All stories by David C. Nichols on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Long-buried family truths emerge in the dark comedy 'Space' by David C. Nichols

“You are all amazing. You all have vast untapped potential. You all have a future.” With that mantra, so begins “Space” at Hollywood’s Stella Adler Theatre. Stefan Marks’ promis…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:42AM
Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Playwrights aim to pack maximum effect into one-act festival's short stories by David C. Nichols

Ensemble Studio Theatre/Los Angeles has launched its first one-act play festival, and the 14 works divided into three programs run the gamut from traditional to experimental. I saw Program A…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:30PM
Wednesday, June 29, 2016

What the heart desires in Tennessee Williams' 'Eccentricities of a Nightingale' in Venice by David C. Nichols

With “The Eccentricities of a Nightingale,” Tennessee Williams’ 1951 revision of his earlier play “Summer and Smoke,” Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice ends its 30th anniversary s…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:33PM
Tuesday, June 21, 2016

'Fool for Love' brings back desert lovers to the Hollywood Fringe Festival by David C. Nichols

The idiomatic voice of Sam Shepard provides the electrical currents that ignite “Fool for Love,” staged at the Los Angeles LGBT Center as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Shepard�…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:13PM
Thursday, June 16, 2016

The laughter is contagious at Hollywood Fringe Festival's 'Toxic Avenger' by David C. Nichols

Radioactive laughter courses through Good People Theater Company’s “The Toxic Avenger,” wreaking sublimely silly havoc at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. In its Los Angeles premiere, Jo…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:57PM
Tuesday, May 17, 2016

A joyous West Coast premiere for 'The Boy From Oz' by David C. Nichols

Celebration Theatre has landed a coup with the West Coast premiere of  “The Boy From Oz,” and what a festive party it's throwing. A 2004 hit on Broadway, where it won Hugh Jackman a Ton…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:03PM
Monday, May 16, 2016

This 'Pajama Game' plays out with old-school charm by David C. Nichols

It was a once-a-year day at the Alex Theatre on Sunday, when Musical Theatre Guild closed its 20th anniversary season with a triumphant staged concert edition of “The Pajama Game.” Richa…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:43PM

Shakespeare gone wild: City Garage's renegade 'Othello/Desdemona' by David C. Nichols

Those resolute renegades at City Garage have been tweaking the Bard all season in a triptych project they're calling “The Winter of Our Discontent: Shakespeare in the Digital Age,” which…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:43PM
Friday, April 8, 2016

Black actor cast in a traditionally white role? 'Red Velvet' explores what happens next by David C. Nichols

In its West Coast premiere at Atwater Playhouse, “Red Velvet,” Lolita Chakrabarti’s 2012 study of legendary actor Ira Aldridge, conveys the power of the stage and its lingering impact.…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:45PM
Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Tainted-blood scandal of '80s Japan brought to life on the L.A. stage by David C. Nichols

“Blood” writer-director Robert Allan Ackerman applies a dazzling array of theatrical techniques to his ambitious account of the Japanese tainted-blood scandal of the 1980s. Designated �…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:59PM
Sunday, March 13, 2016

Looking for love at Unicorns 'n Things? The screwball rom-com 'Past Time' by David C. Nichols

“Just because something is imaginary doesn’t mean it’s not real.” So goes “Past Time,” Sacred Fools Theater Company's inaugural production in its new home at the Lillian Theatre,…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:34PM

Lonely eccentrics, adrift in the French Quarter in Tennessee Williams' 'Vieux Carré' by David C. Nichols

The singular theatrical voice of Tennessee Williams pulsates through “Vieux Carré” at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood. Although this resourceful Coeurage Theatre Company p…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:34PM
Friday, January 15, 2016

'Timeshare' onstage: Good performances but still a bit of a fixer by David C. Nichols

“I am a professional salesman. I am a professional salesman.” So runs, with drolly insecure variations, the mantra of the woebegone hero of “Timeshare,” which has been extended at th…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:50PM
Thursday, January 7, 2016

'Louis & Keely' at the Geffen: It's still got that swing by David C. Nichols

Vintage nightclub artistry ignites palpable frissons around the Geffen Playhouse, where “Louis & Keely: ‘Live’ at the Sahara” has sailed back in triumph. From its hugely acclaimed pr…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:26PM

A wild, wild 'Rio Hondo' at Theatre of Note by David C. Nichols

“Rio Hondo,” which returns to Theatre of Note this week for a limited engagement, suggests what might happen if your VHS collection of Sergio Leone films were spliced with several season…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:26PM
Saturday, December 12, 2015

A charming, moving 'Christmas Carol' at A Noise Within in Pasadena by David C. Nichols

“A Christmas Carol” is upon us, and its winning A Noise Within production is a keeper. Amid worthy area stagings of Charles Dickens’ immortal classic about miserly Ebenezer Scrooge’s…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:35PM
Friday, October 30, 2015

Beware those closing elevator doors in 'Caged' at Theatre Banshee by David C. Nichols

Anyone who has ever wondered about being stuck in an elevator might be intrigued by “Caged” at Theatre Banshee, a guest offering by Mean Machine Productions and Georganne Aldrich Heller.…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:44AM
Thursday, October 15, 2015

'Best of Enemies' in Burbank: Racial fireworks explode from the stage by David C. Nichols

Two weeks remain to catch “The Best of Enemies” in its West Coast premiere at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. The production is mandatory viewing for anyone who values the stage’s abili…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:08PM

'ICU' at Atwater Village Theatre: Family dysfunction for the 'Shameless' crowd by David C. Nichols

In “ICU,” playwright Fielding Edlow diagnoses dark humor in the most dysfunctional family this side of Eugene O’Neill’s Tyrone clan. Here, they’re upper-middle-class New York Jews,…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:13AM

'Carrie: The Musical' returns with a fresh splash at downtown's Los Angeles Theatre by David C. Nichols

What a difference a second look makes. When “Carrie: The Musical” hit La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in the spring, I found its immersive execution spectacular, its performanc…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:13AM
Friday, August 14, 2015

A spirited postwar 'Much Ado' in Griffith Park by David C. Nichols

A skirmish of wit attends "Much Ado About Nothing" in Griffith Park, and it proves a notable argument. Independent Shakespeare Company concludes its summer season with an agreeably quirky, r…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 11:27AM
Tuesday, June 30, 2015

William Inge's 'Picnic' finds the universal in a small Kansas town by David C. Nichols

The intimacy of small-town life and its stifling limitations permeate "Picnic," which the thoughtfully representative staging at Antaeus Theater Company underscores without telegraphing.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:31PM
Friday, June 26, 2015

'The Gospel at Colonus' proves timely, timeless by David C. Nichols

It's fairly unusual for a 30-plus-year-old experimental theater piece to remain trenchant, affecting and exhilarating at the same time, but that's the incisive case with "The Gospel at Colon…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:47AM
Thursday, May 21, 2015

'The House of Yes' accentuates the negative by David C. Nichols

Family dysfunction, that age-old staple of the dramatic canon, permeates the walking wounded that populate “The House of Yes” in a respectable, albeit still-gelling 25th anniversary revi…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00PM

A slender allegory, but for Who fans, who cares? by David C. Nichols

That deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball in “The Who’s Tommy” at the David Henry Hwang Theater. Although Des McAnuff and Pete Townshend’s Tony Award-winning 1993 stage…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:30PM
Thursday, May 14, 2015

You'll want to make this trip 'Around the World in 80 Days' by David C. Nichols

Rampant theatricality and audience regard traverses “Around the World in 80 Days” at the Actors Co-op.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00PM
Thursday, April 30, 2015

'Anarchist's' artful words don't make satisfying drama by David C. Nichols

“Words not meant to misdirect are wasted,” says one of the combatants in “The Anarchist,” and at certain levels that might describe the whole thing.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:00PM
Thursday, April 9, 2015

Loads of dark satire in 'Occupation,' but little dramatic coherence by David C. Nichols

“Occupation,” now receiving its West Coast premiere at Sacred Fools Theater, explores the ramifications of globalization and imperialism with considerable ambition and erratic dramaturg…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:00PM
Friday, March 20, 2015

With 'Carrie: The Musical,' you can't say they haven't tried by David C. Nichols

Revised 'Carrie: The Musical' gets spectacular show at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:30PM
Thursday, March 19, 2015

With 'Carrie: The Musical,' you can't say they haven't tried by David C. Nichols

Never underestimate the power of stagecraft. Case in point: ”Carrie: The Musical,” now receiving a mind-blowing immersive production at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00PM
Monday, March 16, 2015

A 'Figaro' that crackles and pops at A Noise Within by David C. Nichols

Eighteenth century subversion meets Larry David lunacy in “Figaro” at A Noise Within. Ingenuity permeates this buoyant adaptation of Beaumarchais’ classic account of one crazy day at t…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:00PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards