Hamid Rahmanian‘s Song of the North, now currently playing at Pasadena Playhouse, is an extraordinary multimedia production that is a marvel for all ages to enjoy. Utilizing shadow puppetry (483 puppets!!) and projected animation with immense success to reimagine the Iranian epic Shahnameh, the joy and magic found in this adaptation is undeniable.
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Despite a golden missed opportunity to cast global majority actors for the main roles of Mozart/Salieri/Constanze that would have richly amplified the narrative, there is a lot to love about the Pasadena Playhouse production of Peter Shaffer‘s Amadeus with the fantastic set and lighting design, the incredible ensemble cast, and the powerhouse performances of their lead actors Jefferson Mays and Sam Clemmett as Salieri and Mozart respectively.
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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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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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Suzan-Lori Parks‘ Topdog/Underdog is a riveting play that is as powerful and vibrant now as it was when it premiered off-Broadway back in 2001. It is a play much deserved in its accolades with the work winning the 2002 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Times calling it “The Greatest American Play of the Past 25 Years.”
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It’s not often I encounter a play that clocks in at over three hours and when I do, it better be gosh darn worth it with the play’s writing, acting, and directing at the top of its game. Fortunately, the new Pasadena Playhouse production of Cyrano de Bergerac (by Edmond Rostand and freely adapted by Martin Crimp) directed by Mike Donahue earns its long stay by imbuing you with such crackling energy and wit that burns all the way through, never leaving you bored or restless.
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