Remembering Boyle Heights, created and devised by Josefina López, Corky Dominguez and The Remembering Boyle Heights Ensemble, is a theatrical presentation of both the history of Boyle Heights and its social activism, which is inspired by the resistance of the citizens of Boyle Heights to the increasing threat of gentrification. The style of the production … Continue reading “Remembering Boyle Heights” at CASA 0101
It has been a tradition in my household to start decorating for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. My wife likes to put ornaments on the tree to the sound of Christmas music. She also loves classic Christmas movies like Miracle on 34th Street and, especially, It’s a Wonderful Life, the Frank Capra classic that … Continue reading “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Theatre West
Confederates by Suzanne Bradbeer, which won a Silver Medallion in the Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle Hart New Play Initiative, takes advantage of the current political climate to present an intimate drama set in a presidential campaign. Stephanie (Melissa R. Randel), a hard boiled reporter on the cusp of being encouraged to take an honorable … Continue reading “Confederates” at Grove Theater Center
With the houselights still up, in a theatre with seats configured on a slant, a pleasant, smiling, thirtyish man enters in replete with a MacBook and ear buds, hops into an armchair and types. House lights fade, stage lights come up, and this voluble, energetic man addresses the audience. He says he is the playwright. … Continue reading “Death and Cockroaches” at Chalk Repertory Theatre
I like my comedy black, and the blacker the better. Amy Dellagiarino’s new play, The Value of Moscow, now playing at Sacred Fools, fits my predilection like an Armani suit. The relevance of the title to the action spools out with satisfying coyness, when three sisters enter from the snowy cold to unpack forty or … Continue reading “The Value of Moscow” at Sacred Fools
Playwright Oliver Mayer’s Members Only takes place in the milieu of professional boxing in New York City in 1982, and intersects with the insidious rise of a mysterious disease that came to be known as AIDS that went on to decimate, first the gay population, then, indiscriminately, millions world wide. The story features a champion … Continue reading “Members Only” at Latino Theater Company
So far as I know, the Musical Theatre Guild is a totally unique company of extraordinary, thoroughly professional performers unlike anything I have ever seen anywhere. Dedicated to “exploring and preserving works from the musical theatre repertoire that were either forgotten, neglected, or unfairly dismissed,” the Guild works under “a special Actors’ Equity Concert Staged … Continue reading “Zorba!” at Musical Theatre Guild
