All stories by Don Shirley on BroadwayStars

Monday, May 25, 2015

Liking ‘Adding Machine’, Not Loving ‘Repeating’ by Don Shirley

Of two new musicals with similar roots, Adding Machine adds up to more than Loving Repeating. In the group therapy genre, Circle Mirror Transformation requires less suspension of disbelief …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM

Atwater Sex, Sister's Audience, Furious Farewell by Don Shirley

The new Atwater Village Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA offer two views of sex-besotted characters in Mlle. God and Crack Whore Galore--Live. Why can't Sister's audiences ask tougher …

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM

Pantages Awakening, Clybourne Calling, Wrong Theater for 33 Variations? by Don Shirley

Which theater company attracts the most young adults? Why can't Clybourne Park coincide with A Raisin in the Sun? Would 33 Variations fit the Taper better than the Ahmanson?

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM

Musicals About Veronica, Gigi and Sherrie by Don Shirley

Madonna or whore? Three big musicals examine this stereotype of young women: Dangerous Beauty, Gigi and Rock of Ages, with mixed results.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM

Porn! Suicide! And How the Theater Copes by Don Shirley

The Author at the Kirk Douglas raised big questions about how theater artists and audience deal with inflammatory subject matter such as porn and suicide. Meanwhile, Wrinkles offers a very d…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM

Classical Concepts Considered by Don Shirley

A Noise Within's Comedy of Errors is a perfect fit in the burlesque hall dreamed up by director Michael Michetti, but why is Actors Co-op's King Lear set in 1850s California? Plus comments o…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM

Classical Concepts Considered by Don Shirley

A Noise Within's Comedy of Errors is a perfect fit in the burlesque hall dreamed up by director Michael Michetti, but why is Actors Co-op's King Lear set in 1850s California? Plus comments o…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:58PM
Monday, January 27, 2014

Productions Propagate. Plummer, Passion Play and Porter. by Don Shirley

The number of Equity contract productions in LA grows. Small shows at big theater and vice-versa. Misbehaving in Long Beach and La Mirada.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 07:00PM
Monday, January 20, 2014

Mayor Garcetti, Schlomo, the Afterlife, the Scots, the Greeks by Don Shirley

Mayor Garcetti talks arts. "Twilight of Schlomo" in Garcetti's former district. Afterlife plays, including "Prudencia Hart." The pared-down Greeks.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 10:14PM
Monday, January 13, 2014

Carmen Zapata’s Downtown Dream Deferred. Felder’s Lincoln Redux. by Don Shirley

Lincoln Heights wasn't big enough for the BFA's late Carmen Zapata -- let's revive her Olvera Street dreams. A cougher competes with Beckett. Hershey Felder's Lincoln, the sequel.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 06:49PM
Monday, January 6, 2014

Chronicles of Candy, Coughs, Catching Zzzs, Coffee and Crying Kids by Don Shirley

Distractions inside theaters -- rustling of paper, coughing, snoring, light from phones -- require coping strategies. Two four-actor musical revues continue on Santa Monica Pier and in NoHo.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 07:38PM
Friday, December 20, 2013

Highlights of 2013 Theater by Don Shirley

Don Shirley saw 263 productions (so far) in LA theaters in 2013. Here he remembers and highlights the top 10 percent.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 07:30PM
Monday, December 16, 2013

Four Variations on Christmas Carol and Three Other Holiday Shows by Don Shirley

Four productions use "A Christmas Story" for their own ends. Also, commentary on the musical "Christmas Memory," an Aladdin panto and "Miracle on South Division Street".

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:00PM
Monday, December 9, 2013

Parfumerie and Midler’s Mengers in Beverly Hills. CTG’s Downtown Drama. by Don Shirley

Where are the locals in the Wallis' post-"Parfumerie" season? Bette Midler evokes Sue Mengers. "The Steward of Christendom" and "Peter and the Starcatcher" occupy CTG's downtown venues.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:26PM
Monday, December 2, 2013

Theater Coverage Cuts at the LA Weekly. Save Me and Creditors by Don Shirley

The LA Weekly cuts back on its theater coverage. Two Scandinavian plays, Strindberg's "Creditors" and "Save Me," an adaptation of Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler," bounce off each other.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 07:06PM
Monday, November 25, 2013

Thanks for Not Being Dead Yet. Plays About Gay Men, 25 Years Apart. by Don Shirley

"Play Dead," "We're Gonna Die," Endgame," "Exit the King" -- these plays may inspire thanksgiving that we're still alive. "The Normal Heart" and "The Homosexuals" depict changes in gay cultu…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 09:57PM
Monday, November 18, 2013

Moms on Center Stage, From Burbank to NoHo to Little Tokyo by Don Shirley

Mighty moms are on stage in the Colony's "Miracle on South Division Street," Theatre Banshee's "By the Bog of Cats," Production Company's "Look Homeward, Angel" and "The Nisei Widows Club."

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:37PM
Monday, November 11, 2013

Anger in Pasadena. Community in Skid Row and Rancho Cucamonga. by Don Shirley

Pasadena Playhouse specializes in anger and fury. "Gidion's Knot" and "Rabbit Hole" explore the aftermath of sons' deaths. Theaters serve the communities of Skid Row -- and Rancho Cucamonga.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 09:47PM
Monday, November 4, 2013

Southeastern Musical Surge Hits the Ovation Awards by Don Shirley

Companies to the southeast of Los Angeles dominate the musicals categories at the Ovation Awards. But where are the brand-new made-in-LA musicals?

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 09:44PM
Monday, October 28, 2013

LATC on the Plains. 4000 Miles. Eva Peron and Walt Disney. by Don Shirley

LATC goes to the Great Plans for "the road weeps, the well runs dry" and the better "Wild in Wichita." Plus "4000 Miles" at South Coast Rep and musicals about Walt Disney and Eva Peron.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 09:03PM
Monday, October 21, 2013

Sites of Frights and Invisible Cities by Don Shirley

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween -- witness "Wait Until Dark," "Urban Death Tour of terror," "The Afflicted," "Wicked Lit." But "Invisible Cities" is a different story.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:49PM
Monday, October 14, 2013

The Deceivers: Fast Company, Don’t Dress, The Guardsman, The Liar by Don Shirley

Deception isn't so shameful in some comedies -- witness "Fast Company," "Don't Dress for Dinner," "The Guardsman" and "The Liar."

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:31PM
Monday, October 7, 2013

Sizing Up Simon’s Sunshine Boys and Broadway Bound, O’Neill’s Wilderness by Don Shirley

LA's Neil Simon moment features big productions of "The Sunshine Boys" and the far better "Broadway Bound." Actors Co-op stages an intimate "Ah, Wilderness!"

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:01PM
Monday, September 30, 2013

Seeing the Sites of Radar L.A. and Chalk Rep by Don Shirley

LA was rife with site-specific theater last week, with three Radar L.A. productions and Chalk Rep's "Gallery Secrets." Plus other thoughts on Radar L.A.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:58PM
Monday, September 23, 2013

Soloists Explore the Father Lode. Pasadena Explores Shakespeare. by Don Shirley

Lorenzo Pisoni's "Humor Abuse" at the Taper is a better solo take on sons and fathers than Luis Alfaro's or Trieu Tran's solos at the Douglas. Plus the latest Shakespeares in Pasadena.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 09:22PM
Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Hey CTG, Your Fanny’s in Fullerton by Don Shirley

Center Theatre Group lost one "Funny Girl" but should check out the 3-D Theatricals version with phenomenal Nicole Parker, in Fullerton. Also, the Colony's "Breath and Imagination."

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 02:12PM
Monday, September 9, 2013

Non-Traditionalists Deliver Death of a Salesman, Hamlet by Don Shirley

A mostly-black "Death of a Salesman" at South Coast Repertory and an all-women's and cross-racial "Hamlet" at Odyssey Theatre demonstrate differences in non-traditional casting.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:03PM
Tuesday, September 3, 2013

CTG’s New Seasons — There is Hardly Any ‘Here’…Here. by Don Shirley

Gertrude Stein, writing about the transformation of the site of her previously pastoral childhood home, coined the phrase ...Continue Reading

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 05:38PM
Monday, August 26, 2013

Pretending that Macbeth Isn’t Among Us…And That Catherine Isn’t Sexual by Don Shirley

The LA Times proclaims a vogue for Macbeth but ignores LA's Macbeths. In the Next Room and Rapture Blister Burn examine characters named Catherine from more than a century apart.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 07:01PM
Monday, August 19, 2013

Second City and Sideways, Classic and Contemporary Noir by Don Shirley

Another look at Southern California-set plays includes three productions in San Diego -- Sideways, Double Indemnity and Second City's take on the city, plus Open House in LA.

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 09:06PM
Monday, August 12, 2013

More Summer Classics: As You Like It/Tanglin’ Hearts, Lady Windermere by Don Shirley

Shakespeare's original As You Like It is in Griffith Park and a countrified musical version, Tanglin' Hearts, is at Theatre 40. Chalk Rep's Lady alfresco Lady Windermere's Fan is at Clark Li…

SOURCE: LA STAGE Times at 08:00PM

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