Blogcritics

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...

Theater Review (NYC): Billy Elliot The Musical

Tulis McCall — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 08:40:57 EST

This show is a big sloppy bear hug of YES YOU CAN, and it bonked me in the heart.
The Brits adore the music hall. It’s been part of their DNA for over 100 years - hence the name Royal Albert Music Hall instead of Royal Albert Theatre. They don’t care so much about a beginning, middle and an end as they do about the roiling. Keep it moving, because the crowd in the stalls is dying for a reason not to pay attention. ...

Theater Review (NYC): In The Heights

Tulis McCall — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:21:35 EST

The voices are astonishing, the dancing infectious, and the storytelling classic.
Downstage left on the set of In The Heights is the entrance to the 181st Street stop on the A Train. When the show was over I figured I had just enough time to hop the train and get up there before all the people I had just seen disappeared. And as long as I was standing anyway – along with the entire balcony section – I figured I...

Theater Review (LA): The Joy Luck Club

Purple Tigress — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:10:18 EST

If you haven't read the novel or seen the movie, Amy Tan's bestseller is now a stage production.
For those who haven’t read Amy Tan’s 1989 book The Joy Luck Club or seen the 1993 movie, the East West Players have brought Susan Kim’s sensitive stage adaptation to the David Henry Hwang Theatre in Little Tokyo.The story is about four Chinese-American immigrant families. The mothers, all of whom emigrated from mainland China,...

Theatre Review (London): The Cordelia Dream at Wilton's Music Hall

Natalie Bennett — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:12:50 EST

This was quite the worst time I've had at the theatre in a very long while.
It isn't at all uncommon for parents and children not to like each other, to be consumed by rivalry and competition - yet you'd think, watching Marina Carr's new The Cordelia Dream as performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Wilton's Music Hall, that this was a new, dramatic idea taut with possibility.At least you would, if you...