Category: Theatre

Interview, Television, Theatre

‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Star Vincent Rodriguez III is First Talent to Sign with Tremendous

Rissa Lavilla

Tremendous has a mission to help spotlight marginalized voices in media and entertainment from AAPI and LGBTQ+ to other multi-cultural audiences and beyond. In the dynamic landscape of media and entertainment, the company stand’s as a beacon of authenticity, passionately advocating for truthful representation on and off the screen.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘नेहा & Neel’

Edward Hong

For better or worse, one of the oldest tropes in Asian American identity stories is often the generational & cultural divide between the immigrant parents and their American-born children. Ankita Raturi’s नेहा & Neel, now having its world premiere at Latino Theater Company in collaboration with Artists At Play, manages to breathe new life into this trope while also being downright hilarious in such an inexplicable mad genius kind of way, thanks to one of the actors playing over a dozen(!?!) characters.

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Reviews, Theatre
Two actors in 'The Night of the Iguana' at Boston Court Pasadena.

NOC Review: ‘The Night of the Iguana’ at Boston Court Pasadena

Rosana Maris Arias

Boston Court Pasadena’s production of The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams opened on September 11. Set at the Costa Verde hotel in a quiet Mexican village in 1940, at the cusp of Hitler’s advancement on Europe, the rarely staged play tells the story of Episcopal clergyman Reverend Shannon (Riley Shanahan), who is in constant anguish as he questions his faith, God, and his choices, all while on the hotel property of Maxine Faulk (Julanne Chidi Hill) who recently became a widow.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Paranormal Inside’

Edward Hong

Prince Gomolvilas’ Paranormal Inside, now having one of its rolling world premieres at East West Players, achieves the astounding feat in being a play that is so compelling while fully utilizing multiple global majority actors across different spectrums in meaningful ways, completely deliver on its supernatural premises to jaw-dropping effect, and also be a sequel that welcomes those who have knowledge of the previous play while not being entirely necessary for those who are unfamiliar. It is the perfect play arriving just in time for this year’s Halloween season.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘In Response 2025: Rise Up!’

Edward Hong

I’m normally not a fan of watching an anthology of short plays, but attending the opening night of Towne Street Theatre’s In Response was a most pleasant surprise as there were some exceptionally strong short plays that truly stood out.

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Reviews, Theatre1 Comment

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘The Little King of Norwalk’

Edward Hong

Latino Theater Company returns for their fall season with a laugh out loud hit in Israel López Reyes‘ The Little King of Norwalk, now having its world premiere at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Not only is this play a meaningful tribute to Chicano identity, it is a love letter to the city of Norwalk wrapped up in a hysterically wacky film noir with a touch of magical realism and a nod to Nikolai Gogol‘s The Inspector General.

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Reviews, Theatre
A graphic of the five cast members of Pasadena Playhouse's production of 'Eureka Day' by Jonathan Spector.

NOC Review: ‘Eureka Day’ at Pasadena Playhouse

Rosana Maris Arias

Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day, opened on September 10. The Tony Award-winning play follows a group of PTA parents at a private elementary school in Berkeley, CA, in the Fall of 2018, as they attempt to navigate a mumps outbreak at the school.

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Reviews, Theatre2 Comments

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘West Side Story’

Edward Hong

For as long as I can remember, I have loved the classic 1961 West Side Story film. But after watching the opening night of the staged musical at the LA Opera, I have come to the realization after all these years that while still delightful, this musical is a severely outdated product of its time and may need to dance off into the sunset.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Torera’

Edward Hong

Having its Los Angeles premiere and performing for the first time in Outside In Theatre’s new ArtSpace home, Monet Hurst-Mendoza’s Torera is an auspicious beginning for the theatre company in their new home as it is a deeply gorgeous play with an astounding lead performance from Melissa Carvajal and its beautiful quiet moments that stayed with me long after the play ended.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Fly Me to the Sun’

Edward Hong

Having its west coast premiere at The Fountain Theatre, Brian Quijada‘s Fly Me to the Sun is a unique take on the identity play that incorporates puppetry in a late night TV show format. While it needs some significant dramatic muscle flexed into it throughout to give it more of a definitive shape, it is a hilarious and deeply moving journey into a boy’s efforts to understand more of his Salvadoran heritage in the most imaginative ways.

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Sports, Theatre

CASA 0101 Theater Celebrates Fernando Valenzuela in ‘Fernandomania’

Rosana Maris Arias

CASA 0101 Theater opened its Fernandomania Ten-Minute Play Festival on August 29, 2025 as part of its 25th Anniversary season. The festival featured the world premiere of twelve 10-minute plays that honor the legacy of Fernando Valenzuela, the late and great Major League Baseball pitcher and former Los Angeles Dodger who passed in October of last year.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Breaking the Frame: Two Solo Shows on Art and Identity’

Edward Hong

For four performances only, the Japanese American National Museum‘s Democracy Center is presenting two Asian American solo performance shows that complement each other in their commentary on how their identity affects their art during these current times.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘The Motherf**ker with the Hat’

Edward Hong

When I first read the Stephen Adley Guirgis’ The Motherf**ker with the Hat many years ago — having seen numerous productions and acting class scenes from this text — I was instantly a huge fan due to its fast paced crass dialogue and serious global majority representation represented on stage. Now? It is still a fast paced crass play but one that has revealed its unfortunate outdated cracks.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘& Juliet’

Edward Hong

& Juliet, now performing in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre on their national tour, is a bombastic jukebox musical combo of Shakespeare and ‘90s and 2000s pop music that will leave a gigantic smile on your face when you leave the theatre.

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Reviews, Theatre2 Comments

Cynthia Erivo and Adam Lambert Lead ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Hollywood Bowl

Rosana Maris Arias

Cynthia Erivo and Adam Lambert took center stage in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday, August 2. The production had a star-studded cast that included Phillipa Soo of Hamilton and Raúl Esparza from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

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Poetry, Theatre

‘If I Awaken In Los Angeles’ Offers Cultural Pride, Influence, and a Love Letter to the City

Elijah Isaiah Johnson

Hollywood Boulevard on a Friday Night is, perhaps, most famous for its proximity to performance art: from the TCL and El Capitan Theaters to open air venues like the iconic Hollywood Bowl and The Ford — the latter of which came alive under the stars and against the applause of the concert crowd across the street, thanks to Get Lit – Words Ignite’s latest live presentation, If I Awaken In Los Angeles.

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Reviews, Theatre1 Comment

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Some Like It Hot’

Edward Hong

I’ve always considered the 1959 classic Some Like It Hot starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon as one of the greatest comedies of all time and certainly one that was well ahead of its time, particularly for its very last scene. So to only just find out that there was a Broadway adaptation of this film AND that it won four Tony awards was a huge (and belated) surprise. Fortunately, after seeing it for the very first time at the Hollywood Pantages in this Some Like It Hot national tour, this adaptation not only maintains the spirit of the film but it expands upon it in every single delightful way.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Berta, Berta’

Edward Hong

There are many exciting elements at play with the west coast premiere of Angelica Chéri‘s Berta, Berta at the Echo Theater Company with a talented cast composed of Kacie Rogers & DeJuan Christopher and director Andi Chapman (who I’ve been a stalwart fan of for years).

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Yankee Dawg You Die’

Edward Hong

If you’ve ever studied Asian American theatre history, Philip Kan Gotanda‘s Yankee Dawg You Die is one of the pinnacle scripts written in the ‘80s that made an indelible mark in its all too real and comedic analysis of what an Asian American actor goes through in Hollywood.

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Opinion, Theatre

Los Angeles Theatre, Let’s Talk About Palestine

Edward Hong

To the Los Angeles theatre community, I love you and I adore you. I’ve been part of you for the past 15 years and despite the many challenges I have come across when it comes to meaningful representation and opportunities, I will always cherish the countless memories we have experienced and will continue to experience together as an artist and as a critic. But I think it’s time we desperately need to talk about the one subject that you have been avoiding for so long — Palestine.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘My Brother’s Keeper’

Edward Hong

Theatre is a fascinating beast where unlike the medium of film and television, theatre can never be replicated and a performance on one day will not quite be the same on the next. And when there’s only five? Such is the case for Bethesda Repertory Theatre‘s My Brother’s Keeper, a deeply moving and intimate piece about brotherhood and embracing one’s identity that also shines a much needed light on the Latino LGBTQIA+ community.

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Television, Theatre

History Had its Eyes on the ‘Hamilton’ Original Broadway Cast Reunion at the Tonys

Rosana Maris Arias

The 78th Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo, were held on Sunday, and Maybe Happy Endings swept many of the major categories. As usual, the show included an array of powerful performances, including a number from Real Women Have Curves, but most notably, the 10-year reunion of the original Broadway cast of Hamilton turned the world upside down.

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Reviews, Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Hamlet’

Edward Hong

With the promise of Center Theatre Group‘s Hamlet (both adapted and directed by Robert O’Hara) being bold and daring for the new generation, it is odd to say that despite a very able and entertaining cast and some novel ideas, this production could do without the first half entirely and leave just the second half. And even then, it still doesn’t quite fulfill the promise of being bold or daring. Was it entertaining? Sure. Was it necessary? No.

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