Energy and loving attention to detail make kitschy “Reefer Madness: The Musical” funnier than expected –
Photo by Michael Hardy In the United States, Schedule I substances are illegal supposedly because they are categorically…
Long Beach Opera opens busy season with palate cleansers –
Photo by JJ Geiger. Because Long Beach Opera’s 48th season features their biggest-ever bill of fare, perhaps it’s…
One-night sound-art event returns to Belmont Shore for second year –
Preliminary map of LBsoundbrowse 2026 installations One year ago, the inaugural LBsoundbrowse was an experiment. Could Long Beach’s…
“Night of the Living Dead” a brisk bit of Halloween fun –
Photo by Mike Hardy You may not have seen the film, but you know the premise, so deeply…
“The Swan”: Hyping the transformative possibilities of love –
When it comes to men, Dora (Whitney Ellis) is accommodating to a fault. Married milkman Kevin (Matthew Anderson)…
“Hangmen”: Lesser McDonagh, imperfectly staged — but still fun –
Photo by Michael Hardy Photography You can rely on Martin McDonagh. Black humor. Sardonicism. Impending menace. Clever twists.…
Long Beach Shakespeare Co. camps up “The Importance of Being Earnest” to great effect –
Photo by Mark Chen In my early 20s — a long time ago in a galaxy far, far…
A postmodern “Godspell” that’s a complete triumph –
(credit: Michael Hardy Photography) Prior to my seeing the production that is the subject of this review, my…
LB Playhouse cast capably handles Wildesque repartee of “The Lion in Winter” –
Amanda Karr as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Noah Wagner as Richard II (photo by Mike Hardy) Having not…
Whose culture is it, anyway? –
Photo credit: Julian Melendez Ostensibly, the main purpose of a theatre review is to provide intel for those…
The State of the Theatrical Arts in Long Beach –
Whether or not the Los Angeles Times’s recent “52 Best Places to See Plays and Musicals in Southern…
This year, Long Beach Playhouse’s “A Christmas Carol” is a masterclass in theatrical arts –
Photo by Mike Hardy From having seen more than half of Long Beach Playhouse’s 13 prior stagings of…