All Entries Tagged With: "katie buenneke"
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. [...]
THE BEAUX’ STRATAGEM (A NOISE WITHIN): 84% – SWEET
SWEET For educational value alone, it’s wonderful to see the play produced professionally, but under Julia Rodriguez-Elliot’s direction, A Noise Within’s production makes it clear why the play was so popular back in its day. “The Beaux’ Stratagem” is immensely funny, and it’s quite entertaining to watch such a well-crafted play. Katie Buenneke – Neon [...]
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (PANTAGES/SEGERSTROM CENTER): 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER Unfortunately, there’s nothing about “Catch Me If You Can” that inspires a repeat visit. While the cast is working hard, the material they’re working with is too flawed to make the show an enjoyable experience. Katie Buenneke – Neon Tommy BITTERSWEET These tireless touring actors nearly con us into thinking we’re seeing a show [...]
WOLVES: 69% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Director Michael Matthews and his game cast intently embrace the darkness, but Yockey’s newest work doesn’t seem ready to be honored with such a ferociously ardent effort to make it whole. Travis Michael Holder – Backstage BITTER He directs the actors, to the varying degrees that they can take direction, toward real motivations and [...]
SKETCHES FROM THE NATIONAL LAMPOON (HAYWORTH THEATRE): 63% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Some of that is-nothing-sacred irreverence still haunts the theatrical debut of “Sketches from the National Lampoon” at the Hayworth Theatre, though too often as a ghost of former greatness. Philip Brandes – LA Times SWEET “Sketches From the National Lampoon” is simply a series of revisited goofy blackout skits, no doubt. It has no [...]
THE GIFT: 55% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER An appealing and capable cast keeps the flicker of hope alive that Joanna Murray-Smith’s play “The Gift” will be worth our time despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. But by the end of this 90-minute comedy even the actors seem done in by the effort of sustaining the illusion that there’s something important [...]
TRIASSIC PARQ: THE MUSICAL: 80% – SWEET
SWEET The show’s many charms include playful costumes (by Anthony Tran), vigorous choreography (by Kelly Todd) and the lithe, fearless cast. Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET It is well worth seeing, wherever you live in Southern California. Daniel Faigin – Observations Along the Road BITTERSWEET The show and its staging are pleasingly wacky and [...]
BACKBEAT: 65% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER The design team turns the Ahmanson stage into a virtual black-and-white movie. It’s nice to look at, but Leveaux never finds a way to piece together the two stories, especially in act two. The Beatles glide upstage and down on a platform, Sutcliffe and Kirchherr move across stage on a series of sofas and [...]
CYMBELINE (BROAD STAGE): 94% – SWEET
SWEET “Cymbeline” has no business being on anyone’s top 10 Shakespeare list, but it has its glories — most of them outlandish, though a few that are breathtakingly refined. Fiasco’s revival gives us a fair glimpse of both. Charles McNulty – LA Times BITTERSWEET What the company lacks in skill, they make up for in [...]
OTHER DESERT CITIES (MARK TAPER): 76% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET What should be a perfect storm, alas, isn’t. Working with watchable and often affecting material, Egan and his cast of five feel like they’re trying to wrestle two or three disparate plays into a shapable entity. Despite a career-stretching performance by JoBeth Williams and strong work by the consistently reliable Robert Foxworth, “Other Desert [...]
CONEY ISLAND CHRISTMAS: 79% – SWEET
SWEET As with many gifts, the wrapping isn’t much to speak of, in this case a weak framing narrative taken from a Grace Paley short story. But what’s inside – not one but two kid pageants superbly staged by Bart DeLorenzo, and a pan-denominational message – is a jewel to be cherished. Bob Verini – [...]
ANYTHING GOES (AHMANSON THEATRE): 90% – SWEET
SWEET After seeing opening night of “Anything Goes” at that Ahmanson, I’m still humming the tunes this morning. In these dark economic times this top notch Roundabout Theatre Company production is a great pick me up. Jana Monji – LA Examiner SWEET Could tap-dancing possibly be as fun as Rachel York makes it look? She [...]
DOESN’T ANYONE KNOW WHAT A PANCREAS IS?: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET The play certainly has potential with some further finessing, but for now, it is a enjoyable, but flawed new work. Katie Buenneke – Neon Tommy BITTERSWEET Real continuously misses rich opportunities to create outrageous conflict, settling instead for more jokes. For now, her short filmic scenes, played out between unnecessary furniture shuffling in interminable [...]
THE DOCTOR’S DILEMMA (A NOISE WITHIN): 85% – SWEET
SWEET Fortunately, in the play’s lively current staging at A Noise Within, director Dámaso Rodríguez and a ready cast ride Shaw’s hobbyhorse themes at a full gallop, blowing past the piece’s occasional stodginess with sheer comical verve F. Kathleen Foley – LA Times BITTERSWEET Shaw’s passionate distrust and satirical takedown of the medical profession is [...]
SEMINAR: 70% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Theresa Rebeck’s “Seminar” is a sturdy example of a genre that once ruled Broadway but is now more or less defunct: the intellectual light comedy. With its literary lion (Jeff Goldblum) roaring and sniffing out red meat among his writing group’s eager acolytes, “Seminar” is fueled more by plot mechanics than by the thrum [...]
NOVEMBER (MARK TAPER): 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET “November,” though adept and amusing, is hardly hilarious and essentially harmless. The last is what’s most wrong with it. David C. Nichols – Backstage BITTER Given the hard, cramped Mark Taper Forum seats, I for one was very glad the show ran faster than its promised 80 extremely glib minutes. Jason Rohrer – Stage [...]
CYMBELINE (A NOISE WITHIN): 90% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET If you are a lover of Shakespeare and you have been dying to see “Cymbeline” onstage, see this production. The acting is engaging, the company is clearly working with a comfortable budget, and the production makes a decent effort with a troublesome script. But if you’ve never heard of “Cymbeline” and you don’t always [...]
BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK: 73% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” would rather be antic than preachy. This is a reasonable if not an entirely necessary trade-off. But Lathan fills out the human dimension of a character Nottage clearly loves too much to weep over. Charles McNulty – LA Times BITTERSWEET The evening at the Geffen is overall something [...]
JUSTIN LOVE: 88% – SWEET
SWEET “Justin Love” could thrive from a move to larger quarters, where production numbers could be as grand as Lori Scarlett and David Manning’s catchy score and Scarlett’s delightfully irreverent lyrics, without losing the sweetness and simplicity of what ultimately emerges as a great Hollywood-style love story. Travis Michael Holder – Backstage SWEET Though a [...]
THE FULL MONTY (THIRD STREET THEATRE): 80% – SWEET
SWEET Thus the production now at the Third Street Theatre, replete with perfect direction and cast, is ever so timely in the wake of this crucial upcoming election, a wake up call for Americans to take action against ignorance and inhumanity. Don Grigware – Grigware Blogspot SWEET Nevertheless, director Richard Israel is not someone to [...]
RED (MARK TAPER): 94% – SWEET
SWEET Alfred Molina’s volcanic incarnation of painter Mark Rothko is reason enough to rush to the Taper for John Logan’s “Red,” to say nothing of the involving text and visual audacity of helmer Michael Grandage’s impeccably imported Donmar Warehouse production. Bob Verini – Variety SWEET In their finest moments, Logan’s script and Molina’s performance combine [...]
FOLLIES (AHMANSON THEATRE): 91% – SWEET
SWEET There’s so much to praise in the blissful Broadway revival of “Follies,” which opened Wednesday at the Ahmanson Theatre on the heels of its numerous Tony nominations, but let’s pay homage first to the sheer sophistication of the show itself. After experiencing “Follies” again — an adult entertainment if ever there was one — [...]
GOOD PEOPLE (GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE): 96% – SWEET
SWEET Although Kaczmarek is the shining star of the show, she isn’t the only standout in the L.A. production of Good People. The sets, by designer Craig Siebels, are stunning, changing from a back alley to a kitchen to a church hall to a suburban mansion. And Marylouise Burke is an inveterate scene-stealer as Dottie, [...]
THE BUNGLER (A NOISE WITHIN): 96% – SWEET
SWEET This sitcom-worthy premise spins into something buoyant and diverting in director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott’s stylish (and stylistically coherent) production. Charlotte Stoudt – LA Times SWEET Sometimes unprepossessing plays yield hugely satisfying results, as in this buoyant revival of Molière’s seldom-performed comedy “The Bungler.” David C. Nichols – Backstage SWEET Still, if A Noise Within’s production [...]
THE WHO’S TOMMY (DOMA THEATRE): 70% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER The production at the Met has no such saving grace. Samuel Bernstein – Stage and Cinema SWEET Thanks to its terrific cast and band, The Who’s Tommy starts DOMA’s 2012 season with a bang. Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA SWEET This captivating rock opera musical is largely due to the handsome, talented, charismatic young actor, [...]
SPRING AWAKENING (THEATRE OF ARTS): 88% – SWEET
BITTER I don’t doubt that the show is an enjoyable experience for someone who is not as alarmingly familiar with every intricacy of the show as I am. That being said, this skin-deep production does not live up to the potential of its source material. Katie Buenneke – Neon Tommy SWEET Meanwhile, I’m happy to [...]
AMERICAN IDIOT (AHMANSON): 68% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET From the poetic “Are We the Waiting” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” to the defiant “Know Your Enemy” to the anthem-like “21 Guns,” the expertly performed songs cast a spell that had young, old and middle-aged audience members head-banging together at the Ahmanson. Now that alone is one incredible feat even if [...]
CLYBOURNE PARK (MARK TAPER): 92% – SWEET
SWEET Can a drama be memorable if all its characters are disagreeable? Bruce Norris proves that it’s possible in “Clybourne Park,” his smart, abrasively funny and fiendishly provocative play that opened Wednesday at the Mark Taper Forum. Charles McNulty – LA Times SWEET Director Pam McKinnon adeptly guides a strong ensemble through Norris’ steady stream [...]
Is there some gender bias involved in the reviews of “Bring it On: The Musical”?
Personally, I’d rather chew glass then discuss the intricacies of Bring it On: The Musical, however, the lovely and most generous reviewer Katie Buenneke from Neon Tommy feels it’s worth exploring and in what can only be called a move of sheer brilliance she looks to the Lemon to make her point in an article called [...]
CRUMBLE (LAY ME DOWN, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE) (SACRED FOOLS): 68% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Crumble made me think about Detroit, a city that once—like The Apartment—knew grander and happier times. Crumbled buildings, crumbling hopes. Silent screams from broken windows. They say “the walls have ears” but do we? Well, perhaps Crumble will provoke different musings in you. See this play and find out. You may receive a holiday [...]
