All Entries Tagged With: "madtheatrics"
Theater as Church
The Mad Genius of MadTheatrics, Andrew Moore, recently wrote a very compelling article on the Parallels of Theater Companies and Church Communities. He references a powerful article called Autopsy of a Deceased Church. In the article, author Thom S. Rainer, lists 11 important points he gleaned from the death of a particular church community. What Andrew [...]
HEMOPHELIA’S HOUSE OF HORRORS: 100% – SWEET
SWEET Cleverly conceived and directed by Dan Spurgeon, with the manic sketches and darkly whacky songs written by Matt DeNoto … this is an eerily entertaining production. Pat Taylor – Tolucan Times SWEET The Visceral Company presents a frightfully fun excursion into laugh-out-loud funny horror; an eclectic collection of sketches that range from macabre jokes [...]
KILL ME: 100% – SWEET
SWEET Dark, provocative, unmistakably a creation of theater, Kill Me leaves the audience thinking and feeling. Richard Becker – Creepy LA SWEET I enjoy seeing a performance that makes me think. Even more so when days after I am still having trouble putting my finger on just every thought evoked. My cerebral enjoyment aside this [...]
Critique of the Week – Runner Up
Andrew Moore gets down and dirty with the Red Bastard. RED BASTARD Andrew Moore – MadTheatrics There’s a nagging little imp inside our minds that is telling us we could do more, accomplish more, be more. We try to shut him up with pills or alcohol or simply being “too busy,” but he’s there, waiting [...]
Mad Theatrics Presents: Permanent Ink 2012: The Top Los Angeles World Premieres (as voted by you)
Congrats once again to the Mad Theatrics Mad Genius Andrew Moore for pulling this together and many thanks for linking the LemonMeter to the productions that won. This is the second annual, I believe, and Andrew’s main goal with Permanent Ink is to promote and highlight those new plays that are born, bred and birthed here in [...]
Take the Permanent Ink Survey and Vote for the Best Unpublished Los Angeles Plays of 2012
Andrew Moore the MadGenius over at MadTheatrics is offering this interesting survey again. Basically you’re voting for those as-yet unpublished plays that debuted here in Los Angeles in 2012. He says he’s made some necessary changes so the evil-doers can’t rig the game this time like they did in 2011. Also, he was a little [...]
AVENUE Q (DOMA THEATRE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET With its unique blend of humor and heart, complete with puppet sex, inappropriate language, Internet porn, partial puppet nudity, and a final message that reminds us that “Everything in life is only for now,” I guarantee you’ll leave with a smile on your face. Ellen Dostal – Musicals in LA SWEET DOMA Theatre Company [...]
THEATRE IN THE DARK: DARK (EVENING ONE): 96% – SWEET
SWEET In a seamless staging, the dozen performers move through the blackness with almost uncanny agility and poise. F. Kathleen Foley – LA Times SWEET It’s creative and imaginative and full of surprises. Rose Desena – Los Angeles Post SWEET Some ideas don’t even sound good on paper. This one, however, turns out to be [...]
XANADU (DOMA): 92% – SWEET
SWEET DOMA Theatre Company has hit it out of the park, er, out of the skating rink, with its production of “Xanadu,” a fun-filled, high-energy, camp evening of strong voices, good dancers and feel-good 1980s songs. Gil Kaan – Culture Spot LA BITTERSWEET The script is full of clever lines and funny quips and boisterous [...]
THE BLUE IRIS: 57% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET “The Blue Iris” may not represent the author of “Boesman and Lena,” “‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys” and “Valley Song” at the peak of his powers, but it provides tantalizing insight into an artist who continues to do his country and world theater proud service. Charles McNulty – LA Times BITTERSWEET Clocking in [...]
THE REAL DRUNK HOUSEWIVES OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY (RE-MOUNT): 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET At times surreal and never not funny, Kelly Holden-Bashar and Bill Haller’s new musicalette, The Real Drunk Housewives of the San Fernando Valley, is a raucous and entertaining diversion, perfect for a “gals’ night out.” Andrew Moore – MadTheatrics BITTER This reality-show musical parody starts off with a halfway decent dose of comic writing [...]
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION: 70% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET The cast members are clearly enjoying themselves, but with a fair number of duds among the verbal warheads, hilarity is not always mutually assured. Philip Brandes – LA Times BITTERSWEET If a play is going to traffic in cartoons, as this one does, they really need to keep bouncing off the walls — so [...]
MACBETH (ANTAEUS): 95% – SWEET
SWEET From that heartbreaking opening funeral—director Kubzansky’s invention which informs the rest of the play—the couple’s intensity and depth of feeling for each other is riveting. Mr. Nagle gives the lord a humanity that is by turns appealing and appalling. Ms Auberjonois’ decent into madness is truly effective. Steve Peterson – Grigware Blogspot SWEET At [...]
THE EXORCIST (GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE): 46% – BITTER
BITTER The physical production is just so much more persuasive than the dramatic encounters contained within it. The casting of Brooke Shields, lovely as always to look at, doesn’t enhance the work’s credibility, although I think she would be terrific in an alternative camp version directed by John Waters. Playing actress Chris MacNeil, the bewildered [...]
THE WOMEN OF LOCKERBIE (THEATRICUM BOTANICUM): 71% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Melora Marshall’s production uses traditional Scottish music and instruments to atmospheric effect. But there’s not much the director can do about the playwright’s ham-fisted storytelling. Instead of trusting her subject matter to speak for itself, Brevroot can’t resist sanctimonious commentary. (“Grief needs to talk” “Grief is a guest who stays too long”). Charlotte Stoudt [...]
HEARTBREAK HOUSE (THEATRICUM BOTANICUM): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Rarely will you see a production of such an intricate comedy of ideas rendered so clearly, and with such a clear purpose. Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly SWEET The open-air theatre of Theatricum Botanicum struck me as an odd choice for the company to perform Shaw’s Heartbreak House. I was wrong, very wrong. [...]
MODERN DRAMA: 67% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Sterritt directs his excellent cast to deliver broad, comedic performances that suit his high-flown and hilarious text, yet these characters are slightly distant and bloodless… Yet there’s a wonderful scene in this archly witty play where Hillary relates the back-story of their marriage’s early departure into infidelity. Pauline Adamek – ArtsBeatLA SWEET The small, [...]
BEAUTIFIED: 75% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET With a running time of almost two hours, either an intermission or, better yet, some judicious trimming by director Jenny Sullivan (even in Candy’s tear-inducing closing monologue) would make for a more perfectly coifed tale of the two friends. Gil Kaan – Culture Spot LA BITTER These are too many topics for one play [...]
THE CLOSENESS OF THE HORIZON: 80% – SWEET
SWEET Director Darin Anthony’s beautifully nuanced production of the play, which engrossingly captures the emotions underlying midlife masculinity, is full of mature humor that shifts suddenly into scathing sadness Ñ and the performances possess a sense of powerfully truthful detail. Paul Birchall – LA Weekly SWEET One of our finest Los Angeles playwrights, Richard Martin [...]
SUKIE AND SUE: THEIR STORY: 80% – SWEET
SWEET Sukie and Sue: Their Story will not change your life, and that’s okay. The Blank Theatre has produced a delightful diversion, a ridiculous excursion into the high times of a couple of nurses who have a slight demon-possession problem. The laughs are ample and the cast gleefully tackles Michael John Lachiusa’s absurd new comedy. [...]
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 [...]
A CHILD LEFT BEHIND (RUSKIN GROUP REMOUNT): 100% – SWEET
SWEET The script balances social and personal commentary successfully, and Aymie’s energetic charm allows us easy access to his outrage. Amy Lyons – LA Weekly SWEET “Excellence” is the one word I would use to describe Alan Aymie’s highly energetic and dynamic one-man show. Audrey Linden – LA Examiner SWEET This is a play that [...]
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 BOOMERANG EFFECT: 71% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER Each performer deserves applause for fighting to give a shred of humanity to each moment, despite the uninspired direction, and it’s a pleasant moment when they are able to. It’s too bad the work of the playwright didn’t match up and the director pandered with sitcom safety. Phillip Kelly – MadTheatrics SWEET Boasting some [...]
NAKED BEFORE GOD: 83% – SWEET
SWEET We all like to say “support the theatre.” We should be more specific: Support GOOD theatre. Go see this show. Go because it is balls-deep funny. Go because Circle X wants to entertain YOU, not just themselves. And in the end, it’s all about mutual pleasure, isn’t it? Andrew Moore – MadTheatrics (scroll down) [...]
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (ACTOR’S CO-OP): 90% – SWEET
SWEET O’Neill’s autobiographical classic is not an easy work to stage or to watch. With four main characters, four acts and a duration of three-and-a-half hours, it’s an endurance test from both sides of the stage. However, when it’s done well, it can be absorbing and rewarding, especially for those with a taste for drama [...]
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, [...]
THE MANY MISTRESSES OF MARTIN LUTHER KING: 78% – SWEET
SWEET In spite of these drawbacks, there is much to like about the production, particularly as I’ve mentioned the layered performances, the beautifully written, often funny and striking dialogue and the atmospheric and balanced direction. Phillip Kelly – MadTheatrics SWEET Though the challenging script could use some smoothing out, director Rod Menzies’ consummately acted production [...]
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 [...]
What does “Joe Public” Really Want from the Los Angeles Theatre Community?
The Mad Genius over at MadTheatrics has a few ideas in his recent post The Theatre Guide for People Who Hate the Theatre. As usual, it’s funny and insightful. Here’s an initial screed from the post: Joe has no patience for crap. He’s outcome oriented: “Entertain me!” he says as he plops down his greenbacks. [...]
