Patrick Bristow

Pure Improv: Holiday Edition

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 >>

THEATER REVIEWS: A CHICAGO CHRISTMAS CAROL, EXIT 10, THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, OUR BEDS ARE CROWDED

Also, The Stories of Cesar Chavez, Traveling Carnival Freakshow, West Side Story and more

Stage Raw: Traveling Carnival Freakshow

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on three plays in NYC NEW REVIEW GO TRAVELING CARNIVAL FREAKSHOW ​Photo by Chelsea SuttonIf Tod Browning and the Brothers Quay had collaborated on a stage version of The Island of Dr. Moreau, the results might have resembled this whim ... More >>

GROUNDLINGS AND PROUD

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on three plays in NYC NEW REVIEW GO TRAVELING CARNIVAL FREAKSHOW ​Photo by Chelsea SuttonIf Tod Browning and the Brothers Quay had collaborated on a stage version of The Island of Dr. Moreau, the results might have resembled this whim ... More >>

Stage Raw: Summer Festivities

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on [title of show] and Dani GirlSUMMER FESTIVITIES Open Fist Theater Company launches its annual Fist Look Festival this weekend, with The Existents, a rock musical by Douglas Crawford and Jason Wooten, music and lyrics by Ty Taylor. T ... More >>

Stage Raw: Brewsie & Willie

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE ON LINDA PURL'S FESTIVALBREWSIE AND WILLIE ​Poor Dog Group's adaptation of Gertrude Stein's novella, is among the productions being reviewed this week. Photo by Scott Grolier Check back here on Monday night for reviews of THE BAKER'S ... More >>

Stage Raw: Lease Subsidy Program Gets Another Lease

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSCURRENT FEATURE ON BORN TO BE ALIVE and THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACELEASE SUBSIDY PROGRAM GETS ANOTHER LEASE A recommendation by L.A.'s Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana to restructure (eliminate) the city's Lease Subsidy Program for non- ... More >>

The Nuclear Family and One-Night Stand

On a Wig and a Prayer and Musical Improvisation

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 >>

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 >>

Theater Reviews: Cinderella the Musical, Equus, Eternal Equinox, Monkey Madness

Also, True West, My Three Sisters, Death, Lies & Alibis and more

Stage Raw: Mr. Merkin Misses His First Deadline!

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSBREAKING NEWS: The entire staff of Stage Raw was disappointed that Mr. Merkin missed the filing deadline for his first column: a review of Spamalot at the Ahmanson. Mr. Merkin apologized profusely, but explained that it was impossible to file electronically from the pol ... 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 >>

Does Anybody Remember Laughter?

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 >>

GO LA: Fat Beats, Fat Tuesday and a Fat Comedian

And a fat lot more to do in L.A., February 20-26

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: 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 >>

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 >>

Puppet Up! Uncensored: The Monthly TV-Stage Hybrid From Brian Henson

Out-of-control freaks

Stage Raw: New Troupes on the Block

NEW TROUPES ON THE BLOCK Under the umbrella of Cornerstone Theatre Company, a new company called Teatro Jornalero Sin Fronteras (Day Laborer Theater Without Borders) launches at the Hollywood Community Job Center, 5669 De Longpre Avenue; December 20 at noon. The 15-member troupe will voice the s ... More >>

Stage Raw: Your Source for Free and Discount Theater Tickets

FREE AND DISCOUNT THEATER TICKETS RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW Plays411 is offering FREE & Discount Tickets: You only pay $3.50 Service Fee, or Half-off where indicated. Advance Reservations only: Go to: plays411.com, then select the show, use Promo Code: "LETMEIN" (unless otherwise instructed ... More >>

Stage Raw: Leslie Jordan's Trip Down the Pink Carpet

This Week's Theater Pick Leslie Jordan's Autobiographical Trip Down the Pink Carpet If a zest for life is infectious, there's probably no more delightful a carrier than Leslie Jordan. A diminutive stage, film, Emmy Award-winning TV actor, and fugitive from the Bible Belt, Jordan regales us ... 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 >>

Stage Raw: Cocks of the Walk

COCKS OF THE WALK The same people who brought us Naked Boys Singing are at it again -- this time showing considerable more restraint with a musical revue subtly named Hangin' Out -- described as "a celebration of the human body . . . exploring different aspects of nudity in song and dance." Now ... More >>

Stage Raw: The Little Dog Laughed

>NEW REVIEW THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED As Gertrude Stein once put it (but not about this play), "It's almost about something, and then it's just not." Douglas Carter Beane's comedy brings with it the New York cast that put the play on the map, and secured Julie White a Tony for her role as a Holly ... More >>

Stage Raw: Lodestone Says Goodnight and Good Luck

Check back here Monday after noon for the upcoming weekend's NEW THEATER REVIEWS of The Little Dog Laughed, Douglas Carter Beane's comedy about being oneself in Hollywood and elsewhere, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Deborah Pryor's mystical Appalachian one-act The Love Talker at Son of Semele Ens ... More >>

Stage Raw: Critic-O-Meter

CRITIC-O-METER In case you're wondering what Rob Kendt has been up to in New York City, since leaving his post as editor of Back Stage West, first look no further than his byline - now Rob Weinert-Kendt. That's what a wedding can do. He's also been having bowls of matzoh ball soup at the Polish ... More >>

Stage Raw: One Sucker's Lament

Woyzeck Photo by Andrew Rothenberg >NEW REVIEW THEATER PICK WOYZECK 19th Century German playwright Georg Büchner's an unfinished horror story of the common man crushed by military and medical machines, has been fodder for myriad adaptations throughout the last century, and there's no sign of ... More >>

Stage Raw: Broadway Cares

BROADWAY CARES This Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 10 p.m., the cast of Spring Awakening (currently at the Ahmanson ) will perform a special show at L.A.'s Upright Cabaret with proceeds to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and other local charities here in the southland. Mark’s Restau ... More >>

Stage Raw: Ovation Awards Tonight (Monday)

THE OVATION AWARDS ARE TONIGHTMonday at Luckman Auditorium, on the Cal State, Los Angeles campus. For more information, contact http://www.lastagealliance.com LATEST NEW THEATER REVIEWS BEAUTY OF ASHES Writer and star Peres Owino's furious semi-biographical poetry and dance piece about female ... More >>

Stage Raw: Fake Radio Sing Along

Check back here Monday after noon for NEW THEATER REVIEWS of Peter Shelan's speculative drama about challenging authority and Christopher Marlowe's death, The School of Night, at the Taper; Susan Kim's stage adaptation of Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, at East West Players; Peter Wing Heale ... More >>

Stage Raw: Playboy of the Western World

Check back here Monday after noon for NEW THEATER REVIEWS of Peter Shelan's speculative drama about challenging authority and Christopher Marlowe's death, The School of Night, at the Taper; Susan Kim's stage adaptation of Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, at East West Players; Peter Wing Heale ... More >>

Stage Raw: The Sequence

Check back here Monday after noon for NEW THEATER REVIEWS of Peter Shelan's speculative drama about challenging authority and Christopher Marlowe's death, The School of Night, at the Taper; Susan Kim's stage adaptation of Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, at East West Players; Peter Wing Heale ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Freedom of Speech, Just Like White People

Also, Winter, the Groundlings' latest and more

Lack-of-Talent ShowcaseBeverly Winwood Presents the Actors Showcase

Also, Winter, the Groundlings' latest and more

Lack of Talent Showcase

Beverly Winwood Presents

Theater Reviews: Alice Sit-By-The-Fire, Groundlings

Also A Tuna Christmas

Theater Listings

For the Week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6

Lotsa Funny Things (and Student Films)

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Outlaw Grub and Vision Boards

What to do in Los Angeles this week

What Does Santa Monica Taste Like?

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Glittering Prizes

The 26th annual L.A. Weekly Theater awards

Leave Your Inhibitions at the Door

The 26th annual L.A. Weekly Theater awards

Laugh Factory

Edited by Kateri Butler