Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Theater as deception
by Iris Mann
“The theatre has the power to both reveal the truth and hide the truth,” according to Spanish playwright Juan Mayorga, whose internationally. . .
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Elfman circles back to the circus
by Jonathan Maseng, Contributing Writer
Danny Elfman is a huge success, but he doesn't want you to know it. Humility is a hard thing to hang your hat on when you've accumulated four. . .
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Two Yiddishe Boys and a Bissel of Berlin
By Tom Tugend
About a dozen years ago, actor Mike Burstyn auditioned in New York for the role of Al Jolson in the national touring company of the musical. . .
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
C’mon, Amanda Green, ‘Bring It On’
By Naomi Pfefferman
At one point in “Bring It On: The Musical,” inspired by the rival cheerleading film of the same name, Bridget, the team’s chubby mascot, gets. . .
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Performance series pays tribute to Boyle Heights’ cultural, artistic legacy
By Jonathan Maseng
When Canter’s Deli first opened in Los Angeles, it was not at its now-famous location on Fairfax Avenue, but in Boyle Heights. And though. . .
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Family history informs justice, guilt in ‘Wiesenthal’
by iris mann
He was often called “the Jewish James Bond” and “the Conscience of the Holocaust” for his activities in the pursuit of Nazis. It was a. . .
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
‘LUV’ Endures
By Tom Tugend
Murray Schisgal’s comedy “LUV” is, as the alert reader might suspect, about love, even passionate love, but don’t expect any moon in June or. . .
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The passion of David Lang
By Rick Schultz
It may seem a sign of overconfidence for someone to tell you he’s rewriting a major work by Beethoven, but for David Lang, who reconceived Bach’s. . .
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
A touch of George in Alexander’s ‘Prisoner’
By Ryan Torok
Jason Alexander immediately apologizes for his voice when he comes to the phone. He’s hoarse because he’s been yelling nonstop for his current. . .
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Acting from the heart
by daniel gelman
USC freshman Shayna Turk, a 2010 graduate and former class president of New Community Jewish High School in West Hills, didn’t expect a nice. . .
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
‘Brooklyn’ mines pathos, humor of 1st-gen journey
By Tom Tugend
The original title of Jake Ehrenreich’s show-in-the-making was a rather bland “Growing Up in America,” but, fortunately, it will open Feb. 16. . .
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Valley arts fans get sparkling new venue, shorter shlep
by Ryan e. smith, Contributing Writer
It wasn’t the fact that stars like Andy Garcia and Calista Flockhart were walking the red carpet that had people buzzing on Jan. 29. It was where. . .
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
With ‘33 Variations,’ perennial outsider Moises Kaufman can finally relate
By Naomi Pfefferman
In a rehearsal room of the Ahmanson Theatre, Moises Kaufman recounts a story about Ludwig van Beethoven, a central figure in his new play, “33. . .
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Theater Group Celebrates Women Rabbis
by IRIS MANN, Contributing Writer
We all know the clichés that characterize the usual depiction of Jewish women — the overbearing Jewish mother, the yenta, the Jewish princess. To. . .
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Winning, losing, laughing
By Tom Tugend
Sam Bobrick is an anomaly — a happy, cheerful writer. After 30 plays, six books, and innumerable TV skits and songs, Bobrick maintains, “I’m a. . .
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Hamilton music magnet opens to auditions
by Ryan E. Smith, Contributing Writer
The prestigious Academy of Music magnet program at Hamilton High School, a LAUSD school on South Robertson Boulevard in West Los Angeles, has for the. . .
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
All-women ‘Joseph’ a dream come true
By Orit Arfa
At a recent dress rehearsal at Temple Beth Am for the Jewish Women’s Repertory Company’s (JWRC) November production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s. . .
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
‘Fiddler on the Roof’ writer Joseph Stein dies at 98
JTA
Joseph Stein, the Tony Award-winning writer of "Fiddler on the Roof," has died. Stein died Sunday in Manhattan after fracturing his skull in a fall.. . .
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
‘Via Dolorosa’ travels a modern path
By Tom Tugend
When Philip Roth met with David Hare in the mid-1990s, the American novelist urged the British playwright to visit Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.. . .
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Shul roots sprout into grand arias
By Rick Schultz
Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, soprano Shira Renee Thomas was drawn to the music played during services at Northridge’s Reform Temple. . .
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Edelstein’s bold revival of Williams classic ‘Menagerie’
By Naomi Pfefferman
Widely recognized as one of the most esteemed theater directors working today, Gordon Edelstein at one time considered becoming a rabbi. That was in. . .
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A hip-hop, Shakespearean, operatic ‘Venice’
By Naomi Pfefferman
Matt Sax, the baby-faced composer-performer whose new show, “Venice,” was dubbed “the year’s best musical” by Time magazine, has a. . .
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Shorter, Snappier ‘Jewtopia’ Returns to L.A. Stage
By Naomi Pfefferman
Everything was at stake for Bryan Fogel before “Jewtopia,” the comedy he wrote and starred in with Sam Wolfson, opened at the Coast Playhouse in. . .
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Teens Transform Troubles Into Musical Drama
By Melanie Reynard
In a recreation room in Venice, 30 teens from throughout Los Angeles are belting out:. . .
