Blogcritics Author: Robert Machray

Concert Review: Pink Martini at Disney Hall, Los Angeles

Robert Machray — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 22:56:23 EST

Legendary jazz singer Jimmy Scott and a professor of Arabic spiced up Pink Martini's New Year's Eve concert.
I spent New Year's with that incredible group called Pink Martini. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend an evening. It's a group of usually twelve musicians (expanded here to twenty) from Portland, Oregon. Their eclectic music comes from around the world, written in French, Italian, Japanese, Croatian, Spanish, English,...

Theater/Magic Review (LA): Millennium Magic IX at Theatre West

Robert Machray — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 18:25:45 EST

Zabrecky presents a bizarre and funny magic show for the holidays.
Christmas can be a magical season, so what could be more appropriate than seeing a magic show? For the last nine holiday seasons, Theatre West has put on a weekend of magic, and this year was no exception. Rob Zabrecky, who has been described by the Los Angeles Times as “an institution on LA’s magic scene," put together the event,...

Theater Review (San Diego): The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea by Kirsten Childs and Andrew Chukerman

Robert Machray — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:54:48 EST

A new retelling of the princess and the pea, this time set in Africa, turns out not to be so hot in spite of a first-rate cast.
Sam Woodhouse and Douglas Jacobs founded the San Diego Repertory Theatre in 1976 as a kind of street theater. They dedicated themselves to producing plays that present a progressive view of people, politics, and social values, and have stayed true to their word. Eventually they into the Lyceum Theatre in downtown Horton Plaza. The Lyceum has been...

Theater/Concert Review (Ventura, CA): A Rubicon Family Christmas by Brian McDonald at the Rubicon

Robert Machray — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:57:52 EST

Billed as �Ventura�s New Holiday Tradition,� the Rubicon Theatre Company's new feel-good production may be back for years to come.
Brian McDonald of the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura has put together as slick a Christmas production as anything Lawrence Welk or Mitch Miller might have imagined. The feeling is definitely nostalgic, which sometimes, given the times we live in, seems highly ironic. But there are plenty of productions of A Christmas Carol around, so there is...

Theater Review (LA): Scrooge Must Die by Angela Berliner (after Dickens) at the Ivy Substation

Robert Machray — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:03:31 EST

There are a lot of laughs in this update, and good acting, but I didn�t really see the point, because Dickens does it better.
The Actor’s Gang is one of the best theater ensembles in Los Angeles. The Artistic Director is Tim Robbins, so naturally they usually present rather edgy material, often with a political slant. Their Christmas undertaking is a reworking of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens into a raunchy piece called Scrooge Must Die (in which he almost...

Theater Review (Santa Barbara): Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie and Leonard Bernstein

Robert Machray — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:19:13 EST

Peter Pan flies again - but this time, it's to long-forgotten music by Leonard Bernstein.
The Santa Barbara Theatre has scored a real coup with the first full revival of J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan complete with the music that Leonard Bernstein wrote for the original. The original American production starred Boris Karloff and Jean Arthur and had a respectful run on Broadway in the 50's. But because Jean Arthur couldn’t...

Theater Review (San Diego): Boomer by Kerry Meads and Vanda Eggington

Robert Machray — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:01:43 EST

This musical for the baby boomer generation reminds boomers that "60 is the new 40."
San Diego has a lively theatrical scene. I’m not just talking about the Old Globe Theatre or La Jolla Playhouse, but also places like the San Diego Repertory, Cygnet Theatre. Diversionary Theatre, the Lambs Players Theatre, and over 100 more in San Diego and surrounding areas. The Lambs Players Theatre is an ensemble company whose members are...

Dance Review (San Diego): The Nutcracker at the Spreckels Theatre

Robert Machray — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:04:20 EST

San Diego is lucky to have a first-rate ballet company and ballet school, the City Ballet of San Diego.
Christmas isn’t complete without a viewing of The Nutcracker, with music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Along with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and It’s A Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart, The Nutcracker is considered a classic Christmas festivity.A Christmas Carol deals with the disparity between rich and poor and is a plea to...

Theater Review (San Diego): Xanadu at the La Jolla Playhouse

Robert Machray — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:22:15 EST

Silly? Most definitely. But it's enjoyable enough, and if you remember the songs from the movie, you might even be thrilled.
The musical Xanadu ran on Broadway for 512 performances and 49 previews. It is based on the 1980 movie by the same name that basically bombed at the box office but became a cult favorite because of its score. The movie starred Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly.The movie, in turn, was inspired by a reference in a poem by Samuel Taylor...

Theater Review (San Diego): Scrooge in Rouge by Ricky Graham, Jeffrey Roberson, Yvette Hargis, and Jefferson Turner

Robert Machray — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:37:54 EST

A queer take on "A Christmas Carol" set in the music hall tradition.
Most major urban centers have an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) theater, and San Diego is no exception. The Diversionary Theatre is the third-oldest LGBT theater in the United States. Over the years many theater artists from the San Diego area (and there are lots of them) have trod the boards, as they say, in plays and productions here...