All stories by Margaret Gray on BroadwayStars

Saturday, October 21, 2017

In 'Cagney' the musical, Hollywood's tough guy tap dances by Margaret Gray

James Cagney is remembered best for playing tough-talking gangsters in Warner Bros. movies in the 1930s and ’40s, which, according to “Cagney,” a loving and cartoonish small-scale bio-…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:15PM
Friday, October 20, 2017

Nightmare on 'Kaidan' street: Immersive theater project mines Japanese folk tales for weird spooks by Margaret Gray

It’s part haunted house, part art installation, part performance-art piece: The Rogue Artist Ensemble and East West Players’ immersive “Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin” unfolds in an…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Tonya Pinkins: A story of gun violence and a mother's loss brings this Tony winner back to the stage by Margaret Gray

The old Hollywood adage that directing is 90% casting holds just as true in the theater, especially with a new play: Those first performances can turn heads, build buzz, entice other theater…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:00PM
Thursday, October 12, 2017

Carmen Cusack, star of Edie Brickell and Steve Martin’s 'Bright Star,' finds her place in L.A. by Margaret Gray

The Broadway star Carmen Cusack arrives at the Silver Lake Reservoir dressed for a midday walk in shorts, sneakers, a hat and sunglasses. Even the most devoted theater fanatic would be hard-…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 01:00PM
Friday, October 6, 2017

In 'Runaway Home' at the Fountain Theatre, hurricane-battered lives hang in the balance by Margaret Gray

Jeremy J. Kamps' play "Runaway Home,” now premiering at the Fountain Theatre, is set in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward three years after Hurricane Katrina. The waters may have long receded,…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:10PM
Friday, September 29, 2017

The 99 Seat Beat: Gay New Orleans, police shootings and 'Wicked Lit' by Margaret Gray

Our weekly picks in the small-theater scene: "The View UpStairs" at Celebration, "Exit Strategy" at the LBGT Center, "Br'er Cotton" at Zephyr and "Wicked Lit" in Altadena.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Which actress is Maggie in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'? (And yes, that's a trick question) by Margaret Gray

Los Angeles actresses Rebecca Mozo and Linda Park have learned what to expect when they tell TV and film colleagues that they’re juggling pilot auditions and shooting schedules with theate…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 08:00AM
Wednesday, March 29, 2017

'Absinthe' in L.A.: Like Cirque du Soleil on Red Bull and vodka by Margaret Gray

If you enjoy Cirque du Soleil acrobats but believe they'd be even better with dirty jokes, then "Absinthe" is the spinoff you've been waiting for. Playing downtown in a tent at L.A. Live, "A…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:00PM
Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Jane Kaczmarek, 'Long Day's Journey' and the dark role that's a complete departure from 'Malcolm' by Margaret Gray

“There’s a beautiful line by T.S. Eliot,” says the actress Jane Kaczmarek: “‘Something about how we wander through life, ‘… and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive w…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00AM
Monday, February 6, 2017

Chita Rivera on touring, and staying political, at age 84 by Margaret Gray

Chita Rivera originated some of the most indelible roles of Broadway’s Golden Age: Anita in “West Side Story,” Velma in “Chicago,” Rosie in “Bye Bye Birdie.” She also starred i…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:55PM
Monday, January 9, 2017

The one-man musical 'The Lion' leaps to the L.A. stage with songs of regret and hope by Margaret Gray

I spent much of “The Lion,” singer-songwriter Benjamin Scheuer’s one-man musical at the Geffen Playhouse, inwardly commiserating with my twentysomething self. She hung out in so many c…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:00PM
Tuesday, December 13, 2016

'Cinderella' hits the stage with pop songs, Morgan Fairchild, Disney stars and a bit of 'Glee' by Margaret Gray

Panto, short for pantomime, is a family entertainment popular at Christmastime in Britain since the 1700s — and more recently here at the Pasadena Playhouse, where Lythgoe Family Product…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:20PM
Thursday, November 17, 2016

The Silver Lake young(ish) professional, adrift in 'Icebergs' at the Geffen Playhouse by Margaret Gray

During Alena Smith’s play “Icebergs,” in its world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse, thirtysomething screenwriter Calder (Nate Corddry) sets up an air mattress in his Silver Lake livin…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:40PM
Thursday, November 3, 2016

'Annie' with a bad attitude: 'Hedwig' rocks the Pantages by Margaret Gray

When I was a kid watching cartoon on TV in New Jersey, I saw ads for Broadway shows: "Annie," "Peter Pan," "Barnum," "Evita" — fascinating, frustrating teasers that left plot lines mysteri…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 04:50PM
Saturday, September 17, 2016

Why is a zany comedy troupe performing ancient Roman theater? The story behind the Troubies' 'Haunted House' by Margaret Gray

The Getty Villa, that reproduction Roman estate in the Pacific Palisades where the J. Paul Getty Museum keeps an antiquities collection, has presented a Greek or Roman play in its outdoor am…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:00AM
Sunday, September 11, 2016

Better than Bryan Cranston? Star of South Coast Rep's 'All the Way' delivers a most convincing LBJ by Margaret Gray

There should be a special award for when one actor wins the Tony, but then another actor still finds a way to kill the role — to act the heck out of it and to make it new. I'd nominate Hug…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:20PM
Thursday, August 18, 2016

Who is Deb, anyway? In 'D Deb Debbie Deborah,' more questions than answers by Margaret Gray

From the title of Jerry Lieblich’s play “D Deb Debbie Deborah,” I was ready for an exploration of the fluidity of identity, perhaps at different stages of a woman’s life. But in thi…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:42PM
Wednesday, July 20, 2016

50 years of 'Cabaret': How the 1966 musical keeps sharpening its edges for modern times by Margaret Gray

The musical “Cabaret” will turn 50 this year, and its latest incarnation opens Wednesday at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. It comes with a slightly complicated provenance: This “Cabar…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:58PM
Tuesday, July 5, 2016

The couple behind the 'Beautiful' tunes: How L.A. hit-makers became characters in the Carole King musical by Margaret Gray

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the married songwriting team behind "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," "On Broadway" and some of the most enduring hits in the history of pop music, have been fi…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:50PM
Friday, June 24, 2016

Sister act: Abby Mueller has star turn in national tour of 'Beautiful - The Carole King Musical' by Margaret Gray

To star in a national tour of the Broadway hit "Beautiful — The Carole King Musical," which opens this weekend at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, is to brave comparisons not only to King h…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:32AM
Friday, June 10, 2016

Second City Hollywood throws a political party 'In Trump We Trust,' the musical by Margaret Gray

The line between political reporting and parody is blurrier than ever these days, especially since Donald Trump launched his presidential run. It's not always obvious whether a headline come…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:37PM
Thursday, May 5, 2016

Winning back the girl he left behind at 'The Pavilion' by Margaret Gray

Craig Wright's oft-produced play "The Pavilion," now in a lovely revival at Malibu Playhouse, takes place in the early 2000s, in the fictional town of Pine City, Minn. (That's where Wright, …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 02:05PM
Thursday, April 14, 2016

When superstar and superfan collide: It's 'Future Thinking' at South Coast Rep by Margaret Gray

In the opening scene of Eliza Clark's "Future Thinking," commissioned by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa and now in its world premiere there, a middle-aged man sits alone in a hotel room…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 07:57PM
Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Irish actress Lisa Dwan to perform Beckett's dark, tortured 'Not I' for last time at the Broad Stage by Margaret Gray

The Irish actress Lisa Dwan is visiting the Broad Stage in Santa Monica one bright morning when she asks theater staffers one key question: "How is the blackout coming along?" For five shows…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 03:21PM
Monday, March 14, 2016

'Women Laughing Alone With Salad': A playwright's raucous riff on sexism and body shame by Margaret Gray

Is “Women Laughing Alone With Salad” the first play inspired by an Internet meme? In 2011 the feminist website the Hairpin published stock photographs of slender models appearing to exul…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:54PM
Sunday, March 13, 2016

Passion and fame in the digital age: Watching 'Sex With Strangers' at the Geffen by Margaret Gray

It could be the setup for a Harlequin romance: A beautiful novelist curls on a couch in a bed-and-breakfast in rural Michigan, proofreading a manuscript, completely alone. Heavy snow has det…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 06:34PM
Friday, February 19, 2016

East West Players finds the laughter behind the tears in 'Criers for Hire' by Margaret Gray

Culture shock, like grief, progresses through distinct stages: There's the honeymoon period, when an expatriate is enchanted by a new country. Bliss gives way to withdrawal and hostilit…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 10:02PM
Tuesday, February 2, 2016

In 'Red' at South Coast Repertory, Rothko and the art of connection by Margaret Gray

“I am not your rabbi, I am not your father, I am not your shrink, I am not your friend, I am not your teacher,” the Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko warns his new assistant in …

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:05PM
Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The new 'Empire: The Musical,' in La Mirada, is more scaffolding than skyscraper by Margaret Gray

New evidence suggests it’s easier to build the world’s tallest skyscraper than to create an original American musical.  “Empire: The Musical” has just opened at La Mirada Theatre f…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:13PM
Thursday, January 7, 2016

'Bullets Over Broadway' makes up for its lack of new music with strong choreography and acting by Margaret Gray

How seriously do you take your art? Would you kill for it? Literally? Those are the questions that animate "Bullets Over Broadway," Woody Allen's delicious cinematic parable about the strugg…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 09:44AM
Saturday, December 12, 2015

'The Bridges of Madison County' at the Ahmanson: After the seduction, the story drags by Margaret Gray

It happens so often in Iowa that the housewives have come to expect it: Moments after their husbands and children head off to the state fair, hunky photographers arrive, asking directions to…

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times at 12:35PM

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