LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! “Yesterday” (actually quite a few days ago) we continued our mission to see as many shows as possible during our stay in Las Vegas. Susie Reese and I decided that the MIRAGE casino deserved another visit for BEATLES LOVE. The Beatles song catalogue comprises the sound of…

HORSIN’ AROUND IN SARSAPARILLA CITY “Over there!”, the kids scream excitedly. “You can, you can!”, a bespeckled boy urges on the sheriff.  “I’m going to be an astronaut”, the timid, young lady observes in response to a question about dreams. Leaning over, totally engaged in the action. Bouncing…

FUN HOME…SHORT FOR FUNERAL HOME? Ostensibly, that’s right; it is set primarily in a funeral home.  At its core the Chance Theater production could be said to center on a dysfunctional family. I suppose in this way it shares some parallels with the curiously engaging TV series “Six…

WHO’S READY TO GET KINKY? Well…that’s the pitch emblazoned on the program cover of the production currently on the boards at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts with the 3-D Theatricals version of KINKY BOOTS. Maybe this pitch floats your boat, but for this critic the…

A LIFE DIMINISHED, YET JUBILANT Few of us experience the trauma in our own life faced by Billie Holiday in her journey. Rape, abandonment, jail, racism, drug addiction, poverty – all of these impacted the life of one of the greatest singers of the 20th Century. Throughout…

A LITTLE GIRL FINDS SOLACE IN BOOKS Children comprise the core of Roald Dahl’s widely read MATILDA now entertaining families at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.  And the youthful ensemble “smashingly” schools the audience in this exuberant, good vs. evil story. The opening number “Miracle” seals…

WALKING ON MOONBEAMS CAN BE A BREEZE Certain shows lend themselves to intimacy; ONCE is one of them.  3D Theatricals’ current production in Cerritos is the second time I have celebrated its joys after first encountering another thrilling performance at Lamb’s Players in Coronado. Both theatres led Southern…

MAGIC ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA In her 100 minute comedy-drama, playwright Jiehae Park challenges the audience to explore the limbo between who we were juxtaposed with who we are as applied by the characters from HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO. Certainly, though, one doesn’t have to be grounded…

A WALL OF SOUND IN A HOUSE OF DREAMS In my case it was about 50 years ago that my college roommates and I were spinning records on our compact stereos in our dorm rooms. 33 ⅓  records – as a matter of fact – although we referred…