CHESS (EAST WEST PLAYERS): 100% – SWEET

SWEET There’s much more to say about this vivid production, but its best left to experience yourself. There are things here and there that were different from previous productions of the show (“Someone Else’s Story” and “Pity the Child” are both moved to the first act, albeit fairly effectively) and the love story needed a [...]

LA STAGE DAY Arrives This Saturday, May 18th, 9am-5:30pm

I cannot attend as I have fatherly duties, but it looks like an interesting gathering. Here’s all the poop: Join us for LA STAGE Day — a day-long community event for the greater Los Angeles performing arts community: performers, designers, administrators, leaders, students, supporters, vendors, and patrons. Generously hosted by California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) [...]

TRUE WEST (STAGES OF GRAY): 33% – BITTER

BITTER However, I felt this project was just too ambitious for this new theater company. I want a large stage for Shepard’s plays; there exhausting and I feel you need the space between the actors and the audience. Gray tried to use too different casts one with a traditional approach and one group more edgy. [...]

RICHARD III (ZOMBIE JOE’S): 75% – BITTERSWEET

SWEET Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre, is a small black box theater but they can put on Shakespeare with the best of them. Spencer Cotter – The_Detective BITTERSWEET The basics are there, but if you aren’t familiar with the story and the relationships, it isn’t always easy to distinguish one character from another. This can be [...]

THE SIZE OF PIKE (MOVING ARTS): 100% – SWEET

SWEET Boys will be boys and men will be men, though the distinction between the two is more likely one of personal income rather than emotional maturity. Or so it is with the three middle-aged children (Dennis Delsing, Jon Amirkhan and Gregg Christie) who explore their frayed adult bonds in this engaging revival of playwright [...]

The 11 Rules for Having a Good Time at the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival

Some have referred to me as “Fringe Obsessed”. I believe that’s a new mental disorder recently added to the DSM III – or whatever they are calling it now – and to be honest I fully embrace the description. “But why?” You may ask, “Why be Fringe Obsessed, when so much of the work is [...]

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  • "The North Plan" at Elephant Stages. Credit:

    THE NORTH PLAN: 67% – BITTERSWEET

    SWEET The North Plan written by Jason Wells and directed by David Fofi presented by Elephant Theatre Company in its Los Angeles Premiere is a fast-paced, overlapping dialogue, prodigious show with wonderful performances by an astonishing cast who will have you on the edge of your seat! And the ending will have you begging for [...]

  • Top Hollywood voiceover artist Bill Ratner’s new solo show Bobbywood at the Fringe –

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOBBYWOOD: THE LONGEST DEATH SCENE a theatrical performance in the 2013 Hollywood Fringe Festival written and performed by renowned Hollywood voiceover artist Bill Ratner. • Selected BEST OF HOLLYWOOD FRINGE 2012 for Voices in my Head • Eight-time winner: The Moth Story Slams • HUFFINGTON POST: “More than just the premier voiceover talent in Hollywood today, Ratner writes with [...]

  • Zenith’s “The Devil and Billy Markham” at the Hollywood Fringe

    Zenith’s “The Devil and Billy Markham” at the Hollywood Fringe

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY, 2013 Contact: Aaron Lyons 310-902-3142 Email: aarontlyons@gmail.com ZENITH ENSEMBLE PRESENTS SHEL SILVERSTEIN’S THE DEVIL AND BILLY MARKHAM AS PART OF THE HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL – JUNE 2013 WHAT: THE DEVIL AND BILLY MARKHAM WHO: ZENITH ENSEMBLE WHERE: 3 Clubs Bar, 1123 Vine St Hollywood, CA 90038. WHEN: Sun June 9, 6:45p [...]

  • Ebony Cabaret at the Fringe

    Ebony Cabaret at the Fringe

    Desiree Parkman/DP Productions in Association with Three Clubs present Ebony Cabaret joins lineup of Hollywood Fringe Festival! “Ebony Cabaret Adds Flair to L.A. Theatre” Kelly Hawkins / News4usonline  “Perhaps the one thing that stands out most is the high- quality level of talent.” Jay Jackson/lajazz.com The minute you walk in the joint, you will be [...]

  • Finalist of the 2012 Goldberg Prize BEFORE A FALL uses premiere to benefit national organization

    Finalist of the 2012 Goldberg Prize BEFORE A FALL uses premiere to benefit national organization

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lily Mercer PHONE: 917-532-1311 EMAIL: Lilymercer30@gmail.com FINALIST FOR THE 2012 GOLDBERG PRIZE USES WORLD PREMIERE TO BENEFIT NATIONAL ORGANIZATION Los Angeles, CA. May 15, 2013 – With the recent discovery of three girls who were kidnapped and held captive in Cleveland for over a decade, the issue of child sexual abuse is even more pressing. [...]

  • Mari Marks, L.B. Zimmerman, Laura Julian in "My Mother's Keeper" at the Electric Lodge. Credit:

    MY MOTHER’S KEEPER: 100% – SWEET

    SWEET The writer, Jane Press, brings this remarkable cast of women to life in a real, funny, touching way. Tommy Lightfoot Garrett – Highlight Hollywood SWEET It is a moving, though sometimes very disturbing – yet ultimately healing – piece of work. Shari Barrett – BroadwayWorld SWEET The dialogue is engaging, amusing and at times [...]

  • Jeff Skowron, left, and cast in 3-D Theatrical's "Parade" at Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton. Credit: Isaac James.

    PARADE (3-D THEATRICALS): 100% – SWEET

    SWEET The company 3-D Theatricals attains a rarefied level of artistry with this arresting, beautifully appointed take on Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry’s Tony-winning 1998 account of the notorious Leo Frank trial in 1913 Atlanta. David C. Nichols – LA Times SWEET At any rate, T. J. Dawson’s staging of Parade overcomes the boxy [...]

  • "Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake) at Theatre 68. Credit: Company.

    CRUMBLE (LAY ME DOWN JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE) (THEATRE 68): 92% – SWEET

    BITTERSWEET ‘Twas a shame such a marvelous canvas wasn’t utilized by stronger performances. G.S. Morales – LA Theater Critic SWEET Strip the play of all its craziness and universal struggles emerges that everyone deals with: death and discovering what it means to love. At the end of the day, Crumble is a coming-of-age story about [...]

  • Stephanie Zimbalist, Teri Ralston and Joanna Strapp in "Steel Magnolias" at the Laguna Playhouse. Credit: Steve Roiges, for The Register.

    STEEL MAGNOLIAS (LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE): 100% – SWEET

    SWEET The cast absolutely radiates a core of true “giving” & “forgiving” beneath a delightfully teasing and tough-skinned script. Joseph Sirota – Laguna Beach Patch SWEET At the Laguna Playhouse, a solid cast distinguished by a couple of talented veterans delivers a well-crafted version of Robert Harling’s 1987 play, which was made famous two years [...]

  • WHICH WAY IS OUT?

    WHICH WAY IS OUT?

    WHICH WAY IS OUT? May 3 – May 26, 2013 Fri. & Sat. 8PM and Sun.3PM PREMIERE OPENING OF MULTI-AWARD WINNING PLAYWRIGHT & DIRECTOR Written by Basil Dawkins Directed by Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter A visiting caucasian tourist to Jamaica meets, falls in love, and marries a young Jamaican girl. After much trials and tribulations with immigration [...]

  • The Monday Moment

    The Monday Moment

    Wow. Musical Theater in space, if you will. This is a music video version – the first ever recorded in space apparently – of Bowie’s “Space Oddity” performed live in the international space station by Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield. It’s a bit precious here and there, but mostly it’s quite spectacular and oddly moving. [...]

  • WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (MORGAN-WIXSON): 67% – BITTERSWEET

    WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (MORGAN-WIXSON): 67% – BITTERSWEET

    BITTER Problems plaguing the above cast members include overplaying, underplaying, mugging for laughs rather than allowing the laughs to come from the script, inserting unfunny physical shtick not in Orton’s script, and/or insufficient command of lines. Not everyone is ideally cast. All could have done much better with a firmer, surer, clearer directorial hand. Steven [...]

  • Hollywood Fringe Fest Launches New App

    Hollywood Fringe Fest Launches New App

    And I’ve had the privilege of being allowed to play with it for the last couple of weeks before your schmos have even had a chance to get a sniff! So there. Here’s the official announcement from the Fringe Folk: The Hollywood Fringe announced the launch of a new festival app today meant to “enhance [...]

  • REAL MEN SING SHOW TUNES…AND PLAY WITH PUPPETS: 100% – SWEET

    REAL MEN SING SHOW TUNES…AND PLAY WITH PUPPETS: 100% – SWEET

    SWEET Like Avenue Q before it, Real Men Sing Show Tunes…and play with puppets proves that you can get away with just about everything (and keep even your oldest and most conservative matinee subscriber rolling in the aisles) if you do it with puppets. Looks like co-creators Louis and Santa Maria have a franchise on [...]

  • Audition for OUR TOWN 75th Anniversary Production

    OUR TOWN 75th Anniversary Production featuring traditional American music Non-Union Theatre Producer: PASSCAL (Performing Arts Society of Southern California) in Association with All Seasons Theatre Company Director: Patrick Riviere Casting Director: Jonathan Kupper Interview Date(s): 6/7 (beginning at 6:30PM) and 6/8 (beginning at 2PM) Callback Date(s): 6/9 after 5pm Shoot/Start Date: Rehearsals begin o/a 6/12 – opens 8/2 Location: [...]

  • STAGE PLAY: BLACK ANGELS OVER TUSKEGEE

    Black Angels Over Tuskegee: A Drama of Patriotism and CourageCelebrate the 72nd Anniversary of the Tuskegee Airmen at the Wilshire Ebell. Who: The Layon Gray Experience,LLC presents What:Black Angels Over Tuskegee, an enlightening historic and educational production that chronicles the stories of the Tuskegee Airmen, the black World War II fighter pilots who successfully broke [...]

  • New Thriller-Comedy “ATTACK OF THE ROTTING CORPSES!” opens @ Zombie Joe’s

    New Thriller-Comedy “ATTACK OF THE ROTTING CORPSES!” opens @ Zombie Joe’s

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 Reservations: 818-202-4120 www.ZombieJoes.com {ATTACK OF THE ROTTING CORPSES! Zombie Joe’s disgusting new thriller-comedy about a condo complex in the San Fernando Valley, whose water supply becomes contaminated with a dangerous microbe, transforming the residents (and their pets) into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies. [...]

  • The Other F Word World Premiere at the Hollywood Fringe

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kate Gregory e: Kate@CrookedHeartTheater.org THE OTHER F WORD TO WORLD PREMIERE AT HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL (LOS ANGELES, CA)—(April 2, 2013)—Crooked Heart Theater announced today that its new play The Other F Word will have its world premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June. “The Other F Word is a play [...]

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