All Entries Tagged With: "la stage watch"
BLOOD OF MACBETH (ZOMBIE JOE’S UNDERGROUND): 100% – SWEET
SWEET So if you’re looking for a traditional MacBeth look elsewhere. If you want a 50-minute darkly sexual, inappropriately funny, thrill ride…don’t miss this one. Anthony Byrnes – KCRW SWEET It too is full of sound and fury, enacted collectively but signifying a manic swath of angst. It spits in our faces and winks. It [...]
MISSION TO MATE: 83% – SWEET
SWEET Mitchell’s writing, with each “movement” interwoven in clever ways almost undetectable unless one pays sharp attention, is the star here. Travis Michael Holder – Backstage SWEET All in all though, it is a lovely way to spend an evening at the theater. Larry Pontius – Bitter Lemons SWEET What can I say, I laughed, [...]
WAR HORSE (AHMANSON THEATRE): 88% – SWEET
SWEET If you can only see one play this year, make it “War Horse.” Jean Lowerison – SDGLN SWEET Yes, it’s sentimental. Yes, there are scenes that might have given even as inveterate a melodramatist as Charles Dickens pause. But this 2011 best play Tony winner, which launched its national tour at the Ahmanson Theatre [...]
VERY STILL & HARD TO SEE: 83% – SWEET
BITTER Even with some wonderful dialogue, the playwright’s self-indulgent construction eschews an overarching story, which renders it impenetrable and not worth recommending, but if you want to witness the wickedly inventive Story Theatre-like staging of Michael Matthews, consistently the best director in Los Angeles, then by all means go to Hell. Tony Frankel – Stage [...]
LOS OTROS: 46% – BITTER
BITTERSWEET “Los Otros” is curious about the manifold layers of personal identity, but in a desultory way that deprives the work of sufficient dramatic pressure. The Southern California lens adds local interest, but that and first-class underscoring aren’t enough to transform these essayistic compositions into riveting theater. Charles McNulty – LA Times BITTERSWEET While some [...]
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 — [...]
CAFE VIDA (LATC): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Regardless of what you think about this brief interruption, the production as a whole coheres persuasively, as directed by Cornerstone artistic director Michael John Garcés. I missed 3 Truths in 2010, but otherwise I think I’ve seen all of Cornerstone’s major productions since Garcés took the helm of the company six years ago, and [...]
BEDFELLOWS (NEW AMERICAN THEATRE): 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Still, Bedfellows otherwise gathers enough momentum to, well, win an election or two. And how rare is it to see a play that’s set in the world of local LA politics? Don Shirley – LA Stage Watch SWEET Rose’s script intelligently defines these moral conflicts, and a committed cast make them visceral. The campaign [...]
CYRANO (DEAF WEST/FOUNTAIN THEATRE): 94% – SWEET
SWEET Sachs and director Simon Levy have embarked on a major mission: bringing Rostand’s poetry-spewing protagonist to life using ASL, spoken word, and e-language. Thanks to Jeffrey Elias Teeter’s projections, flashed onto eight omnipresent monitors incorporated into Jeff McLaughlin’s versatile bare-bones set, nothing is lost in this superbly crafted production besides a large tub of [...]
THE FIX (INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE): 67% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Even more fortuitously, director Randy Brenner (who helmed a previous production of the show at Musical Theatre Guild), manages to balance the book’s melodrama and the satire. He makes sure that the actors on the stage aren’t mouthpieces, but convey that they believe every line they say and sing. Jonas Schwartz – TheaterMania BITTERSWEET [...]
THE GIRL MOST LIKELY TO: 100% – SWEET
SWEET Even if someone living under that proverbial rock doesn’t know the fate of Araujo, it would be difficult to anticipate a happy ending as Premsrirat’s story unfolds, but under the bold, erotically charged leadership of director Jon Lawrence Rivera, who is blessed with a gamely inspired cast and design team, all the razzle-dazzle helps [...]
CLOUDLANDS: 50% – BITTER
SWEET The result is nothing short of a triumph for all concerned with this extraordinary new work. F. Kathleen Foley – LA Times BITTER Cloudlands does not elevate the storyline. It sinks it. The whole piece feels like a travelogue; the characters comment on their feelings, endlessly describing their unpleasant emotional experiences, yammering on and [...]
THE CONVERT: 89% – SWEET
SWEET The devastating clash between Western culture and religion and African tradition and spirituality is at the heart of this masterful new work. Director Emily Mann has mounted a production that’s as compelling as it is gorgeous. Jennie Webb – Backstage SWEET Brought to life by Emily Mann’s subtle direction, a splendid set by Daniel [...]
MISS SAIGON (LA MIRADA PERFORMING ARTS): 86% – SWEET
SWEET Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s phenomenally successful Vietnam War-era gloss on “Madama Butterfly” receives a sleekly staged, wonderfully performed revival that heightens this critic-proof popera’s strengths and obscures its frailties, to impressive effect. David C. Nichols – LA Times BITTER Let’s face it. For all its bells and whistles, “Miss Saigon” is really not [...]
THE BEWILDERED HERD: 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Still, director Laurie Woolery’s production features an excellent cast, with Richards giving a tart, moving performance as a befuddled widow, Getz every inch the smooth operative, and Cummins a prickly innocent. Henderson makes their confusion oddly compelling. Charlotte Stoudt – LA Times BITTERSWEET This is an exceptionally “chatty” play, and the major problem is [...]
DAMES AT SEA (COLONY THEATRE): 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET While the tapping could have been crisper, everyone is in fine voice. Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly BITTER But try as everyone will, they’re still faced with Jim Wise’s forgettable music, which pays glaringly inadequate homage to Porter and Gershwin and is dragged down further by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller’s conspicuously predictable book [...]
EARLY AND OFTEN: 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET It’s unclear how many of the period jokes and references will register with viewers not steeped in the legacy of former Mayor Richard J. Daley’s political machine, but the intricately plotted shenanigans tap a cynicism that never goes out of style. With inanimate corporations now enjoying the same rights as people, the idea of [...]
LINCOLN: AN AMERICAN STORY: 74% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET In this his Lincoln – An American Story, Hershey Felder the actor, guided by Joel Zwick’s generously even direction, plays with great sensitivity, showing a seldom seen compassionate side of his artistic temperament. Don Grigware – Grigware Blogspot SWEET Despite its stylistic excesses, the substance of “Lincoln” resonates. In a time of national crisis, [...]
THE VAULT: BANKRUPT: 100% – SWEET
SWEET Credit too to Hazel Kuang’s scenic design, Jasmine Orpilla’s original music and video appearances, and Patsy McCormack’s lighting. Their scrappy yet stylish efforts do a nice job framing this evening of smart and silly satire. Jennie Webb – Backstage SWEET Yet although the message is somewhat murky, the show still works as pure entertainment [...]
1969: A FANTASTICAL ODYSSEY THROUGH THE AMERICAN MINDSCAPE: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET It’s colorful and funny but short on coherence and intellectual consistency. Neal Weaver – Backstage BITTER 1969, billed as “a fantastical odyssey through the American mindscape,” feels more like a self-indulgent slog through a playwright’s inner monologue. Producers Fayna Sanchez, Chua and Gatto have corralled an impressive log of design talent and some committed, [...]
THE MAGIC BULLET THEORY: 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET What recommends “Bullet” is the garage-show confidence with which Mayes, choreographer Natasha Norman, the design team and a laudable ensemble attack the mayhem. David C. Nichols – LA Times BITTERSWEET Whether the show is cause for celebration or indignation probably depends on what side of the ’60s divide one’s birth year falls. Whether you [...]
HELLO! MY BABY: 93% – SWEET
SWEET Brushes with serious topics notwithstanding, there’s an indefeatable joy, whimsy and optimism to the piece, crystallized in Mickey and Nelly’s duet in “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.” Veteran performers George Wendt, George Ball and Kristine Zbornik lend polished expertise, but the show belongs to its entire 22-member ensemble, impressively coalesced into a precision unit by [...]
TWO GENTLEMEN OF CHICAGO (FALCON THEATRE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Two Gentlemen Of Chicago looks a sure thing to sell out performance after performance, and rightly so. Troubies’ fans are legion, and certain to be tickled pink by this latest inspired tribute to two of the world’s greatest. Shakespeare plus Chicago equals Magic. Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA SWEET Troubie standards are always up there, [...]
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 [...]
AMERICAN NIGHT: THE BALLAD OF JUAN JOSE: 92% – SWEET
SWEET Fluidly directed by Jo Bonney, who shares a development credit with Culture Clash, “Night” is nimblest when it exposes the strange bedfellows of the American project. Charlotte Stoudt – LA Times SWEET Culture Clash, the veteran troupe of Chicano-American social satirists, is back with one of its most trenchantly funny works to date. Les [...]
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (A NOISE WITHIN): 72% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Fast-paced and chaotic, A Noise Within’s production plays up the comedy and passions of its star-crossed lovers at the expense of its dramatic civil war plotline, in which Antony’s loyalties are split between his Egyptian mistress and his country. Pauline Adamek – LA Weekly SWEET Directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott have achieved a [...]
THE CAR PLAYS (LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET These stories are provocative, to say the least. Paul Hodgins – OC Register (Segerstrom Review) SWEET And it’s a great way to evoke all the drama that can take place inside parked cars. Don Shirley – LA Stage Watch (Segerstrom Review) SWEET That’s just one of the situations you’ll find yourself in during Paul [...]
THE SEAGULL (ANTAEUS): 82% – SWEET
SWEET I’ll admit it. When I hear the name Chekhov, the first words that pop into my head are dull, somber, and talky. That’s why it’s such a pleasure to report that the Antaeus Company’s revival of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull not only held my attention virtually throughout, it actually had me laughing more times [...]
THE TREATMENT: 78% – SWEET
SWEET Thankfully, there’s plenty of sly wit and food for thought in this wacky but incisive view of a cuckoo’s nest, and Chekhov’s trenchant social commentary still rings true. Les Spindle – Backstage SWEET Presented in collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar, this Boston Court world premiere is part vaudeville, part crew jam and part prose [...]
