Feature: StageMage
Theater reviews from stages in New York, Los Angeles, London, and all around the world.
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Theater/Magic Review (LA): Millennium Magic IX at Theatre West— Zabrecky presents a bizarre and funny magic show for the holidays.
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Theater Review (San Diego): The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea by Kirsten Childs and Andrew Chukerman— 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.
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Theater/Concert Review (Ventura, CA): A Rubicon Family Christmas by Brian McDonald at the Rubicon— Billed as “Ventura’s New Holiday Tradition,” the Rubicon Theatre Company's new feel-good production may be back for years to come.
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Theater Review (LA): Scrooge Must Die by Angela Berliner (after Dickens) at the Ivy Substation— 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.
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Theater Review (Santa Barbara): Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie and Leonard Bernstein— Peter Pan flies again - but this time, it's to long-forgotten music by Leonard Bernstein.
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Theater Review (San Diego): Boomer by Kerry Meads and Vanda Eggington— This musical for the baby boomer generation reminds boomers that "60 is the new 40."
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Theater Review (NYC): Billy Elliot The Musical— This show is a big sloppy bear hug of YES YOU CAN, and it bonked me in the heart.
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Theater Review (NYC): In The Heights— The voices are astonishing, the dancing infectious, and the storytelling classic.
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Theater Review (LA): The Joy Luck Club— If you haven't read the novel or seen the movie, Amy Tan's bestseller is now a stage production.
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Theatre Review (London): The Cordelia Dream at Wilton's Music Hall— This was quite the worst time I've had at the theatre in a very long while.
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Dance Review (San Diego): The Nutcracker at the Spreckels Theatre— San Diego is lucky to have a first-rate ballet company and ballet school, the City Ballet of San Diego.
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Theater Review (NYC): Home— This glorious piece of work about the black American experience accomplishes its goal and exceeds your expectations.
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Theater Review (San Diego): Xanadu at the La Jolla Playhouse— Silly? Most definitely. But it's enjoyable enough, and if you remember the songs from the movie, you might even be thrilled.
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Theater Review (San Diego): Scrooge in Rouge by Ricky Graham, Jeffrey Roberson, Yvette Hargis, and Jefferson Turner— A queer take on "A Christmas Carol" set in the music hall tradition.
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Theater Review (LA): The Life by Cy Coleman and Ira Gasman at the Stella Adler Theatre— Go see this seldom-performed musical, because you may not get another chance anytime soon.
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Theater Review (NYC): Too Much Memory by Keith Reddin and Meg Gibson— With a fiercely intelligent script and remarkable performances, this version of Antigone is an exceptionally honest, vital adaptation for our time.
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Theater Review (LA): Fiddler on The Roof at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center— Jon Engstrom recreates Jerome Robbins' choreography with precision and skill in this very well cast production.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Klezmer Nutcracker— Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" is cleverly klezmerized in this kid-pleasing show about a magical dreydl.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Truth About Santa by Greg Kotis— Greg Kotis brings the same intellectually-grounded absurdity to religion that his Urinetown brought to revolutionary politics.
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Theater Review (NYC): A Memory Play by Bob Stewart— A man tries to rewrite his parents' past to prevent their catastrophe of a marriage from ever having happened.
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Theater Review (NYC): We All Fall Down by Nick Dujnic— This new play is a parable for our time awaiting its own conclusion, and it comes close to hitting its mark.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Scandal! by Kristen Kosmas— The Management Company keeps its emphasis on broken pieces of Americana alive with The Scandal!
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Theater Review (LA): Actor Under Fire by James Gleason— A hilarious and touching true story of an actor's experiences in Vietnam.
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Opera Review (NYC): Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas by The Dido Project at the Samsung Experience— The Dido Project transposes Purcell's Baroque opera about the Queen of Carthage and the hero Aeneas to the modern boardroom, with video aplenty.
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Theater Review (LA): Eat The Runt by Robert Riechel Jr. at the Hudson Guild Theatre— A playwright takes his revenge on the critics.
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Theater Review (LA): The Rainmaker— During these dark economic days, we all probably need a dose of hope to weather whatever comes next.
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Theater Review (LA): Spring Awakening— Like Disney's "High School Musical" series, this Tony-award winner proved that musicals can attract a new, young audience.
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Theater Review (London): The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes at Wilton's Music Hall— The waning days of the repressive Protectorate being replaced by the hysterical gaiety of the Restoration is a period with great possibilities.
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Theater Review (LA): A Man's A Man by Brecht and Mueller at the Odyssey Theatre— It's not the shocking piece of agitprop it once was, but Brecht's ode to man's inhumanity still makes for an interesting and engaging evening.
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Theater Review (NYC): Plucking Failures Like Ripe Fruit by No Tea Productions— In a financially starved Off-Off-Broadway scene where quality is a crapshoot, No Tea Productions has emerged as one of the few sure things.
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Theater Review (LA): Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist by Neil Bartlett at A Noise Within— It is wonderful to see this familiar tale presented so theatrically that the characterizations and staging are as fascinating as the story itself.
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Theater Review (LA): The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane at the Kirk Douglas Theatre— Julie White triumphs again, bringing her Tony-winning performance to Los Angeles.
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Theater Review (LA): West Side Story at the Hudson Backstage Theatre— A commendable production despite the small space and the lack of Jerome Robbins' choreography.
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Theater Review (NYC): Catch-22 by Aquila Theatre— I am crazy about this company. The actors leap off the page and celebrate, big time.
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Theater Review (NYC): Back Back Back— This baseball drama is proof that good writing, good directing, and good acting cannot be beat by anything, no how no way.
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Theater Review (London): The Ides of March at the White Bear— A gripping, fast-moving plot explores complex issues of political and individual rights in the age of truly terrifying terrorism.
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Theater Review (LA): Most Happy Fella by Frank Loesser— Fella is most happy again in LA.
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Theater Review (LA): Quixote by Kit Steinkellner at the Powerhouse Theatre— Don Quixote meets "The Office" in this charming and relevant retelling of Cervantes' classic.
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Theater Review (NYC): Mindgame with Keith Carradine— This fixer-upper's got character, but it needs a loving family to make it a showpiece.
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Theater Review (LA): The Lady with All the Answers— Though entertaining, this play leaves many questions unanswered about Ann Landers, the lady with all the answers.
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Opera Review (LA): Carmen by Georges Bizet at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion— Viktoria Vizin plays a cool, even vulnerable Carmen.
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Theater Review (NYC): Zero by Danny and Robert O'Connor— Danny O'Connor plays a batch of wayward twenty-somethings in an impressive, if frustrating, one-man show.
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Theater Review (NYC): American Buffalo by David Mamet— In Mamet's sad, intricate tale, the devil is in the details, and this cast never comes close.
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Theater Review (NYC): Vice Girl Confidential by Todd Michael— Pure spoof generates boisterous laughs in this former Fringe Festival hit, but it leaves you feeling empty afterward.
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Theater Review (LA): Shock Therapy by Tom Baum at the Lillian Theatre— Psychiatrists, escaped cons, cheating wives, TV therapy, and fun.
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Theater Review (LA): School of Night by Peter Whelan at the Mark Taper Forum— Kit Marlowe, spy, atheist, rebel, victim, homosexual, and genius.
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Theater Review (NYC): American Buffalo by David Mamet— In arguably his best play, David Mamet gives a better explanation for the current economic crisis than any economist could provide.
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Theater Review (NYC): Romantic Poetry by John Patrick Shanley— If John Patrick Shanley can miss the mark by such large measure, what’s to stop any of us from trying?
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Theater Review (NYC): Moonlight and Love Songs by Scott Sickles— It is the “perhaps” moments that keep us going, and this fine play is loaded with them.
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Theater Review (NYC): Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Presented by the Queen's Company — Get shipwrecked with Viola and Sebastian in the Queen's Company's hilarious, updated but fully Shakespearean take on the classic comedy.
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Theater Review (NYC): Baraka Bullins & Fletcher: 3 One-Acts— This is a remarkable production for its depth, subject matter, talent and – last but not least – for its location.
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Book Review: Acting Class - Take a Seat by Milton Katselas— Notes about acting, and the knowledge and tools that have impacted actors, from famous Beverly Hills Playhouse teacher Milton Katselas.
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Theater Review (NYC): As We Speak by John Patrick Bray— Other than its use of technology, Bray's adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel is too amateurish to resonate in any real way.
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Theater Review (LA): Waiting in The Wings by Noel Coward at Theatre West — A loving look at actresses in retirement.
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Theater Review (LA): Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks by Richard Alfieri at the Falcon Theatre— Playing beautifully off each other, Jason Graae teaches Constance Towers to dance.
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Theater Review (NYC): If You See Something Say Something— The bomb is just one of those things that, even with no one to fight, once you have it you are just itching to set it off.
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Theater Review (NYC): Missa Solemnis or The Play About Henry— Just as Proposition 8 is passed, a new play by Roman Fesser examines the impossible dynamic of homosexuality and Mormonism.
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Theater Review (LA): Money Shot by Daniel Keleher at the Alexandria Hotel— Exciting, disgusting, engrossing, and pointless - but worth a look-see.
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Theater Review (NYC): Harm's Way by Shem Bitterman— A deft new political play by Shem Bitterman falls victim to a lackluster staging.
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Theater Review (LA): Spring Awakening at the Ahmanson Theatre
— Those naughty German teens are on tour.
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Theater Review (NYC): Oh, Whistle...: Two Ghost Stories by M R James— Immerse yourself in the macabre mind of M R James, the master of the English ghost story.
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Theater Review (LA): Mary's Wedding by Stephen Massicotte at the Colony Theatre— Love in Calgary - and on the battlefield - is all a dream.
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Theater Review (LA): Thyestes' Feast by Peter Wing Healey at the Whitmore-Lindley Theatre— What happened before the fall of the House of Atreus: a reconstruction of fragments with camp overtones.
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Theater Review (LA): The Witching Hour by L. G. Ross and Rodney Sciba at the Actor's Workout Studio— Four tales for All Hallows Eve - more creepy and funny than really scary.
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Theater Review (NYC): If You See Something Say Something by Mike Daisey— America's greatest monologist moves his fury from theater to homeland security, with a distrust of capitalism as the common bond.
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Theater Review (LA): The Lady With All The Answers by David Rambo at the Pasadena Playhouse— Mimi Kennedy plays Ann Landers in a delightful one-person show.
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Theater Review (NYC): Life After Bush by Noah Diamond and Amanda Sisk— This play makes no excuses about its politics—and is a better play because of it.
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Theater Review (LA): The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash at A Noise Within
— Now seems a good time to see this 1954 play, which is filled with hope, self-acceptance, and human renewal.
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Theatre Review (NYC): The Atheist— Campbell Scott is good, but in this play the whole is less than the sum of the parts.
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Theater Review (Thousand Oaks, CA): The King And I at the Cabrillo Music Theatre— Debbie Gibson is almost too strong for her role in this enjoyable revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.
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Theater Review (Pasadena): The Sequence by Paul Mullin at The Theatre @ Boston Court— The mapping of the human genome live, onstage - and it's funny too.
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Theater Review (NYC): Woyzeck by Georg Buchner at UNDER St. Marks and BAM— Two productions of Woyzeck hit New York in the wrong place at the right time.
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Theater Review (NYC): All My Sons by Arthur Miller— I have two words for you: Diane Wiest. Go see her work.
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Theater Review (NYC): Blue Before Morning— Three people escaping from their pasts meet on a fateful road trip.
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Theatre Review (London): The White Devil at The Menier Chocolate Factory— Jonathan Munby’s production of Webster’s 1612 revenge tragedy is ambitious and effective.
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Theater Review (NYC): To Be Or Not To Be— What was the story of an acting company trapped in Warsaw has been turned into a production void of intellect or emotion.
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Theater Review (NYC): Kindness— Watching this is a little like watching the stock market trajectory on October 15th. No fun. No logic. And definitely no kindness.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Pumpkin Pie Show— Clay McLeod Chapman's story-monologues dig for the gory innards of the human soul.
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Theater Review (LA): Hamlet by William Shakespeare at A Noise Within— Overacting and overreaching, Freddy Douglas makes an unsympathetic Hamlet.
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Theater Review (NYC): All My Sons by Arthur Miller— This revival of Arthur Miller's all-too-timely 1947 drama is diluted by gimmicky, distracting design and direction.
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Theatre Review (London): A Disappearing Number at the Barbican Theatre— Complicite's award-winning show about legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan returns to the Barbican.
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Theater Review (LA): Girl's Room by Joni Fritz at the El Potal— Carol Lawrence and Donna McKechnie in a star vehicle that works well.
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Theatre Review (London): Rain Man (Adapted for the Stage by Dan Gordon)— Josh Hartnett's performance almost equals Tom Cruise's in a successful stage adaption of the famous film.
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Theater Review (NYC): To Barcelona! by Michael Niederman— In a new work, a playwright honors his grandfather and all the other Americans who illegally went to Spain to fight against Franco.
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Theater Review (LA): Louis and Keely Live at The Sahara— Louis Prima and Keely Smith live again in Los Angeles.
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Theater Review (NYC): A Man For All Seasons— Everyone's phoning in their parts and waiting for the curtain call in this dull and unkempt production.
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Theater Review (NYC): Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn— One of the greatest living British playwrights continues to have an awkward reception in America.
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Theatre Review (NYC): 13— Everyone is doing the very best they can in this show, but they are limited by the very theme they chose to celebrate.
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Theater Review (NYC): Something Weird...in the Red Room— Weirdness can't make up for poor execution in Rachel Klein's Halloween special.
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Theater Review (NYC): Villa Diodati at the New York Musical Festival— With youthful energy suddenly emerging in musical theater, Villa Diodati seems at least 50 years out of date.
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Theater Review (NYC): Fifty Words— Michael Weller's play is an expansive look at marriage, seen through the looking glass of one couple’s long night’s journey into day.
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Opera Review (LA): The Fly— Can bad science fiction made good opera? Not in the case of the recent outing of "The Fly" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
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Theatre Review (La Jolla, CA): The Third Story by Charles Busch at the La Jolla Playhouse— Scientists, clones, misshapen experiments, a female mob boss, an old Russian folk tale, and Charles Busch.
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Theater Review (LA): Inside Privates Lives— It's a little bit of history, a little bit catty, and a lot of fun: six newsmakers portrayed with aplomb.
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Theatre Review (Costa Mesa, CA): Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl at South Coast Repertory— Answer a dead man's cell phone and you might get a life.
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Theatre Review (Ventura, CA): She Loves Me by Masterhoff, Bock, and Harnick— Just when you think the story is going to get sentimental, Masterhoff changes the mood with a joke.
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Theater Review (San Diego): Back Back Back by Itmar Moses at the Old Globe Theatre— A dramatic - but not dramatic enough - stage exploration of the baseball steroid scandal.
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Theatre Review (NYC): The Tempest— I don’t think I would be accused of telling tales out of school if I said that the best part of this production is the intermission.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Night Carter Was Bad by Ben Cikanek— Commitment problems are the standard male character flaw of our age, but "Carter" is a compelling, even sympathetic bastard.
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Theatre Review (San Diego): The Women by Claire Boothe Luce at the Old Globe— What makes The Women so special is that despite the period and class of these gals, they are totally recognizable today.
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Theatre Review (LA): Kiss of The Spider Woman by McNally, Kander and Ebb at the Bootleg Theatre— Fans of the original production, which won seven Tony Awards, will not be disappointed.
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Theater Review (NYC): Three Changes Starring Dylan McDermott and Maura Tierney— Three Changes is an exercise in frustration. Better you should ride the #4 at rush hour.
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Theater Review (NYC): Beast— All I can tell you is that Michael Weller has been reading one too many Marvel Comic Books.
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Theater Review (NYC): Equus— Richard Griffiths knows every millimeter of the story he is telling, as well as how to make you listen to every syllable of every word.
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Theatre Review (LA): Speech and Debate by Stephen Karam at The Blank— A funny, touching, and satiric look at the hypocrisy of the adult world.
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Theater Review (LA): Bye Bye Birdie at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center— The classic rock-and-roll musical triumphs in Redondo Beach.
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Theatre Review (LA): Ragtime: The Musical at the Hudson Theatre— Directorial problems can't take away from this show's great music.
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Theater Review (NYC): Taboos by Carl Djerassi— Carl Djerassi, the inventor of the Pill, sees his scientific perspective conflict with his dramatic one in Taboos.
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Theater Review (LA): The Four of Us by Itamar Moses at the Elephant Theatre Lab
— Some find find this navel-watching annoying, while others love the puzzle of it all.
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Theatre Review (Stratford-on-Avon): Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company
— Can you believe the hype? Is the hottest Shakespearean ticket in years worth selling a kidney for? Find out now!
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Theater Review (NYC): Quickening— Privacy may be on the way out, but this abortion story makes compelling drama out of one of women's most private matters.
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Theater Review (LA): Beethoven As I Knew Him - Written and Performed by Hershey Felder at the Geffen Playhouse— With his one-man biographical musicals Felder gets us closer to the men behind the music.
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Theater Review (LA): The House Of Blue Leaves by John Guare at the "New" Mark Taper Forum— A new production of John Guare's classic is worth seeing, if a little slick.
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Theater Review (LA): Seesaw at the Alex Theatre— Musical Theatre Guild gives a rarely produced Coleman-Fields musical a nice one-night production, and Jason Alexander is spotted - scouting it?
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Theater Review (LA): As U2 Like It by Shakespeare and Matt Walker at the Falcon Theatre— Shakespeare meets Bono in the Troubadour Theatre Company's latest.
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Theater Review (NYC): An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen— The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble throws modernism under a bus with its watered-down staging of Ibsen's classic.
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Theater Review (Costa Mesa) An Italian Straw Hat: A Vaudeville by Labiche, Strand and McCarthy— South Coast Rep presents a cute new musical adaptation of a classic French farce.
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Theatre Review (La Jolla): Memphis - The Birth of Rock and Roll by Joe DiPietro and David Byran at the La Jolla Playhouse— A new musical tells the story of the white deejays who popularized early rock and roll.
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Theatre Review (Pasadena): Vanities - A New Musical by Jack Heifner and David Kirshenbaum at the Pasadena Playhouse— The smash hit play Vanities is now a delightful musical.
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Opera Review (LA): Il Trittico by Puccini at the Dorthy Chandler Pavilion— William Friedkin and Woody Allen direct a smashing production of Puccini's last complete opera.
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Theater Review (NYC): A Great Place to Be From by Norman Lasca— The heat gets to the characters, but's that's as far as this ambitious play goes.
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Theater Review (NYC): Sa Ka La by Jon Fosse— Two sisters' helplessness in the face of their mother's precipitous decline rides a wave between heartrending and frustrating.
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Theatre Review (San Diego): Sight Unseen by David Margulies at the Old Globe— A wonderful production of a modern classic.
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Theater Review (NYC): A Perfect Ganesh by Terrence McNally— A forgotten masterpiece by Terrence McNally gets a timely revival by WorkShop Theater Company.
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Theatre Review (LA): Agamemnon by Aeschylus
— Tyne Daly and Delroy Lindo star in a powerful production of the 2,500-year-old classic.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Chalk Boy by Joshua Conkel— Teen girl anxieties meet existential angst in Joshua Conkel's The Chalk Boy.
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Theater Review (LA): Once On This Island by Ahrens and Flaherty at the Freud Playhouse— This vibrant new production is an auspicious start for the new Reprise team.
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Theater Review (London): Liberty at the Globe— There's sex, there's passion, there's politics here, in a nicely, if a touch too calculatingly, assembled mix.
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Theater Review (San Diego): Summer Shakespeare Festival at The Old Globe Theatre— Those merry wives are at it again, meeting Romeo and Juliet along with way - and all's well that ends well.
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Theatre Review (Stratford-on-Avon): Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company — David Tennant is Hamlet. It was tempting to add ‘Nuff said’ to that first sentence and leave it at that.
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Theater Review (LA): Some Kind of Love Story by Arthur Miller— The West Coast premiere of a play by Arthur Miller - an undiscovered gem? If it sounds too good to be true . . .
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Theater Review (NYC/Fringe Festival): Creena DeFoouie and The Redheaded Man— The NYC Fringe Festival concludes with a taste of the weird and the traumatic.
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Theater Review (Santa Cruz, CA): Shakespeare Santa Cruz 2008 at UC Santa Cruz— Marco Barricello begins his stewardship of Shakespeare Santa Cruz with a splash.
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Theater Review (NYC/Fringe Festival): Zombie and The Corn Maiden— Two adaptations of Joyce Carol Oates novellas at the NYC Fringe show two approaches to staging psychology.
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Theater Review (NYC): One Nation Under by Andrea Lepcio— Rich folks' conservative views grate against the realities of inner city working-class life in this gripping play.
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Theater Review (NYC/Fringe Festival): The Boy in the Basement and Kansas City Or Along The Way— At the NYC Fringe Festival, The Boy in the Basement shines while Kansas City Or Along The Way flounders
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Theater Review (LA): Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl— An extraordinary, all-star cast made this a more enjoyable Les Miz for me than even when I saw it in New York.
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Theater Review (NYC/Fringe Festival): Cake and Plays...But Without the Cake and The Grecian Formula— Monsoons is a stark, blackly comedic vignette about a failed first date, frequently hilarious, but never letting its audience laugh too long.
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Theatre Review (London): Her Naked Skin at the National — The truly memorable scenes are those at the heart of the suffragette struggle.
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Theater Review (LA): Alice In One-Hit-Wonderland 2: Through The Looking Glass— Lewis Carroll's Alice, The Brady Bunch, and rock and roll mix it up in a hilarious musical.
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Theater Review (NYC): 7 Stories by Morris Panych at the Gene Frankel Theatre— An Everyman contemplates jumping to his death while an assortment of hilarious eccentrics babble on.
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Theatre Review (London): The Wizard Of Oz at the Royal Festival Hall— A balmy night in London is a rarer sight than a performance this mediocre at the RFH.
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Theater Review (LA): Not The Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) by Eric Idle and John Du Prez at the Hollywood Bowl— Life of Brian, sheep, a pipe band, and Eric Idle - in an oratorio.
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Theater Review (NYC): Hair in Central Park— "The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" returns to work magic under the stars in Central Park.
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Theater Review (London): Cosi at the White Bear, Kennington— If any of the currently dark and silent West End theatres are looking for a transfer show, they could do a lot worse.
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Theater Review (LA): Singin' In The Rain at The Cabrillo Music Theatre— Director Larry Ruben captures the funny as well as the poignant, and has cast a super group of actors in those iconic roles.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Artistical Process of Mark and Andy by Jeff Sproul— This play does a truly commendable job of making something out of nothing.
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Theater Review (NYC): What To Do When You Hate All Your Friends by Larry Kunofsky— Larry Kunofsky's hilarious new play explores the absurd social dynamics of modern adult friendship.
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Theater Review (NYC): Stain by Tony Glazer— This melodramatic new play by Tony Glazer can't find the dramatic conviction to support its offensiveness.
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Theater Review (LA): Great Expectations— Miss Haversham sings, and its a Pip.
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Theater Review (NYC): TRACES/fades by Lenora Champagne— This insufferable experimental work is probably better suited for the art gallery than the theater.
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Theater Review (LA): Julie Andrews: The Gift Of Music with Julie Andrews at The Hollywood Bowl— A musical version of Julie Andrews' "Simeon's Gift" plus a Rodgers and Hammerstein tribute.
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Theatre Review (Stratford-upon-Avon, UK): The Merchant of Venice— How do you solve a problem like Shylock? Has Tim Carroll's production ripped the heart from Shakespeare's problem play?
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Theatre Review (LA): Zastrozzi by George F. Walker at the NoHo Arts Center— A criminal mastermind, a virgin, a vamp, and a religious fanatic, brought to you by a Canadian playwright.
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Theater Review (LA): American Tales by Jan Powell and Ken Stone for The Antaeus Theatre Company at Deaf West Theatre— Mark Twain and Herman Melville, set to music, make for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
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Theater Review (LA): Desert Sunrise by Misha Shulman at the Lillian Theatre— West Bank combatants meet in a moving, tragic-comic play written by an Israeli Army veteran.
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Theater Review (LA) : The Voice Of The Prairie by John Olive at the Colony Theatre— A tale of the early days of radio, broadcast from the American Prairie.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Strangerer by Mickie Maher— A fine existential play comes to New York, and will either baffle its audience to catharsis or bore it to sleep.
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Theater Review (LA): The Wizard of Oz at The Carpenter Center— Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My.
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Theater Review (NYC): Bouffon Glass Menajoree— This parody of the Tennessee Williams classic is grotesque in the original and best sense of the word.
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Theater Review (LA): Looped by Mathew Lombardo at the Pasadena Playhouse— Valerie Harper triumphs as Tallulah Bankhead.
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Theater Review (Milan): Imperium by La Fura Dels Baus at Pals Sharp— Imperialism, subjugation, and bare-breasted women - I can only imagine how it played in Beijing.
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Theater Review (NYC): Life in A Marital Institution by James Braly— James Braly's nakedly honest one-man show covers more than one side of married life.
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Connecting New York and Chicago: A Four-Year Theatrical Odyssey— Going from New York to Chicago and back, you could see the Chicago invasion coming a mile away.
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Theater Review (LA): In On It by Daniel Maclvor at The Chandler Studio Theatre Center— Three plots for the price of one, by a GLAAD and Obie Award winning playwright.
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Opera Review (Verona): Nabucco by Verdi at Arena di Verona— The most beautiful-sounding chorus in opera is the real star of this fine production.
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Theatre Review (NYC): Edward Albee's Occupant— This fabulous production has been extended so there is still time to see it.
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Opera Review (Verona): Tosca by Puccini at Arena Di Verona— Tosca reaches new heights in Verona.
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Opera Review (Verona): Aida by Verdi at Arena Di Verona— Egypt comes to Verona again, in a sumptuous updated version of a legendary 1913 production.
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Opera Review (Milan): La Traviata by Verdi at Teatro Alla Scala— Mariella La Devia sings Violetta at La Scala, but Renato Bruson is the biggest crowd-pleaser as Germont.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Pleasures of Peace by the Medicine Show Theater Ensemble— Fighting complacency, one wisecrack at a time.
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Dance Review (Milan): Diavolo Dance Theatre at Teatro Arcimboli— Diavolo shows Milan a bit of the ether.
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Theater/Burlesque Review (NYC): Revealed— Bawdy fun in the East Village.
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Theater Review (NYC): Vendetta Chrome — You have less than a week to hustle on over to this fine show.
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Theater Review (NYC): All Kinds of Shifty Villains: A Carnival Noir— A hallucinating gumshoe, a sinister clown, and a femme fatale collide in this shifty new play.
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Dissonance and Dissidents Between Marxist Theory and Practice in Tom Stoppard’s Rock 'N' Roll— In two contrasting worlds, Stoppard's play shows how Marxist materialism became indefensible in the Soviet bloc.
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Theater Review (NYC): Coming Home - the Fourth Annual Festival of One Act Plays— This is a trio of plays worth your bother, and it closes too soon!
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Opera Review (Florence, Italy): La Traviata by Verdi at the Duomo Auditorium— Violetta dies more than once in Florence.
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Theater Review (NYC): Three on a Couch by Carl Djerassi— A nervous shrink, a devilish plot, revenge, and a mango fuel the American premiere of Carl Djerassi's dark comedy.
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Theater Review (NYC): Standing Clear— The show's creators use subway vignettes to make us look closely at ourselves - and to laugh at what we see.
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Theater Review (Milan): Il Ventaglio (The Fan) by Goldoni at the Teatro Strehler— Goldoni hits "The Fan" in Milan.
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Young Frankenstein and the Theater Experience— Seeing the story on the stage brings a wonderful new dynamic.
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Theater Review (Huntsville, AL): I Hate Hamlet— They don't really hate Hamlet, and Theatre Huntsville's production will make a Hamlet fan out of you, too.
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Theater/Dance Review (Brooklyn NY): The Judgment of Paris by Austin McCormick and Company XIV— This dazzling new dance-theater piece incorporates elements of pre-ballet Baroque dance.
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Theater Review (NYC): Armor of Wills— The Beggars Group loves theater, but this production does not match the quality of their commitment.
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Theater Review (NYC): Curtains with David Hyde Pierce— David Hyde Pierce stars in the new Kander and Ebb musical comedy murder mystery.
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Theater Review (Milan): Profondo Posso Il Musical with the Supervision of Dario Argento at Teatro Smeraldo— This stage version of Dario Argento's classic cult film is a musical misfire.
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Theater Review (NYC): Macbeth— Whether you’re playgoing or simply stargazing, you’re likely to find something scary at this uneven Macbeth.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Sound And The Fury (April Seventh, 1928)— This company's considerable strength is sourced in ritual, chance, focus, and risk. The combination is glorious.
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Theater Review (NYC): Cherry Docs— A Jewish attorney defends a skinhead in this snappy little play that won't bust your billfold.
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Theater Review (NYC): Henry James's The Aspern Papers, Adapted by Martin Zuckerman— Henry James' suspenseful tale of duplicity, set in a backwater of Venice, comes luridly to life on stage.
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Theater Review (Houston): Susanna and Will - A Reckoning Among the Dead in Stratford-upon-Avon— Shakespeare's daughter Susanna challenges the Bard with tough personal questions about life and love.
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Theater Review (NYC): Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle— Cast and crew's great cleverness and enormous talent make Brecht's masterpiece pulsate with the outsized, exaggerated energy of real life.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Country Girl— No one could be sadder than I. Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand, Peter Gallagher: what could possibly go wrong? A lot.
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Opera Review: The Barber of Seville (Bern, Switzerland)— A modern take on Il Barbiere di Siviglia complete with trashcans.
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Theater Review (Milan, Italy): La Divina Comedia by Marco Frisina, Gianmario Pagano, and Dante at Pala Sharp— Life can be Hell according to Dante. Now let's sing about it.
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Theater Review (New York): Chamber Music and The Day The Whores Came Out To Play Tennis— There are pauses in these two plays during which you could unload a banana boat.
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Theatre Review (NYC): “Foul is Fair” - Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood Uncover the Power of Shakespeare’s Dark, Psychological Tale of Macbeth— Director Rupert Goold’s filmic version of Macbeth is novel but distracting.
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Theater Review (New York): The Little Flower of East Orange— LAByrinth Theater Company is not neat and tidy-making. It bubbles and evolves with every production.
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Stars Honor Bill Withers and Our Time, an Artistic Home for People Who Stutter— Our Time Theatre Company provides an artistic home for kids and teens who stutter.
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Theater Review (NYC): Another Vermeer
— It is in spaces like the Abingdon that New York theater is truly born.
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Theater Review (NYC): Sizwe Banzi is Dead— This play speaks only of one town in one country, but it transcends time, race, sex, and class.
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Theater Review (NYC): Arthur Kopit's Chamber Music and The Day the Whores Came Out to Play Tennis
— Susan B. Anthony, Joan of Arc, and Amelia Earhart fear an attack from the men's ward.
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Theater Review (London): I Saw Myself— Sleev is super-intelligent, manipulative, and magnificent. With a different set of genitals she'd have made a superb king.
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Theater Review (NYC): Dirt— An Iraqi immigrant who knows he cannot be loved invites hatred and abuse instead, because at least it's something.
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Theatre Review (NYC): Something You Did— This is a quiet little play about big ideas, a fine and thoughtful feast for mind and spirit.
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Theater Review (NYC): Elizabeth Rex by Timothy Findley— All's well that ends well - except for poor Essex, of course.
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Theatre Review (NYC): Macbeth— In all the times you have seen Macbeth, did you ever get the impression that Mr. and Mrs. Macbeth were actually married?
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Theatre Review (NYC): The Drunken City
— This play doesn’t quite land on its feet, but it has wonderful moments of surprise with excellent performances.
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Theater Review (NYC): The Four of Us
— This is a sweet play. That sounds gushy, but there is not another way to describe it.
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Theater Review (NYC): Hostage Song— Two war hostages are wrenched into a space so unreal that erupting into song seems as sensible as anything else.
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Theatre Review (Norman, OK): Lend Me a Tenor
— Just be glad your life is not this complicated.
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Theater Review (NYC): Rainbow Kiss— Like its plot and character development, the Rainbow Kiss is MIA.
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