A popular country-infused musical reviewed by Stage and Cinema is being remounted October 9, 2021, after two previews October 7-8 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre in Hollywood. The revival of…
SHEP IN TIME When I think of the late Sam Shepard, his plays Fool for Love, True West, Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class usually come to mind. I was totally unfamiliar with Killer…
GET YOUR SOUL SALVAGED The minute I sat down at the Lounge theatre and saw the rundown bar on the stage equipped with a few tables, a jukebox and several guitars hanging on the walls along w…
THE SINS OF THE FATHER There's no doubt that Arthur Miller's 1947 play All My Sons is an astonishing piece of theater. Not only is the writing brilliant, but the themes addressed are timeles…
NEVER TAKE FOR GRANTED THE PHRASE "NEVER AGAIN" Wendy Kout, the playwright of Never Is Now asks the question, "What happens when people from diverse backgrounds experience the firsthand acco…
TITLE I saw this beautifully sad, poignant, dark play last Saturday evening and I'm still thinking about it. Thanks to the wonderful writing, acting and directing this two-person outing base…
FRIENDLY FEMINIST FIRE Fefu and Her Friends is one of the most famous plays by the recently deceased feminist avant-garde playwright MarÃa Irene Fornés, a Cuban American who has won nine…
DEATH LIVES Arthur Miller makes Willie Loman, the tragic figure in his Death of a Salesman, 63 years old. So I was more than a little skeptical as to whether or not Rob Morrow (of Northern E…
PLENTY TO DESIRE When I was thirteen I discovered Tennessee Williams when I picked up his play A Streetcar Named Desire at the New York Public Library. I don't know if I fully understood it …
CAESING THE MOMENT What do you get when you mix Shakespeare's beloved tragedy Julius Caesar with the hard-driving rock band Weezer? Adapter, director and choreographer Matt Walker, who also …
HERE'S THE BEEF What happens when you're brought up to feel invisible? Where do you go for solace? Where do you go to find your identity? For actress Debrianna Mansini it was in cooking; thi…
HYPER-ACTIVISM A promising hip-hop group formed by two childhood friends " a white writer and a black hype man " is thrown off its beat by racial tensions in the West Coast premiere of a pow…
JOY TO THEÂ WHEEL After 40 years of marriage, the times they are a-changin'Â for Frank and Stella Conlin, who now want very different things. On the day of Frank 's retirement party, he…
YOU WILL BUY During a two hour car trip with my future husband, he — being from New York and loving Broadway musicals as much as I — decided to sing every song from Oliver!, his …
NOTHING TRAFE HERE What I found most amazing about Forever Brooklyn! A Kosher Musical Comedy is that the writer/director Mark Wesley Curran is not from Brooklyn nor is he Jewish or eve…
THIS REALLY IS HOLIDAY MAGIC I can’t think of more entertaining way to spend the holidays then to see A Very Merry Magic Mania at the Santa Monica Playhouse. This intimate showcase …
CAL IN CAMO EXTENDS ITS RUN AT VS. THEATRE William Francis Hoffman's multilayered play attempts to lay bare, (literally in the case of the character "Cal") the issues surrounding postpartum …
SHINING BRIGHT Bright Star is a bittersweet bluegrass musical with music, book and lyrics by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. It was nominated for five Tony awards when it ran on Broadway and…
SHREK TO THE RESCUE The first time I saw Shrek The Musical was on Broadway in 2008. I loved it then but 5-Star Theatricals’ production has me really loving it now. With book and lyrics…
HE’S NOT GOING TO THE DOGS, BUT THE PROCEEDS ARE There are many reasons to see writer/performer Steve Spiro’s entertaining and touching one man show, a powerful and emotional tru…
BRADLEY COOPER — A STAR REBORN The first A Star Is Born (1937) tells of aspiring actress Esther Blodgett (played by Janet Gaynor) who impresses an alcoholic matinee idol Norman Maine (…
18 & OVER THE MOON You gotta love a revue that starts with a song, "Turn off Your Fucking Phone." Even better is that Ammunition Theatre Company — which gave us the astounding Gian…
AN EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMER IN A POWERFUL PLAY Produced by the Australian Theatre Company along with Skylight Theatre, Conor McDermottroe’s one-man play Swansong and André de Van…