REVIEW: BROKEN FENCES BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The Road Theatre Company continues its 2015-2016 25th anniversary season with the West Coast premiere of the play Broken Fences by Steven Simoncic. The play takes place in a neighborhood on Chicago’s deep West Side where gentrification driven by aggressive capitalism is forcing long-time residents out to make […]

REVIEW: ROMEO AND JULIET BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Of the 37 plays written by William Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet is still a household name after 400 years. Everyone knows the plot of this tragic story: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy loses girl, and boy and girl die, the end. However, […]

REVIEW: A CLASS ACT BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Musical Theatre Guild brings us an evening to remember, the life of composer-lyricist Edward Kleban as portrayed in the musical A Class Act. This quasi-autobiographical musical is based the life of Edward Kleban who died at the age of 48 in 1987 and is best known for […]

REVIEW: CLOSER THAN EVER BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO International City Theatre opens its 2016 season with the updated musical revue Closer Than Ever by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire. The revue is a collection of songs that are presented in a continuous manner and explores a multitude of issues in the modern world. These […]

REVIEW: DREAM BOY BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Celebration Theatre presents the LA premiere of Dream Boy, based on the novel by Jim Grimsley. This play by Eric Rosen skillfully adapts the content, themes and characters of novel into a play that is beautifully natural, raw and captivating on stage. Dream Boy is a poignant tale […]

REVIEW: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO A tale as old as the 18th century, a favorite Disney movie and Broadway’s ninth longest-running production in history—Beauty and the Beast the musical as presented by 3D Theatricals is an enchanting night at the theatre for the whole family. All the songs, characters and more […]

REVIEW: FLY BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The Pasadena Playhouse in conjunction with Crossroads Theatre Company presents the West Coast premiere of Fly by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan. Inspired by the American heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen, Fly dramatizes the story of four American Air Corp fighters who flew over the skies of Europe and […]

REVIEW: PILLARS OF NEW YORK BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Fresh on the heels of a new year, the L.A. theater scene is already seeing the influx of original L.A. musicals like Pillars of New York by Michael Antin. This musical tells the story about four couples’ struggles in and around the events surrounding 9/11 told […]

REVIEW: HAM: A MUSICAL MEMOIR BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The word memoir, although French, has been reduced to a dusty term used to describe the dreary lives of old people; but make it a musical memoir about Sam Harris and what you have is something different—Ham: A Musical Memoir is enthralling. Sam Harris, multi-million selling […]

REVIEW: EMPIRE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Creating and producing an original musical of this magnitude is no easy task, yet co-creators Caroline Sherman and Robert Hull rise to the occasion with Empire the musical. Over 16 years in the making Empire is a tribute to classic musical theater telling the story of the struggle to design and […]