Richard Lucas

When I walked out of this show, I said to my friend, “It’s amazing how much confidence our damn insecurities have.” They are relentless, and they regenerate at will. The doubt. The fear. The accusations. The temptation to give in and give up.. The you’ve-embarrassed-yourself-agains.. Anyone who is an artist of any sort knows those daggers and deep scars. Who knows what art never existed because those such voices snuffed it at the very first imaginative whim. A Retrospection is the animation of an... full review

This performance blew me away. Though set in 1976, Rainee Blake’s tribute to Joni Mitchell is timeless. With an elegantly simple staging and costumed in perfectly rendered blonde hair and a beautiful long blue velvet dress, Blake’s show doesn’t depend on in your face ’70s nostalgia. As a result, nothing distracts from the music, the songwriting, and all of the emotions within. This is not a biographical show where we learn all the details of Mitchell’s life and career, though, through sweetly br... full review

A fun show that meets its Meet the Parents expectation, as offered in the show description, dead center. So you can expect the laughs and silliness and comedic awkwardness, but here it’s dressed up in the garb of Naturism, that is, completely undressed. Fast paced comedy and buoyant performances make the hour fly by. The show itself is not just a show done in the nude, it has a Naturism point of view within the text which Steven Vlasak slides into the comedy seamlessly, even with no seams to be s... full review

What a joy it is to hear our language constructed with such deft linguistic skill and wit, and the ideas—the basic principles of being a good people—which should have been and should be the driving concept of our founding and continual existence as a nation, put down in such a pleasant hour. Kearney makes it seem so easy. As Ingersoll, he keeps strict adherence to the typical 19th century orator’s presentational style. That doesn't mean it is easy because the thoughts are deep, and the intentions... full review

As an actor, and with the requisite vanity which that calling demands, I sometimes forget that all of theatre history did not begin with my very first portrayal of Ratso Rizzo in a Wednesday night acting class at the old Hollywood Court Theatre. Then lo and behold School of Night comes along with another top-to-bottom incredible production in the classic Roman style, authentic down to the masks and claves, with an original translation of Lucias Annaeus Seneca’s Hercules Insane. Bold, confident, a... full review

There’s a moment during an argument between Lily and Adam, the couple around which the play is written, when Adam insists on finally using the word “miscarriage.” It’s hurtful because that matter-of-fact term doesn’t suffice for the impact the experience inflicts on expectant mothers and partners dealing with the loss. Our language has failed us here. And it is that negative space that playwright Melanie Holmes wants to fill - if there isn’t a word yet, then maybe there’s a conversation. Bravo to... full review

Marilyn Monroe: The Last Interview offers much more than the title might indicate, that being perhaps something along the line of final thoughts or stories confined to the late era of Monroe’s all-too-brief career and life. But the interview is merely the open window for Mullis to walk the audience through Monroe’s background all the way to childhood and early work through to her untimely death in a marvelously interwoven and researched piece of writing. I mention the writing first because Mullis... full review

I always enjoy Steve Benaquist’s work because there’s so much smart behind the silly, and The Last One-man Show (Literally) is another great piece of work that is remarkably fun because of it as he weaves through characters both in his mind and in the materials left for him in a nuclear bunker, which goes from a volunteer-tester weekend to a minimum 17 years as half-lives are estimated upon the onset an incalculably inconvenient worldwide nuclear war. Every single character is smoothly delivered ... full review

Very fun ride giving a peek back to the 20s where the famed and funny hung out to eat, drink, and slice one another like a salami in a never-ending battle of wits. Wonderfully written piece by Steven Vlasak in which he’s able to weave a story of a young writer hoping to get discovered by the group with the actual wit of the real-life personas and then blended with his own. Three Clubs is a great setting for this play as the action takes place in the private area of a restaurant at a grand hotel -... full review

Loved this show! Sofie Khan is an exuberant ball of energy who zips through stories of her life in America as bi-cultural and bi-sexual. She is an extremely engaging storyteller whose show brings us both funny and heart wrenching stories that can serve as an awakening for us all - that no matter how open minded we think we are, there are miles and miles to go. You should go the miles to see her show! Highly recommended. Go! ... full review