All Entries in the "Weeklies" Category
The Saturday Saying
“The biggest surprise of this production is its most glaring misstep, however. As Sawyer stated in an interview, “People are going to wonder why we’re doing a classic Broadway thriller at the Gay & Lesbian Center—it’s one of the secrets.” Sadly, although gratuitous nudity and steamy behavior might be pleasing to scrutinize at such close [...]
The Friday Feature
This has nothing to do with theatre, but this is a very cool video featuring a friend Nicki Bluhm and her band The Gramblers doing a cover of Hall & Oate’s I Can’t Go For That, live, while driving in a tiny little van. Pretty damn good and pretty damn cool. And kinda dangerous! Apparently [...]
Critique of the Week
The intellectual curiosity that radiates from this review is something to aspire to. THE MANY MISTRESSES OF MARTIN LUTHER KING Ernest Kearney – Working Author The first thing you should know about Andrew Dolan’s “The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King” at the Atwater Village Theatre is that the title accounts for the entire presence [...]
The Boss
“My job each night is to reduce the distance between me and the audience.” – Bruce Springsteen. He said that in an interview I listened to like twenty five years ago a day after I saw him prove it for the first time. Below is a video from his current tour proving once again that [...]
The Saturday Saying
“The mission of Dolf Ramos and Marco Gomez, the “Do” and “Ma” of the DOMA Theatre Company, is to bring together seasoned professionals and up and coming talent to nurture the next generation of artists, but if there are no true professionals on hand to provide such seasoning, the effort seems misdirected or even pointless. [...]
The Friday Feature
Circle X’s Naked Before God at [Inside] the Ford. An interesting combo of scenes from the play interspliced with interviews from the creative team.
The Monday Moment
A little downtown LA Time Lapse love for your Monday viewing pleasure. Hat tip LAist.
Critique of the Week – Runner Runner Runner Up
Oh hell, just one more because I just read this one and it’s too fucking funny. ROCK OF AGES Jason Rohrer – Stagehappenings Rock of Ages, in its second national tour now blaring at the Pantages, features an energetic, talented cast and a great band, and a terrible sound mix in which every miked voice [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Runner Up
Tony Frankel has a differing opinion than Senor Stanley about that over-lauded whippersnapper O’Neill. But they agree on one point. ANNA CHRISTIE Tony Frankel – Stage and Cinema ODD CASTING CHOICE NEARLY SINKS SHOW There is a perplexing and ultimately infuriating casting choice in the Old Globe’s production of Anna Christie that nearly sinks Eugene [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Up
Steven Stanley is neither a fan of the “fringey”…nor the “eugene o’neill-ly”. Apparently. ANNA CHRISTIE Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA There are times when a single performance can either salvage a play or sink it. In the case of The Old Globe’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie, the latter is unfortunately true. That being said, [...]
The Friday Feature (on a Sunday)
Saw this. Pretty cool to see these guys do this play. Catch it if you can. Waiting for Godot at the Taper through April 22.
Critique of the Week
I saw this show and though I didn’t find it quite as great as Bob clearly does here, it was still very good and he is right on with his words on Hugo Armstrong’s performance. It’s really something not to be missed. WAITING FOR GODOT Bob Verini – Variety Michael Arabian’s stunning revival of Samuel [...]
The Saturday Saying
“Hugh Armstrong is the production’s major revelation. A mute, woebegone old man, his mind destroyed, his body no longer able to follow its own course, he is finally asked to dance and think. His dance is impossible, his “thoughts” horribly disarranged and deranged. But the aria in which he sputters forth all these fragmented ideas [...]
The Monday Moment
This is an odd video. , Mostly because I’d probably react the same way if I was that close to an iceberg crashing into the sea. But it’s still odd.
Critique of the Week
I picked this one because, well, apparently David C. Nichols and Jason Rohrer saw completely different shows with the same title that happened to be playing at the same theatre performed by the same actors. Who”s right? WHY WE HAVE A BODY David C. Nichols – LA Times “For five decades I have struggled to say [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Up
I picked this one because the inner conflict in Paul’s review is palbable. He didn’t really want to like this but he just couldn’t help himself. AMERICAN IDIOT Paul Hodgins – OC Register “American Idiot” captures all the strengths and weaknesses of the music that propels it. Based on the 2004 Green Day album of [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Runner Up
I picked this one because Bob is practically frothing as he wrote it. He probably had to towel off after he finished. AMERICAN IDIOT Bob Verini – Variety The touring “American Idiot” kicks ass in every sense. Michael Mayer’s staging of Green Day’s landmark concept album delivers a pointed boot to the rump of a [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Runner Runner Up
I picked this one because Tony has been having a rough week and needs a little TLC. No, I picked it because I appreciate the contrarian view as opposed to all the other reviewers who gushed over this show. Plus it’s kinda funny. AMERICAN NIGHT: THE BALLAD OF JUAN JOSE Tony Frankel – Stage and [...]
The Saturday Saying
”While you may have a few laughs and be treated to a sterling cast, adroit design team and smart direction by Jo Bonney, this puerile, liberal, pun-groaning, politically-correct, narrow-minded, victim-mentality voyage of slapstick ends up being as thought-provoking as an average Family Guy episode. The intention of writer Richard Montoya can be summed up in [...]
The Thursday Thought
We certainly live in different times when THIS is the epitome of our “troubles” and how we now deal with them. A brilliant commercial from the people who made the movie Mirror, Mirror. Brilliant marketing as well.
The Monday Moment
Charles Duhigg offers us advice on how to change our bad habits. Our ability to self-examine and then to change our own behavior through our own will power is what separates us from the animals. And yet how many of us a) truly want to change and b) have the discipline or the courage to [...]
Critique of the Week
I picked this one because it is freakin’ brutal. Would love to hear from a) people who have seen the show or b) anyone associated with the show. Because people this is an absolute lashing. Carry on! Nothing to see here! WHY WE HAVE A BODY Jason Rohrer – Stage and Cinema WHY DO WE [...]
The Saturday Saying
“On the other hand, the subject matter, while heavy, wasn’t that complex. In fact, if I had one complaint, it was that most of the topics that Car Plays delved into were white problems. You know–things you worry about, but don’t really matter much when weighed against the problems of the rest of the world. [...]
The Friday Feature
It’s almost baaaack! Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre is reopening its horror masterpiece Urban Death , March 31st, Saturdays only at 11pm. Do. Not. Miss. It.
The Monday Moment
This is an ad created by The Guardian in the UK about open source journalism. Kinda like what we do here at the Lemon. Kinda. It’s very very cool. The ad, that is. Not us. God forbid. Happy Monday, LemonHeads!
Critique of the Week
This review makes me want to see this play. FIGURE 8 F. Kathleen Foley – LA Times Theatre of NOTE deserves high marks for producing Phinneas Kiyomura’s world premiere play, “Figure 8.” Subtitled “The Seven Deadly Sins Plays,” Kiyomura’s work, a series of elliptical, loosely connected scenes, is as technically challenging as it is thematically [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Up
This review makes me want to see this play. FIGURE 8 Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly Unlike an ordinary knot, a mathematical knot, such as a figure 8, cannot be untied. Likewise, the troubled souls in Phinneas Kiyomura’s discerning drama stay inextricably linked, sometimes by blood, sometimes by chance and always by their fallibly human [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Runner Up
This review makes me want to see this play. FIGURE 8 Les Spindle – Backstage Phinneas Kiyomura’s ambitious “Figure 8: The Seven Deadly Sins Plays,” a Theatre of Note world premiere, explores the human capacity for falling from grace and considers myriad factors in our lives that can lead to moral transgressions. Eschewing a judgmental [...]
The Saturday Saying
“If you’re interested in a single play – this one disappoints. The style doesn’t support the 90 minutes or help focus the story to its emotional core. But if, like me, you’re interested in Theater Movement Bazaar’s larger body of work and the evolution of two artists who have committed to making ensemble theater in [...]