Theater
“VIGILS” @ LB PLAYHOUSE: CAN TREVINO’S DIRECTION SAVE HAIDLE’S SCRIPT?
A year after Olivia Treviño directed the Long Beach Playhouse's best-ever production to that point, she returns to direct "Vigils," by playwright Noah Haidle ... and therein may lie a problem. Through July 13.
“DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE”: A CAN-YOU-HEAR-ME-NOW FARCE AT ICT
There's a reason the man at the next table won't answer his cell phone. He's dead. But why does Jean decide to tend to his cellular flame? "Dead Man's Cell Phone" only shows us that it brings her far more than she bargained for. At International City Theatre through June 30.
“LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS:” WILL BRING THE BLOOM & DOOM ANOTHER WEEKEND
Due to popular demand, "Little Shop of Horrors" will be spreading its bloom and doom at Long Beach Playhouse Long in two additional performances---Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29 at 8 p.m.
AFTER 58 YEARS, DOWNEY CLO HAS FADED TO BLACK
Tonight's opening of "Paint Your Wagon," was already planned as last show of the Downey Civic Light Opera's 58th season. But executive director Marsha Moode has announced that it will also begin the countdown toward the end of the company, altogether. It all goes away on June 16.
HAV-A-GREATER WEEKEND: DRAMA QUEEN, SKA, PATCHWORK, GREAT HOMES
No matter what kind of mood you're in---cold, condemning, absurd, hyper-happy, deeply angry, wannabe hippie, house-envying ---there's something going on in Long Beach this week that's sure to exacerbate it. Take it to the limit! One more time!
“AS YOU LIKE IT”: WHAT ALL THE SHAKESPEARE FUSS IS STILL ABOUT
"As You Like It" may be Shakespeare's best comedy, and Long Beach Shakespeare Company's current production features some of the best work it has ever done. Through June 29.
AFTER 60 YEARS, DOES IONESCO’S ABSURDISM FEEL A BIT DADA-DERING?
Craig Johnson and Robbie Danzie bring poignancy to an old couple's look back at their lives in "The Chairs," the more accessible of a twin bill of early plays by dada/absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco---including his first, "The Bald Soprano"---at The Garage Theatre through June 8
“MACHINAL”: LB PLAYHOUSE UNEARTHS—AND HONORS—A TREASURE
"Machinal" is playwright Sophie Treadwell's 1928 expressionistic telling of a woman's struggle to find her way in a world she experiences as cold and absurd. Theatre critic Greggory Moore says it's the best thing he's seen at the LB Playhouse. Cold, absurd and Greggory Moore? We're in!
“THE THUGS:” IDLE MINDS MAKE ONE DEVIL OF A GOOD PLAYGROUND
Adam Bock's bizarre black comedy, "The Thugs," touches on nearly every weary observation about modern life---a variety of topics and characters and depth and silliness that adds up to everything that Cal Rep does best. On the Queen Mary through April 30.
A CHORUS LINE: SEEKING JUSTICE FOR GREATEST MUSICAL EVER
"A Chorus Line" is promoted as the greatest musical ever, but true or not, the question is what Musical Theatre West does with whatever it is. The answer is on stage at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center through April 28.
IF SLAPSTICK TICKLES YOUR FUNNYBONE, SEE “A FLEA IN HER EAR”
"A Flea in Her Ear" is the kind of farce the Long Beach Playhouse knows how to do from years and years of doing it. If it's the kind of production you like to see, go see it. Through May 11.
“MASTER CLASS” IS NEXT-BEST THING TO MEETING MARIA CALLAS
Maria Callas was one of the most galvanizing figures in opera history, and in International City Theatre's production of "Master Class," Gigi Bermingham gives the great diva all the crazywonderful she is due. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through April 14.
SPRING AWAKENINGS: CSULB CAST BRINGS LIFE, BUT THERE’S NO PURPOSE
Even enthusiastic and deftly executed performances by the CSULB Players couldn't sufficiently sharpen the script of the Tony Award-winning musical "Spring Awakenings" so that its lines and lyrics could convincingly make its points. Playing through arch 30.
“for colored girls…” IS AN AFFIRMATION FOR US ALL
Forget about the Tyler Perry film version, to feel the power of "for colored girls ...," you've gotta get back to the source of the 1974 Obie Award-winning play by Ntozake Shange---and it's at the Manazar Gamboa Theatre (behind Homeland Cultural Center) through March 24.
“THE GRADUATE” DOESN’T MATRICULATE WELL TO LB PLAYHOUSE
In bringing "The Graduate" to the Long Beach Playhouse, director Carl DaSilva can't make a move without GreaterLongBeach.com critic Greggory Moore drawing comparisons---usually unfavorable---with the iconic film. But Moore acknowledges that most in the audience seem to be enjoying the production. You can judge for yourself through March 30.
FOR “THAT BEAUTIFUL LAUGH,” FOUR CLOWNS SAY, “SEND IN THE KIDS”
"That Beautiful Laugh," a child-friendly production by the Four Clowns theatre troupe, has a lot going for it---except children in the audience to appreciate it. At the Long Beach Playhouse through March 17.
LB SHAKESPEARE CO.’S TAKE ON “THE WINTER’S TALE” CLOSES SATURDAY
Director Brandon Alexander Cutts plays with the lights, turns the music up and down---even rewrites a scene---in The Winter's Tale, and the energy shows in cast and crew. At the Richard Goad Theatre through March 30.
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ROG & HAMMY’S MUSIC ISN’T THE ONLY REASON GOD MADE “OKLAHOMA!”
Some people don't enjoy the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, but at least one of them---our critic---still found endless reasons to enjoy Musical Theatre West's current production of "Oklahoma!" It's playing at the Carpenter Center through March 3.
CAL REP PROVES AGAIN: TOO MANY CHEFS OVERBAKE THE “TARTUFFE”
There's a lot of iconography in Cal Rep's production of "Tartuffe Lab" but somehow Hitler, Stalin, John Lennon, Che Guevara, Mickey Mouse and bushels of religious references don't add up to anything that equals real meaning---unless you count the fun the actors are obviously having.
THIS BLOODY VALENTINE COULD USE A LITTLE MORE KILLER INSTINCT
Nancy thinks serial killer Bill The Butcher is to die for, but her swooning is ruining the mood for him. The world premiere of "Catching the Butcher" is at the Long Beach Playhouse through February 24.
POE, GLASS & LB OPERA MAKE “HOUSE OF USHER” DARK & FEVERED
Edgar Allen Poe's gothic fever-dreams are driven by Philip Glass's darkness and musical wheels to great success in Long Beach Opera's "The Fall of the House of Usher" at the Warner Grand in San Pedro.
ICT’S ALTERNATE ROUTE “AROUND THE WORLD” IS A VERY SPECIAL TRIP
Attention all passengers! Jules Verne's 19th Century circumnavigational classic---"Around The World In 80 Days," is now boarding at the International City Theatre. Through Feb. 17.
“INTIMATELY WILDE” AT LONG BEACH PLAYHOUSE CLOSES SUNDAY
"Intimately Wilde" overcomes the danger of cliché and delivers an entertaining dramatic portrait of the inimitable Oscar Wilde that feels like a historical document come to life. At the Long Beach Playhouse through ---and quite entertainmen cliche
‘AND THEN THERE WERE NONE’: AN AGATHA CHRISTIE MYSTERY IN LONG BEACH
LONG BEACH – When it comes to “who done it,” nobody does it better than Agatha Christie. And even amongst Christie’s work, “And Then There Were None” holds top billing as her bestselling book – ever. The book will be performed on the Long Beach Playhouse mainstage, opening Jan. 19 and continuing until Feb. 16. [...]
FORGIVENESS AND COMMUNITY IN VOGEL’S ‘CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS’
DOWNEY – Lana Joy Wahlquist of Downey Arts Coalition directs “A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration” written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Paula Vogel as the annual Downey First Baptist Church Christmas Show. This play is neither a depiction of the actual war, there are no battle scenes, nor is it an overtly religious [...]
DREAMS OF A BLACK CHRISTMAS WILL COME TRUE SATURDAY
Lewis Black, the actor, author, social critic, standup comedian---and at this time of year, pretty-good-in-a-pinch Ebenezer Scrooge---delivers his new live show Saturday night at the Long Beach Terrace Theater.
THE GREATER LONG BEACH GUIDE TO HOLIDAY ARTS, EATS & EVENTS
Heeeeere's the Holiday Season! Nervewracking? O, Holy Night! But don't worry. Heeeere's the GREATER LONG BEACH HOLIDAY ARTS, EATS & EVENTS GUIDE---an everything-you'll-need list of the best ways to happy holidays.
THE FUNNY THING ABOUT “FUDDY MEERS” IS THAT SOME PEOPLE FIND IT FUNNY
The leading characters In "Fuddy Meers" are people whose lives are changed---and whose identities are absorbed---by the comic possibiliies of the following medical conditions: amnesia, stroke, severe burns, limping, lisping, baby-talking, criminality and emotional overreliance on hand-puppets. Closes Nov. 24 (Saturday).
HAVE-A-GREATER WEEKEND: AN HOMAGE TO VETS, BEACHES, BIRDS & SHOPPING
It's Veterans Day Weekend, and GreaterLongBeach.com has a short list of tips to help you make the most of it---including a play at The Found Theatre, a parade in North Long Beach to the Patchwork Festival at Marine Stadium
ICT KNOWS “AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’” AIN’T EXACTLY ABOUT BEHAVIN’, EITHER
Although the show is called "Ain't Misbehavin'," this high-powered vehicle for the music of Fats Waller definitely ain't about behavin', either. Fortunately, the International City Theatre cast---including Niketa Calame, Jennifer Shelton and Amber Mercomes---finds the rhythms and the blues in its rendition of this classic joyride. Through Nov. 4.
AN “AMERICANA ENTHUSIAST” COMES BACK TO WHERE IT ALL STARTED
"We live in a theme park world," says Charles Phoenix, who presents his 'Big Retro Slide Show' at the Art Theatre on Saturday. "I grew up in a theme park environment, in Southern California, and wherever you go, everyone is trying to be a little bit theme park."
“TROJAN BARBIE:” HOW PEOPLE ARE TREATED WHEN THEY ARE DEFEATED
In "Trojan Barbie," playwright Christine Evans puts history under the microscope in an examination of how winners have tended to treat losers. If you are a loser, you already know. If you are a winner, here's a tip: don't lose. At the Garage Theatre through October 13.
“THE CHANGELING:” SEX AND DREGS AND BLOOD AND GORE AT LB PLAYHOUSE
"The Changeling" succeeds, at least, as a souvenir of theatrical history. Nobody writes theatre like this anymore—and without such plays, we wouldn't be in the relatively sophisticated position we are today. A piece like this helps us see that our road was paved with more than Shakespeare. At LB Playhouse through Sept. 29.
“GHOST-WRITER” AT ICT: HE’S CLOCKED OUT, SHE’S WORKING OVERTIME
How do we let go of someone who has gotten so far inside us as to become part of our very being? "Ghost-Writer" poses that question but playwright Michael Hollinger doesn't go far enough inside his characters to find the answer. Or does he? At ICT through Sept. 16.
IT’S THE FINAL CURTAIN FOR DOWNEY CIVIC LIGHT OPERA, AND THIS ONE COULD BE A TRAGEDY
DOWNEY – This season of the Downey Civic Light Opera will be the group’s last, executive director Marsha Moode said this week. And as the venerable institution closes its books, there’s drama unfolding between the city and the theater company. Moode, who has served as the executive director for 12 years, said she is ready [...]
TAMING OF SHREW: LB SHAKE FUNNIES UP FARCE BY FOCUSING ON NUANCE
"The Taming of the Shrew" isn't The Bard's greatest work, but LB Shakespeare Company makes it pop, flavoring each joke with inflection and facial expression necessary to make the jibes work---not just as points of humor, but as true repartee. Today through Sept. 9.
THE PROBLEMS WITH “MACBETH” BEGIN WITH THE GUY WHO WROTE IT
GreaterLongBeach.com theatre reviewer Greggory Moore has never much liked "Macbeth," and after attending the Long Beach Playhouse production ... he still doesn't.
“HUNTER GATHERERS”: DARWINIAN LOVE STORY AT GARAGE CLOSES JULY 28
Two married couples, friends since they went to prom together 17 years ago, renew an annual ritual to commemorate their love for each other. What could go wrong? The answer runs at the Garage Theatre through July 28.
“SPAMALOT:” HIGH POINTS AND WHAT’S-THE-POINTS FROM PYTHON LEGACY
Musical Theatre West's production of "Spamalot" extracts everything possible out of this showbiz stepson of the Monty Python legacy. It still doesn't feel like quite enough.
GREATER LB RADIO LINK: HEAR “LOLPERA” CREATORS SEPARATE IDIOTIC FROM EPIC
Here's a link to the Greater Long Beach Radio episode on which "LOLPERA" creators Andrew Pedroza and Ellen Warkentine share their observations on the unlikely journey of their epic parable about cats, cheezburger and the search for meaning.
LB OPERA: BY FAITH OR SIGHT, BOTTOM LINE …YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE
Long Beach Opera's production of "The Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat"---the story of a musician no longer able to see faces---emphasizes what the powers of love, patience and cleverness can overcome ... and what they cannot.
‘LOLPERA’ CREATORS ON GREATER LB RADIO THURSDAY TO EXPLAIN HOW THEY MADE A SERIOUS HIT FROM A SILLY MESS
Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza, creators of an opera with a premise so insufferably silly that GreaterLongBeach.com critic Greggory Moore finally saw it just to be nice, will be the guests on Thursday’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga beginning at 6 p.m. on KBEACH.org. Warkentine and Pedroza will answer questions about LOLPERA, which may or may not [...]
LOLPERA: OUT OF THE GARAGE AND ON THE ROAD, IT FEELS … DIFFERENT
LOLPERA, last year's smash debut at the Garage Theatre, has been tweaked a little for its current production at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, The laughs are as big as ever, but for those who have seen both versions, every gain made by a change seems to be be accompanied by an offsetting loss
“CLOUD TECTONICS”: PROBABLY THE BEST THING EVER STAGED AT LB PLAYHOUSE
"Cloud Tectonics" is the consensus masterwork of playwright José Rivera, and GreaterLongBeach.com theatre critic Greggory Moore proposes that its current production at the Long Beach Playhouse may amount to the high point in the 83-year history of the theatre.
FRINGE FESTIVALS: AN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT OF CREATIVE EXUBERANCE
Brighton's Fringe Festival consisted of 5,539 performances of 790 events in 22 days, and they obviously couldn't all be excellent---but on this international circuit of creative exuberance, that's all to the good.
LB SHAKESPEARE’S “TWELFTH NIGHT:” ITS FINAL NIGHT IS SATURDAY NIGHT
Sean Scofield is a standout as the churlish Malvolio in Long Beach Shakespeare Company's rendition of "Twelfth Night, or What You Will," playing weekends at the Richard Goad Theatre in Bixby Knolls through June 30.
IN BRIGHTON (AND LB?), PART OF THE ART IS FIGURING OUT WHERE TO PRESENT IT
Among their similarities, Long Beach and the English city of Brighton and Hove share a perceived lack of place to present art and performance. But Victoria Bryan's latest report from the Brighton Festival shows how that can be overcome.
BRIGHTON FESTIVALS: ART & TOURISM MARRY ON THE WALLS OF HOTELS
Alison Hayes was a chambermaid when she began programing spaces in the Claremont Hotel. Now its curator, her familiarity with the rooms is as important as her art school background in creating unexpected presentations that blend art and architecture. Et tu, Long Beach?
DESIGN OF “JENNY CHOW!” IS A LITTLE CONVENIENT, BUT QUITE MEMORABLE
Jenny Chow! comes to life in the flashbacks, which reveal agirl whose life is as neurotically limited as her mind is expansive. Jennifer Jung does a solid job rendering a character desperate to keep it all together while clearly at loose ends.
LB OPERA’S “AINADAMAR:” A TRIUMPH OF CHARACTER OVER CARICATURES
In "Ainadamar," director Andreas Mitisek's cast achieves a triumph of chacter over caricature by playing subtleties more generally akin to good theatre than classic operatic scale. The payoff is real emotion among characters who feel authentic. The show closes tonight at the Terrace Theatre.
AT BRIGHTON FESTIVAL, A REAL-LIFE EXHIBIT OF THE ART OF COLLABORATION
The third in a series looking at the similarities between Long Beach and Brighton, England. Both are home to many artists, a happy circumstance that Brighton annually leverages into a month of major arts festivals that reach into every part of the community. Could Long Beach do the same?
LONG BEACH’S ARTS & CULTURE SCENE—COULD IT USE SOME “BRIGHTON-ING?”
GreaterLongBeach.com contributor Victoria Bryan---born-and-raised in Great Britain, a 27-year resident of Long Beach---begins a month-long series of reports from the annual arts festivals in Brighton, wherein she wonders: could something like this happen here?
DESPITE ICT’S BEST EFFORTS, “THE FIX” IS BEYOND REPAIR
International City Theatre works hard, but nothing can save "The Fix," in which composer Dana P. Rowe seems to have attempted to write a rock musical without ever having listened to rock 'n' roll.
THEATRE FROM THE STREETS–AND THE HEART–DEBUTS IN DOWNEY
Urban Acts: New Plays From the Street will present four staged readings in donated spaces ranging from a restaurant to a barber shop beginning this weekend in Downey. Admission is free.
“GOOSE & TOMTOM:” A GOOFINESS THAT GETS NEXT TO GODLINESS
Giggle at the goofy fun, be annoyed by the non-linear story line, but to get what "Goose and Tomtom" has going for it requires forgetting the "higher" self for a moment and joining the meditation on the magic of experience.
ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN: CAL REP’S EXECUTION IS DEAD ON
Director Thomas P. Cooke turned playwright Tom Stoppard's becoming-a-classic up a notch, using clips from Laurence Olivier's 1948 film to skewer the late overactor for hamming up "Hamlet."
HAVE-A-GREATER-WEEKEND: DEEP JAZZ, SPACE ODDITIES, OCCUPY EARTH DAY
"Have a greater weekend!" we cheerily well-wished them. "Don't tell us what kind of weekend to have!" they sharply bubble-popped us. So, instead, we're going to tell you to have a greater weekend ... and how.
POST MORTEM’S SENDUP OF “AMERI-CON-A”: SOMETIMES, BURLESQUE IS MORE
“America: A Political Burlesque,” a sort of risible salve for election fever, is the most elaborate offering yet from Post Mortem, a spinoff of the Alive Theatre. While some quite-talented artists get a payoff for all their work, they might have hit the jackpot by paring things down.
‘ROMEO & JULIET’ CLOSES ITS RUN AT GOAD THEATRE SUNDAY AT 2 P.M.
The Long Beach Shakespeare Company's production of "Romeo and Juliet" isn't perfect, but it understands these are two idiot kids, who know about hormones, obsessiveness and instant gratification, but nothing about substantive romantic love.
BOOM: IF YOU WANT TO MAKE ABSURDISTS LAUGH, TELL THEM YOUR PLANS
In "boom," an absurdist play by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb---now playing by the Alive Theatre troupe at the Long Beach Playhouse---people just can't win for trying ... sometimes including their attempts to understand the play.
“QUILLS’” ALLEGORY IS HEAVY-HANDED, JUST LIKE THE MARQUIS DE SADE LIKES IT
Cal Rep's production of Obie Award-winning "Quills"---which invokes the Marquis de Sade to make a case for freedom of expression---gets its drive from high-octane acting and lowbrow bawdy, but slows down when the moralizing begins.
“GOD OF CARNAGE” AT ICT: THE SIMPLE PLEASURES OF SNEERING AT CIVILIZATION
"God of Carnage" trades on the possibility that civilization---for better and/or for worse---is merely a veneer we apply over our true, wild selves. But not in a way that will keep you from having a wonderful evening.
IN ‘ORSON’S SHADOW,’ ALIVE THEATRE’S ACTORS CAST IMPRESSIVE ONES, TOO
Robert Edwards' effin-perfect portrayal of Orson Welles establishes the tone of "Orson's Shadow," and it resonates through a cast---also playing famous actors/fragile people of another era--that has found their characters and truly fills those roles.
LAST LOOK: WHEN THE BEST LOCAL PRODUCTIONS WERE LONG BEACH ORIGINALS
Original works characterized Long Beach theatre in 2011, led by Ryan McClary's "General Entropy" at the Alive Theatre and "LOLPERA" by LN&AND at The Garage Theatre---and Ashley Allen (above) played big parts in both of them.
TERROR AT THE PIKE!: GARAGE THEATRE’S WHY-IS-THIS-A-CHRISTMAS STORY
Don't see "Terror at the Pike!" expecting the poignant stories of other holiday-season theatre traditions. The sixth installment of The Garage Theatre’s annual why-is-this-a-Christmas-story is all about the goofiness, just like the previous five.
WHY DOES HELEN BORGERS HAVE ALL THE FUN? IT’S ON THE RADIO NOW!
Helen Borgers,who has been having one hell of a time since she moved to Long Beach in 1958, seemed to enjoy herself on 'Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga' on Thursday night---well, all except that crack Wielenga made abouther not having any range. Open this story and click on the link to hear the show.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL: LB SHAKESPEARE’S HOLIDAY MIRACLE CLOSES SUNDAY!
How does a cast of 10 in a tiny theatre portray 60 characters across big-city London and a time-traveling universe while telling a tale that everybody already knows is headed toward St. Nick-of-time-redemption? Convincingly, movingly, almost miraculously, and God bless them for it, every one!
‘O LITTLE TOWN OF BELLFLOWER…’ AND OTHER HOLIDAY FAVORITES
For 10 years, Bellflower's earnest December tradition of lighting the downtown Christmas tree has been the struggling city's holiday card to itself. This year, however, the Tree Lighting Ceremony is nothing less than a classic rescue-of-Christmas television special waiting to happen. Read about it in the GreaterLongBeach.com holiday calendar.
LB REPERTORY GIVES US A GOOD TALKING-TO … AND SOME LESS GOOD
Shirley Merchant's keep-your-cliches portrayal of a homeless woman who loves McDonald's fries is easily the best of 10 mostly underachieving monologues for women that comprise Jane Martin's "Talking With ...."---the debut production of the Long Repertory company.
‘LOUIS SLOTIN SONATA’ : MUSINGS ON THE (HALF) LIFE OF AN ATOMIC SCIENTIST
Cal Rep explores the motifs that may have played out in the mind of scientist Louis Slotin's during the nine days he lived---knowing he was going to die---after his slip of the screwdriver exposed him to a deadly dose of radiation.
WITH SWELL DAMES & A PRIVATE DICK, HOW COULD THIS PLAY NOT POP?
"Awake from This Noirmare" is the best of the trio of new works that comprise Segment 3 of Alive Theatre's Long Beach Poppin' Play Festival. In a genre so often spoofed that the cliches have cliches, Shawn Katherine Kane's script is a quick, funny and not-at-all-guilty pleasure.
‘MOCKINGBIRD’ AT PLAYHOUSE: EVEN WITH CLIPPED WINGS, ITS STORY FLIES
This "Mockingbird" is not the movie, or even Scout Finch's story, anymore. The script is something of a condensed version of the original. Yet when the play winds up in that familiarly bittersweet place, reminding us that people sometimes do the right thing simply because it's right, we know this classic has touched us again.
ALIVE FESTIVAL VERDICTS: COUNT ON ‘DRACULA,’ GIVE ‘ROTATIONS’ A SPIN
A nurse drinks urine in 'Bring On the Dancing Girls," and perhaps pith is where you find it. 'Rotations' is worth seeing because of how well Paul Knox, Maribella Magana, and Craig Johnson perform. 'Dracula' has no substance but is so funny you won't care. 'Return to Lightning Mountain' springs from whatever force compels humans to absurd extremes of creation.
“ROBBER BRIDEGROOM:” A TRITE MUSICAL THAT ICT HITS OUT OF THE PARK
Really, I could give a damn about a musical like "The Robber Bridegroom," which wraps up the International City Theatre's 2011 season. Yet I enjoyed myself from start to finish. The entire cast sells everything to perfection.There's a real joy in seeing a group of people come together and just knock it out of the park.
LONG BEACH POPPIN’ PLAY FESTIVAL PRESENTS … THE MOMENT OF CREATION
Like the previous three, Alive Theatre's fourth Long Beach Poppin' Play Festival consists of never-before-seen plays getting their first shots at an audience..But that's where the similarity ends in what has become one of the city's most-eclectic and uneven traditions of artistic expression. Show up, and you're part of the process.
OMG! GARAGE THEATRE’S ‘LOLPERA’ MAKES BRILLIANT LOLZ, SRSLY
What do you get by turning the whole LOLcats phenomenon into a full-blown opera whose libretto is comprised of the actual captions-on-kitty pictures that are on the web site sung by the kittehs made human flesh and composed into a story with the kind of meaning that matters? You get brilliance.
‘LOVESONG’ AT CAL REP: A DANCE WITH DEMONS OF THE ORIGINAL ATOMIC DOG
In Cal Rep's The Lovesong of J. Robert Oppenheimer," the physicist who first helped invent the atomic bomb but later lost his security clearance for outspokenly trying to control it, is teased and tortured by a female demon named Lilith, who finds his big bangs positively orgasmic.
LB THEATRES WILL COLLABORATE…WHEN MARLON DELEON FINDS RIGHT DATE
Before the Long Beach Theatre Arts Collaborative can work together to strengthen the local theatre community, somebody's got to find a time and date and place for the group to meet---one which fits into every representative's schedule. That somebody is Marlon DeLeon. On Tuesday, he gave it a try . . .
DEFENDING THE CAVEMAN—AND THE DOWNEY CIVIC THEATRE LINEUP
"Defending the Caveman"---straight from the GEICO commercials, we're assuming---is among the acts booked for the Downey Civic Theatre by a company with a $400,000 contract from the City Council to manage the long troubled facility. The other acts? America, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and two dudes from Los Lobos. That's right, $400,000.
‘THE UNDERPANTS’: STEVE MARTIN RECASTS WILD & CRAZY AS PANTALOON-ACY
There's nothing very surprising or unusual about Steve Martin's script for "The Underpants"---except perhaps the fact it is adapted from a 1910 German farce---and the veteran humorist makes sure everyone knows from the get-go by packing the opening scene with a string of sausage jokes. Sound like pantalunacy? Listen again: that's wild-and-crazy, reheated---Martin, same as he ever was.
SWEET JESUS! GARAGE THEATRE’S “CORPUS CHRISTI” IS CLOSING AUGUST 27
"Corpus Christ" is a liberal-in-every-sense retelling of the Jesus story, wherein the fleshed-out Christ is Joshua, a Texas boy imbued with a sense of foreboding specialness that sets him apart from his peer and shapes his simultaneously beautiful and persecuted life.
TWEAKING THE TITLE DEPRIVES “MASTER HAROLD” OF MUCH-NEEDED RELEVANCE
This may appear a bit harsh, but I think it’s inexcusable that Long Beach Playhouse is running Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” . . . and the Boys under the title Master Harold & the Boys. Even were the differences in the title insignificant, it’s a bit of an insult to the playwright to alter his [...]
CABERET-SIZED CHICAGO DOESN’T MUFFLE THE ROAR OF THE TWENTIES
Despite the grandiosity of Bob Fosse's "Chicago," it turns out to pair ideally with the Maverick Theatre's quaint, cabaret-style venue tucked away amid the bustle of downtown Fullerton. The performance showcases the razzle-dazzle of all that jazz has to offer.
HAVE A GREATER WEEKEND: PIRATES INVADE, CLOWNS COMMUTE AND WORKS FIRE
It’s hard to say how pirates---thieving, violent and anti-social---have come to be perceived as Teddy Bears of the High Seas, but it’s easy to see how they are staying that way. The Pirate Invasion of Belmont Pier Saturday and Sunday includes Captain Jack Sparrow’s Kids’ Treasure Hunt, belly and fire dancers, a pirate costume contest, a pirate parade, sword fights and a movie.
LA MANDRAGOLA: MACHIAVELLIAN MELODRAMA IS A HISTORICAL CURIO
LB Shakespeare's production of "La Mandragola" feels like we are seeing the same thing audiences saw in the 16th century, and being transported 500 years into the past is pretty good bang for your ticket bucks---that is, if you enjoy a well-aged Machiavelli play.
HAVE A GREATER WEEKEND: INK, IRON, PIZZA, SHAKESPEARE & CHOCOLATE
Eight years in, the Ink-N-Iron Festival is a local tradition and an international attraction, yet it remains a little difficult to explain. Here's our take: much of this culture comes from Long Beach; it's our bandwagon---welcome aboard!
‘ENTROPY GENERAL’ EXTENDED AN EXTRA WEEKEND BECAUSE … IT’S DAMN GOOD!
"Entropy" is the inexorable march toward decay that will eventually make of the universe a wash of energy. But "Entropy General" is Ryan McClary's smart, funny, philosophizing play that the Alive Theatre almost turns into an antidote. And you've got an extra weekend---this one coming up---to see it
INTO THE SPOTLIGHT: A MOMENT OF GROWTH—AND THIS TIME, GROWING PAINS
More than 50 students at Renaissance High took the theatre artist's risky rite of passage over the weekend, stepping on stage and into the spotlight as they collaborated on a pair of performances of "Damn Yankees." The production didn't turn out so well, and it's already history. The kids? They got some new experience with truth; now it depends on what they do with it.
CAL REP’S ‘POOL OF BETHESDA’ GETS CAUGHT UP IN ITS OWN CURRENTS
The high promise of Allan Cubitt's script turns out to be a prototypical doctor-becomes-patient heartstring-tugger dressed up in phantasmagoric dreamscape that has no cash value where the play does its emotional banking.
DAMN YANKEES: LB RENAISSANCE HIGH PRESENTS ‘ONLY MUSICAL WORTH SEEING’
More than 50 students of Renaissance High School for the Arts will collaborate this weekend on two performances of "Damn Yankees," the 1955 Broadway musical about baseball that a bunch of boys who grew up in Bellflower hailed as "the only musical of any kind worth seeing."
‘I KNOW THE DUDE WHO TAMES THE SHREW!’
With all respect to Shakespeare, sometimes it's not so much a love of the The Bard as having a buddy in the cast that puts audiences in the seats of local theatres. Other times ... well ... read on to find what Victoria Bryan discovered at the Long Beach Playhouse on opening night of "Taming of the Shrew."
GARAGE THEATRE PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS IN PRECOCIOUS ‘MR. MARMALADE’
Four-year-old Lucy, not Mr. Marmalade, is the star, but playwright Noah Haidle has not created her as a realistic preschool-aged tot, but to reflect the adult-world realities that are all around her and that will invariably shape her.
IF YOU LIKE ‘WAITING FOR GODOT,’ LB PLAYHOUSE IS PERFECT PLACE TO DO IT
The key to Long Beach Playhouse's success with "Godot" is unobtrusiveness---a completely straight take, with nothing to clutter up the pithy sparseness of the dialog. The actors never let their clowning infringe upon the pathos that pops up in seemingly every minute of this masterpiece.
‘ANNA IN THE TROPICS’ GETS A CINEMATIC TAKE FROM LB SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
"Anna In The Tropics" won the Pulitzer Prize for playwright Nilo Cruz, and Long Beach Shakespeare Company captures the human story---and the humidity---that's at the essence of his tradition-vs.-modernization theme.
‘SUMMER OF LOVE’: ROGER BEAN’S NEW MUSICAL AN UPBEAT ODE TO OUR NEW OZ
As a VW bus took the stage for Musical Theatre West’s world premier of Roger Bean’s "Summer of Love," the door burst open into a world of Technicolor---but instead of Munchkins, there were hippies.
SOUTHERN COMFORTS: IF YOU LIKE THIS KIND OF THING, YOU’LL LOVE THIS
Here’s an assignment, class: Write a 90-minute script about a widowed man and woman who meet late in life and fall in love. Have the two meet in the man’s New Jersey hometown, and have the woman eventually be willing to move from the South to be with him. Your motivation? You’re trying to make [...]
THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN CLOWNS CRY
All we see is their suffering, but that does not make "Four Clowns" a morbid show. It's a physical, musical and emotional journey into what it means to be a human being, and despite all the pain, the Alive Theatre makes it all quite funny.
MY, BUT THIS “OTHELLO” IS CERTAINLY A LOUD AND LOQUACIOUS FELLOW!
After seeing this production of Shakespeare's classic, "Othello," I can't help feeling the Bard shows a lack of restraint. And Long Beach Shakespeare's staging plays into the script's worst tendencies along these lines, heavy on the yelling and light on nuance.
ETHAN COEN’S ONE-ACTS AT THE GARAGE: THE DEVILISHNESS IS IN THE DETAILS
Ethan Coen says his collection of three short plays---Almost an Evening---was named after “hear[ing] a parting theatergoer complain it had been ‘not even almost an evening.’” Coen's rejoinder to us: “I take some pride in my work, and together these plays do make up almost an evening—I don't care what anyone says.”
GARAGE THEATRE SETS OSCAR MOOD WITH A COEN BRO (SINGULAR) PLAY
Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening opens at the Garage Theatre on Friday, which of course is almost the evening—two nights before the Academy Awards—which of course is where Coen and brother, Joel, will be awaiting the outcome of the 10 nominations for their latest picture, True Grit, which of course makes the show the perfect [...]
CAL REP’S ‘HYACINTH MACAW’ WILL PITH YOU OFF, CRACK YOU UP
"The Hyacinth Macaw" is handled with care, which means faithfully delivering the mouthfuls of playwright Mac Wellman's absurdist pith, sounding and resounding his themes. That doesn't stop the play from scoring points. There's enough cleverness to go around, plus a lot of little laughs—and some big ones.
A LOT OF LOVING AND A LOT OF REPEATING IN GERTRUDE STEIN MUSICAL
If you like conventional musical theater devices and Gertrude Stein's unconventional style of repeatedly rearranging the words in simple sentences, you'll probably enjoy "Loving Repeating" ... enjoy Repeating Loving you'll probably ... Loving you'll Repeating enjoy probably ... Repeating probably you'll enjoy Loving ... Repeating you'll Loving probably enjoy ...
SHASHIN DESAI: THOUGHTS ON A LIFE IN—AND NOW OUT OF—THE THEATER
“Whatever that passion is, whatever you call it, wherever you find it---whether there are five people in the cast or five people in the audience---it is OK, it is perfect. Nothing else is an issue. The issue is how sincere people are.” ---SHASHIN DESAI
MARK CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE TOPS COMEDY BILL AS DOWNEY THEATRE DEBUTS ANEW
DOWNEY—After years of debate, discussion and anticipation, the Downey Theatre will begin the next chapter in its nearly 40-year history Friday night (Jan. 21) with a show featuring six nationally-recognized comics—led by Martin Christopher Lawrence, a regular on the “Chuck” television series. The production, which H & E Entertainment is calling “A Comedy Night,” will be the [...]
INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATER FOUNDER SHASHIN DESAI WILL RESIGN MARCH 15
Shashin Desai, who in 1985 founded the International City Theater in a 99-seat, black box theater on the campus of Long Beach City College, announced his resignation—effective March 15—in a press release Friday afternoon. He will be replaced by his wife and the ICT’s current general manager, caryn desai, who spells her name that way. [...]
LT. OF INISHMORE: A (VERY) BLOODY GOOD TIME AT LB PLAYHOUSE
Laughing at torture and murder may be stomach-turning for some, and Long Beach Playhouse's “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” does shock---but gently, both because of Martin McDonagh's blithe dialog, and because the point of the gore comes across while always seeming pretend.
REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED WITH SPACE PANDAS
David Mamet's "Revenge of the Space Pandas" is one of those pieces of writing in which the plot is merely a vehicle for the laughs. As long as the comedy's good, you'll let it drive you anywhere. Mamet's comedy is good ... and The Garage Theatre's execution of this silliness is perfect.
CAL REP CAN CHOOSE BETTER THAN “THE NIGHT OF THE TRIBADES”
Cal Rep is a fantastic theatre company, which over the years has presented such fantastic scripts as Melissa James Gibson's "Current Nobody" and a recent adaptation of Clifford Odets' "Waiting for Lefty." So it's especially puzzling and disappointing when they choose something not up to the very high bar they have set.
‘ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN’ RUN EXTENDED TO REPLACE CANCELED SHOWS
Alive Theatre has added three shows to its run of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, which had two weekends worth of performances postponed for “unavoidable” reasons the company still has not revealed. Remaining dates are tonight (Friday) and Saturday at 8 p.m., Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. and 8 [...]
LONG BEACH THEATRES HAVE QUITE A FEW QUESTIONS FOR THEIR AUDIENCES
“We know that theatre audience numbers are shrinking and, naturally, theatres are concerned about that,” said Victoria Bryan, a Long Beach State professor who is overseeing the survey of Long Beach theatre audiences. “Talking to people who do attend shows seems like a good place to start to understand how we can build and sustain future audiences.”
ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD—WELL, ACTUALLY, RESCHEDULED
The Alive Theatre has cancelled all three of last weekend’s performances of Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead" as well as weekend shows Nov. 26 and 27 due to what a spokesperson for the company called “regrettable and uncontrollable circumstances.”
‘A PIECE OF MY HEART’ A RARE LOOK AT WHAT WOMEN ENDURED IN VIETNAM
The stories playwright Shirley Lauro unleashes in "A Piece of My Heart" constitute a cross-section of female experiences as they tried to cope with the hell on Earth they found south of the 17th parallel in the late 1960s.
‘MISS JULIE’ TAKES US DOWN—AND BACK—TO STRINDBERG’S CLASSIC MISOGYNY
Miss Julie, the somewhat disreputable daughter of a count, decides that just dancing with servant Jean upstairs at her father's Midsummer's Eve ball is not enough---so she follows him both down the stairs and down the social ladder. The result is ... interesting.
HALLOWEEN HISTORIA RETURNS TO LB CEMETERIES FOR ANNUAL GRAVE TOUR
One of Long Beach’s most-special Halloween traditions will continue for the 15th consecutive year when the Historical Cemetery Tour visits the graves of 10 special residents of the city’s two oldest permanent resting places—the Municipal Cemetery and the Sunnyside Cemetery—on Oct. 30. The Historical Society of Long Beach (HSLB) presents the annual event and selects [...]
‘HISTORY OF THE DEVIL’ AT THE GARAGE: A DOUBLE DILEMMA OF GOOD VS. BAD
Playwright Clive Barker is not especially concerned with plot or logic. Instead, this seems to be about holding forth on the nature of evil and of humanity, and musing on whether the former isn't wholly a product of the latter. On the other hand, the acting is wonderful.
ON EVE OF COLD WAR II, CAL REP’S “LEFTY” REMINDS US WHAT’S AT STAKE
It seems the first shots of Cold War II are being fired---we've probably got two years until Sarah Palin and the Fox Newsillies bring the term “pinko” back into vogue. Cal Rep has obviously joined the battle by opening its season with Waiting for Lefty: Seeing Red, and its production is a clear counteroffensive.
BENT: LB SHAKESPEARE CO. FINDS THE HUMANITY IN STORY OF ITS SUPPRESSION
Max and Rudy are on the run from Nazi persecution of homosexuals, a flight that does not last long. But Bent is about (re)claiming one's identity in the face of brutal dehumanization—an act of free will that flies in the face of the Nazi regime. It is a true triumph of the will. And that is beautiful, and human.
‘THE CLEAN HOUSE:’ A KILLING JOKE LEADS TO HOME-MAID HUMOR
Matilde the housekeeper immigrated to Connecticut from her native Brazil a year ago, after her mother died laughing from a joke told by Matilde's father, who not long afterward shot himself from grief. Now she's trying to craft the perfect joke. Now playing at International City Theatre.
ONE MAN’S WANDER THROUGH A NIGHT OF NEW PLAYS AT THE ALIVE THEATRE—ENDS SEPT. 11
What are we to make of a festival of new plays? Are these finished works making their debuts? Are they experiments, a halfway house between workshopping and full-scale production? Never afraid to take chances, the Alive Theatre gives us a compelling and intimate take on the creative process. It's nice to have.
‘STOP KISS’ REVIEW: TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT
Revealing what you want—never mind proactively going about getting it—is not part and parcel with dictating what you receive. The thing is, you don't know. You take your shot and see what happens. You may or may not get what you wish for, but you're going to get something. "Stop Kiss" now at The Garage Theatre
GREGGORY MOORE: LB SHAKESPEARE CONJUGATES THE LOCKSTEP IN “USALLICA”
Absurdist as this clown-show-with-wordplay may be, “Usallica” is a clear satire of much of the tradition and belief that binds us—the point being that some of that binding is too tight and all too often insufficiently parsed (or we might say: conjugated).
TALE OF THE ‘TAPE’: LONECOLLECTIVE THEATRE NEEDS MORE SEASONING
For its inaugural production---its first fight---LoneCollective Theatre chose Stephen Belber’s “Tape,” a script completely reliant on the acting for whatever punch it might have. And as we might expect from a rookie boxer, the new troupe comes out with plenty of energy, but with a fighting style that’s a little stiff.
IF YOU SEE ONLY ONE PLAY EVER AT THE INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATER, MAKE IT “A SHAYNA MAIDEL”
I haven’t particularly enjoyed the plays put on by the International City Theatre (ICT). Some of this is simply script selection—whoever is doing the choosing has very different taste than I—and some of it is a sense of what makes for effective theatre that is different than mine. But I’m happy to say that the [...]
LYSISTRATA: ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA ABOUT A GROIN SENSE OF PACIFICISM STILL HITS HOME
Let’s be honest: ancient Greek theatre is primitive. How could it not be? It’s just about when the whole art form was born. Based on that historical truth, you are welcome to slant your judgment of the aesthetics of a play like Lysistrata, but you are not obliged to. And if you don’t, the first [...]
link=”http://greaterlongbeach.com/05/05/2010/measure-for-pleasure-right-on-time-at-the-garage-theatre”]
‘MEASURE FOR PLEASURE’ RIGHT ON TIME AT THE GARAGE THEATRE
They say timing is everything. It isn't, of course—but in some plays it's pretty damn near to it. David Grimm's Measure for Pleasure is one of those plays. Are the words on the page funny? Clever? At times, yes. But if even the most literary scripts can be ruined in performance (as I once saw CSU Fullerton do to Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia), one like Grimm's—almost all jokes and timing—owes half its soul to the performers. Fortunately, the Garage Theatre got rhythm.
link=”http://greaterlongbeach.com/02/05/2010/cal-reps-out-of-thin-air-a-not-a-play-about-the-players-is-perhaps-a-bit-too-inside”]
CAL REP’S “OUT OF THIN AIR”–A NOT-A-PLAY ABOUT THE PLAYERS–IS PERHAPS A BIT TOO INSIDE
Be forewarned: this is not a play. I don't mean that esoterically, like C'est ci n'est pas une pipe or something. I mean: this is not a play. To be sure, Cal Rep isn't billing Out of Thin Air as a play; the press release labels it "out-of-the-box theatre unlike anything you've seen before" (a claim that's overly bold, I'm afraid), but since it occupies a spot in its season and costs the same as a play, one might go unawares simply because Cal Rep is such an excellent company. In that case, you might be disappointed.
link=”http://greaterlongbeach.com/22/04/2010/alive-theatres-itinerants-are-suitably-absurd-in-ionescos-hell-of-a-mess”]
ALIVE THEATRE’S ITINERANTS ARE SUITABLY ABSURD IN IONESCO’S “HELL OF A MESS”
Alive Theatre is an itinerant troupe, but every space they’ve inhabited during their three-year existence has worked for them—they’ve made them work. The empty whatever-it-was at 3838 Atlantic Ave. in Bixby Knolls that they’ve transformed into a theater for their current show, Eugene Ionesco’s A Hell of a Mess, or Oh, What a Bloody Circus, [...]
link=”http://greaterlongbeach.com/17/04/2010/theater-review-goofy-does-it-at-found-theaters-hopeful-dopeful-satire-of-medpot-and-telethons”]
THEATER REVIEW: GOOFY-DOES-IT AT FOUND THEATER’S HOPEFUL, DOPEFUL SATIRE OF MEDPOT–AND TELETHONS
The Found Theatre does goofy. If you go there, you’re probably looking for a simple, good time. When the production is a satire, it’s going to be soft-hearted and silly. Hope Dope Is on the Way:The Medical Marijuana Telethon is a sort of a double-satire—part on the medical marijuana movement, part on telethons. Each is an [...]
link=”http://greaterlongbeach.com/15/04/2010/downey-civic-theatres-red-carpet-1-million-a-year-in-losses”]
DOWNEY CIVIC THEATRE’S ‘RED CARPET:’ $1 MILLION A YEAR IN TAXPAYER LOSSES
The Downey City Council has put out a call for someone to manage and operate the Civic Theatre in hopes of getting more programs and bringing in more revenue. After several months of study, Community Services Director Thad Phillips and a subcommittee composed of Councilmen Roger Brossmer and David Gafin have recommended leasing the facility [...]
