Cynthia Citron

By Cynthia Citron  NORTH HOLLYWOOD –So there’s one cast (the Kinsmen). Then there’s another (the Thanes). And then there are the Hurlyburlys. It’s the Antaeus Company’s way of making sure that if an actor is called away in the middle of a run to star in a film by Ron Howard or a TV show […]

By Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California– If a play’s success can be measured by the amount of meat it offers you to chew on, and the length of time it takes for you to digest it, then That Good Night can be considered a success. For the first act, at least. A totally dysfunctional family,

By Cynthia Citron BURBANK, California —  Whose God is it, anyway? In Evan Smith’s sparkling new play The Savannah Disputation, the question is anything but moot. Especially not to Melissa (Rebecca Mozo), a permanently perky proselytizer from one of those religions that consider it their mission to show everyone the error of their ways. Melissa

By Cynthia Citron  HOLLYWOOD — When you go to see a play by Theresa Rebeck you can generally be assured that it will be a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theater. But not this time. Our House, currently having its west coast premiere at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood, is an over-the-top dramedy about the dumbing-down

By Cynthia Citron BEVERLY HILLS, California —  “History is written in black and white, but life is lived in shades of gray.” In this case, the “shades of gray” refers not only to the ambiguous judgments of history, but also to the colors worn by the defeated soldiers of the secessionist Confederacy during the Civil

By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — There were a lot of f-words in the Oscar-winning movie Sideways.  And I’m not talking alliteration here.  But the words were somehow mitigated by the dazzling scenery of the California wine country and the luminous performances of Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church. In Sideways The Play, however,

By Cynthia Citron BURBANK, California —   No matter how intently you pay attention, No Way Around But Through doesn’t make a lot of sense. Billed as a “dark romantic comedy,” this new play by actor/playwright Scott Caan is intermittently comic but persistently cranky rather than dark.  As for romance, Caan, who plays Dano on

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — “Here at the Geffen, I consider myself a curator of a museum of theatrical fare,” said Randall Arney, artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse. Arney was responding to the question posed by Terence McFarland, CEO of the LA STAGE Alliance: “What is artistic direction and how can you tell

By Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD —  If you’re pining for perfect pratfalls, you’ve got to see Stoneface because its star, French Stewart, has them down prat. Stewart, best known for his six seasons as the alien Communicator in TV’s 3rd Rock from the Sun, displays a breathtaking physicality as he portrays comedy icon Buster Keaton in a role custom-tailored for

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — Sonny Burl is a country music star who can fill a stadium with his voice and his guitar.  You may never have heard of him, but he is the focal point of Mark Roberts’ play Where the Great Ones Run, now having its West Coast premiere at Theatre Theater in

By Cynthia Citron    LOS ANGELES — A rather persnickety lady from Newton, Massachusetts wanders into a beauty salon in Framingham, forms an unlikely friendship with the hairdresser, and keeps coming back regularly for 40 years. That would seem to be loyalty above and beyond, since the distance between Newton and Framingham is the same as

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — I discovered something very interesting when I interviewed poet-playwright Murray Mednick last week: If you want to get a provocative interview, start by making the subject angry. I begin by remarking, quite innocently, that I don’t understand his plays. Innocent, but terminally tactless. “You want me to explain my plays

 By Cynthia Citron     BEVERLY HILLS, California — In my view, it’s cause for rejoicing when a play is beautifully written and is performed by actors who are at least as brilliant as the writing.  Mostly because it doesn’t happen all that often.   Two new shows demonstrate what I mean.   Love Struck, which opened at the

By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — “A review is something I read before I see a play. A critique is something I read after,” actress Deidrie Henry said. She was responding to a question about the distinction between reviews and criticism posed by LA Stage Alliance CEO Terence McFarland, who was serving as moderator of a