Cynthia Citron is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts.
Her published books, available on Amazon, include:
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — For anyone who’s ever wished that he had grown up as the child of a major celebrity, Elliot Shoenman’s new play A Heap of Livin’ provides a powerful cautionary tale. Ramblin’ Harry Roe, a hillbilly folk guitarist impeccably played by the formidable Lawrence Pressman, has been a spectacular […]
Play probes problems of having a famous dad Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD — Timothy McNeil’s new play, Machu Picchu, Texas, now having its world premiere at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, is about an angry, dysfunctional family again, folks, but this time the intensity is mitigated by a cast that is uniformly excellent and a set designed by Michael Fitzgerald and Aidan Fiorito that
‘Machu Picchu, Texas’ when dreams turn into delusions Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — If there’s one thing that makes actor Judd Hirsch grumpy, it’s when a critic throws in information that Hirsch considers extraneous or irrelevant to the current role that he’s playing. For example, he has played literally hundreds of roles in his more than 40-year career, but he is
Hirsch prefers interviews on current projects, not ‘Taxi’ Read More »
Cynthia Citron
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — So this Jewish atheist gets into a conversation with an atheist convert to the Church of England… Sounds like there should be a shaggy dog punch-line at the end, but instead you get Mark St. Germain’s riveting play, Freud’s Last Session , an imagined discussion between Sigmund
Sigmund Freud vs. C.S. Lewis in philosophical repartee Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA –You may think that all this rain we’re having is caused by a drop in barometric pressure. But are you aware that Tanna Frederick, Robert Standley and their director Jack Heller are in heavy-duty rehearsals for N. Richard Nash’s play The Rainmaker, which opens this week at the Edgemar Center
‘Rainmaker’ pours on the emotions Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron Soft-spoken playwright Horton Foote is to Texas what William Faulkner was to Mississippi: a faithful chronicler of the values and mores of a cultural subset of the American people. A major feature of both their bodies of work is their protagonists’ reaction to specific circumstances, disappointments, and defeat. “How a man reacts
Foote notes not likely to be more than that Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — They should have called it Corny Island Christmas. Corny in a good way, of course. Donald Margulies’ new play, Coney Island Christmas celebrates what Jewish kids have fantasized about for a couple of generations now: an ecumenical Christmas that they can participate in without shocking the neighbors. After all, Jesus was a Jew, wasn’t
Comedy tells of Jewish girl playing Jesus Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — Five deez-dem-and dowz guys are currently chewing up the stage of the Ruskin Group Theatre here. You might think of them as the Sopranos on steroids. In the first of playwright/director Sam Henry Kass’ three one acts, jointly titled Siddown!!! (Conversations with the mob) the terrifically nuanced
3 looks at ‘da mob’ at the Ruskin Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California–What could be more lacerating than a sister’s scorn? Especially if she sits on the board of a prestigious art museum and he is a struggling conceptual artist. That’s the premise and dilemma of Joshua Ravetch’s new four-part play One November Yankee, now having its world premiere at the NoHo Arts Center in North Hollywood.
L.A. Play Reviews: ‘Yankees’ and ‘Pancreas’ Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — I couldn’t get through the book, so now I feel the need to express my apologies to its author, Yann Martel. The film they have made of his novel, Life of Pi, is one of the most exquisite films I have ever seen. It has received rave reviews
‘Pi’ proves far greater than a number sequence Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD, California–They rolled out the pink carpet to celebrate the opening weekend of Jackie “The Pink Lady” Goldberg’s fourth annual musical production, Rockin’ with the Ages – The Beat Goes On! And they have a lot to celebrate: a sassy production written, directed, and choreographed by Cate Caplin, a cast of talented
Seniors strut their stuff in Hollywood musical Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES –Remember when “mutually assured destruction” meant maintaining détente with Russia—or else? As the threat of nuclear war hung like a mushroom cloud over all our heads, the thought that nobody would survive kept everybody from pushing the button. Oh, for the good old days. But wait, there seems to
‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ is a suburban tale Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron BEVERLY HILLS, California–Two men in love with the same woman. And, according to some reports, with each other as well. All living together in a 55-room mansion in the hills. What could possibly go wrong? Everything, as Kathrine Bates’ gripping drama The Manor so skillfully reveals. Set in Beverly Hills’ majestic Greystone Mansion, where many of the events actually unfolded, the play chronicles the
The Haunting of Greystone Mansion Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — If you’re Armenian you’ll love Komitas. If you’re not, the play may seem a little obscure. It’s the story of a 19th century musicologist who made it his life’s work to collect the music of his country—the folk songs, the liturgy, the classics—so that they would remain pure and
‘Komitas’ tells of Armenian genocide and lost music Read More »
Cynthia Citron