Reviews

The Center Theatre Group is living up to its self-appointed title of “L.A.’s Theatre Company.”  Hosting large scale hit plays and musicals, exploring new works, and hosting various educational and community outreach programs, they continue to shine as an artistic beacon in our city.  The latest little gem is the two man musical, Girlfriend, at…

“Any day with Arthur Miller in the house is a good day.”  A director pal of mine recently uttered these words during a discussion about theater.  Saturday turned out to be that very good day at the Mark Taper Forum as Arthur Miller’s The Price opened to an expectant crowd.  Five minutes into the first…

The Farewell Tour Even before the curtain went up on Dame Edna’s opening night show at the Ahmanson, Thom and I joined the laughter as Dr. Barry Humphries’ voice boomed through the theatre with house announcements to silence our cell phones and such.  The sheer manliness of his voice juxtaposed against our anticipation of what…

Even before the painted scrim rose on the opening night stage of Horton Foote’s The Trip To Bountiful, the audience erupted into applause as a mass of stark white hair and familiar silhouette came into focus.  Mother Watts (Cicely Tyson) sat rocking in a wooden chair singing bits of the old hymn, “There’s Not a…

“Interesting,” Thom and I said in unison at the conclusion of the opening night performance of Marjorie Prime at the Mark Taper Forum.  Another patron, passing us in the isle, casually joined our one-word discussion with his own, “yes, interesting.”  I love this about opening night communities; much like concert-going communities, our collective experience takes…

 “I’ll tell you a bedtime story; it will be a gift”                                     Starcatcher in training, Molly Aster The two most enduring gifts Wendy gave Peter Pan were bedtime stories and a kiss.  Playwright, Rick Elice wisely includes both of these treasures in his hilarious imagining of how an enslaved orphan came to be Peter…

at The Mark Taper Forum My husband Thom and I took our seats Sunday at the opening night performance of David Mamet’s 2007 satirical comedy, November with high hopes. I’ll just go ahead and say it – we are fans. In Mamet’s romp, pathetic President Charles Smith wrings his sorry hands as his one failed…

Note to playwright John Logan: Get on your knees and thank the Lord on high or whatever otherworldly power you call “Higher” for Alfred Molina. Molina brings to bear the full measure of his lifetime of exploring what it is to be an artist as he steps back in time to 1958 and into the…

Who doesn’t love a good CAT MOM HUGS BABY You Tube clip for an, aw shucks that’s so cute, moment. But in this age of incremental instant moments that pass as entertainment, we risk becoming a generation of illiterates of art and drama. Go ahead and enjoy that BABIES LAUGH AT RIPPING PAPER video, but…

With great expectation, I came Sunday to the Mark Taper Forum to see Clybourne Park the companion piece to A Raisin in the Sun. And while I couldn’t wait to review A Raisin in the Sun I walked away from Clybourne Park wondering how in the world I could talk cogently about this play. A…

Sunday Night found me pulling easily into the Culver City Hall parking lot for opening night of A Raisin in the Sun at the Kirk Douglas Theater.  By the middle of the Act I, I was holding tightly to Thom’s hand and barely let go until curtain.  So compelling is Lorraine Hansberry’s play inspired by…

Thom and Me and VIGIL at the Mark Taper Forum Live theater has been a vital part of our personal and professional lives since long before my husband Thom and I were married and taking in shows two nights in a row is not unheard of. Saturday night we caught the well- produced To Kill…

The capacity audience at the opening night performance of LES MISÉRABLES held its collective breath as we waited for the curtain.  The conductor raised his baton to ready the orchestra, and before they hit the downbeat the crowd went wild with cheers.  Thom and I joined in.   We have been anticipating this newly designed 25th…