KCRW's Theatre Talk

Technically, the Mark Taper Forum was closed over the past year for renovations; but in fact, the venerable downtown theater has been closed for almost three years. Closed that is, to the type of thoughtful, professional, ensemble drama that has been the Taper’s aim for so many years. Sure, there were new plays, but they all seemed to be just-written or half-written pieces that...

This past week I've thinking a lot about the uneasy relationship between theater and movies. This uneasiness was driven home while watching the recent film: The Women. The Women is very much a movie of our own times, so much so that it's hard to see its 72 year-old roots. The Women wasn't the first Broadway play written by a woman, but it was the first play written by a woman to become a smash success...

This past week I've thinking a lot about the uneasy relationship between theater and movies. This uneasiness was driven home while watching the recent film: The Women. The Women is very much a movie of our own times, so much so that it's hard to see its 72 year-old roots. The Women wasn't the first Broadway play written by a woman, but it was the first play written by a woman to become a smash success...

This past week I've thinking a lot about the uneasy relationship between theater and movies. This uneasiness was driven home while watching the recent film: The Women. The Women is very much a movie of our own times, so much so that it's hard to see its 72 year-old roots. The Women wasn't the first Broadway play written by a woman, but it was the first play written by a woman to become a smash success...

This past week I've thinking a lot about the uneasy relationship between theater and movies. This uneasiness was driven home while watching the recent film: The Women. The Women is very much a movie of our own times, so much so that it's hard to see its 72 year-old roots. The Women wasn't the first Broadway play written by a woman, but it was the first play written by a woman to become a smash success...

Rags-to-Riches stories are few and far between in the history of Los Angeles Theater. Survival is usually the most that an L.A. Theater artist can hope for—but there are exceptions. The tale of Chazz Palminteri is one of those rare exceptions and it's worth retelling...

Rags-to-Riches stories are few and far between in the history of Los Angeles Theater. Survival is usually the most that an L.A. Theater artist can hope for—but there are exceptions. The tale of Chazz Palminteri is one of those rare exceptions and it's worth retelling...

All art forms keep one eye on the past and one eye on the present. Novelists, musicians or painters are all inspired by artists who've come before — whether it's reading Flaubert, listening to Jimi Hendrix or seeing a Van Gogh exhibit. Theatre is different because its artists are expected not just to have read Shakespeare or attend a Tom Stoppard play; they're often asked to direct one or act in one...

All art forms keep one eye on the past and one eye on the present. Novelists, musicians or painters are all inspired by artists who've come before — whether it's reading Flaubert, listening to Jimi Hendrix or seeing a Van Gogh exhibit. Theatre is different because its artists are expected not just to have read Shakespeare or attend a Tom Stoppard play; they're often asked to direct one or act in one...

That's the title song from the ABBA musical, Mamma Mia! Tonight, it will be performed live on stage in at least seven different cities around the world. It's been estimated that 30 million people have seen Mamma Mia!, but up until last night, I had not been one of them...

One of the unwritten laws of journalism is that once something happens three times, it officially becomes a trend. Already twice this year, major Los Angeles theaters had to cancel world premieres of new plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights. In January, Center Theatre Group announced that David Mamet's first musical, A Waitress in Yellowstone, was indefinitely postponed; and then in April, The Geffen Playhouse announced that it was postponing the world premiere of Donald Margulies' new play, The Elephant in the Room, about a photojournalist returning home after covering a war...

During his life and in the time since his death 90 years ago, Franz Wedekind was widely known in the German-speaking world. Both famous—and infamous—for his plays, his acting, plus his songs and light verse, Wedekind was actually conceived in here in America. His parents met and lived in San Francisco, but moved to Germany just before he was born...

That's a wonderful tune titled, "A Wonderful Guy," from the 1949 Rodgers but on some occasions they can be as expressive as any art form: as subtle as poetry, as expansive as a Cinerama motion picture and as simple or profound as a black-and-white photo...

That's a wonderful tune titled, "A Wonderful Guy," from the 1949 Rodgers but on some occasions they can be as expressive as any art form: as subtle as poetry, as expansive as a Cinerama motion picture and as simple or profound as a black-and-white photo...

Morlan Higgins is one of those actors whose name you won’t recognize from Broadway, television, or the movies. If you’ve heard of Morlan Higgins, its because you follow what goes on at small, Los Angeles theaters; and if you’ve seen Morlan Higgins at one of those theaters, you’ve probably gone back to see him again...

Morlan Higgins is one of those actors whose name you won’t recognize from Broadway, television, or the movies. If you’ve heard of Morlan Higgins, its because you follow what goes on at small, Los Angeles theaters; and if you’ve seen Morlan Higgins at one of those theaters, you’ve probably gone back to see him again...

That’s the famous and ubiquitous vamp from A Chorus Line, the 1975 musical that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and run for 15 years on Broadway. In 2006, A Chorus Line returned to Broadway in a new revival, which coincided with the rising popularity of dance reality shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance...

That’s the famous and ubiquitous vamp from A Chorus Line, the 1975 musical that went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and run for 15 years on Broadway. In 2006, A Chorus Line returned to Broadway in a new revival, which coincided with the rising popularity of dance reality shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance...

With a title like Red Dog Howls, you know Alexander Dinelaris' new drama is not going to be a light piece of entertainment. The austere, simple three-person play is unflinching, even if at first it seems decidedly ordinary. The plot involves a long, lost relative, a marriage on the rocks and deep family secrets revealed. What else is new? What elevates Red Dog Howls (currently receiving its world premiere at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood) is a deceptively nuanced script and the performance of Kathleen Chalfant...

With a title like Red Dog Howls, you know Alexander Dinelaris' new drama is not going to be a light piece of entertainment. The austere, simple three-person play is unflinching, even if at first it seems decidedly ordinary. The plot involves a long, lost relative, a marriage on the rocks and deep family secrets revealed. What else is new? What elevates Red Dog Howls (currently receiving its world premiere at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood) is a deceptively nuanced script and the performance of Kathleen Chalfant...

It's been a rough season for Los Angeles musicals. Ray Charles: Live, Atlanta, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, Mask: The Musical, all of four of these shows had high profiles and higher expectations, but each got mixed to savage reviews. These musicals represent L.A.'s three biggest theaters yet none of them look like they're heading to Broadway anytime soon...

It's been a rough season for Los Angeles musicals. Ray Charles: Live, Atlanta, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, Mask: The Musical, all of four of these shows had high profiles and higher expectations, but each got mixed to savage reviews. These musicals represent L.A.'s three biggest theaters yet none of them look like they're heading to Broadway anytime soon...

It was only a few months ago when it happened. A friend at a dinner party was talking about some absurd situation involving inappropriate behavior and dramatic twists of fate. He summed it up by saying, "You'd think it was a Mamet comedy..."

It was only a few months ago when it happened. A friend at a dinner party was talking about some absurd situation involving inappropriate behavior and dramatic twists of fate. He summed it up by saying, "You'd think it was a Mamet comedy..."