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Amanda Callas - Page 2

Amanda Callas

Amanda Callas is an award winning filmmaker, writer, performer, and producer. Her films have played and won awards in Vienna, Lisbon, Belfast, Iran, Scotland, Mexico, Australia, Bolivia, Capri, Palm Beach, and Los Angeles. 

Amanda has done science writing for NASA, reconstructed Egyptian papyri, worked as a sushi chef, and played a nervous elf bride on a TV sitcom.

Amanda studied for her masters in Classics at the University of Cambridge, UK.  She runs an independent children's and YA publisher, Little Owl House.  These days she is always cooking, writing, taking photos, or most often, reading and exploring the world with her adventure loving, daredevil munchkins.

Amanda lives in Los Angeles with ever-growing stacks of books, and her sweet, rambunctious family of artists.




Favorite Show:

One of my favorite shows of all time is Turandot by Puccini, with an incredible staging by British artist David Hockney. I love it how it is dipped in acid color and beautiful, surreal scene-scapes, with of course, that lavish, sublime music.The Dapper Dans barbershop quartet at Disneyland are another childhood perennial favorite. I could listen to them all day.

Favorite Stories:

  • Review: THE RAINMAKER at Laguna Playhouse - Gorgeous, luminous staging and pitch-perfect performances, the transcendent joy and restorative optimism of this production made me feel uplifted for weeks.
  • Review: 70, GIRLS, 70 at Lonny Chapman Theatre - A great undiscovered, underrated musical that deserves its place in the pantheon, celebrating mischievous and delightful septuagenarian in New York City. The performances were utterly delightful, and I left the theatre humming great songs that are STILL stuck in my head.
  • Review: ON BROADWAY at Smothers Theatre in Malibu - Absolute of embarrassment of riches with four stupendously talented Broadway singers, some of the most extreme talent I've ever seen concentrated in one place at one time. It was glorious. Unforgettable music, at one of my absolute favorite venues in Los Angeles, the Smothers Theatre, on the beautiful, secluded Pepperdine campus in Malibu.
  • Review: SANTASIA – A HOLIDAY COMEDY at Whitefire Theatre - Off the rails indie holiday show was wildly entertaining, one of the funniest things I've ever seen, with real heart. Delicious cider and free cookies in the lobby. AND, I got to meet the Yeti. It doesn't get better than that.
  • Review: BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA at Odyssey Theatre -


Review: THE BODY'S MIDNIGHT at Boston Court Pasadena in co-production with IAMA Theatre Company
Review: THE BODY'S MIDNIGHT at Boston Court Pasadena in co-production with IAMA Theatre Company
May 16, 2024

The Body’s Midnight is a brilliant, meditative, fiercely funny and brutally heartrending world premiere drama at Boston Court Pasadena.  It is a hard play to capture its essence, both explosively hilarious and lyrical, surreal, and profoundly mournful, a ferocious elegy to all the things that are disappearing.

Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Actors Co-op David Schall Theater
Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Actors Co-op David Schall Theater
April 25, 2024

Twelfth Night is a glorious example of how to do Shakespeare right.  This production is full-bodied, fresh, cheeky, lighthearted, inventive, imaginative, and flat-out hilarious.

Review: STALIN'S MASTER CLASS at Odyssey Theatre
Review: STALIN'S MASTER CLASS at Odyssey Theatre
April 19, 2024

Stalin’s Master Class is enthralling, darkly funny, awkward, and thought-provoking about the eternal tension of politics vs art, censorship vs thought, modern art vs people’s tastes, groupthink vs ingenuity, and popularity vs quality. 

Review: FREUD ON COCAINE at Whitefire Theatre
Review: FREUD ON COCAINE at Whitefire Theatre
April 2, 2024

In its second hit run at the Whitefire Theatre with many sold out shows, this historical comedy-drama is unbelievable but true, laugh-out loud hilarious, and brilliantly thought-provoking.

Review: A SHAYNA MAIDEL at Laguna Playhouse
Review: A SHAYNA MAIDEL at Laguna Playhouse
March 23, 2024

This acclaimed play by Barbara Lebow is beautifully produced by the award-winning creative team at the Laguna Playhouse, with great sensitivity, rich texture, and mature brilliance in the direction by David Ellenstein.

Review: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at Bank Of America Performing Arts Center Kavli Theatre
Review: MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET at Bank Of America Performing Arts Center Kavli Theatre
March 20, 2024

5-Star Theatricals does superb work capturing the charisma and characters of these great rock and country legends, and the music and energy of the show is breathtaking, jubilant and infectious.  Million Dollar Quartet has one extraordinary songbook.  You don’t want to miss this show.

Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Lewis Family Playhouse
Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST at Lewis Family Playhouse
March 19, 2024

The marriage of ballet and Disney musical is a delightful one. Beauty and the Beast was a sold-out smash hit at the Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga March 2nd through 10th.  A joint production of the Candlelight Pavilion and the Inland Pacific Ballet, this Disney musical was lavish and entertaining.

Review: THE BESPOKE OVERCOAT at Pacific Resident Theatre
Review: THE BESPOKE OVERCOAT at Pacific Resident Theatre
March 17, 2024

You wouldn’t expect a bittersweet, haunting tale to be this laugh-out-loud funny, but it is.  There is so much charm and sensitivity in this Pacific Resident Theatre production.  The Bespoke Overcoat is almost unbearably poignant, a drama of humanity and rare tenderness. You don’t want to miss this exquisite gem.

Review: EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND at Rubicon Theatre
Review: EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND at Rubicon Theatre
February 27, 2024

Watching Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground, I literally forgot I was watching a one person show.  Tony award winning, Broadway and Hollywood star John Rubinstein is a fascinating and charismatic actor, with uncannily perfect comedic timing.  Compelling, thought-provoking, moving, and surprisingly funny, you do not want to miss this one.

Review: MIDDLE OF THE WORLD at Rogue Machine
Review: MIDDLE OF THE WORLD at Rogue Machine
February 21, 2024

At its heart, Middle of the World is something of an unexpected love story between a fallen socialist leader from Ecuador and a young, driven Black finance executive. Middle of the World feels like an elegy, evoking the bittersweet, numbing ache of loss and betrayal. It invokes a sense of loss of an identity, a family, a country.

Review: THE WHITE (ALBUM) CHRISTMAS at Colony Theatre
Review: THE WHITE (ALBUM) CHRISTMAS at Colony Theatre
December 10, 2023

The award-winning Troubadour Theater Company has been doing their beloved annual Christmas mashup shows for decades, with loyal fans who return year after year. The closest thing I can compare it to is live performances I have seen of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Review: DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL at Kirk Douglas Theatre
Review: DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL at Kirk Douglas Theatre
December 9, 2023

Dog Man: The Musical is a fun, goofy musical romp running through January 7th at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. This bright, happy show is almost solely aimed at children, and what a wonderful thing that is.

Review: THE QUEEN'S CARTOONISTS'S HOLIDAY HURRAH at Smothers Theatre
Review: THE QUEEN'S CARTOONISTS'S HOLIDAY HURRAH at Smothers Theatre
December 8, 2023

The Queen’s Cartoonists execute jazz with exquisite polish, verve, cheeky humor, and manic energy, recalling the early days of hot jazz in the 1920s and 30s. Holiday Hurrah shines bright and merry with the most vivacious, high-energy of holiday tunes.

Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at A Noise Within
Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at A Noise Within
December 6, 2023

Fresh and glorious to behold, with bold, impressive stagecraft and truly innovative and imaginative costume design.  There are frequent moments of awe and breathtaking sprinkles of magic.  Although it feels off to me in some of its performance and art direction choices, this is a remarkable and stunningly visual production.

Review: SANTASIA – A HOLIDAY COMEDY at Whitefire Theatre
Review: SANTASIA – A HOLIDAY COMEDY at Whitefire Theatre
December 4, 2023

Santasia is a must-see sketch comedy take on the glory and insanity of the holidays at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, created by and starring Brandon and Shaun Loeser.  Ongoing for 24 years and frequently sold out at every show, with performances in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway in New York, Santasia is a phenomenon. 

Review: CORI CABLE KIDDER'S HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR at Sierra Madre Playhouse
Review: CORI CABLE KIDDER'S HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR at Sierra Madre Playhouse
November 27, 2023

Cori Cable Kidder's Holiday Spectacular is a marvelous musical holiday revue at the Sierra Madre Playhouse. More than a show, Cori Cable Kidder's Holiday Spectacular is a transportive experience, an escape into a charmed world of nostalgia, holiday merriment and velvety 1940s music of breathtaking loveliness.

Review: 70, GIRLS, 70 at Lonny Chapman Theatre
Review: 70, GIRLS, 70 at Lonny Chapman Theatre
November 26, 2023

70, Girls, 70 is an absolutely delightful gem of a musical from the award-winning Group Repertory Theatre at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood, CA.  Directed with genius comedy by industry legend Bruce Kimmel, this 1970s period show is funny, bright-hearted, poignant, and magnetically uplifting.

Review: ALEX EDELMAN'S JUST FOR US at Mark Taper Forum
Review: ALEX EDELMAN'S JUST FOR US at Mark Taper Forum
November 14, 2023

Just For Us is a brilliant, award-winning, one-man comedy show by Alex Edelman at the Mark Taper Forum downtown, coming after sold-out hit runs on Broadway, and in London, Edinburgh, and Melbourne. This is must-see, hilarious stand up tackling identity and antisemitism, and it is hard to think of a more essential show at the moment.

Review: LINES IN THE DUST at Matrix Theatre
Review: LINES IN THE DUST at Matrix Theatre
November 8, 2023

Chronicling the story of school residency fraud in the affluent township of Millburn, New Jersey, Lines in the Dust fearlessly tackles uncomfortable, vital issues of identity, education, class, race, and access to opportunity. While describing it, I feel it’s almost inevitable that I am making this play sound like a policy discourse or social treatise, but this enthralling drama is also incredibly human, passionate, and emotionally shattering. Lines in the Dust is a significant tour de force.

Review: NERVOUS UNICORNS at Cat's Crawl
Review: NERVOUS UNICORNS at Cat's Crawl
November 2, 2023

Nervous Unicorns is a gripping world premiere play by Jake Sidney Cohen at The Cat’s Crawl in Hollywood. This is a meditative drama about a group of eight people who participate in recovery meetings and then, quite unexpectedly, a supernatural experience changes them all.



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