organizers said, raising her tota…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:09pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑

Academy Museum gets $5-million gift from the late Shirley Temple Black's family by David Ng

The late Shirley Temple Black and her family are giving money and memorabilia totaling more than $5 million to the planned Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, leaders announced…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:09pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑

Yo-Yo Ma plays himself on 'The Simpsons' -- and performs theme song by David Ng

"The Simpsons" on Fox doesn't often feature cameo appearances by classical musicians. One of the most recent examples was eight years ago when tenor Plácido Domingo snapped a towel …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:09pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑

Placido Domingo hospitalized, will have gallbladder surgery by David Ng

Placido Domingo was admitted to a New York hospital late Tuesday after experiencing intense pain and is scheduled to undergo surgery to remove his gallbladder early next week, his spokeswoma…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:09pm on October 15, 2015☆⚑