Matthew Floyd Miller News

What did our critic think of LUCY LOVES DESI: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE SITCOM at Reynolds Performance Hall?

L.A. Theatre Works kicks off the New Year with its 17th national tour January 14 through March 10, bringing its signature radio-theater hybrid style to 22 performing arts venues across the U.S. with Lucy Loves Desi: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom.

Leopoldstadt marks the 19th production of a Tom Stoppard play to open on Broadway since Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead opened 55 years ago. Stoppard has won four Best Play Tony Awards, more than any other playwright in history. What are the 18 other productions of Tom Stoppard plays to open on Broadway? Let's take a look back!

Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) presents the fifth and final show of its 2021-2022 Season, one of the most iconic and celebrated thrillers ever written, SLEUTH, by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Jenny Sullivan.

Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) presents the fifth and final show of its 2021-2022 Season, one of the most iconic and celebrated thrillers ever written, SLEUTH, by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Jenny Sullivan. SLEUTH begins previews on Thursday, June 9 at 7:30pm, opens on Saturday, June 11 at 8:00pm and runs through Sunday, June 26, 2022 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara. 

If you were a fan of the television show Designing Women back in the 80s and early 90s (which I was), this show is for you. If you were not watching tv back then, this is still for you. Giving off a Feminist vibe with a southern spin from the moment you enter the theatre, this production covers all of today's topics including #metoo, Black Lives Matter, COVID, and Donald Trump. There is also a nod to Cardi B and the Kardashians.

Broadway’s Carmen Cusack (Wicked, Bright Star, South Pacific), a Tony Award nominee, plays the indomitable Julia Sugarbaker through October 11, when she returns to Broadway in Flying Over Sunset.

150 years after Charles Dickens' death, Atlanta's David Robert Weber and Los Angeles based Creator and co-adapter, Tim Blewitt sat to down together to adapt A Christmas Carol into the one-man show, An Actor's Carol: One Clown's Dickensian Marathon towards Redemption. Weber plays 22 distinctive characters while running tech in this one man band tour de force.

This December, Ensemble Theatre Company will offer two holiday events the entire family can enjoy. First, ETC welcomes back Porgy and Bess cast members Elijah Rock and Frank Lawson for a rockin' musical Christmas variety show LIVE from Las Vegas.

Based on true events and strikingly relevant today, DAISY explores the moment in TV history when the political attack ad was born. In the autumn of 1964, one year after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, bloody turmoil over Civil Rights was spilling onto the streets, a fearful ideology that made the threat of nuclear war palpable was growing from the conservative right, and a skirmish in the far-off nation of Vietnam wouldn't go away. With the presidential election looming, an advertising agency working for Lyndon Johnson unleashed the most devastating political commercial ever conceived, the 'Daisy' ad.

As the final weeks of the presidential campaign draw to a close, International City Theatre will stream a virtual presentation of Daisy, a fascinating look at the creation of and psychology behind TV's first political attack ad.

With venues everywhere dark during this extraordinary time, world-class theater from L.A. Theatre Works is just a click away.

Director Brian McDonald does a nice job of keeping the actors rotating around the multiple microphones on stage (or having them add and remove costuming items) to distinguish between multiple characters. The staging is dynamic and the sight gags are clever, and the actors give pleasant and efficient performances, bringing out the warmth and hopefulness of this holiday tale. Ensemble's production highlights humor and heart for an agreeable, well-produced night of festive entertainment.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the first show of its 2019-20 season, a contemporary look at William Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by ETC Artistic Director Jonathan Fox. MEASURE FOR MEASURE begins previews on Thursday, October 3, opens on Saturday, October 5 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, October 20, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

Shakespeare's story of powerful men exploiting their authority seems less outlandish with each modern headline about abuse and harassment, especially in terms of the power differential between the genders. Lily Gibson, who plays Isabella, describes the play as 'almost disturbingly modern,' and Richard Baird, who plays Angelo, calls Measure for Measure an examination of human nature and how power corrupts. 'Particularly in light of the #metoo movement,' he says, 'this play isn't just relevant--it's true.'

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the first show of its 2019-20 season, a contemporary look at William Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by ETC Artistic Director Jonathan Fox.

L.A. Theatre Works will record J.T. Rogers' 2017 Tony Award-winning play, Oslo for public radio, podcast and online streaming in front of a live audience over the course of four performances. The darkly funny, sweeping and surprising true story of the back-channel talks, unlikely friendships and quiet heroics that led to the Oslo Peace Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians, Oslo is set against a complex historical canvas: a story about the individuals behind world history and their all too human ambitions.