Soft Light and Sweet Music Makes Berlin Sing

 

The sweet, catchy tunes of Irving Berlin are used as a catalyst through which to tell the life story of the man. Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin playing now at the Geffen Playhouse is, much like the man’s music itself, a sentimental and sweet experience.

A Fairly Traditional “Woman”

By Patrick Hurley

 

An exploration of the double standards that existed between men and women in the late 1800s through the early 1900s can be heard in the crisp and crackling dialogue of Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, playing now through December 20 at Sacred Fools Theater.

Stop Kiss Should be on Your List

By Patrick Hurley

 

Falling in love is a powerful experience. And it is the exploration of what love means that is at the heart of Diana Son’s Stop Kiss, playing now at the Pasadena Playhouse. This exploration finds an unlikely pair of women in the throes and immediacy of love. Callie (Angela Lin) and Sara (Sharon Leal) meet each other through a mutual friend. They spark a friendship that turns into a close relationship that turns into something more. And it is in the very idea of “something more” where the dramatic universe of this plays resides.

A Somewhat Subdued ‘night Mother

By Patrick Hurley

Under the right circumstances, there is opportunity in Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize Winning masterpiece ‘night Mother, for the verisimilitude of the actors to allow suspension of disbelief to slowly evaporate from the theater, creating an experience for an audience that is remarkable. The building intensity, like a freight train, is both exhilarating and terrifying. The current production of ‘night Mother, playing now through December 14 at The Lost Studio in Hollywood, falls short of such an experience.