Colorful musical theater at its most interactive


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Theater is immersion. So when some chump a few rows over is making moment-killing noises during a show — whether that’s pneumonic coughs or ill-timed whoops of praise — standard protocol is to give them the stink eye. I have never known an exception to this rule. I like my theaters kept relatively silent, especially […]

Student production distorts time and morality


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Theater is definitely not entertainment for the everyday person that enjoys a good story. It’s more for an audience that appreciates the art of acting and enjoys a live performance, in addition to a good story. Unlike most untrained screen actors, theater actors have a deep love for the stage where they are able to […]

In Theaters Today


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The Lovely Bones: Peter Jackson helms his first project since 2005’s King Kong with this adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best-selling novel. Saoirse Ronan, fresh off her Oscar-nominated performance in Atonement, plays a murdered girl who attempts to communicate with her family from beyond the grave. The Spy Next Door: Borrowing its thematic elements from Vin […]

Despite worthy attempt, play falls short in flavor


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“Have you eaten yet?” is the way the Chinese greet each other, and that is the way Gloria B (Esther Scott) is greeted by Richie Po (Dennis Dun) in the play Po Boy Tango, written by Kenneth Lin and presented by the East West Players at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo. Forget […]

Grinch steals show, not holiday cheer, with humor


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If Charles Dickens were writing today, he might have taken the easy way out and sent Scrooge to the Pantages Theatre for a heart-warming showing of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, which opened Saturday. It wouldn’t be much of a story, but at least Scrooge would be cured of his misanthropy […]

‘Fire’ leaves audience charred


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Theater is at its worst when it is self-consciously moralistic. The second we feel like we’re being preached to, the experience is ruined. Regrettably, such is the sorry case of Christopher Piehler’s The Triangle Factory Fire Project, which opened Nov. 5 at USC’s Bing Theatre. The show — the first of two shows this academic […]