REVIEW: BREAKING THROUGH BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The latest new musical at the Pasadena Playhouse Breaking Through, book by Kristen Guenther and music and lyrics by Cliff Downs and Katie Kahanovitz, offers an all too familiar musical story about artists navigating the murky waters of the music business. Set in the present, the musical focuses […]

REVIEW: WE ARE THE TIGERS BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO With Carrie the Killer Musical Experience, and the television show Scream Queens, We Are the Tigers jumps on the bandwagon of the current L.A. entertainment trend—shows about killing girls who are part of a sorority or cheerleading team. This being said, the timing of this New York […]

REVIEW: CARRIE: THE KILLER MUSICAL EXPERIENCE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The L.A. production of Carrie is raw, electrifying and scathingly dark—everything you would expect from a musical based on a book by Stephen King. With book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore, the original Broadway production officially opened […]

REVIEW: ADDAMS FAMILY BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO If you’re even just a mild fan of The Addams Family TV series, then 3D Theatricals’ production of the Broadway musical The Addams Family is the show for you! This show is modern musical comedy at it’s finest. Even hard-core musical theatre aficionados will appreciate this show, as the […]

REVIEW: A FLEA IN HER EAR BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Mistaken identity, miscommunications, physical antics, secret rendezvous, rotating walls and a cleft palate equals hilarity beyond control. A Noise Within Theatre Company’s production of A Flea in Her Ear is a roller coaster of laughter from beginning to end. As the Southern California regional premiere […]

REVIEW: ANTIGONE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO A Noise Within Theatre Company brings this “tranquil” Greek tragedy to the people in their production of Antigone, based on Jean Anouilh‘s play inspired by Greek mythology and the Sophocles play of the same name from the fifth century B.C. What makes this version even more rare—it is the world […]

REVIEW: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO The Pasadena Playhouse revival of the Josefina Lopez play Real Women Have Curves is a production that touches the soul and encourages self-reflection. There are many important themes wrapped up in this play about a group of five Latina, curvy women working in a tiny sewing […]

REVIEW: BONNIE & CLYDE BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO Another opening, another closing, and both on the same night true to Musical Theater Guild fashion, as their fantastic production of the Frank Wildhorn (music), Don Black (lyrics), and Ivan Menchell (book) musical Bonnie & Clyde graces the stage of the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Despite the […]

REVIEW: WELCOME TO MY WORLD By Ryan M. Luévano Billed as ‘a brand new one-girl musical,’ Welcome to My World (book, music, lyrics and directed by Bruce Kimmel) gives the impression that there are many ‘one-GIRL musicals’ when there are none, even one-woman musicals are few and far between. Unlike plays, though also challenging, one-person (man, […]

REVIEW: ASSASSINS By Ryan M. Luévano The Pico Playhouse gives refuge to John Weidman and Steven Sondheim’s Assassins, a musical about nine real-life people who both attempted and succeeded in killing U.S. Presidents. This production’s high-level dramatic, aesthetic and performance elements break down the walls of the 99-seat theatre and bring us a production that’s […]