Derek Thomas

Seven Weird Things To Do This Week in L.A.

Weekend of Horrors Convention​ L.A. is weird. You can fight it or go with it. What do you think folks in our Calendar section would say? Here are seven hints: 7. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club Fri., May 13, 10:00pm, secret location "We can't tell you anything about this Bingo Club. That's b ... More >>

Stage Raw: Theatrification and Broadway 100

COMPREHENSVIE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Tim Crouch's The Author, and the Belarus Free Theatre L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS NOMINEESTHEATRIFICATION AND BROADWAY 100 ​Broadway and the Vaudeville circuit began in Los Angeles 100 years ago, in the downtown Historical Theater Di ... More >>

Stage Raw: Furious Theatre Company and Pasadena Playhouse part ways

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE ON SPIDER-MAN, ON BROADWAYFURIOUS AND PASADENA PLAYHOUSE PART WAYSFor reasons having to do with Pasadena Playhouse's needs to lease its second space, The Carrie Hamilton Theater, and the need of Furious Theatre Company for a space with h ... More >>

Stage Raw: Voombodian Women from Outer Space!

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater FEATURE on Happy Ending and WaterVOOMBODIAN WOMEN FROM OUTER SPACE! Staged reading of Barry Schwam's new play at Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., in Sierra Madre. Sun., 7:30 p.m. $5 (626) 355-4318 AN EVENING WITH PAT BOONE, ... More >>

Stage Raw: City Garage Bids Adieu to Fourth Street

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWS Cover Story on LATE's The War Cycle2011 MARK TAPER FORUM SEASON ANNOUNCED ​John Lithgow Photo by Nigel Perry John Lithgow will ring in the New Year spinning yarns in Stories By Heart, previously produced at the Lincoln Center and at the National ... More >>

Stage Raw: How Do Actors Do It?

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on My Penis, In and Out of TroubleHOW DO ACTORS DO IT? As told by Alan Mandell, who was among a dozen or so actors auditioning for the movie This Must Be the Place, starring Sean Penn. The role was for a man 94-years old. Mandell, being ... More >>

Stage Raw: James Gammon Memorial

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Opus, at the Fountain Theatre MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR JAMES GAMMON: Sunday, August 22, 2 p.m. at the MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Avenue in Hollywood. RSVP here Check back Monday night for reviews of: BOY'S LIFE, Howard Korder's 1988 ba ... More >>

Stage Raw: Pasadena Playhouse Emerges from Bankruptcy

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSCURRENT STAGE FEATURE on KING LEARCAPTURED AURAL PHANTASY THEATER ​CAPT presents a special event tonight (Friday) night, Hooray for Hollywood Extravaganza, celebrating the legends of Our Fair City, In a style mixing radio and vaudeville. The Galler ... More >>

Rock Picks: Al Kooper, Year Long Disaster, Steven Severin, the Phenomenal Handclap Band

Also, Kimya Dawson, the Cigarette Bums, Willi Williams and others

Stage Raw: Outrageous Fortune

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSThis week's stage features on The Best of '09 and The Best of the Decade.OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE Theatre Development Fund has just published its findings on "the life and times of the American play" in a comprehensive analysis (by Todd London with Ben Pesner, and Zannie Gir ... More >>

Stage Raw: ZAR

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSTHEATER NEW REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on producer Sir Cameron MackintoshStage Raw: ZAR Theatre ZAR from Wroclaw, Poland has been in Southern California for over a week, conducting workshops of their choral-physical technique at UC Irvine and UCLA. Their Tryptich opens next w ... More >>

For The Record: Setting Things Straight Regarding Neon Tommy Report On LA Weekly

​Neon Tommy, the publication of the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, this week takes a look at the Weekly and some of the changes that have taken place at the paper in recent months, including the hiring of Editor-in-Chief Drex Heikes, a well-respected journalist who has ed ... More >>

IF YOU KNEW SUSHI LIKE THEY KNOW SUSHI

L.A. Twestival: Social Media Party for Charity at Hollywood & Highland

Josh "CuriousJosh" ReissGirlGamer's Mike Prasad throws up the hashtagTurns out social-media geeks aren't so shy about socializing IRL. L.A. Twestival, a charity event held Sunday night at Hollywood & Highland's Level 3 nightclub, brought together Twitter users for an in-real-life experience that s ... More >>

Rock Picks: Broken Nobles, Anny Celsi, Seu Jorge, the Killers

Rock Picks: Broken Nobles, Anny Celsi, Seu Jorge, the Killers

Also, Destroy L.A., Sunset Strip Music Festival, the Drones and others

5 Processed Meat Products We Love to Hate (and Hate to Love)

1. Vienna Sausages Derek ThomasVienna sausages: not exactly from Vienna.​Vienna sausages are those pale mini-weenies that sort of look like sausages but don't really. They look more like lobbed-off fingers after a horrible Cuisinart accident. And they come in a can. Ensconced in gelatinous li ... More >>

Stage Raw: As You Like It

THE LATEST NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso see this week's STAGE FEATURE on Polish theater unmaskedNEW REVIEW GO AS YOU LIKE ITAs You Like It Photo courtesy of Aquila TheatreSummer is in full heat across the Southland, which brings out amphitheater producti ... More >>

More Ozo, Pink Slips and Villaraigosa Misgivings

Stage Raw: Clowntown City Limits

THE LATEST NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW REVIEW THEATER PICK CLOWNTOWN CITY LIMITSPhoto by Ed RachlesImagine a personable, grimy, makeup-smeared, cigar-chomping guy in a tank top, not unlike Tommy Lee Jones, playing cards outdoors on the porch of some tra ... More >>

Stage Raw: Pigs' Life (St. Joan of the Slaughterhouses)

THE LATEST NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED IN THE COMING WEEK'S COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW REVIEW THEATER PICK ST JOAN OF THE SLAUGHTERHOUSESPhoto by Vitor MartinsFor a lucid analysis of the malfunctioning global financial markets, one could do worse than Bertolt Brecht. And it's hard to imagine doi ... More >>

Sex, Lies and Videotape

All at once, if that’s how you like it: What to do June 12-18

Scott Baio, Nanci Griffith, Secret Policeman’s Ball and Other Signs of Aging

What to do in L.A., June 5-11

Movie Reviews: Big Man Japan, Management, Not Forgetten

Also, Brothers at War, The New Twenty, The Skeptic, The Brothers Bloom and Next Day Air

GO LA: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Young Frankenstein and Other Horrors

Plus, Doug Stanhope, Fake Radio, Oliver Sacks and more, April 17-23

Stage Raw: Land of the Tigers

CLICK HERE FOR COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSLAND OF THE TIGERS IS THIS WEEK'S PICKLand of the Tigers Photo by Jon Beauregard Noises OnCool Cats and Hot ActorsAct 1 of the Burglars of Hamm's hilarious and thought provoking comedy, Land of the Tigers, outlandishly crosses Cats with Planet of the Ape ... More >>

Theater Reviews: The Mystery of Irma Vep, Macbeth, Falling Upward

Also, Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light, Makin' Hay and more

GO LA: Alvin Ailey, Karen Kilgariff and the Bloody Truth About Downtown

(But not all at once): What to do, March 20-26

Stage Raw: L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards recipients

PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE 30TH ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS ON MARCH 30TH; HERE ARE THE NOMINEES 40TH ANNUAL L.A.DRAMA CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS LAST NIGHT Vicki Lewis and Wenzel Jones co-hosted with considerable charm an awards show last night that was sweet, simple and too long -- probably due to ... More >>

Stage Raw: Grease

L.A.DRAMA CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS TONIGHT AT EL PORTALL.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS TWO WEEKS FROM TONIGHT AT THE EL REYPURCHASE TICKETS TO THE 30TH ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS ON MARCH 30TH; HERE ARE THE NOMINEES GREASE at the PantagesGrease Photo by Joan MarcusNEW REVIEW GREASE Born of NBC's re ... More >>

GO LA: Fringe Artists, Porno Films and Lisa Lampanelli

Plus some high-brow stuff to do, February 27-March 5

Stage Raw: Film

FILM is this week's Pick of the Week. Photo by Darrett Sanders Failing Better The Absurdists' convention Local playwright Patrick McGowan's new play, Film, has no right to be as good as it is. The central character is the late theater director Alan Schneider (Bill Robens) -- known for stagi ... More >>

Stage Raw: Candida

CANDIDA Candida at the Colony Theatre is this week's Pick. Photo by Michael Lamont. At your fingertips: The 30th Annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards NOMINEES.Tickets for nominee's guests and for the general public can now be purchased via  http://tinyurl.com/theaterawardsReviewed this we ... More >>

Stage Raw: Monsters and Prodigies

Reviewed this week: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum; Jack Chandlers' new comedy-mystery, Murder on the Bounding Main, at Sierra Madre Playhouse; a dance-rock fusion, Vibrating Sun, at Unknown Theatre; Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble's staging fof Macbeth; Echo One-Act Festival at Stage 52; Furious Th ... More >>

Stage Raw: Unpronouncable

THEATER AWARDS UPDATE Here is the complete list of NOMINEES for the 30th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, being held Monday, March 30 at the El Rey. Admission for nominees is free; nominee RSVPs are now being accepted at (310) 574-7208. Tickets for guests and members of the public go on sale ... More >>

Stage Raw: The Biggest Thank You Ever Given

The Biggest Thank You Ever Given I'm thunderstruck and deeply moved by the outpouring and quality of your appreciations to me in your emails and in the comments to Friday's posting on the elimination of the L.A. Weekly's Theater Editor position. What a privilege: to read all that, to have served ... More >>

Stage Raw: Arts Freeze

ARTS FREEZE FOR THE HOLIDAYS In a cost-cutting measure, the Los Angeles Unified School District has frozen district funds until the state legislature returns to Sacramento in January to sort out the State budget gridlock. Arts for L.A. has been quick to point out that the freeze includes existin ... More >>

Stage Raw: Ivanov

IVANOV Ivanov Photo Credit: Thomas Aurin Berlin's Volksbühne presents its U.S. premiere of Chekhov's Ivanov at UCLA's Freud Playhouse tonight and Satruday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 7 p.m. Click here for more information. FOURPLAY @ BOSTON COURT The Pasadena theater hosts readings of four new ... More >>

Theater Listings

For the week of Nov. 23-29

Theater Listings

For the Week of Nov. 23-29

Theater Listings

For the Week of Sept. 21-27

Jan. 26, 2007

The End of Murder by David Zahniser

Peace Treaty in Harbor Gateway

Derek Thomas, living with racial hatred in Harbor Gateway.

Theater Listings

For February 10 -16, 2006

Theater Listings

For January 27 - February 2, 2006

About LA Weekly: Staff

Workingman’s Metal

Who Are You Calling Gaijin?

Nice Work If You Can Get It On