John Flynn

Burt Grinstead and Laurie Okin in Christopher Shinn's Dying City at Rogue Machine

Lee Melville, a true gentleman and decades-long friend of our theater, died last night. Melville was a critic and editor at Drama-Logue and, most recently, L.A. Stage. More details as they come in.

Christopher Shinn's drama Dying City, about a family in the wake of the Iraq War, being performed at Rogue Machine, is this week's pick. For all the latest new theater reviews, see below.

This week's theater feature is on a one-man show that chronicles five characters, each showing up at a gay bar called the Flash, during a different decade. With this scheme, the play becomes a kind of history of gay attitudes in the U.S.

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Archway Theatre

Tis Pity She's a Whore: Jonny Rodgers and Hannah Skye Wenzel, as brother and sister in lust

The scandal surrounding a love affair between a brother and his sister forms the centerpiece of John Ford's 17th century play, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. Archway Theatre's downtown production is this week's pick. See below for all the latest new theater reviews and comprehensive theater listings.

This week's theater feature profiles the co-creators of a new opera, Dulce Rosa being presented by L.A. Opera at the Broad Stage. It launches L.A. Opera's "Off-Grand Initiative."

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Kate Compton

Andrew Hawkes and Johnny Clark in VS Theater's "Cops and Friends of Cops"

L.A. Weekly critic Lovell Estell III found a police melodrama Cops and Friends of Cops to be a refreshingly unpredictable new play, and made it this week's Pick. Good reviews also for Peter Pan, presented by the Blank Theatre at Second Stage, and Falling for Make Believe, a play about the theater at the Colony. For the latest new theater reviews and comprehensive region-wide listings, see below.

This week's main review looks at Marco Ramirez's The Royale at the Kirk Douglas and Theatre Movement Bazaar's Tennessee Williams riff, Hot Cat.

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James Esposito

Alysia Livingston and Charles Mathers in Do Lord Remember Me

Lovell Estell III found Chromolume Theatre's production of Do Lord Remember Me stirring, and made it this week's Pick. Neal Weaver also found a multimedia Brecht on Brecht at Atwater Village Theater praiseworthy. See below for all the latest new theater reviews and regionwide stage listings.

This week's theater feature looks at a pair of plays in small theaters that examine black-white relations -- Wallace Demmaria's new play Colorblind at Meta Theatre and Herb Gardner's 1985 comedy I'm Not Rappaport at the Pico Playhouse, though the latter is more about aging.

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Kim Chueh

Our Class

Our critic Deborah Klugman found Tadeusz Slobodzianek's drama, about Polish complicity in the German Nazis' persecution of Polish Jews in the 1940s, and presented by Son of Semele Ensemble at Atwater Village Theatre, to be a model of stagecraft and emotional to watch. For all the lastest new theater reviews, see below.

A pair of plays, each performed by two actors, is the topic of this week's theater feature. Bart DeLorenzo directs Annapurna, featuring married couple and comedy duo Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. Meanwhile, The Skylight Theatre presents Allen Barton's Years to the Day at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

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Jean-Louis Darville

Brian T. Finney stars in his own adaptation of Heart of Darkness

Adapter-performer Brian T. Finney has adapted Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness in what Paul Birchall describes as "hypnotic." It's this week's pick of the week. Neal Weaver found charm and passion in Actors' Co-op's revival of The Miracle Worker. See below for all the latest new theater reviews.

David Mamet and Harold Pinter started out in what seemed like the same camp -- politically and aesthetically. You can see it by comparing Mamet's American Buffalo (now at Geffen Playhouse) to Pinter's The Dumb Waiter. So how could two playwrights with such a similar view of the human condition wind up with contrary views of what to do about it? The question is addressed in this week's theater feature.

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Chelsea Sutton

Sean O'Haven and Kevin Blake as Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder in Billy & Ray

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Walter Tabayoyong

Kelly Mullis and Katerina Radivojevic in Marilyn -- My Secret

Marilyn Monroe liked the ladies -- so proposes this week's Pick of the Week, Marilyn -- My Secret, Odalys Nanin and Will Manus' new play in MACHA/Globe Theatre in West Hollywood. See below for all the latest new theater reviews.

Why be a playwright in L.A.? Hollywood's more glamorous. The pay sucks. Find out in this week's theater issue, which includes a profile of playwright and TV writer-producer of True Blood, Alexander Woo. To add some perspective, we asked another five local playwrights why they call L.A. home. Meanwhile, our theater feature takes a look at The Bargain & The Butterfly, Ghost Road Company's adaptation of a Nathaniel Hawthorne story, and Fragments of Oscar Wilde, based on various writings by the Irish iconoclast, at Zombie Joe's Underground. 

Monday is the L.A. Weekly Theater Awards at Avalon Hollywood, hosted by Lost Moon Radio. The theme: theater survives post-apocalypse. Bring your Androids. Tweet the winners while checking up on the NCAA basketball finals. Sounds like paradise to me! You can still purchase tix here. Nominees RSVP to (310) 574-7208, no later than Thursday night, when the hotline will close. See you there!

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Craig Schwartz

Tracie Bennett stars as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow

Tracie Bennett knocked the socks off our critic Tom Provenzano with her impersonation of Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow at the Ahmanson, which he made this week's Pick of the Week. Also Bill Raden had good things to say about S.O.E. -- Jami Brandli's clever, three-character riff on the venerable West End murder mystery The Mousetrap at Atwater Village Theatre -- and Lovell Estell praised Roger Matthew's revival of Trainspotting at the Elephant Theatre. For all the latest New Theater Reviews, see below.

In this week's Theater Feature, Zachary Pincus-Roth gives kudos to Center Theatre Group for premiering a new play by a local scribe, Jennifer Haley's The Nether, though he has mixed feelings about the play itself.

It's L.A. Weekly Theater Awards time: Monday evening, April 8, at Avalon Hollywood. Doors open 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m., hosted by Lost Moon Radio. Theme: Theater's survival post-apocalypse -- dress accordingly. Post-show reception is hosted by Shamshiri Grill. Nominees please RSVP at (310) 574-7208 before Friday, April 5. Friends, family and others, book tickets here.

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Six 01 Studio

Jaimi Paige and Graham Hamilton in Tender Napalm

Pycho-sexual spectacles got nods from our critics this week, including Illyrian Players' Lord Blackberry's Apocalypse and our Pick of the Week, Tender Napalm. Nice reviews also for Doma Theatre Company's Dreamgirls at the MET, Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice at A Noise Within, Latino Theatre Company's Melacholia at LATC and a bio musical about Janis Joplin, One Night With Janis. For all the latest New Theater Reviews, see below.

This week's Theater Feature looks at the latest work by one of our treasured playwrights --Donald Freed -- that mixes a theatrical dynasty with American politics and Macbeth.

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