Review: THE GIRL WHO MADE THE MILKY WAY at The Colony Theatre
by Amanda Callas - November 20, 2024
Written by acclaimed actress and playwright June Carryl and produced by Imagine Theatre, this light-hearted, fantastical voyage through the savanna is inspired by folktales and origin stories from South Africa. There is a charming Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland feeling of whimsy and adventure af...
Review: WAITING FOR GODOT at Geffen Playhouse
by Evan Henerson - November 19, 2024
As embodied by Rainn Wilson and Aasif Mandvi in the revival of GODOT at the Geffen Playhouse, Vladimir and Estragon are a formidable pair. Beckett’s play about the unknowable darkness of the human condition has - go figure! - long been catnip for comedians, and you get why Wilson and Mandvi would wa...
Review: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at Pasadena Playhouse
by Andrew Child - November 18, 2024
Pinkleton has thrown every prop gimmick and novel idea in the book at the show, and in the process has disrupted the stuff that simply works about the piece....
Review: Jason Alexander Leads Outstanding FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at La Mirada Theatre
by Michael Quintos - November 15, 2024
Led by a brilliant performance by Jason Alexander, this lively, emotionally-grounded, classic-leaning staging still somehow manages to feel fresh, reinvigorated, and much more searing than prior iterations.This latest SoCal-area revival of the landmark 1964 musical—here directed by Lonny Price—is, a...
Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL at Hollywood Pantages
by Evan Henerson - November 12, 2024
Is there some sort of formula for roping in both fans of a hit movie and stage hounds, to catch lightning in a new medium? Judging by what the musical's book writer Bob Gale, director John Rando and the musical team must have been thinking, the answer is you slavishly remake the movie on stage....
Review: SHPIDER! at THE BRICK HOUSE THEATRE
by Tracey Paleo - November 13, 2024
Before seeing this show, I knew nothing of it besides a quite comedically tantalizing Instagram promo video and a snazzy 60’s referencing sci-fi movie poster. The script and plot however was as elusive as even the idea of a commonly puerile film executive attempting to write an exploitable and prof...
Review: South Coast Repertory Presents World Premiere Play JOAN
by Michael Quintos - November 11, 2024
Featuring a remarkable, gutsy performance by Tessa Auberjonois as the legendary comedienne, JOAN is an absorbing and hilarious new work that also feels like an on-going work-in-progress. The world premiere production continues performances at South Coast Repertory through November 24, 2024....
Review: HADESTOWN at Segerstrom Center For The Arts
by Melissa Heckscher - October 31, 2024
In the end, the show is all about seduction, and it has all the dark, gritty sex appeal of a dingy French Quarter speakeasy. That is to say: It’s got the sultry rhythm and blues to sweep you into the fun even if you don’t know exactly why you’re there....