Reprise is in trouble. Is its mission not clear enough? Should it be just like other musical theater companies or should it continue to produce shows that can’t be seen elsewhere?…Valerie Dillman’s Sarah’s War is a skillfully layered fictionalization of the Rachel Corrie story that dramatizes a variety of perspectives. Plus brief glances at a couple other production that examine the Israeli/Palestinian cauldron. READ MORE
Music Makers. Erection Fires Blanks. Road’s Rage Rep.
by Don Shirley | February 13, 2012
Burbank’s midsizes focus masterfully on musicians — Dissonance at the Falcon and Old Wicked Songs at the Colony. The latter play’s writer strikes out with his latest at the Blank. Road Theatre features fathers engendering rage in Finding Fossils and The Water’s Edge. That last play is by Theresa Rebeck, creator of NBC’s Smash — how about a series about CTG, NBC? READ MORE
Elemeno — Class is in Session. Plus Cirque, Fables, Noir
by Don Shirley | February 6, 2012
Molly Smith Metzler’s Elemeno Pea is relevant to its 99%/1% era and its Costa Mesa place, and it need not apologize for getting big laughs. Cirque’s Iris goes on vacation; will it return to a theater with a new name? Plus brief glances at Cirque’s other LA shows — the good (Ovo) and the bad (Michael Jackson) — and at two productions soon to close, Fairy Tale Theatre +18 and Absolute Black. READ MORE
A Report From CTG’s Twitter Trenches: Clybourne Park
and A Raisin in the Sun
by Don Shirley | January 30, 2012
Just as CTG deserves kudos for presenting simultaneous and terrific productions of A Raisin in the Sun and Clybourne Park, it’s likely to arouse some concern and criticism for instituting a pilot “tweet seat” programs at both theaters. Observing the tweeting from the “tweet seat” row at the Kirk Douglas last Thursday, it didn’t look disruptive — to anyone other than the tweeters themselves. Plus a few thoughts on how the two plays work in tandem. READ MORE
A Former Simon Stimson Examines Broad’s Our Town — and LATC
by Don Shirley | January 23, 2012
David Cromer’s original vision of Our Town at Broad Stage offers a lot of surprises, even from the balcony. It expands the role of Simon Stimson in a way that LA STAGE Times’ own ex-Simon Stimson applauds. Also, a look at recent troubling developments at LATC, plus one of the best LA Times theater-related typos of all Times. READ MORE
Porters End the LA Troilus Drought. Car Plays Hits OC.
by Don Shirley | January 16, 2012
Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare’s take on the Trojan War, should be seen a lot more often in LA. The Porters of Hellsgate are doing their part in Charles Pasternak’s inventive staging in NoHo. Meanwhile, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts brings Car Plays to the OC as part of its Off Center Festival — right next door to South Coast Rep’s Topdog/Underdog. READ MORE
Making Eye Contact With City Garage’s Filthy Talk
by Don Shirley | January 9, 2012
City Garage is finally connecting the theatrical and the visual arts at Bergamot Station, re-setting Neil LaBute’s early performance art piece, Filthy Talk for Troubled Times, within an art gallery. Might the City Garage artists be commenting on MOCA’s recent gala, which featured spectacles directed by performance art sensation Marina Abramović? A Noise Within’s revival of Noises Off is another example of a company fully inhabiting its new and larger space. READ MORE
LAT on LAT — The Limits of McNulty’s 2011 List
by Don Shirley | January 3, 2012
In 2011, LA Times theater critic Charles McNulty devoted much of his space to only four of LA’s theater companies and too much of his time to theater in New York and London. Many of the “99%-ers” who work in other LA companies, even at the Pasadena Playhouse, must feel neglected — not to mention those readers who might like his viewpoint on what’s playing in their own neighborhoods. READ MORE
Highlights of 2011 in LA Theater
by Don Shirley | December 19, 2011
A look at some of the highlights of LA theater in 2011 embraces LA plays, LA writers, CTG’s smallest shows, the return of Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within’s last Glendale season, two shows set about 50 years ago, two shows set in World War II, two shows from the June festivals, two surreal musicals about doomed men, two plays about pharmaceutical company workers and Iris. READ MORE
Three Holiday Parties — and Baby Doll
by Don Shirley | December 13, 2011
Among the more unusual holiday shows, the Troubies’ A Christmas Westside Story is riotously entertaining. Atomic Holiday Free Fall! at the Actors’ Gang and A Chanukah Carol at Theatre 68 aren’t quite as shiny. Plus a few thoughts on Joel Daavid’s interpretation of Baby Doll for Elephant Theatre. READ MORE
Donate Your Theater Programs to the LA Public Library
by Don Shirley | December 9, 2011
Tired of wondering what to do with all your old theater programs? The Los Angeles Public Library already has collected more than 30,000 of them, dating back to the 19th century. Your contribution could help strengthen this valuable resource and, by reminding us of our roots, help build a greater sense of community. READ MORE
Short Eyes. And Two Comedies About Being Jewish in America.
by Don Shirley | November 28, 2011
A revival of Miguel Pinero’s Short Eyes ricochets through LATC’s Theatre 4. And two plays offer comic takes on Jewish identity in America — Laurel Ollstein’s Esther’s Moustache and James Sherman’s The God of Isaac. READ MORE
