LA Theatre Reviews

Fossils

Finding Fossils
In its L.A. premiere, Ty DeMartino's modest family play feels about as close to an old-fashioned kitchen-sink drama as a story taking place on a country porch can get. More »

God of Carnage

God of Carnage
Director Caryn Desai and a fine cast of four wring plentiful laughs from Yasmina Reza's black comedy that shows how thin the veneer of civilization really is. More »

Fly

Expecting to Fly
Michael Hyman's long one-act takes its title from the Neil Young song and tells a tale of passionate love and loss, touching on issues of faith and trust, with elements of the supernatural. More »

El Nogalar

El Nogalar (The Pecan Orchard)
Tanya Saracho's loose adaptation of "The Cherry Orchard," transplanted to modern-day Mexico, reaches out in exciting new directions, though a few too many Chekhovian promissory notes don't pay off. More »

Hunger

Hunger: In Bed With Roy Cohn
With all the trappings of a confectionary acid trip, director Jules Aaron crafts a sensory-teasing hallucinatory peek into the backstory of one of America's most enigmatic figures in Joan Beber's new play. More »

Art

Art
Yasmina Reza's comedy is in fine hands in director David Lee's revival, which is graced with the consummate talents and sterling chemistry of actors Roger Bart, Michael O'Keefe, and Bradley Whitford. More »

Masterpieces

Masterpieces
Sarah Daniels' dark and daring 1983 comedy about women and pornography sometimes borders on sermonizing, but director Cinda Jackson's solid production provides a compelling experience. More »

Indians

The Indians Are Coming to Dinner
Impeccably acted and exquisitely designed, director Julia Fletcher's rendition of Jennifer W. Rowland's eccentric new play, which mixes smart literary allusions to Greek tragedy and opera, scores a bull's-eye. More »

Clybourne Park

Clybourne Park
Bruce Norris' hilarious Pulitzer Prize–winning satire arrives in L.A. with cast, director, and design team intact from its 2010 Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway staging, prior to a planned Broadway bow. More »

Moon

Moon Over Buffalo
After scoring with revivals of "Light Up the Sky" and "Room Service," director Bjørn Johnson manages a theatrical hat trick by staging Ken Ludwig's faintly synthetic crowd pleaser with revivifying brio. More »

Waters Edge

The Water's Edge
Theresa Rebeck's 2001 family drama, a contemporary take on part of Aeschylus' "The Oresteia," never reaches the full dramatic heights of Greek tragedy, but it's a satisfying modern-day rendering. More »

39

The 39 Steps
Patrick Barlow’s stage adaptation is a cheeky retelling, much along the lines of Monty Python, of Alfred Hitchcock’s signature 1935 film and the John Buchan novel on which it’s based. More »

Raisin

A Raisin in the Sun
Director Phylicia Rashad's restaging of her Ebony Repertory Theatre production of Lorraine Hansberry's landmark drama affords her a fresh opportunity to mine the classic material for its myriad dramatic riches. More »

Good Deed

No Good Deed
Though Matt Pelfrey's subversive dark comedy needs to bring its complex narrative and heady themes into focus more quickly and lucidly, director Dámaso Rodriguez's visceral staging makes for an intellectually stimulating ride. More »

Oswald

Oswald
Dennis Richard's thought-provoking docudrama tries to imagine what happened during the police interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald, presenting intriguing details that allow us to form our own conclusions. More »

Our Town

Our Town
In its L.A. premiere, director David Cromer's immensely entertaining and deeply affecting revival of Thornton Wilder's masterpiece is vibrantly fresh yet faithful to the playwright's enduring vision. More »

Days of Wine and Roses

Days of Wine and Roses
Director Rebecca Hayes' bare-bones production is blessed with two shattering lead performances, eliciting raw emotional power from J.P. Miller's classic drama about alcoholism. More »

Awake in a World That Encourages Sleep

Awake in a World That Encourages Sleep
Although sometimes outlandish in how it delivers its message, actor-playwright Raymond J. Barry's dark absurdist comedy has originality and a full-throttle attack that are unmistakable. More »

God's Ear

God's Ear
It's the surreal disconnect that infects a family after a tragedy that allows Jenny Schwartz's theatrical study of grief to float in a kind of magical, freeform way. More »

Red

Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins
Kathleen Turner brings humanity and depth to this one-woman show about Texas scribe Molly Ivins, despite an episodic, uneven script by journalists Margaret and Allison Engel. More »

Nerve

Nerve
Adam Szymkowicz's 2006 two-hander is a mildly funny portrait of the anxieties surrounding first dates and the desperation to find true love. More »

Filthy Talk

Filthy Talk for Troubled Times
Neil LaBute's series of potent statements about how badly men think of women—and, as it turns out, how badly women behave toward men—is writing on the finer side about ourselves at our worst. More »

Fruit Fly

Fruit Fly
Actor Leslie Jordan, a veteran of stage ("Southern Baptist Sissies"), screen ("Sordid Lives," "The Help"), and television ("Will & Grace"), is also a first-rate raconteur. More »

Daddy

Who's Your Daddy?
Johnny O'Callaghan has two things going for him in his first solo show: the kind of infectious, authentic Irish accent that renders anything forgivable and the discovery of a creative partner in director Tom Ormeny. More »

Some Lovers

Some Lovers
This world-premiere chamber musical, featuring lyrics and libretto by Steven Sater ("Spring Awakening"), seldom advances beyond bland mediocrity. More »

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Industry Grosses

RankTitleGross
1. WICKED $1,534,111
2. THE LION KING $1,445,999
3. SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK $1,433,241
4. THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,425,488
5. HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING $1,319,824
6. WAR HORSE $960,191
7. JERSEY BOYS $915,982
8. PORGY AND BESS $878,884
9. FOLLIES $878,880
10. THE MOUNTAINTOP $693,128

Week ending Jan 30, 2012.
Credit: The Broadway League

RankTitleGross
1. GREY, THE $19,665,101
2. UNDERWORLD AWAKENING $12,352,802
3. ONE FOR THE MONEY $11,515,790
4. RED TAILS $10,370,323
5. MAN ON A LEDGE $8,001,932
6. EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE $6,980,448
7. CONTRABAND $6,704,360
8. DESCENDANTS, THE $6,405,285
9. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST $5,307,807
10. HAYWIRE $4,002,760

Week ending Jan 30, 2012.

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