INTERVIEW: PETER RICHARDS BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO In an age when people take their cell phones everywhere, those tiny devices have much to tell about our lives. And in the West Coast premiere of emerging playwright Kevin Armento‘s play Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, a cell phone is our narrator personified on stage by Thomas Piper. The play chronicles […]

REVIEW: A TALE OF TWO CITIES BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Whether you’ve read Charles Dicken’s epic novel A Tale of Two Cities, or not, you’re likely familiar with the novel’s opening lines: “It was the best of times. . .” and if you’re even more well versed, you may also know the last line too: […]

INTERVIEW: ROBOT TEAMMATE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO This summer Robot Teammate delighted audiences at the Hollywood Fringe Festival with their original musical Turbulence, winning: Best Musical, Best World Premiere, Outstanding Songwriting and the Critics Choice Award. Now this L.A. born musical is invited Off-Broadway to participate as part of the Fringe Encore Series at the SoHo Playhouse. Turbulence! is set at […]

INTERVIEW: MAX VERNON BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Step into the French Quarter of New Orleans in the 1970’s with Max Vernon’s new musical The View Upstairs. The new musical premiered the The Lynn Redgrave Theater last spring and will have its West Coast premiere at Celebration Theatre this fall. This heartfelt musical is inspired by attacks against the LGBTQ community […]

INTERVIEW: BONNIE GLEICHER BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO I’ve only met the talented composer/lyricist Bonnie Gleicher once on a Skype session to discuss her ongoing musical The Little Things, and now months later she’s completed her fourth musical Addy & Uno. In addition to Gleicher (music/lyrics), the new musical is a collaboration with Nava R. Silton, Ph.D. (book), […]

REVIEW: HONKY TONK LAUNDRY BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Jukebox musical aficionado Roger Bean, creator of the worldwide and off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes, along with the sequels Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns, Winter Wonderettes, and Wonderettes: Dream On, brings LA audiences Honky Tonk Laundry. In this LA premiere Bean tackles the country western music of some of the […]

REVIEW: ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO As a frequent theatergoer in Los Angeles I’ve sampled many of the cities theater buildings so when I saw that Proof of Doubt Closer Theater company was producing the musical On the Twentieth Century at the Pan Andreas Theater I was curious. I’ve never heard of […]

INTERVIEW: ROGER BEAN BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Roger Bean is the master of jukebox musicals and now he’s bringing Los Angeles the premiere of his latest musical Honky Tonk Laundry. Bean is known for creating the longest-running off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes and its many successful sequels. His other works for theatre include Life Could Be A […]

INTERVIEW: BYRON LANE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO As part of its Summer of Celebration, Celebration Theatre presents the new play Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist by Byron Lane, directed by Tom DeTrinis. Byron Lane is an actor, writer, comedian and former personal assistant to Carrie Fisher with writing credits that include Last Will & Testicle (an award-winning […]

REVIEW: BORN FOR THIS BY RYAN M LUÉVANO Opening The Broad Stage’s 2017-18 is the new musical, Born for This, a show that could be more aptly named: “BeBe Winans’ Life in Concert,” as the autobiographical musical gives more the impression of a concert rather than a dramatic musical. That being said, the highlight of Born […]