Non-Registered Critics: Tom Titus
Bright Star
Playgoers having difficulty getting into the show’s spirit should be roused by the “big reveal” near the climax that will send them home smiling. It’s a backwoods yarn, improbable but based in fact, set to toe-tapping music at the GEM Theater.
The Vandal
Director Kari Hayter has injected the production with a keen sense of human need, loss and desire as she moves the story gradually along an uncharted road. Each new revelation contains a throat-catching element that allows playgoers to view these characters in a different light.
All three actors are excellent, but Amanda Zarr delivers an especially outstanding performance as the woman, initially shrouded in mystery, who — under the influence of beer and hard liquor — sheds her hard veneer along with her inhibitions. Zarr excels in the most difficult and challenging assignment as she interacts, alternately, with the other two performers.
Ragtime
“Ragtime” not only serves as a rousing history lesson, but it also connects subtly with today’s social and political climate. It’s an overwhelming experience at the Chance Theater.
Tigers Be Still
“Tigers Be Still” offers a new and articulate voice in the realm of offbeat theater and Rosenstock’s imaginative comedy receives a terrific production with all four actors in fine form at the Chance.
Skylight
At the Chance, under the direction of Oanh Nguyen, actors Jessica Erin Martin and Steve Marvel attack the play with zeal and conviction, each staking a firm claim to their passionate views of life. Both are riveted in their beliefs, yet they are inexorably drawn to one another.
Disaster! The Musical
Artistic Director Damien Lorton has mounted some ambitious offerings at the GEM over his past 15 years, but this show is one for the books. The physical demands on the cast are extraordinary, and then they have to make the whole thing screamingly funny.
The Other Place
There has been no finer individual performance in local theater than the one currently being given by Jacqueline Wright in “The Other Place” at Anaheim's Chance Theater... “The Other Place” is a dynamic piece of theater bolstered by Jacqueline Wright's magnificent performance, which should be witnessed by any serious student of the performing arts.
The Christians
Whatever your theory on the devil and his dwelling, “The Christians” will engage your sensibilities in this thought-provoking production at the Costa Mesa Playhouse.
Good People
Few playwrights have managed to blend laugh-out-loud humor with heart-wrenching poignancy to the degree accomplished by David Lindsay-Abaire in his brilliantly devised play "Good People," currently on stage at the Chance Theater in Anaheim... "Good People" is the sort of production one would expect to find at an established professional theater such as South Coast Repertory.
Cabaret
Playwright Joe Masterhoff's book and the Kander and Ebb score have never been in better hands locally. Somehow this large and energetic cast bursts into full bloom on the matchbox stage, capturing — and captivating — the audience.