REVIEW: SOFT POWER BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO To commemorate Center Theatre Group’s 50th anniversary season, Artistic Director Michael Ritchie commissioned playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) to write a piece of theatre, that piece is Soft Power [soft pow·er (noun)a persuasive approach to international relations, typically involving the use of cultural influence]. What originally began […]

REVIEW: VIOLET BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Unless you’re a musical theatre aficionado or follow the work of composer the brilliant composer Jeanine Tesori, you may have never heard of the 2014 musical Violet. But just because show’s name isn’t familiar, doesn’t mean that Violet should be overlooked. Violet may not have the sparkle of a […]

REVIEW: NATIVE SON BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO In high school Richard Wright’s 1940 novel Native Son was required reading, the book about a young African American man living in poverty in 1930s Chicago who kills, rapes, and then is sentenced to death. Everything that happens in this book is heavy and dark, truth be told […]

REVIEW: A RAISIN IN THE SUN BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO A Noise Within continues its 2018 season on the theme of ‘Entertaining Courage’ with a production of Lorraine Hanberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. The 1959 play denotes a courage of its own as it marked as the first play on Broadway to be […]

REVIEW: ALLEGIANCE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The musical Allegiance, which had a short run on Broadway from October 2015 to February 2016, is experiencing it’s Los Angeles premiere by the East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center featuring George Takei reprising his original role from the Broadway run. Also reprising their Broadway roles […]

REVIEW: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Since its first performance in 1947, A Streetcar Named Desire remains among the finest plays of the 20th century and one of Tennessee Williams’ most beloved works. Of the original production, New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote: “Like ‘The Glass Menagerie’ the new play is […]

REVIEW: CABARET BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO With just a drum roll and a cymbal crash, the iconic 1966 musical Cabaret, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Joe Masteroff, begins, luring audiences into the dingy cabaret, the Kit Kat Klub, in 1930s Berlin. Since its opening on Broadway, this eight Tony […]

REVIEW: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Classic musical comedy is alive and well at the Garry Marshall Theatre. Continuing their inaugural season is the laugh-out-loud production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. The 1962 musical farce, with music and lyrics by […]

REVIEW: THIS LAND BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO What began as a commission by Center Theatre Group for Mexican-American playwright, Evangeline Ordaz, to write about the changing demographics of Los Angeles has morphed into a play that’s powerful and compelling. This new play, This Land, presented by Company of Angels, tackles 150 years of gentrification through the plight […]

REVIEW: WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO In our techy-world where we use text messages, emails, skype and apps to connect with other people, true face-to-face communication can be challenging for some, making the creation of deep connections even more problematic. In Boston Court’s West Coast premiere of Julia Lederer’s play, […]