6.2 out of 10 - Okay, but it needs work. www.latheatrebites.com In These Uncertain Times is a digitally-devised performance piece, made specifically for its medium. It is a new dramaturgy defined by dystopia, and it is a love letter to the art of theatre. Stemming from a group of artists wondering if COVID-19 is the death of theatre as we know it, In These Uncertain Times is a tragicomic, Chekhovian Zoom performance. From drinking competitions, sad Chekhov monologues, and corona-virus meme colla...
Jul 26, 2020•3 min
A quick recap on some of the shows this year we had a chance to see. www.latheatrebites.com https://www.octheatreguild.org/relief-fund
Mar 28, 2020•26 min
8.7 out of 10 - A GREAT SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com I Decided I’m Fine: A Roach Play considers hoarding, an American phenomenon which is often stigmatized but rarely discussed. After the sudden death of the their infant child, Ellen and Stephen find themselves faced with the difficult task of moving on from the objects that remind them of the incident. For Ellen, this proves to be too overwhelming of a task, leading to years of compulsive accumulation. Juxtaposed with the play’s realism is a se...
Feb 25, 2020•4 min
8.5 out of 10 - A GREAT SHOW! Feb 12 - Mar 07,2020 www.latheatrebites.com WORLD PREMIERE: The Wallis and L.A.-based Four Larks (in their Wallis debut) are developing Frankenstein, an exuberant amalgamation of dynamic physical theatre, live music and experiential design bringing Mary Shelley's tale to life in a modern take that spotlights the dangers of unregulated technology.
Feb 23, 2020•5 min
9.1 out of 10 - An Exceptional Show! www.latheatrebites.com André was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter, Anne, and her husband, Antoine. Or was André an engineer, whose daughter Anne lives in London with her new lover, Pierre? The thing is, he is still wearing his pajamas, and he can’t find his watch. He is starting to wonder if he’s losing control.
Feb 17, 2020•3 min
8.7 out of 10 - A GREAT SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com What if you awoke to find yourself married to someone you didn’t know? With a daughter you’ve never met? And what if you spent each day re-learning things about your past that only proved you never really knew what your life was like? From Tony/Pulitzer-nominated playwright Lee Blessing, comes the story of three people searching for lifelong answers to fundamental questions about our purpose, our past and our future. And all the answers may be...
Feb 11, 2020•3 min
“WE’RE GONNA DIE” features a single Singer, accompanied by a full rock bad, as she shares stories about death, grief and loneliness from her life. These stories range from the mundane to the tragic, from discovering her first white hair to her father’s sudden and tragic death from lung cancer as he waited for an experimental treatment. Lee’s songs and stories demystify grief, creating a community space that provides the solace that we need to get through those difficult moments. Thursday, Februa...
Feb 02, 2020•26 min
8.7 out of 10 - A GREAT SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com Neil Simon's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning coming-of-age memory play, set in Yonkers in 1942, is a tale of family dysfunction at its best. Arty and Jay, two teenage brothers are forced to live with their mentally-challenged aunt and stern, bitter grandmother while their ne'er-do-well father takes to the road as a traveling salesman to pay off his debts to a loan shark.
Feb 01, 2020•4 min
8 out of 10 - A GOOD SHOW! January 17 - Feb 9, 2020 www.latheatrebites.com Claudia is young, parentless, minimally employed, and almost without family or friends but she remains upbeat about her future and confident in her quest to form a personal tribe for herself and her boyfriend Johnny. But Johnny has problems of his own. He has launched into adulthood but still struggles to cut the cord from his concerned mother while searching for a connection to his long-absent father. As the few people C...
Jan 24, 2020•4 min
6.8 out of 10 - Needs Work! December 31 - February 1,2020 www.latheatrebites.com This hysterical comedy follows Jack Chesney who loves Kitty Verdun and Charley who loves Miss Amy Spettigue. They invite the ladies to meet Charley's wealthy aunt from Brazil, "where the nuts come from." Canceling her visit at the last minute, the millionaire aunt sends the boys into cataclysmic confusion. What do they do now? The problem is solved by drafting their pal into impersonating "Charley's Aunt". This beau...
Jan 06, 2020•2 min
Matthew Robinson interviews Associate Artistic & Development Director Suzanne Dean of the Little Fish Theatre Company about their upcoming 2020 show lineup. www.latheatrebites.com https://www.littlefishtheatre.org/pond/
Dec 22, 2019•32 min
9 out of 10 - An Exceptional Show! December 14 - February 3,2020 www.latheatrebite.com In the future, aging and death have become annoyances of the past thanks to a process of the downloading of the digitized soul into another host body, or Module. This is something only the very wealthy can afford and if you are rich enough you can be anyone you desire. A comedic look at greed and the value of life – and death.
Dec 17, 2019•3 min
8.5 out of 10 - A GREAT SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com Toby and Mia are graduate students with a bright future ahead of them: a baby on the way and a college coaching job for Toby. But when Toby stumbles across a secret that threatens to derail their future, he and Mia must decide between honesty and loyalty, and whether doing something wrong is the only way to do what's right. Will Mia be loyal to the institutions that support her, the family she's part of, or herself?
Dec 11, 2019•3 min
An update on the newest theatre shows in Los Angeles on the week of December 1 -8,2019. www.latheatrebites.com
Dec 05, 2019•4 min
Interview with Robot Teammate the creators of Pockets The Musical. www.latheatrebites.com https://www.robotteammate.com/ December 11 -22,2019.
Nov 27, 2019•21 min
7.9 out of 10 - Above Average! www.latheatrebites.com October 31 - December 16,2019. Set in one apartment in New York over the span of several generations, this World Premiere follows the poignant journey of a German Jewish refugee and her family in this heartfelt, lyrical portrait of a woman haunted by the past but resiliently moving toward the future.
Nov 25, 2019•2 min
8.7 out of 10 - A GREAT SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com Returning from World War II, disillusioned Frank McCloud travels to a hotel in Key Largo to pay his respects to the widow of a fallen friend. What McCloud doesn’t count on is an entirely different battle with mobsters who have overtaken the hotel, led by the ruthless Johnny Rocco (Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia). As a hurricane barrels toward the Keys, McCloud must face his demons in order to take down a monster.
Nov 23, 2019•3 min
8.4 out of 10 - A Very Good Show! November 6 - December 1,2019 As two men from different cultures reunite and find themselves at a crossroads – one man struggling to keep his career alive and an old friend flourishing in a career he never wanted – a young Chinese-American gets lost in the Tiananmen Square Protest and finds himself at the accidental center of international attention. All three men must face their past and struggle to find their own personal victories. www.latheatrebites.com .
Nov 19, 2019•3 min
Interview with Edwin Wong the writer of The Risk Theatre Model of Tragedy: Gambling, Drama, and the Unexpected. www.latheatrebites.com
Nov 11, 2019•30 min
Hello LA Theatre Bites listeners Los Angeles only theatre review podcast is going down the list of our favorite shows this year in 2019. The show will cover our top 5 favorite shows, Best Set, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Ensemble and so much more. We will also have Comedian Brodie Reed with comedy segment and a specific awards segment for Orange County Theatre. www.latheatrebites.com
Oct 28, 2019•21 min
Interview with Writer/Director Matt Ritchey of Romeo and Juliet in Hell. www.latheatrebites.com Romeo and Juliet, dead, wake up to find themselves stuck in their Personal Hell – forced to listen to WEST SIDE STORY music for eternity. To escape, they must suffer through a production of their life story performed by the other inhabitants of Hell – Shakespeare’s dead characters – who butcher the story in hysterical ways!
Oct 23, 2019•20 min
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN @ Boston Court 8 out of 10 - A GOOD SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com SEP 19-OCT 27,2019 A travel writer who never travels. A Japanese architect who can’t figure out how to build a simple tea house. A gifted tattoo artist who resists the power of his talents. And a homeless girl who lives under a weeping willow tree in the Japanese Garden. Four lonely people, their stories written on paper, earth, and skin, find each other when one of them falls apart. Together they realize the ...
Oct 07, 2019•2 min
Seven strangers barricade themselves inside a Pennsylvania farmhouse, attempting to escape the bloodthirsty, flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the countryside. Beset by the walking dead outside, and ever-rising interpersonal tensions within, the group begins their desperate attempt to survive the night. www.latheatrebites.com October 4 - November 10,2019
Oct 06, 2019•22 min
OPERATION AJAX 7.4 out of 10 - Average Show! www.latheatrebite.com October 3 - 27,2019 Operation Ajax is the name of the 1953 CIA covert operation to overthrow the Prime Minister of Iran. The consequences of this coup are still with us today.
Oct 05, 2019•3 min
8.1 out of 10 - A GOOD SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com Sep 22 - Oct 22,2019. Two strangers are waiting for the bus on a cold road at night… next to a cemetery. The bus is late. The woman’s coat is too thin. And this fast-talking teenager waiting at the same bus stop won’t leave her alone. He works hard to get her to talk to him, using everything from philosophical riffs to brash seduction. Just around the corner is a liquor store, whose owner is waiting for a special delivery. All three people have...
Sep 28, 2019•3 min
DEAF WEST PRESENTS: THE SOLID LIFE OF SUGAR www.latheatrebites.com 7.9 out of 10 - Above Average! www.latheatrebites.com Candid, uninhibited and visceral. A Deaf couple’s relationship is revealed through their lovemaking in a startlingly intimate portrait of a marriage. Hello, I’m Patrick Chavis and you are listening to LA Theatre Bites Review of The Solid Life of Sugar Water Playing now at Inner City Arts in Downtown Los Angeles September 5th - October 13th, 2019. The Solid Life of Sugar Water ...
Sep 27, 2019•3 min
ROGUE MACHINE PRESENTS : MISS LILLY GETS BONED @ ELECTRIC LODGE IN VENICE www.latheatrebites.com 9.2 out of 10 - Exceptional Show! A virginal Sunday school teacher has a sexual awakening, while across the world, a doctor tries to communicate with an elephant. Sex, faith, and violence intersect in Bekah Brunstetter's Miss Lilly Gets Boned, which is an an exploration of how tenuous and permeable are the boundaries that separate our civilized sides from our more animal ones, and how we continue to ...
Sep 24, 2019•3 min
SKINTIGHT @ GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 8 out of 10 - A GOOD SHOW! www.latheatrebites.com Hanging on by a thread after her ex-husband gets engaged to a much younger woman, Jodi (Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, Rent, Wicked) retreats to her dad’s swanky Manhattan townhouse. But rather than the comforts of home, she instead finds her aging father’s new live-in boyfriend, Trey—who is 20. In his new comedy, Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews, Significant Other) brings neurotic family drama to the forefront as father and ...
Sep 16, 2019•3 min
Echo Theatre Company presents: The World Premiere of Handjob @ Atwater Village Theatre 6.9 out of 10 - It Needs Work! www.latheatrebites.com When a gay writer hires a man to work as a “shirtless cleaner,” homophobia, racism and issues of consent bubble to the surface. Erik Patterson’s (One of the Nice Ones) dark comedy explores the deepest sensitivities in our culture — with unexpected and hilarious consequences.
Sep 09, 2019•3 min
The Lonesome West @ Little Fish Theatre 7.8 out of 10 - Above Average! www.latheatrebites.com Journey to the west of Ireland where McDonagh’s vision of small-town despair, restlessness, and plain old boredom inspire behavior of the homicidal sort. Two brothers squabble over the inheritance left by their recently deceased father. Also, there’s a rumor about town that one of them may have murdered the father over a haircut-related insult. The local parish priest and a young girl from the community...
Aug 28, 2019•3 min
