All Entries Tagged With: "studio/stage"
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 [...]
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, [...]
THE SPIDEY PROJECT: 89% – SWEET
SWEET What emerges for the audience is the enjoyment of watching a young and eager group of well-meaning performers having a darn good time. There’s something quite infectious about that. Travis Michael Holder – Backstage SWEET In a nutshell, The Spidey Project is an immensely fun, funny, and lean 75 minutes of good time. Ellen [...]
ESTHER’S MOUSTACHE: 100% – SWEET
SWEET In the resulting tug-of-war for Maddie’s affections, Ollstein’s play navigates loaded stereotypes with a refreshingly breezy refusal to settle for predictable outcomes. The script’s limitations — including an ambitious but labored plunge into Maddie’s cartoon world — are handily overcome by the likable cast and whimsically low-budget design team (Maureen Weiss’ set and Pamela [...]
LA’s Most Honest Theatre Review
I figured that would get your attention. Just so we’re clear, I have not seen this show. However, this review of Esther’s Moustache now playing at studio/stage from LA Weekly critic Rebecca Haithcoat strikes me as one of the most authoritative, straight to the bone reviews I think I’ve read this year. It is simultaneously [...]
THE MISSILE MAN OF PEENEMUNDE & BURLYQ MOON: 25% – BITTER
BITTER Playwright-director Bill Sterritt’s “The Missile Man of Peenemunde” seems to be offering the kind of polemics mastered by Tom Stoppard, but serves up only tedious and unintended humor. Tom Provenzano – LA Weekly SWEET Highly recommended. M. Jarrett Christensen – Tolucan Times BITTER Most of it feels strained, but the limited impression that the [...]
The Missile Man of Peenemunde back this weekend!
One of L.A.’s smartest and most savvy theatre companies presents an historical piece that explores the true launching of the Space Age and its ramifications with the original play THE MISSILE MAN OF PEENEMUNDE. LOS ANGELES – Is it a rocket or is it a missile? That’s the question that unfolds the tension [...]
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT (RATMO): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Full of memorable characters, compelling drama and imaginative writing, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot may be long and difficult, but it is definitely worth the effort. Barnaby Hughes – Socal.com SWEET This must be said: Rise Above Theatre Movement’s (RATMO) production of “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” has a running time of [...]
Casting Notice – THE MISSILEMAN OF PEENEMUNDE
SPQR’s next production will be THE MISSILE MAN OF PEENEMUNDE in performance from Sept 30 to Oct 23 at studio/stage. Wernher Von Braun stands poised to usher in the Space Age with the successful launching of the V-2 Rocket in October of 1942. Aided by his assistant Walter Thiel (a mad scientist who fuses Germanic [...]
SUMMER IN HELL: 100% – BITTERSWEET [UPDATED]
BITTERSWEET Director David Jette turns in a polished production that includes Sarah Krainin’s redwood sun-deck set and Ian Garrett’s summer-sweltered lights. And while a superb cast looks like they’re having a field day — particularly the leering and insinuating Jenich — the play’s lack of social or psychological insights limits its figurative reach to a [...]
