If you can see how this pathetic little human condition of ours is also pretty funny (at least while you watch it happening to someone else), then Samuel Beckett's mid-century modernist classic play "Waiting for Godot," now getting a richly satisfying production at the Mark Taper Forum, should be right up your alley. more ›

"Clybourne Park" is the most acclaimed new American play of the last several years (since John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt," anyway), and the original off-Broadway production, with the whole original cast, is playing at the Taper this month before moving back for a Broadway run in April. more ›

In today's burgeoning plutocracy, where in the words of a Midnight Oil song "the rich get richer [and] the poor get the picture," selfishness has become a cardinal virtue. Not only do the ends not care about justifying the means, but finders are most definitely keepers and the losers are cordially invited to shut up about it. more ›

Los Angeles' version of The Tony's (or Obies) is coming up in January and last night the nominees were announced. Coming out on top was Pasadena's The Theatre at Boston Court with 17 Ovation nominations, followed by 16 nominations for... more ›

Pat Montandon discusses Oh, the Hell of It All 7pm @ Vroman's more ›

I call it Performance Row. That stretch downtown along Grand Avenue between Temple St. and the California Plaza. You can easily walk between 9 performance spaces in 5 minutes. Starting at the Music Center Plaza at Temple and heading South, you first are at the Ahmanson, Center Theatre Group's (CTG) proscenium stage that is used for dance, musicals and other traditional performances. Next is the Mark Taper Forum, a theatre used for newer theatrical... more ›

WATER & POWER Richard Montoya and Culture Clash; Center Theatre Group: Mark Taper Forum (Nominated for World Premiere Play) The 2006 Ovation Award Nominations were announced this week. Yes, they do give awards for excellence in theater here in Tinseltown. The ceremony will be held on Monday, November 13th at 7:30 at the Orpheum Theater downtown. Read up on the Ovations and past winners.... more ›

Tonight, Australian native, satirist and actor Barry Humphries, the creator of Dame Edna Everage, will open his her solo show, Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance!, at the Ahmanson Theatre. If you are in need of marriage counseling and a psychic reading, Dame might make you part of the show. This short run closes April 9th. more ›

This Sunday, LA's theatre community--the companies, actors, supporters and fans--are hosting Applause for August Wilson, a tribute event for the playwright who passed away on October 2 at the age of 60. The brief, one hour long event will conclude with each of the titles of Wilson's "decade" plays (including Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) will be called-out, one at a time, followed by the audience giving Wilson and his plays 1 full-minute of grateful applause, for a total of 10 minutes. Scheduled participants include the African Grove Institute for the Arts (California Chapter), Center Theatre Group, League of Allied Arts Corporation, Robey Theatre Company, and the Towne Street Theatre. The tribute aims to be simple, solemn, and timely, and a chance for the community to gather to honor the life of a playwright who dedicated his life's work to chrnonicling the African-American experience in the twentieth century. In New York City, Broadway's Virginia Theatre will be renamed for Wilson, and further tributes for the Los Angeles area are in the works. more ›

If you live in LA, there's a good chance you've got a neighbor who acts. And if you have a neighbor who acts, there's a good chance you've been asked to come out to watch her act her way around a local stage. When we undertake those excursions, the outcome is never certain. Sometimes the experience is good. Sometimes it's about as enthralling as a root canal. But sometimes, if your neighbor happens to be Bertila Damas, and the play happens to be "Electricidad" by Luis Alfaro, the play goes off like a spectacular display of fireworks. more ›