Richard Lucas

When a show is entitled Army Brat, one can figure that it might involve lots of geographical locations and changes and how they likely affected the performer growing up. What was such a surprise in Kelly Mullis' show is that moving around the globe was the least of her concerns as she grew up with an abusive military parent, the one who really is an Army Brat in this case. But... home is where the heart is, right? Though filled with trauma, Mullis never loses her natural buoyancy and humor, becom... full review

Steven Vlasak's dramatization of Andy Warhol's 'If I thought of it then it must be genius' genre leap into movie making with Edie Sedgwick, Lou Reed and more—complete with devil-may-care wiggery and bloodied body part props flying, sex, drugs, gunfire, nudity, and the recreation of the creation of a sexy bride for the ever lonely Frankenstein. A play about actual events strange enough in real life to be appropriately strange enough in a play that brings them to us. Very wild and time machine fun.... full review

Mark Twain reportedly said: “The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow; there is no humor in heaven.” Not so with Betty Cox’s Broke Bitch Got Rich because not only does she find humor in her pain, i.e. portraits of growing up in unthinkable poverty in Louisiana surrounded by an absent/occasional pop-in father, a beer swigging step-father, and a protective mother struggling to do her best but expressing it through shark’s teeth. But there’s also great humor in her heaven as she lays out a r... full review

Great show - right ahead! Mallie McCown’s physical energy, humor and passion could have buoyed the very Titanic itself long enough for everyone to have been rescued. But such is destiny that she’s here with us now, a century and some later, to buoy our lives with this fun theatrical blast. On a large stage at Actors Company, set with mostly hand-painted cardboard props (the polar opposite of the big budget film) and hints of costumes, McCown runs through the entire Titanic film, acting it out, hi... full review

Who knew that Mona Lisa had been missing for two years? Well, writer Steven Vlasak did, and we’re all very fortunate because of it. His thought that there might just be something there.. has come to fruition in this marvelous, fully realized and executed musical production. I attended the preview show, and if I hadn’t known for a fact that this was the very first staging of this show, I’d have never believed it. From script to casting to song to dance to costumes to orchestrating a live band on s... full review

This is more than a show… Though traditionally staged, it’s still a deeply immersive, beautiful, ethereal, comforting, and encouraging experience through word, song, and filmed projections of gorgeous, and often misty, near-the-tree-line, natural settings. The mist, the streams, the clouds one can almost touch are woven themes through Tara’s presentation as they offer the challenge between having one’s light blocked, or seeing sun streaks which break through, told through her parable-like mythos,... full review

Amazing twists and turns in the plot.. Amazing twists and turns in the choreography! Very fun, high spirited drama of envy and ambition that takes it to its highest levels. An added nice touch is that generational family dynamics play a key role in the foundation of the action, further deepening the import of what unfolds. Fast paced and unpredictable with dazzling group dance numbers. Highly Recommended - Richard Lucas, Asylum Judge... full review

An absolutely stunning performance by Christina Evans, set in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery at the foot of the Italian marble mausoleum of philanthropist William Clark Jr., who founded the L.A. Philharmonic in 1919. Inscribed above the large bronze doors in Latin it reads:  “The sweet memory of our beloved chases away the fear of death, the nature of heaven gives hope of a new life,” which serves as moving theme of Evans' interpretive dance piece. What immediately came to mind through Chris... full review

On the show's Fringe page, Hannah Leskosky's three puppets are listed as performers with their own HFF pages, as they should be, because there's something of an even more magical fourth wall that goes up during such a fun and well executed ventriloquism show which anthropomorphizes the puppets, and they settle into our minds and hearts as full blown beings. Leskosky's comedic edge is hilariously self depreciating as her character guests prove less than cooperative as she's trying to put on a show... full review

A powerful biographical performance of a powerful, dangerous, flawed, damaged, ambitious, caring, violent druglord sociopath. Put together in a wonderfully full and quick moving <40 minute solo show, Melina Farahani has composed a piece which establishes the character's past and motivations so clearly that one doesn't need to who Griselda is before joining the audience. She's gone from victim to criminal leader, and, with a feminist bravado, crawls her way from a life of poverty and abuse to seei... full review