Evan Henerson - Page 5

Koons' moody production at the Fleishman is trying to tap into a noirish whodunnit vibe in which the story’s professed detective is the one person in the building (or in this case, the amphitheatre) who doesn’t realize that he is himself is also the murderer.

In the staging of 13 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, the kids are more-than-allright; occasionally a little rough around the edges, but so is this musical. Frequent Panic helmer Barry Pearl, music director Lloyd Cooper and a rocking company of 19 give this heartfelt ode to self-discovery both the sizzle and friskiness it deserves.

Viewers who remember and were affected by THE LARAMIE PROJECT will see parallels in HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES, a beautiful and no-less-significant new play written by Kaufman and Amanda Gronich, co-produced by the Tectonic Theater Project and directed by Kaufman at the La Jolla Playhouse.

THE REMARKABLE MISTER HOLMES isn’t meant for the purists. Nor is it remarkable. An audience has to slog through a tiring array of blowhards and buffoonery shot through with a tonal sensibility that treads a line between broad comedy and offensiveness.

The work is smart, kinetic, occasionally a bit raunchy and a blast. Basically, this is part of the evolution of improvised comedy, only with better music. The Groundlings should be so cool.

ISC’s unique brand of Shakespeare in the park has long been a summertime favorite for Angelenos of all ages. PESTLE is a work of Francis Beaumont, not the Bard, but as adapted and staged by director Melissa Chalsma, this loopy bit of play-within-a-play meta is every bit a comic winner.

With its award-winning book by Steven Levenson and score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the touring version of DEAR EVAN HANSEN offers the same gut punches along with assurances that life for the Hansens, the Murphys and the millions of nameless, faceless lonely souls out there on the internet may yet be OK.

Director Mike Donahue’s production on the Geffen’s Cates stage is so intelligent, well-crafted and downright fun that A WICKED SOUL IN CHERRY HILL seems destined to have a future beyond Westwood.

The work of director Guillermo Cienfuegos, Alex Neher and Justin Preston is brave, honest and frequently stomach-churning, the kind of character study that should frighten the hell out of anybody (particularly parents).

As directed by Tim Dang for the Sierra Madre Playhouse, KING OF THE YEES is a comedy and a quest, a Caroll-ian plunge through Chinatown led by a sure-handed guide who is seeking some penetrating answers. The author of the hit play CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND is a rock star and this gem from 2017, staged with all kinds of finesse at SMP, is a winner.

Despite some instances of inventive staging and plenty of technical blares and flashes, John Gould Rubin’s production is as wrongheaded as it is irritating to sit through. Read our BWW critic's review.

The lady is four-alarm hot; the man, her plaything. The script is literate and cruelly funny, a simultaneous homage to its salacious source and to the craft and vagaries of live theater. Got your stole? Very good. So who out there is game for some kick-ass kink?

Read our critic's review. HADESTOWN, the too-hot musical by Anais Mitchell directed by Rachel Chavkin, is a scorcher. Masterfully sung, elegantly staged and with a sensibility so romantic it could physically knock you over, the national tour of the 2019 Tony Award-winning musical parks at the Ahmanson through the end of May.

Prestidigitation factors heavily into ESCAPE, but it’s by no means the performance’s only draw. Directed by Lee Costello from a script by Carter, the 90-minute three-hander showcases Judy Carter as a talented performer and a deeply conflicted person who has navigated some bumpy terrain in her life.

Ahmed Best's production expertly blends fantasy, pop cultural references and the keen observation of a sharp script. HOODED is an instruction manual for lovers of good drama.  

The satirical juices flow through Michael John Garces’ production of THE PLAY YOU WANT. Set in the present day, the play offers a bunch of well-known, real-life figures who are sent up and ultimately knocked down to make Cubria’s point.

Suppose you took a really good movie – or a crowd-pleaser - and you loaded it down with bad music. Or maybe not with atrocious music, but wrong-headed ditties. Or maybe you assigned the wrong composer for this particular cinematic genre.

Los Angeles’s East West Players has a long and vibrant history with the musicals of Stephen Sondheim, making it hardly a news flash that the company would both take a – er – shot at the composer’s controversial 1990 work, ASSASSINS, and end up bringing it off so splendidly.

POWER OF SAIL is a smart firecracker of a play getting a blistering production at the Geffen Playhouse directed by Weyni Mengesha. Presenting itself initially as a debate masquerading as dramatic fiction, SAIL quickly pivots and deepens, morphing into a tale that is part character study, part thriller.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL undeniably has at its center, a butterfly-in-waiting and a marvelous performer waiting to take her on. From leading lady Erika Soto to company stalwart Deborah Strang, Nike Doukas’s solidly entertaining production of ALL’S WELL boasts a particularly strong core of women who anchor this effort with great skill.