IN A DARK DARK HOUSE (MATRIX THEATRE): 60% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET This production of In a Dark Dark House is theatre at its best! Gil Kaan – BroadwayWorld SWEET “Dark House”‘s gripping two hours at the Matrix benefits from clear visual realization and the...
View ArticleWE WILL ROCK YOU (AHMANSON THEATRE): 45% – BITTER
BITTER But it’s not the lame plot that’s the problem here. (Nobody else knows what “Bohemian Rhapsody” is about either.) Rather, “We Will Rock You,” with a script by Ben Elton, feels like such an...
View ArticleDJ Kurs and his Spring Awakening – By Dale Reynolds
The tireless Dale Reynolds from Stagehappenings decided to get down and dirty with Deaf West’s head honcho, DJ Kurs, and he asked if we might share the offering with the LemonHeadNation. We said yes....
View ArticleBULRUSHER: 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Despite its flaws, Bulrusher is a reminder that while more than half a century has passed, race relations have remained strained even six decades later. Bulrusher reads fortunes. If she were...
View ArticlePSYCHE: A MODERN ROCK OPERA: 62% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Creator Cindy Shapiro has fashioned a vibrant and exciting rock-opera from this richly romantic source material, investing her book, music and lyrics with a magical blend of timeless antiquity...
View ArticleCHOIR BOY (GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE): 86% – SWEET
BITTER Tarell Alvin McCraney’s 2012 Choir Boy is a tantalizing, underdeveloped play-with-music not entirely improved by Trip Cullman’s direction, now at the Geffen a year after the production’s...
View ArticleYOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (DOMA THEATRE): 97% – SWEET
SWEET Through a magical, musical tour, with memorable song and dance numbers, sure to wow the audience, such as ‘Puttin’ On the Ritz,”and “Roll in the Hay,” the audience is sure to burst their seams...
View ArticleTHE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL (AHMANSON THEATRE): 97% – SWEET
SWEET Ultimately, what makes this harrowing “Trip” endurable, even uplifting, is Carrie’s hard-won humor and wisdom, and the peace she is able to make with her own unhappiness before she is caught and...
View ArticleTHE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (A NOISE WITHIN): 85% – SWEET
SWEET Overall, “The Importance of Being Earnest” was an absolute delight. The actors suited their respective characters, the scenery was quite beautiful in a simplistic way, and there were plenty of...
View ArticleBROOMSTICK: 94% – SWEET
SWEET Perfect for Halloween or for anyone who enjoys taking a journey into the deep dark woods, “Broomstick” offers a frightfully fun time at the theater that might be especially fun at night! Candyce...
View ArticleWEDDING BAND: A LOVE/HATE STORY IN BLACK & WHITE (ANTAEUS): 92% – SWEET
SWEET This rarely produced revival delivers a blistering indictment of the South’s anti-miscegenation laws against the backdrop of a deeply moving portrait of urban black life in the early 20th...
View ArticleThe Saturday Saying(s)
“Note regarding talk of the 99-Seat Plan improvements, this production employs 19 actors. Four are in the actors/stage manager’s union, Equity. These are the very actors who prop up the production....
View ArticleJULIUS CAESAR (ENCUENTRO 2014): 75% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Robert Beltran’s staging is more clear than nuanced, approached with considerable competence and occasional flair. The cast wanders the stage in costume designer Abel Alvarado’s tunics, shoulder...
View ArticleKINKY BOOTS (PANTAGES THEATRE/SEGERSTROM CENTER): 86% – SWEET
SWEET Although I tend to be skeptical about the power of any garment to effect lasting spiritual change, all those stilettos evidently tenderized me to a pulp: I drove home beaming, filled with...
View ArticleWHAT THE BUTLER SAW (MARK TAPER): 82% – SWEET
SWEET “What the Butler Saw” represents Orton at his most sophisticatedly silly. It’s a play bursting with references to other plays, including even one of the greatest tragedies ever written,...
View ArticleHERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN (GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE): 84% – SWEET
SWEET Indeed, the empathy, showmanship and craft on tap may just be the best match of historical figure and performing artist yet in this franchise, wholly attuned to a gratefully participating...
View ArticleFLARE PATH (THEATRE 40): 100% – SWEET
SWEET A heartening reminder of the human capacity for valor, this beautifully underplayed production is all the more moving for its very ordinariness. F. Kathleen Foley – LA Times SWEET This...
View ArticleTHE PENIS CHRONICLES (COAST PLAYHOUSE): 83% – SWEET
SWEET Tom Yewell’s study of the male experience isn’t necessarily the counterpart to Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues” that its obviated title suggests. Less political or variegated, this series of...
View ArticleCLOWN BAR: 67% – BITTERSWEET
BITTER Contrasted against Robledo’s 2012 staging of Adam Szymkowicz’s comic-book-inspired satire Hearts Like Fists at Theatre of Note, this second collaboration disappoints. Pauline Adamek – Stage Raw...
View ArticleJACK LEMMON RETURNS (BROAD STAGE): 85% – SWEET
SWEET Despite script issues, Jack Lemmon Returns is a loving but complicated portrait of a revered man told by the son who obviously adored him. Chris Lemmon not only exposes new dimensions of an...
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