Movie lovers, you will have one more venue at which to feast your eyes on favorite flicks this summer thanks to the impending debut of a new open-air theatre in Hollywood run by the folks who bring us the Oscars. more ›

The script is far from genius, but Sanderson hones in LaChiusa's cynical silliness to craft an entertaining night of theatre. The giddy-squeal inducing special effects by Matt Falletta are extremely fun, and definitely worth the price of admission. more ›

Overall, this production of The Square Root of Wonderful is watchable and offers some truly superb performances, but it falls short of reaching it full potential through some distracting theatrical missteps by its lead. more ›

Premsrirat's play is a bit preachy and sometimes feels like an unfulfilled fairy tale, but his narrative ultimately reflects deserving stories that are rarely represented in any sort of art or media, that of Filipino culture and the struggles of transgender youth. more ›

The cast of Goose and Tomtom gives a performance that is so immensely exhilarating and pleasurable to watch that the audience's story-processing brain parts start to explode from overexposure to sustained theatrical, philosophical, and comedic acuity. more ›

The grim beginnings of Raskind's work twists unexpectedly into a platonic love-at-first-sight-story draped in a cutesy ghost-story. The plot probably would have benefited from darker, sadder writing, but it is easy to appreciate the bleak suicide facts that speckle the script and the playwright's decision to not pass judgment on the morality of suicide. more ›

A farcical marriage of 1950s psychodramas, 1960s beach movies and 1970s slasher films, cult classic "Psycho Beach Party" returns to the stage Saturday at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica. Penned by Charles Busch, the play is set in 1962 Malibu Beach and centers around teenage Chicklet -- a parody of 1957's fictional female surfer character Gidget. more ›

Fellow musical theater fans, Billy Elliot has finally arrived! If you are like me and watch the Tony Awards every June in order to make a mental list of shows to catch when they make their journey to our coast, last week’s opening night at the Pantages has been a long time coming. The musical, based on the 2000 film of the same name, swept the Tony Awards in 2009, taking home 10 awards, including best musical. more ›

The script is quite dense and subtly genius which makes this brief description of McCray's play seem somehow inadequately descriptive, so try to image what a theatrical love-child of Tron and David Byrne's True Stories would be like and you will be well on your path to grasping Eternal Thou. more ›

Although as a matter of habit I try to always keep my expectations low, the fact is that a tiny part of me is expecting some plays to be great, and I’m disappointed when they’re just good. Such is the case with David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, which gets a terrific production at the Geffen Playhouse, but the play itself never quite impressed me as first tier. more ›

Laboratories of Our Youth" is an ambitious attempt to craft a sophisticatedly silly contemporary farce with period trappings, but the final product ends up rather less than the sum of its parts. more ›

Rogue Machine's Artistic Director John Flynn, waxed knowingly about the shared theatrical lifeblood of Los Angeles. Flynn eloquently declared, "Art is transformative. It can change the world. It isn't what we do, but how we do it that is transformative." more ›

Watching the The Vault: Bankrupt is like witnessing the awkward love-child of Wall Street and The Rocky Horror Picture Show on its first day at work as a bastardized and modernized 1950s educational film, but, you know, on a stage. more ›

The scenes with the Kat Bailess (as Julie) and Charles Howerton (as Alexander) are particularly juicy as the pair dukes it out in a deliciously premeditated power scheme. Bailess is gutsy and electric, while Howerton is poised, subtle and potent. more ›

Twain was an outspoken critic and really funny, but has that special spark that comes from intellectual experience. Twain came before Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. He started the great tradition of being outspoken! more ›

The cARTel Collaborative Arts LA series strives to build a link between today's creative community of local artists and those yesteryear Hollywood hopefuls that came eras before. This homage to L.A.'s art ancestors blends modern aesthetic sensibilities with classic charm for a night of (in the words of the director Negin Singh) "sustainable story-telling with a little bit of glamour." more ›

While sitting in a bright and simple deli on Hollywood Boulevard watching various costumed characters from Grauman's Chinese Theatre wander by, LAist chatted with Leonard Manzella about his new play and his ideas about prison reform. more ›

We put together a gallery of historic movie houses from our Flickr photo pool. Some of them have been reborn as swap meets and churches, others are candidates for a revival and some just look completely abandoned. more ›

Dolan respectfully approaches inequality paradigms in a way that is rarely found in any arena -- be it political, economic, social, or artistic. The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King is not pandering, jokey, insulting, or overly-academic; but rather wonderfully insightful, fearless, and honorable. more ›

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 ›

Under the direction of Casey Stangl, The Illusion is visually enchanting and peppered with fine performers and a most excellent surprise ending. While the philosophical undertones of The Illusion are geared toward a sophisticated adult audience, the charming staging of this production has tons of kid-friendly appeal and is perfectly suited for budding theatre patrons. more ›

It's been a brief period of uncertainty and quiet over at the Music Box, after an abrupt shut-down in January that found the current operators evicted. Now comes word that the venue is born again as The Fonda Theatre, and Goldenvoice will be its exclusive promoter and operator. more ›

Cages is entertaining and well-rounded with a largely capable cast, engaging script, excellent staging, and insightful direction. The title is an eerie reference to so-called "therapeutic modules" used in prisons to contain inmates during group therapy sessions. more ›

True to their mission—presenting theatre in unconventional spaces—this Chalk Repertory (Chalk Rep) production takes place within a stately sacred space within the Masonic Lodge that previously was not open for women to enter. Slither features intriguing plot twists, charismatic performers, and an alchemistic take on theatrical space. more ›

From a literary perspective, these poems could and do hold their own, but fully staged the choreopoem is transformed into a meaty, passion-filled series of interconnected monologues that deal with rape, domestic violence, sex, abortion, consciousness, and god. This production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf features an exceptionally talented cast, live music, and engaging direction. more ›

Bekah Brunstetter's slight but largely charming play "Mine" about a thirtysomething romantic triangle is getting a good production right now at the Elephant Stages Performance Lab in Hollywood. more ›

Last time we checked in with the "unique, elaborate, and electric" Lucent Dossier Experience, we eagerly wondered where they'd show up next. Theatergoers craving more than the usual song and dance are in luck. The 20+ person avant-garde circus is bringing their magic back to the Palace Theatre Friday and Saturday night. more ›

While the infamy of the subject matter presented could have resulted in a gripping historical drama, and while it is clear that writer and director John Power meant well, this production is painfully slow and untheatrical. In fact, it bears more resemblance to a class presentation of a history project than a play. more ›

This atmospheric production of Brilliant Traces features extraordinary actors, expressive direction, and gripping dialog reminiscent of a hectic night shift at a psychiatric facility. more ›