Jeff McLaughlin

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including an All-Female Hamlet

No Pick this week, but a nod from Neal Weaver for the family comedy-drama The Bells of West 87th at Greenway Arts Alliance. See below for all the latest new theater reviews and stage listings. Plays informed by dreams and dream-states are the subject of this week's theater feature: Pericles, P ... More >>

Open House, a Play That Merges the Real Estate Crisis With Salvador Dali

Athol Fugard's The Blue Iris at the Fountain Theatre

Beautified

The Sleeper

French Stewart as Buster Keaton, Back in L.A. in Vanessa Claire Stewart's Stoneface, Plus All Latest New Theater Reviews

Tony Abatemarco's family drama Beautified, at Hollywood's Skylight Theatre, is our Pick of the Week. Recommendations include Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw at Hollywood's Underground Theatre; and Catherine Butterfield's The Sleeper at North Hollywood's Theatre T ... More >>

The Heiress and Cyrano

Each play asks: Is this love, or a con?

Twilight L.A., 1992, Back in Town 20 Years After Swaths of the City Burned, and More New Reviews.

Alan Aymie's autobiographical saga of his travails within LAUSD, A Child Left Behind, is this week's Pick. Other New Reviews also include Bill Raden's "GO" review of Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight Los Angeles, 1992, honoring the 20th anniversary of our most recent riots. Smith is not performing in th ... More >>

L.A. Weekly Theater Awards 2012: The Winners

​​L.A. Weekly 's 33rd annual theater awards took place tonight at the Avalon in Hollywood, honoring the best work on our small stages from 2011, as judged by our theater critics. Small Engine Repair presented by Rogue Machine at Theatre/Theater won production of the year, while Re-Animator The ... More >>

Stephanie Miller's Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour

Michael LamontThe Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity​Kristoffer Diaz's comedy about television wrestling, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, just opened at the Geffen Playhouse. Check back on Tuesday for the review, and for capsule reviews for all other shows seen over the weekend. Check back thi ... More >>

Stage Raw: LA Weekly Fringe Award Winner

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Salome and J.M. Barrie at PRTCuriousjosh.comThe Burning Opera​The Burning Opera: How to Survive the Apocalypse, created by Mark Nicols and Erik Davis, and being performed at Syrup Loft downtown, is among the productions being revie ... More >>

Stage Raw: Bash'd

NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Radar L.A.Sean LambertBash'd, A Gay Rap Opera​A string of recommends comes with this week's theater reviews: Bash'd, A Gay Rap Opera at Celebration Theatre, Blackbird at Rogue Machine, Blood Wedding at the Odyssey, Broadsword at the Back Dahlia, Closet Land at ... More >>

Theater Reviews: In Mother Words, The Fix-Up Show, Love Sucks

Also The Adventures of Pinocchio, Cabaret Idol and more

The 32nd annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards Nominees

Year of the inner child

Stage Raw: Fairy Tale Theatre: 18 & Over

NEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Circle Mirror Transformation and Me, As a PenguinCOMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSPUZZLER​Padraic Duffy's noir drama of East German Spies opens this weekend at Sacred Fools Theater Company. Photo by C.M. GonzalezFAIRY TALE THEATRE: 18 & OVERJ. Michael Feldman's ... More >>

Stage Raw: Holiday Listings

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS NEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Cormac McCarthy's The Sunset LimitedHOLIDAY LISTINGS:To be honest, the quantity of theater playing this week in Los Angeles is about as thin as it gets. Still, our comprehensive LISTINGS are back up. Things do pick up in January, so ... More >>

Diving Normal

THEATER REVIEWS: THE AUTUMN GARDEN, VON BACH, DIVING NORMAL

ALSO, HEAD: THE MUSICAL, THE AUTUMN GARDEN

Stage Raw: Head, The Musical

NEW THEATER REVIEWSStage FEATURE on Cornerstone's Making ParadiseNEW REVIEW GO HEAD: THE MUSICAL ​Photo by Irene HoveyComposer-lyricist Kevin Fry's delightfully campy horror musical, based on Roger Corman's 1962 gore-fest The Brain That Wouldn't Die, is not only enjoyable on the level of Midnigh ... More >>

Theater Reviews: K2, The Train Driver

Also, Venice, On Emotion, FDR and more

The Train Driver

Stage Raw: The Train Driver

NEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Leap of Faith and God's FavoriteNEW REVIEW GO THE TRAIN DRIVER ​ Photo by Ed Krieger South African playwright Athol Fugard's plays have dealt with the havoc wrought in his country by Apartheid, but his more recent works also often possess the feel of a ghos ... More >>

The Butcher of Baraboo

Theater Reviews: Loveland, Blithe Spirit, The Butcher of Baraboo

Also, Hamlet, Prince of Puddles and more

Stage Raw: Hamlet, Prince of Puddles

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater Feature on La Razon Blindada and A Wolf Inside the Fence and NEW REVIEW GO HAMLET, PRINCE OF PUDDLES ​ Photo by Justin Zsebe Scholars have teased out new layers in Shakespeare's tragedy for 400 years. A new company, L'Enfant Terrible, co ... More >>

Stage Raw: Loveland

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater Feature on La Razon Blindada and A Wolf Inside the Fence and NEW REVIEW GO LOVELAND ​Photo by Leland Auslender What a rare experience it is, when a character that's as maniacal, sexually overheated and as transparently off the rails as a ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Chico's Angels: Chicas in Chains, Hello, Merrily We Roll Along

Also, Valentino Valentina, Sultan's Battery and more

Stage Raw: Hello

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSTheater Feature on Polish punk and Glendale's classicistsNEW REVIEW GO HELLO ​ Photo by Mark Bennington You may not find logic in this quirky tale about love, marriage and the enigma of sexual attraction but you'll recognize a lot of human truth. ... More >>

Stage Raw: LADCC Winners

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on gay politics in Halam Iran and Salam Shalom THE 31ST ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS coming March 29! Nominees RSVP now to (310) 574-7208. Public tickets available at http://laweekly.comTHE 41ST ANNUAL LOS ANGELES DRAMA CRITICS CIRCLE AWAR ... More >>

Stage Raw: L.A. Theater Aesthetic?

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on The Event and Kharmful Charms of Daniil Kharms THE 31ST ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDSGROUNDLINGS SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN ​is one of almost a dozen new productions being reviewed this weekend. For the complete slate, hit the More tab at the ... More >>

Theater Reviews: The Unexpected Man, Influence, Old Glory, Dreamgirls

Also, Control Me/Parents Who Love Too Much, Don Juan Dispenso and more

Influence

Theater Reviews: Friends Like These, The Crossing, Peace, Somebody’s Somebody

Also, F*ucking Men, The Kingdom Come, The Golden Gays and more

The Matchmaker

Stage Raw: Baby It's You

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSAlso, see the current STAGE FEATURE on The Night Is a Child at the Pasadena Playhouse, and Not to Be, at ZJUTHE LATEST NEW REVIEWSBABY IT'S YOUThe jukebox musical that's been playing since the spring at the Coast Playhouse, will be the final entry in the Pasadena P ... More >>

Stage Raw: Photograph 51

THE 30TH ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY AWARDS, HOSTED BY JAKE BRODER AND VANESSA CLAIRE SMITH (OF LOUIS & KEELY: LIVE AT THE SAHARA) IS HAPPENING  AT THE EL REY ONE WEEK FROM TODAY, MONDAY NIGHT MARCH 30. DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 P.M.,  AND NO IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO RSVP OR BUY TICKETS.BRODER AND SMITH ... 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 >>

Stage Raw: Before Kirk Douglas Forgets

PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE 30TH ANNUAL L.A. WEEKLY THEATER AWARDS ON MARCH 30TH AT THE EL REY; HERE ARE THE NOMINEES. BEFORE I FORGETKirk Douglas in Before I Forget. Photo by Craig Schwartz The gift in Kirk Douglas' one-man show, Before I Forget,  that opened over the weekend in the theater name ... More >>

Stage Raw: Getting Physical

DRACULADracula is this week's Pick. See review by pressing the Continue Reading tab at the bottom of this section. (All New Reviews are embedded within the Comprehensive Theater Listings.) Photo by Michael Lamont GETTING PHYSICAL Two bills of physical comedy are being performed at Sacred Fool ... More >>

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 >>

A Skull in Connemara

Theater Reviews: Jane Austen Unscripted, A Skull in Connemara, Model Behavior

Also, The Todd and Molly Show, Dai, Stormy Weather and more

Stage Raw: Phil Newby

PHIL NEWBY A memorial service was held at Sacred Fools Theatre on Sunday for that company's young and beloved actor who was found in his apartment last week. More on Phil to come in the print edition one week week from Thursday. At your fingertips: This week's Theater Feature on Jim Leonard' ... More >>

Survivor's Guilt

9/11 with a laugh track

Servicing Their Country

Women on the rack, from Sacramento to Istanbul