Gil Kaan - Page 49

Too damn funny! How generous of co-writers Jamie Franta and Don Colliver to spread the abundance of laughs and good bits around to their entire cast. Each one of the talented troupe achieves their moment to shine in their deserved spotlights.

This very black comedy, The Idiot Box written by Michael Elyanow completely went over this critic's head as laughter never escaped from his mouth. (OK, maybe once.) Scenes in which the actors obviously went for the laughs, punctuated by the cheesy canned laughtracks fell flat. However, scenes played for straight-up dramatics killed.

In the Los Angeles premiere of I See You Made an Effort; Annabelle Gurwitch adeptly performs excerpts from her bestselling  book of the same title. Gurwitch possesses a charismatic stage presence while definitively in control of her own storytelling. The main theme of her book/play revolves around her issues with reaching the magical age of 50.

The world premiere of Go Figure! The Randy Gardner Story receives a not quite taut mounting in its initial outing at the NoHo Arts Center. Director Josh Ravetch, who co-wrote this with Gardner, allows his star to proceed with his biographical tales, some quite riveting, some very candid, at his own desired pace.

East West Players has done it again with their spectacular production of The Who's Tommy. With an incredible band, vibrant vocals from the entire cast and stunning visuals, this 'little' theatre easily matches and betters many larger house productions. 

For those who like their black comedy extremely black, The House of Yes just might be the perfect show for you! The House of Yes' ideal for those with the combined acquired taste for incest, mental illness, and unsympathetic characters.

Groundlings Kung Fu Battle Island, the latest in The Groundlings' continued, well-oiled, laugh-filled Friday & Saturday night shows, just keeps the fine-tuned physical comedy and the hysterical jokes flowing.

Kritzerland's Berlin to Rome's theme unintentionally became 'generations,' as the youngster and the senior stole the show from the others of the talented line-up of singing pros. 

The West Coast premiere of Dominique Morisseau's Sunset Baby provides a wonderful star vehicle for the very talented Nadege August. As the title character, August wholly embodies Nina, the troubled daughter of her recently deceased mother Ashanti X and her estranged father Kenyatta (who deserted the two of them long time ago to lead his revolution).

The Theatre's Co-Artistic Director, Michael Michetti skillfully directs his two brilliant actors (Ed F. Martin and Michelle Azar) in a streamlined, no-fat depiction of two lonely souls possibly finding their ultimate purpose in life.

Harold Pinter's 1978 Betrayal gets an inventive re-mounting by director Aaron Craig as he augments Pinter's dialogues with musical interludes using jazz versions of Motown tunes.

World premiere of playwright Stan Rich's Loopholes: A Pain In The I.R.S. benefits from a very game cast of talented actors performing his fun, pun- galore, shtick-filled musical. The troupe's overall enthusiasm and commitment really pull off this 90-minute piece which possesses a very Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney, 'Let's go to the barn and put on a show' vibe.

Kudos to George Villas for mastering Neil LaBute's extremely word-heavy monologues-the opening 20 minutes and the what-seemed-much-longer closing one. But Villas' Smith's long involved diatribes might be easier digested presented by a pivotal character more sympathetic and grounded.

Heartrending tales of tragedy weaved together by the common denominator of a gun (hence, Bang Bang) will rip your heartstrings and possibly cause a flow of tears. Ably directed by Mark Bringelson at an even, fast clip; his talented cast succeeds in presenting actual human faces to the oft-times, de-personalized news accounts of these all-too-common fatal occurrences.

The always reliable and very informative host Bruce Kimmel unfailingly surprised his captured audience with the most interesting tidbits of Broadway trivia. Songs of this evening were chosen as to their fit in this, to quote Kimmel, 'potpourri of pleasant and perverse.'

The best scripted comedy drag show in Los Angeles, this episode of the hysterical Hispanic spoof of the 1970's hit TV show Charlie's Angels receives a hilarious mash-up with another '70s hit The Love Boat.

Playwright Micah Schraft's world premiere of A Dog's House receives an absolutely stunning mounting with a first-rate, kick-ass cast. Schraft's witty, intelligent, entertainingly thought-provoking script flows fluidly out of the talented mouths of Christine Woods, Graham Sibley, Katie Lowes, and Dean Chekvala.

The brainchild of Craig Taggart & Chris Pudlo, Rise 'n Shine with Bette & Juliette, exudes a fun 'Let's put on a show!' vibe via a talented troupe of enthusiastic performers.

A talented ensemble energizes the Los Angeles premiere of playwright Leilani Chan's Global Taxi Driver, a collection of taxi drivers' stories from all over the world.

More of a performance art piece than a play, Casey Smith masters an hour of mimed sketches timed with complementing video projections by Dustin Hughes. Not for the prude at heart, Smith performs a handful (pun intended) of explicit sexual miming, mimics loads of scat and vomit humor, and administers an exorbitant amount of intense violence on imaginary animals, babies, and Smith himself.