Registered Critic: Ellen Dostal - Musicals in LA
Breathe. (Los Angeles)
Compelling content and a sensitivity to detail make BREATHE an insightful introduction for others to begin to understand what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes. Much of that is attributed to the show’s powerful images. Some are revealed slowly with the graceful elegance of an artist in control of every move, extending a still image into a three dimensional space. Others burst through quickly as the modern day actor dives headlong into a memory taking the audience with her to fully experience a moment in time.
Bollywood Kitchen (Los Angeles)
If you think this is going to be just another cooking show you’d be wrong. It’s much more than that. It is an intimate, honest, and insightful immigrant story shared while preparing a meal, and an undeniable expression of love for family in all its wonderful messiness. It also celebrates the impact Bollywood films had on a young Indian boy growing up in Mechanicsburg, PA, at a time when his was the only Indian family in town.
Nathan C. Jones: A Love Story? (Hollywood)
On the surface, NATHAN C. JONES appears to be an unassuming little show about a young man and his new romance. But, as the audience is drawn further and further into the story, it becomes clear that the writers are exploring much deeper questions about loneliness, the desire to be loved, and what happens when reality sits on shifting sands.
Bronco Billy – The Musical
Perhaps the most impressive element of this world premiere however is Janet Roston’s personality-driven choreography. Her skill in choreographing to character is astonishing, and she can do it in any style on any size stage for any level of artist and make them shine. Whether she’s using a simple two-step to build a budding romance or creating a whopper of a production number to highlight every asset – and rodeo trick – the talented cast has in their back pocket, she succeeds in furthering the story through movement. It’s hard to describe but, in essence, it creates a physical arc to the show that transports you to a different place from where you started.
JULIUS WEEZER
In Julius Weezer, Troubadour Theater Company uses its signature wit to turn a Shakespeare classic into a blissfully-alive rocker version of its ancient self, and the result is divine madness. You don’t need to be a Bard lover to have a great time but, if you are, you’ll be impressed by the level of classical talent on stage and the company’s ability to “speak the speech” while tickling your funny bone.
THE SECRET GARDEN
Simon’s sophisticated score is the star, with its haunting melodies and choral depth, though it is not always handled with finesse by an ensemble that has difficulty with pitch, clarity, and restraint. Still, nothing could dim the overall effect of this lush gothic musical romance steeped in the ache of loss but rich in lessons of rebirth and the cyclical nature of life.
Argonautika
The best way to characterize Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of the mythical tale of Jason and the Argonauts is as a playground for adults in which theatre artists use every storytelling trick in the book to bring gods, monsters, mortals, and kings to life. Puppets, masks, stilts and aerial silks trade stage time with original music, dashing fight scenes, and flights of fancy in Jason’s epic adventure to find the Golden Fleece. Each episode has a different gimmick, and director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott uses every ounce of creativity the stage can hold to devise a wildly inventive array of magical effects.
Julius Caesar
Taking its cue from Orson Welles’ 1937 Mercury Theatre production of JULIUS CAESAR, Independent Shakespeare Co. exercises its exceptional ability to adapt one of Shakespeare’s massive works for an intimate indoor setting without giving up any of the play’s scope or impact. The critical element is the audience, whose inclusion and participation helps overcome the limitations of a theatre by stretching its energy beyond four walls to create a story that feels big even without pageantry. Then, by stripping it down and focusing on the characters, Shakespeare’s observations about politics and the abuse of power begin to resonate loudly as parallels to modern day political corruption are exposed.
The Old Man and The Old Moon
What is most striking about the production is how in sync with each other these likable artists are. It isn’t surprising since they all met while attending Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and over the last decade have forged a creative alliance that makes use of all their many talents. To watch how seamlessly they pass the ball on stage is dizzying, given the various elements they incorporate into the show and how quickly it all moves along.
Othello
An OTHELLO that’s funny is a big surprise. A Noise Within’s production proves the comedy is fundamentally in the play – it just takes the right actors to uncover it. And while not everything else works quite so well in this modern context, the humor lands on all fronts.
RAGTIME: THE MUSICAL
Several striking performances give fresh resonance to roles previously made famous by the likes of Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie (Broadway’s original Coalhouse and Mother). Duncan’s thrilling anthem “Make Them Hear You,” which precedes his final moments on stage, rings with a dizzying depth of emotion and brings the production to an electrifying climax.
Witness Uganda
WITNESS UGANDA may still be searching for the best way to tell its inspiring story but it is a worthy journey we do want to take. Clarity, and a stronger point of view, would make all the difference.
SWEENEY TODD – THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
The South Coast Repertory production of Sweeney Todd led by director Kent Nicholson and musical director David O. shrewdly hits its marks by reveling in both the sensationalism of its Penny Dreadful-inspired story and the warped charm of its irresistibly gruesome humor. Nicholson allows his actors the freedom to play the broad music hall style of comedy to its fullest yet never loses sight of its darker undercurrents.
HELLO DOLLY
Buckley and Stadlen, whose own credits include more than a dozen Broadway shows and Tony nominations for Candide and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, are a terrific pair. His chauvinism belongs to a different time and her unwavering ability to steamroll past any objection is a practice women are still having to exercise today. That their verbal volley works is a credit to director Jerry Zaks, who doesn’t try to sidestep Horace’s dated mindset but instead highlights it and then surrounds him with a theatrical reality big enough to make him grow in the process.
LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE
The countdown to Christmas begins and ends with an all-out love blitz this year in For the Record’s latest world premiere, LOVE ACTUALLY LIVE, a hybrid entertainment that blends scenes from Richard Curtis’ 2003 film Love Actually with live performances of the movie’s soundtrack. Co-produced by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, it is a celebration of love in all its messy, complicated, wonderful glory in a Las Vegas-style vision designed to impress.
COME FROM AWAY
Writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein capture the spirit of the pragmatic, cheerful townsfolk in both story and score, the former narrated by characters speaking directly to the audience and also recreating the various quick-cut scenes, the latter a jovial blend of folk, Celtic, and upbeat rock themes with straightforward lyrics. Thankfully, there isn’t a pretentious bone in this musical’s body.
SkyPilot One Act Festival 2018
Tom Misuraca’s CLASS REUNION is a class reunion with a previously unexplored twist. Five friends reminisce about their younger days and current accomplishments when they meet at their class reunion. The drama and dynamics of who they were has not changed since they last saw each other, but for one important detail. Director Margaret Starbuck manages to keep Misuraca’s story surprise intact until the powerful reveal. It’s a game-changer in the way we think about school shootings and Misuraca hits his theatrical target tacitly but with great potency.
The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man
Though the sum of its parts does not yet add up dramatically, The Woman Who Went to Space as a Man does fit somewhat more effectively in the landscape of a theatrical tone poem. There the freer style of its content allows more room for the playwright to explore Sheldon’s fascinating life journey and tragic end without limits.
WICKED LIT: THE CHIMES & THE CORPSE
A modest pre-show display of costumes, props, and puppets provides opportunities for picture taking but the sense of community created over past years in the improvisatory preshow entertainment is missing. Still, the mausoleum is a gorgeous backdrop and well-worth a visit at night to experience Unbound Productions’ theatre within its hallowed halls, even if this year’s event comes with fewer bells and whistles. Rest assured, first timers and fans will have plenty to ooh and ah over.
A PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
The production vividly depicts the dichotomy found in Victorian morality, both its hypocritical displays of propriety and its agenda to suppress homoerotic behavior. Amin El Gamal, as the artist whose brush strokes betray his attraction to his muse, comes up against this very issue. Should he be found out, it would surely be his ruin. But to be unable to express his feelings is its own kind of hell. The role moves at a different pace than the rest of the characters and El Gamal handles the delicate territory by remaining quietly open and vulnerable. There is great sensitivity in his performance and it all starts in his eyes. It is his best work to date–all the more impressive because it isn’t a flashy role. Its success rests on the actor’s ability to handle subtlety.