REVIEW: RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The name John Dolphin is far from a household name and what he did is just as obscure, yet when this mere blip of history is brought to the stage as in Recorded in Hollywood, the dots of past and present ultimately connect—if only for the show’s duration. The musical, […]

REVIEW: LIBERTY A MONUMENTAL NEW MUSICAL BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Liberty A Monumental New Musical tells a delightful story of this iconic monument that’s a symbol of American freedom with a reverence for history, but doesn’t quite reach the top in terms of dramatic artistry and compelling storytelling. However, the musical does give Americans and […]

REVIEW: DREAMLAND BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Another L.A. born musical has recently surfaced at the NoHo Arts Center for a brief weekend run. The musical, Dreamland by John Francis Smith (Emmy Award winner as head writer and co-executive producer of Young and the Restless) and his daughter Asia Ray Smith, tells the story of an […]

REVIEW: ALL THE BEST KILLERS ARE LIBRARIANS  BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Anyone who loves a good assassin movie will appreciate the premise of Bob DeRosa’s new play All the Best Killers Are Librarians. The plot concerns a shy librarian named Margo who meets a man who hires and trains the best assassins, convinced she is […]

REVIEW: ALIEN VS. MUSICAL BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The battle between alien and musical theater characters continues at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival as the infamous musical Alien Vs. Musical is back with a new and extended version. Creators Erik Przytulski and Steve Troop have developed a piece that’s both the product of the edgy […]

REVIEW: THUG TUNNEL BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Original musicals are one of the most difficult things to write and in the case of Hollywood Fringe, sometimes just as difficult to sit through. This is because often writers simply are not aware of the intricacies involved in writing a good musical—this is a especially a challenge […]

REVIEW: THIRTEEN’S SPRING BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO In this year’s over 300 Hollywood Fringe theater works, you’ll find that most of them are comedies, upbeat musicals, edgy or experimental works. The Moving Art Collective brings us something different and poignant, the world premiere of Thirteen’s Spring, a historical drama about Anne Frank. At this point many […]

REVIEW: BROADWAY NOIR BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO One of the best things about the Hollywood Fringe Festival is that you can see a huge variety of theater works in all stages of creation from experimental, workshop, to a finished product. And time has proven that musicals always require more work-shopping than any other due to […]

REVIEW: THE CITY OF CONVERSATION BY RYAN LUÉVANO It’s election season and you can tell because everyone and their dog is letting you know their polarized opinion on social media, whether you want to see it or not—that’s our 21st century floor for debate. The Wallis’ West Coast premiere of Anthony Giardina’s play The City […]

REVIEW: L.A. NOW AND THEN BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Movie palaces, yo-yos, hula-hoops, the Pan Pacific Auditorium, C.C. Brown’s, Wallichs Music City, disco, the 1962 Dodgers and a time before cellphones—how many of these do you remember? Whether you remember them, or even know what they are, the new musical revue L.A. Now and Then […]