Tagged With Los Angeles
How We Look to the Kids
What was supposed to be 120 minutes’ pedagogy at Cornish College of the Arts this week turned into eight hours’ plotting of the future of show business in America – the ten graduating seniors in Advanced Analysis were too well versed for us to bother much about theater’s past and present. They were aspiring writers, actors, directors, dramaturgs, designers. They were smarter than any ten human beings I’ve shared a room with in dog’s years. It was scary. A jealous part of me wante...
Blues for One
There’s a fair amount of booze, only two balls, and very little bluegrass in Booze, Balls and Bluegrass: A Daughter’s Journey. But there’s a lot of Laura Carson.Carson’s autobiographical one-woman show wedges into the crowded territory of single, middle-aged actors whose stalled careers coincide with their parents’ mortality. Carson leaves her temp job in Los Angeles to live with her widowed, alcoholic father in Atlanta, to regroup and to h...
"Father, Son and..." Holy Crap that Was Good!
I knew I was in trouble the moment I heard the title, “Father, Son and Holy Coach.”Ever been in a Christian gift store? You find some really ludicrous items in them. Like tee shirts with graphic etchings of Jesus’ hand with a nail driven into the cross and his blood flowing out to spell “Jesus loved you so much it hurt!” Or plaques that read, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.”And there’s alwa...
A cause, a cause! My theatre for a cause! By Ezra Buzzington
Lately I seem to be writing a great deal about the American theatre. I’m enjoying it immensely and, from the reports trickling back to me, it would appear that others have been as well. This thrills me no end. But, I keep asking myself why am I suddenly doing this? To be honest, I’m not sure. A sudden awareness of the importance of personal history plays a part, I think. Legacy and all that. But, I’m just not sure. What I do know is that looking back at the myriad experiences I’ve had...
Wombat Man: The Cereal Murders
Playwright Chrisi Talyn Saje has co-opted the 1970s animated “Trix Are For Kids” TV commercial, elevating it into the central dramatic throughline of Wombat Man: The Cereal Murders, an imaginative if not always adroitly executed satire of the campy 1960s Adam West-starring Batman television series, essentially a spoof on a spoof. Saje’s super hero of choice is monumentally cluel...
Obama Signs Broadway Tax: Could Los Angeles Be Next?
This could be a big deal for Los Angeles. Something I was just talking about here and here. Check it from Playbill:The bill levels the playing field between New York-based theat...
Los Angeles Has the Coolest Mayor on the Block and Here's the Proof
This is just plain bad ass. It’s not going to alleviate the pain that is about to occur to me personally because I will be heading downtown tomorrow but if you’re going to communicate and alleviate simultaneously, Mayor Garcetti and the Roosevelt High Jazz Band pretty much show you how it’s done right about ’chere:...
Bob Baker Marionette Theatre in Danger of Being Demolished
Saw this on the Bigcheap wires from Jason Grote. This is a great historical landmark theater and should be spared and supported. Check out the deets below and help if you can:Gentle reader…Although we’re mad for beau...
Meet Our New Outreach Coordinator
The Hollywood Fringe is growing, so we recently hired some new people to join our staff! First, we’d like to introduce our new colleague Ellen Den Herder.Hello Hollywood Fringe!I am so, so grateful to join the Hollywood Fringe Festival staff as Outreach Coordinator. I am new to the Los Angeles theater scene, but am ready to take the full plunge! Here’s a little bit about myself and my involvement this year…Q: What’s “outreach” and why do you sound so excited?</...
Rohrer Joins Faculty at Trump University
I’ve had to keep this under wraps, but today I can announce that I have accepted a full-time teaching position and will no longer be critiquing theater. Tony, Colin, I’m sorry you had to find out like this, but my new boss is adamant that nobody know anything before he does, and I got the word this morning.I’m leaving Los Angeles for Atlantic City, New Jersey, to teach dialectics, logic and critical analysis at the new Trump University, no long...