Cynthia Citron

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — I’ve never heard more enthusiastic responses to a song than the ones that greeted each fabulous number in the new musical Falsettos. And I was right there, clapping and screaming with all the rest of them. By the second act, some two hours into the show, however, the applause […]

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES–There is just one word for Jean Baker and Jean-Loup Dabadie’s new film My Afternoons with Margueritte, and that’s DELICIOUS! In this one Gerard Depardieu is a big soft chocolate mousse and his costar, 97-year-old Gisele Casadesus, is a lean, crunchy baguette. The two unlikely companions meet on a park bench,

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — When Jerry Seinfeld said “Yada yada yada” you could interpret it to mean “and so on and so forth” or “blah blah blah” or even “stuff that’s too insignificant to talk about right now.” When Lani Shipman says “YADA”, however, she is talking about something that’s very significant to

By Cynthia Citron Cynthia Citron PACIFIC PALISADES, California — In March 2009 a theater company in Malibu mounted a run of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play Rabbit Hole, which chronicles the effects of the death of a four-year-old on the rest of his family. While it was a fine production overall, this is what I wrote about

By Cynthia Citron Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — There’s no denying that the role of Vivien Leigh is an acting tour de force for Judith Chapman.  She looks like Leigh.  She sounds like Leigh.  And she goes dramatically nuts like Leigh. But the problem with Rick Foster’s play Vivien, now having its Los Angeles premiere

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES –A convicted murderer sits on Death Row convinced that he is Cary Grant.  He is warm, charming, and black.  Is he delusional or merely pretending in order to amuse himself? His defense attorney, who is appealing his conviction, believes his previous attorney badly mishandled his case.  Moreover, she believes he

By Cynthia Citron Cynthia Citron ENCINO, California– A decade before the thousands of people who had invested their money with Bernie Madoff realized that they had lost it all, a Boston-based securities analyst was blowing his whistle loud enough to wake all of Wall Street.  But Wall Street wouldn’t listen. Harry Markopolos, who had gathered

  By Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD — If you were to guess Sarah Treem’s age by her looks alone, you’d probably say, “Not a day over 21.” If you were to guess her age by the quantity and quality of her output and accomplishments, you’d probably say, “Forty-one.  Maybe even 51.” What does Sarah Treem say? 

By Cynthia Citron Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — “I’ve told you everything and now you know too much, so I’m going to have to kill you.” This, in a nutshell, is the plot of Shem Bitterman’s new play, A Death in Colombia.  To tell more would be telling too much.  But let’s give it a

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES–Playwright James M. Barrie is most famous for his familiar and much-loved fantasy Peter Pan.  However, he also produced a large body of other literary works that include two quaintly delicate playlets: Rosalind and The Old Lady Shows Her Medals.  These two are currently being staged in a delightful twosome titled

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — It’s all about music, but nobody plays any.  It’s called Broadsword, but there appears to be some sort of taboo about mentioning the name and nobody on stage ever utters it.  And though it sounds like it should be a swashbuckler, nobody swashes or buckles.  Broadsword is the name

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES–Bakersfield Mist is a brilliant new play written and directed by Stephen Sachs and starring the husband and wife team of Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett at the always-wonderful Fountain Theatre. The play is based on a true story, and Sachs has raised it to a fine art, literally.  A foul-mouthed ex-bartender

  By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES –Her email address begins with “nifttt”, which she says stands for “nothing is funnier than the truth.”  (It could also stand for “nifty,” which she most certainly is.)  For actor/director Jenny O’Hara, it’s a serious mantra.  As it is for her hilariously entertaining husband, actor Nick Ullett. Los Angeles

By Cynthia Citron BURBANK, California — SEX! SEX! SEX! Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about English. That’s Maria Gobetti’s message in playwright Lissa Levin’s Sex and Education, now having its west coast premiere at the Victory Theatre Center in Burbank. Gobetti plays Ms. Edwards, a once-enthusiastic English teacher who is leaving