All Entries in the "LemonMeter" Category
HURACLOWN: 100% – SWEET
SWEET It isn’t all smiles: There are a couple of interludes where a dark melancholy sets in, and this otherwise cheerful clown turns pitifully sad. But for the most part it’s old-school clowning without techno frills, and with plenty of laughs for all ages. Lovell Estell III – LA Weekly SWEET A philosopher once observed [...]
FALLING FOR MAKE BELIEVE: 92% – SWEET
SWEET Director Jim Fall and Musical Director Keith Harrison bring unexpected magic to the already magical—a neat trick. Samuel Bernstein – Stage and Cinema SWEET Falling for Make Believe rejects “falling for” the usual “make believe” that has permeated such previous dramatizations of the life of lyricist Hart as the 1948 Hollywood movie Words and [...]
RAISE ME UP (SANTA MONICA PLAYHOUSE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Raise Me Up is directed by Chris DeCarlo. A cast of extremely fine actors bring so much life into the characters. Dialects are absolutely perfect. Costumes by Ashley Hayes are wonderful as they always are in all productions at the Santa Monica Playhouse. Visca has written a wonderful tribute to her parents, and the [...]
PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS: 97% – SWEET
SWEET Most of the seven actors play multiple roles. They are all gifted with physical agility, grace, and easily switch between different realities and characters. As important is their ability to communicate wonder and joy believably — particularly as adults playing children — and the cast at the Blank Theatre is more than up to [...]
PROOF (WHITMORE-ECLECTIC): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Aliah Whitmore imbues Claire with just the right blend of sisterly concern and frustration with the ever-pendulant, combative Catherine. Whitmore also doubles as director, directing her two leads to perform their lengthy speeches with high intensity and volume. Gil Kaan – Culture Spot LA SWEET This is an excellent all-around effort, serving author David [...]
GOD’S MAN IN TEXAS (SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE): 67% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Though I can’t help wishing that Rambo had pruned down the Act One sermonizing that this particular reviewer found so alienating, God’s Man In Texas turns out to be quite a play, and one well worth driving over to picturesque Sierra Madre to experience. Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA BITTER Director Nancy Youngblut’s staging employs [...]
HABITAT: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER The five-member ensemble, under Jose Luis Valenzuela’s often awkward staging, work hard at establishing character veracity but are defeated by meandering, often needlessly overwrought dialogue that does not ring true. Julio Martinez – ArtsInLA BITTERSWEET It’s an ambitious approach, and the second act labors under the effort, straining too hard to provoke empathy and [...]
SOMEONE WHO’LL WATCH OVER ME (GROUP REP): 93% – SWEET
SWEET Director Gregg T. Daniel brilliantly conveys the energy and black humor that keeps the men alive, and Gary Lee Reed (Set); Kim Smith (Lighting); Steve Shaw (Sound) and Elizabeth Nankin (costumes) capture the desolation. Morna Murphy Martell – Theatre Spoken Here SWEET A must see for all L.A. theater enthusiasts! This spellbinding and intensely [...]
THE PARISIAN WOMAN (SOUTH COAST REP): 85% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET The result, at least in this entertaining if ultimately puzzling world premiere — which unites the star power of rising director Pam MacKinnon (“Clybourne Park”); actors Dana Delany, Steven Culp and Steven Weber; scenic designer Marion Williams; and sound designer Cricket S. Myers — still feels stuck between two genres, its transformation incomplete. Margaret [...]
ANNAPURNA: 94% – SWEET
SWEET From White’s poignant script to Bart DeLorenzo’s faultless direction to Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman’s beautifully centered performances, “Annapurna” is a lovely theatrical construct from the ground up. F. Kathleen Foley – LA Times SWEET Under the sturdy, austere direction of DeLorenzo and featuring two actors capable of such astonishing commitment to their art, [...]
GRIMM NIGHTS VOL. 1: HOLLYWOOD (ZJU): 100% – SWEET
SWEET “Grimm Nights Vol1: Hollywood” is Zombie Joe’s newest production and I believe even Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm themselves would find this comedy macabre such a delight to watch. Lorenzo Marchessi – NoHoArtsDistrict SWEET Known for its avant-garde selection of plays, Zombie Joe’s does not disappoint; it delivers with spectacular performances from Beth Ricketson as [...]
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT (TU STUDIOS): 100% – SWEET
SWEET It’s an interesting evening of Cat and Mouse….something you might relate too! Lorenzo Marchessi – NoHoArtsDistrict SWEET Bill Manhoff’s The Owl and the Pussycat is directed by Gloria Gifford and features energetic and physical performances by the actors who are both nearly onstage the whole time in this classic comedy that still brings in [...]
SCULPTRESS OF ANGEL X (ZJU): 80% – SWEET
SWEET Gotta say the entire cast grabbed my attention and held it. This play explores extremes, the heights as well as the depths, leaving us certain the journey is far from over. David MacDowell Blue – Night Tinted Glasses SWEET Sculptress of Angel X bridges the gap between knowing and understanding the emotions artists struggle [...]
DIRTY LITTLE DEMON (ZJU): 100% – SWEET
SWEET A show like this could be nothing more than a grotesque, a portrayal of sadism and tragedy worthy of the most crass of torture porn flicks. What we get instead is a well-crafted odyssey into the Id, a visit through nightmare, at the hands of a well-directed and extremely precise (this word tends to [...]
A DOLL’S HOUSE (OLD GLOBE): 87% – SWEET
SWEET Ultimately, the evening belongs to Brandt’s dynamic, sensitive direction and Hall’s luminous portrayal. When intensely lyrical and sophisticated playwriting is treated with the utmost artistic insight, it becomes the apotheosis of theater, leaving us moved, touched, and inspired. Tony Frankel – Stage and Cinema SWEET The epoch may be historical and the costumes antique, [...]
LOW TECH: 60% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Their timing and delivery is so deadpan and off-center that the audience rolls in the aisles. Jose Ruiz – Reviewplays SWEET A cute, fun play with purpose and substance to boot—what more could an audience member ask for? Mia Resella – LifeInLA SWEET It’s definitely a slap at modern technology and definitely a closer [...]
SNAPSHOT: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET But while the narrative has moments to appreciate, it’s often scattered, shifting from past to distant past to present in a haphazard way. Some of her performance seemed delivered on automatic pilot, and Sinnott’s extensive use of mimicry to depict multiple characters and imagined dialogues (as between her father and his GI buddies) detracts [...]
THE MIRACLE WORKER (ACTOR’S CO-OP): 93% – SWEET
SWEET These actors bring visceral intensity to the battle of wits and will that erupts when Sullivan attempts to civilize the wild child, culminating in the ferocious battle over the breakfast table. Neal Weaver – LA Weekly SWEET That aside, it’s an earnest production and worth attending for the performances of the two leads. Kurt [...]
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (LA MIRADA THEATRE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Well, here’s your chance to discover just why it flopped and why you should see it anyway. The ridiculously rousing and surprisingly satisfying Broadway-caliber revival which opened last weekend at La Mirada offers three things that keep the libretto and score from being stillborn on arrival: The most fantastic dance sequences you will ever [...]
AMERICAN MISFIT: 63% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Via songs by Mr. Dietz and Phillip Owen, painstaking and inventive direction by Michael Michetti, and the enthusiastic participation of a four-man rockabilly band and a cast of eight (some overlap there), this show shouts encouragement to those who would participate in a collective political and spiritual evolution. If the show were a person, [...]
TAMALES DE PUERCO: 100% – SWEET
SWEET Tamales De Puerco is a magnificent show featuring a very exciting cast that has you hanging on every word in Spanish, English, and Sign. There is no ennui here as Tamales De Puerco lifts your spirits to unimaginable heights. Joe Straw – Joe Straw #9 SWEET The production overcomes some early pacing issues when [...]
SLIPPING: 100% – SWEET
SWEET The deconstructed text is challenging – hopping back and forth in place and time utilizing a plethora of short scenes packed into eighty-five minutes – but the experience is compelling and occasionally shocking (there is also male nudity in this production). Ultimately, the play’s strength lies in its honest depiction of abuse and loneliness. [...]
MARILYN – MY SECRET: 81% – SWEET
SWEET Like all great film actors, Marilyn radiated a magic all her own. This dramedy with songs fleetingly captures Marilyn – then she’s gone – but Kelly Mullis deserves applause for her delightful, loving impersonation. Morna Murphy Martell – Theatre Spoken Here SWEET This is a scintillating, bawdy, and well performed production. A voyeuristic crowd [...]
ORANGE FLOWER WATER (CREATIVE COLLECTIVE): 72% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER There are some powerful moments in Craig Wright’s “Orange Flower Water,” which deals with the shattering effect of adultery on families and innocent spouses. Unfortunately, the Creative Collective’s production suffers from a few weak performances and negligent direction. Iris Mann – Backstage SWEET A hauntingly in-depth look at the dissolution of two marriages … [...]
HEART OF DARKNESS (ACTORS’ GANG): 100% – SWEET
SWEET This stripped-down Actors’ Gang production zooms in on Finney’s intensely contained performance as Marlow, the seaman who tells the story of his obsessive pursuit of the mysterious Kurtz, an ivory trader who has come to symbolize, among other things, the insatiable greed of imperial conquest. Charles McNulty – LA Times SWEET The Actor’s Gang [...]
YEARS TO THE DAY: 82% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET Rants and strategically timed revelations are not, however, ideal substitutes for strong writing. Barton’s play is a laborious 80 minutes, 15 minutes into which angry, mortality-obsessed Dan (Yavnieli) and his sensitive, secrets-stuffed buddy Jeff (LeBeau) are inducing audience weariness. This largely obnoxious and maudlin duo may be in an empty café because, after overhearing [...]
ROUND ROCK: 80% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET Kozak largely succeeds in sketching a convincing picture of these desperadoes. The problem is in the script’s structure: There are too many scenes that don’t propel the narrative or bolster the dramatic arc, and the second act is terribly overwritten. The sizable cast, however, performs well. Lovell Estell III – LA Weekly BITTERSWEET This [...]
OUR CLASS: 86% – SWEET
SWEET A performance so powerful that the audience and cast were shaken to their core. Some including myself could not help but cry afterwards. Spencer Cotter – The_Detective SWEET The cast here had to do more than realize these, but bring them to life. They did so with such heart and skill I did what [...]
NEVERWHERE: 67% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Under the resourceful leadership of director Scott Leggett, utilizing every inventive trick the creative nutjobs who populate Scared Fools have to conjure, “Neverwhere” goes everywhere the imagination can take it. Travis Michael Holder – Backstage SWEET Director Scott Leggett stages the play creatively, using projections and video to create whatever locations he needs, and [...]
ASSISTED LIVING: 87% – SWEET
SWEET Holzman/Dooley fans (as well as fans of quality theatre in Los Angeles) are in for a treat as their absorbing, witty and intricately woven, Assisted Living, is making its world premiere at The Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles running weekends through May 12. Xaque Gruber – Huffington Post SWEET This amiable item from [...]
