THE ONLY THING THAT MAY NEED A CHANGE IS THE TITLE We hear that that the only thing constant is change, yet we struggle against change, we fight against change, and some are even willing to …
AN OUNCE OF MISSTEPS IS WORTH THIS POUND OF FLESH Before you run off to see The Porters of Hellsgate production of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice " and I surely hope that you d…
THANKS FOR THE MEMORY Occasionally, I attend theater with no intention of reviewing a show, but afterwards my spirit is so refreshed by an uplifting and inspiring experience that an urgent p…
I HAD A GAY OLD TIME A letter to Sandra Bernhard: Dear Sandy: Oh my God, it thrilled me to no end when I was assigned to review your latest show at REDCAT: Sandra Bernhard: I Love Being Me, …
NO TROUBLE HERE Although the run of Pacific Opera Project's Trouble in Tahiti was two days long, I had to check out this new company whose mission it is to use local talent and bring afforda…
DOG GONE Having immersed myself in forty Fringe shows this year, I have become highly suspect of those shows that bounce from Fringe to Fringe across the land, cross-promoting like oversexed…
WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT? At the top of Melissa James Gibson's This, five urbanite thirty-somethings take part in an innocent parlor game that inadvertently goes awry for one of them: an unsusp…
NEVER FORGET Writer/performer Tom Dugan's solo show Nazi Hunter " Simon Wiesenthal capitalizes on the strengths of the famous Nazi hunter " his resilience, tenacity and humor " but largely o…
THE FANTASY FIZZLES Since 1933, Pageant of the Masters has been a Southern California must-see for tourists and locals alike. The professionalism with which they stage tableaux vivants (l…
A LIBERTY BELL OF A SHOW STILL RINGS TRUE Strength. Courage. Character. Fortitude. These are traits that have inspired Americans, both in our leaders and in folklore. The 1968 musical 1776, …
THE SAME OLD RHYME I herewith invite you to check out The Troubies (especially those who may call yourselves Newbies). Though their antics are puerile You'll smile for a while With this asso…
MARK ME DOWN AS MILD ABOUT HARRY What's a critic to do when he desperately wishes to support Los Angeles theatre, but also desires to hold theatre to a higher level? During the intermission …
I'M IN THE NUDE FOR LOVE The main reason that the Groundlings company remains L.A.'s number one improv training and performance space is their emphasis on character work. When actors come to…
THANKS FOR THE MEMOIRS If there were an award for "The Best Idea for a Theatrical Entertainment," the winner surely would be Celebrity Autobiography, in which celebrities read the actual mem…
LOW PLATELETS In his vision of a new translation of Frederico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding, director Jon Lawrence Rivera offers a diverse cast and updates the original 1933 setting in Spain …
A TERRIFIC STORY AND EVEN BETTER MAGIC SHOW; BUT THE TRICK IS BEING ABLE TO SEE IT Suave and debonair Guy Hollingworth is not only a full-time British barrister (specializing in intellectual…
WHEN GOOD ENOUGH IS NOT ENOUGH The Los Angeles Times needs to be a player on the world stage and therefore assigns Critic-at-Large Charles McNulty to review plays in NYC and London. While th…
HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL REVIEWS 2011 [Editor's Note:Â Our either amazing or insane (you decide) theater correspondent Tony Frankel saw what is believed to be in the area of 40 Fringe sh…
THEY'VE GOT MAGIC TO DO It simply cannot be avoided: with Fun Family Festival of Tragedy, L'Enfant Terrible, a startlingly brilliant new theatre company, is poised and ready to take over the…
YOU WILL LIKE IT VERY MUCH INDEED Credit adapter and director Tony Tanner for As You Like It " The Musical; he freely adapted Shakespeare's Forest of Arden comedy into a text that contains t…
A PLAY THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN VISITED IN THE FIRST PLACE I was already angry after the opening of Revisiting Wildfire at the Odyssey Theatre (bad theatre will do that to you) when some wr…
PAST TO THE FUTURE To be honest, I was not a fan of Rogue Artist Ensemble's Hyperbole at [inside] The Ford last year. Their current work, D is for Dog, clearly elucidates what was lacking in…
IN PRAISE OF LITERATURE Saving the "What is Literature?" and "Are Plays Literature?" arguments for another time, allow me to unequivocally state that there is a starvation for new drama as l…
STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES Our planet is overpopulated and sick. Wars are raging. People are telecommunicating so rapidly that we are losing the art of communication. Leaders and visionaries a…
THERE'S LIFE IN THE OLD BOY YET I couldn't think of a better way to pop my Hollywood Fringe Festival cherry than with Steve Ochs and his solo outing, Life in the Middle Ages, which has right…