During Empire Entertainment's famous white party, Lucious reminds Jamal that music is the truth. So Jamal explains his sexual preference

People are funny. In the way we keep making the same mistakes. Even when we're conscious of our tendency to run

By Ernest Kearney — " Coasterthon Catastrophe: An Amusement Park Musical" is a rough, dopey, kinda silly, rather

Well if you don't know Spike Milligan you darn well should. Along with Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine, and Peter Sellers,

Henry Mayhew, in 1841, named his pioneering humor magazine after the gleeful little murdering bastard. Neil Gaiman sought him out

The Echo Theater Company is one of the newer jewels in the crown of Los Angeles theatre, and with their

What: BBC America’s Psychological Detective Thriller— One Night, Three Hour Movie Event TVolution Quick Take Summary: We thought we’d seen the

Two more clips released from HBO with hints at what we can expect this coming season: Cersei Lannister all but threw

[May 30, 2018] Stars of Broadway, music, movies and television sparkle as the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival (LAWTF) comes

By Ernest Kearney  — The Fountain Theatre's production of  "Runaway Home" by playwright Jeremy J. Kamps, is a cannonade of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYJyVEUaC4 So Leslie Gore is crying because someone messed with her party? She’s clearly not a 2016 Republican. The sound you hear out

 By Ernest Kearney  —  "Gloria," the Pulitzer Prize-finalist, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is best described as an E-Ticket ride to the

"Comic-Con The Musical" celebrates that Mecca of Nerd-dom, The San Diego Comic-Con International aka Comic-Con. Four magical days every

Loser! The Tweet Defeat of Donald Trump did not begin with “Liddle’ Bob Corker” and his oh-so-devastating viral tweet: https://twitter.com/SenBobCorker/status/917045348820049920? Wham! Impressive. But

Check the trailer for Sense8 from the creative minds of the Wachowskis, Grant Hill and J. Michael Straczynski. Streaming everywhere

Whatever had you Sherlocked from Hello, one thing is not up for debate… we all want the duo back for

Periodically in the theatre certain works crop up at the most crucial of times arising in answer to some distinct

The Boundless Artists Theatre Company has presented Fringe audiences with a production of the fairy tale The Little Mermaid, which

By Ernest Kearney  —  If you watch enough of the shows produced by that Fringe stalwart Michael Blaha you realize

By Ernest Kearney  —  David Lucarelli’s "Doctor Zomba’s Ghost Show of Terror" is straight forward fun.  As directed by Kevin

WHEN TO WATCH: Pick a broadcast network and watch the nightly news. Any day. Or pick a cable network opinion-veiled-as-news

I expected President Drumpf to embarrass himself—and us by proxy—when he went abroad last month. He did not disappoint, so

The Goodwill store outlets are a treasure trove for the adventurous DVD hunter. After extended practice I can breeze through the

By Ernest Kearney  — I once taught a class entitled “Industry Reality 101.” The purpose of the class was

by Ernest Kearney - Epics tend to be about champions, giant defeaters, kingdom conquerors, warriors of a thousand battles.

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 14. 2016) — Members of L.A.’s “PRO-99” theater community continue to gather signatures to demand a new

In “The King’s Language,” writer/director Chris Yejin, has presented the Fringe with an entertaining and intelligent little history lesson of

Wendy Williams stops by Books and Books in Coral Gables to sign her new book Ask Wendy. How you doin'?

American Falls by Miki Johnson is a lovely and touching piece of writing. It is a work about time and history,

The year 2015 is slipping away into history, and more importantly into memory. We are oblivious to the value of memory

Director, Christopher Johnson is too clever by half, which is clearly demonstrated in his current Fringe offering: a raucous, genderbending,

By Ernest Kearney  —  I can’t say I am very conversant with the 17th century Spanish Playwright Tirso de Molina. 

I'm a huge fan of The Voice, let me say that to begin. The elements of the blind auditions that

We've all heard it. Someone channel surfing tosses the remote aside and says: "Over a hundred channels and nothing's on

There have been a number of performances that will travel with me for quite some time during Hollywood Fringe 2017…

by Ernest Kearney — In "This Land," at The Company of Angels, playwright Evangeline Ordaz, uses a parcel of earth

I initially reviewed John Posey’s one man show, Father, Son & Holy Coach when it played at the Whitefire Theatre

Wow. That’s about the most apropos comment across the board on Squeeze My Cans, Cathy Schenkelberg’s riveting, heart wrenching and ultimately

The Hollywood Fringe Festival is a premier example of a thriving Los Angelean creative arts scene. Modeled after the famed Edinburgh

...

Seven years prior to American Idol breaking out on Fox to become one of the most successful and talked about

The Hollywood Fringe Festival's Week One Diary—Part III is all about the Bard who is nicely represented this year with a

By Ernest Kearney — "Earhart: More Than A F**king Mystery" is your basic fun-time show.  It doesn’t go into the

Welcome to Springtime TV Madness: Sarah Manning faces off against manic Castor Clone Rudy (Ari Millen) aka "Scarface." Watch "The Weight of this

Well, the ninth of June, the official kick off for Hollywood Fringe 2016, is quickly approaching. Like some huge lumbering

by Ernest Kearney  —  I do have a soft spot for weird sci-fi flicks - The History of Future Folk

If not for a twist of fate and a bit of luck we might never have been witness to David

At 100% full on energy the entire night, Garth Brooks IS the ultimate entertainer. From the moment he takes the

I must admit an admiration for Tricia Aurand’s undertaking in "Nicaea." Not only does she present an historical tale, but

The Robey Theatre Company and Los Angeles Theatre Center have partnered for the staging of "Dr. Du Bois and Miss

...Not even close. Primaries are the tribal councils of this metaphorical Survivor season. That’s because opinion polls and voting are not the same

The American election season never ends with the election. Not anymore. Nailing the president-elect for reneging on his second-biggest campaign promise

The Algerian War, 1954-1962 is a struggle, all but, forgotten today in the West. For brutality, employment of terrorism, and the

Surprise. You don't have to be a zombie movie lover to enjoy the three part mini-series premiering tonight on BBC

For the most part, Korean cinema has not rung the dong for me. I Saw the Devil (2010) Kim Jee-woon’s brutal and

By Ernest Kearney — At the very least, congratulations must be bestowed on Writer/Director Amit Itelman’s "Bride of Blood" as

Starting June 1st and running throughout the entire month Hollywood Fringe 2017 will be offering up 356 shows; all vying

Conceived, written and produced by Linden Waddell — who also performs, with Miller directing — Hello Again! The Songs of

"Shakeslesque" is a playfully amusing blend of Bard and boobs; a racy, randy raucous romp in which the buxom babes

Round One has begun, a first clang! in the bruising prize fight that Donald Trump’s presidency threatens to become. It’s

There were Poirots before him. There will be Poirots to follow. Right now, for over seven hundred and fifty million

by Ernest Kearney — Forough Farrokhzad was the subject of Sussan Deyhim’s The House is Black which I recently reviewed

Full disclosure: I am not a fan of the shows of playwright Peter Lefcourt and director Terri Hanauer. Their prior productions,

Is anyone still criticizing quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem? “Some people say” that his actions are

I love Shakespeare. Straight up. If I could cook him down I'd probably be mainlining the Bard. Any Shakespeare junkie has a

By Ernest Kearney — In Eugene O’Neill’s, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” in production at the Wallis through

First a bit of Irish history. The Black and Tans were a force of mostly former soldiers enrolled in the

By Steve Schlich — Above: #PlaidShirtGuy mocks Trump at a Montana rally. He (and friends) were eventually shooed off-camera, but

By Ernest Kearney  —  "Fresh Meat" is set in a dystopian future where the world order seems to have fused into

“Drumpf – that’s the sound of shit hitting the wall, and sticking.” — a tweet from @slothlax A couple of weeks

By Ernest Kearney  —  Set in the Florida Keys during a raging hurricane "Spaceman," by Writer/Director Melissa Vitello, plays like

In "The Girl who Jumped off the Hollywood Sign" written and performed by Joanne Hartstone, under the direction of Vince

By Ernest Kearney  —  "Pretty Dead Girl – A Musical Necromance."  There’s a title that holds promise, wouldn’t you say?

Star Bill Nighy and writer/director David Hare on the character evolution of Johnny Worricker, his true intentions, and where he

By Ernest Kearney  —  We are told by author Alan L. Brooks, he is "a doctor, not a playwright –

It is always a pity when a show falls through the cracks, and with 375 Fringe 2017 shows that is

ShoWorks Entertainment has traveled from South Africa to stage two offerings at the Fringe, both written by South African playwright

We love Angela Lansbury. And PBS announced today, "She's ba-a-a-ck." Dame Lansbury with Michael Gambon will head the cast in

In "Andy: The Red-Nosed Warhola," director/adapter Ezra Buzzington has crafted a swift, stylish and oh so entertaining rendering of the

In the 1998 film Bulworth, Warren Beatty played a disillusioned politician who puts out a contract on himself, and then feels

Ana Lily Amirpour's intelligent and superbly crafted film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is definitely a world view

Indeed, four men like them, four men devoted to each other from their money to their lives, four men always

Arms and the Man is one of George Bernard Shaw’s most appealing plays; which is what he intended it to

When I think that political discourse has hit a new low--twice a week these days--I sometimes remind myself of the

Ironic, isn’t it? We’ve endured eight years of haters excoriating Barack Obama for his use of teleprompters, and a year of repeated

By Ernest Kearney — Well I can’t say that I was able to discern the “three short plays, written by

Forever Flamenco, have I said it once?  Have I said it twice?  I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve

"Ascent" features the talents of dancer Adam Kerbel and Taiko drummer Shih-Wei Willie Wu in a fusion piece that displays

A HORSE WITH A VIEW Last year Christopher Piehler delighted audiences with Reserve Champion, an autobiographical tale of how as a

By Darwyn Carson — Writer/Performer Katt Balsan is a force of a singular nature. You can catch her through the

I love speaking to a kindred soul whose passions are rooted in another field different from mine. It always fascinates

In his latest recorded musical venture, Grammy-winning jazz pianist Billy Childs takes on the music legacy of Laura Nyro–and the

By Ernest Kearney  —  "American Conspiracy," playing during the Hollywood Fringe 2018 at The Lounge Theatre, recounts the trials and

“Hell is really cold, wet and smells like fish.” In the tale of his time as a greenhorn on a commercial

By Ernest Kearney  —  In my opinion, Long Beach’s International City Theatre artistic director, caryn desai has a genius for

What can be said about A Haunted House 2? My, it is rare to see such a testament to mediocrity.

The personalities with whom playwright, Steven Vlasak populates “Nights at the Algonquin Round Table” are some the most acerbic wits,

Santiago Cabrera is Aramis.  Though they are, the four of them, multilayered individuals, Aramis would seem to be the one

The main stage for How to Get Away With Murder is a university lecture hall full of bright, eager, first-year,

There are more individuals whose talents deserve some Note of Distinction this year, and we, at TheTVolution wish the privilege

By Ernest Kearney Playwright Greg Kalleres opens "Meanwhile Back at the Super Lair" interestingly enough; with a

By Ernest Kearney — Bad Jews at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble was hard for me to watch. Hard in the same

OMG moments on Empire: • While trying to steal a top rap artist from a rival music competitor, Lucious and Anika

By Ernest Kearney — And here they are

Queen Latifah stars as the legendary Bessie Smith whose talent and perseverance resulted in her becoming an iconic "Empress of

The old elephants in the room for Republicans—racism, sexism, disdain for the poor (to name a few)—are no longer invisible

By Ernest Kearney —  A small town unemployed knuckle-dragging ne'er-do-well (Adam Ferguson) is approached by a producer of reality TV

I always feel a kinship between August Wilson and the ancient Greek playwrights. Like the dramas of Euripides and other Athenian

The Latino Theater Company offers up a first-class troupe for the world premiere of Jonathan Ceniceroz’s “The Cruise.”

Modern technlogy has given Barry Manilow the opportunity to record "dream" duets with his own musical heroes on MY DREAM

By Ernest Kearney — This is Festival Fringe Time in Hollywood 2018 -Part II. This being Hollywood Fringe,

If that be the fashion of your dreams then I say hold on to those dreams

The Tragedy of JFK (as told by Wm. Shakespeare) is cleverly conceived, beautifully acted and stylishly staged. (If this review

By Steve Schlich  —  Admit it: you’ve clicked on the link “How the Right Lost Its Mind” and read with anxious

With hardly an exception the American Experience historical programs are gems. That the dumb heads in congress have succeeded in

The film opens with a laconic, heart rendering simple and sincere shriving, "I'm sorry. I know that means little at

By Ernest Kearney  —  "Baba, Jee (Father, Yes)" is a solidly written, smartly directed and tightly performed piece. The story

By Ernest Kearney  —  "Easy Targets: Artists and Heroes" doesn’t quite reach the same heady heights as the Burglars of Hamm’s HHF17

Let's imagine one could take a heaping jigger of Citizen Kane, another of Blade Runner, pour in a dash of

For those of you who are unschooled in America’s favorite pastime, Van Lingle Mungo was a Major League pitcher who

Forever Flamenco is back at the Fountain Theatre, which is cause for celebration. I am a self admitted aficionado, whose been

Office Beat: A Tap Dance Comedy playing now at 2016's Hollywood Fringe: A review

"Monsters, John! Monsters from the Id!" That's the warning delivered by a dying Warren Stevens to Captain Leslie Nielson just before

"The Second Coming of Klaus Kinski" writer, performer Andrew Perez presents Kinski and all his demons with such unnerving commitment

This is actually a treatment, the longer form that follows a successful pitch …because a treatment is longer and lots

THE PLATINUM MEDALS: BRIGHT SWORDS THE LEGEND OF BOBBY DARIN: AN UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY SIMON CORONEL: GLITCHES IN REALITY TIANANMEN ANNIE NO TRAVELER: A COMEDY ABOUT

Playwright Michael Leoni’s characters connected with the audience to an intense degree, and yet

The TVolution Hollywood Fringe Festival Awards Coming Soon!

I haven’t teased you with a Survivor metaphor in months. Well, the last time someone got voted off the island was in

THE GOLD MEDALS: ANNA IN THE DARKNESS LA LA LA STRADA NELL GWYNNE – A DRAMATICK ESSAYE ON ACTING AND PROSTITUTION SHAKESPEARE'S LAST NIGHT

Placas: The Most Dangerous Tattoo has only a week left on its limited run at Casa 0101 in Boyle Heights,

Let’s say you’re a hotshot movie producer and I’m this schlub of a writer who thinks he’s bringing the next

It's nearly here

How rare a thing; a thinking man's sci-fi both stimulating and satisfying. Penned by Jerome Bixby known for such works

Photo above is from Creative Commons: “hacker army 2.0” by Rodrigo Paoletti is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Playwright Laurel M. Wetzork has filled Blueprint for Paradise, now playing at the Hudson Theatre, with fascinating tidbits plucked from

Well once again you have the opportunity of experiencing one of the true treats of L.A. Sunday, May 22 – Forever

At 11:30 on New Year’s Eve, a friend asked me what actual “new” things would come in 2016. The political

By Ernest Kearney  —   There is nothing so evasive as engendering effective and credible dread in a live theatre environment.

Above: July 18, 2017 MSNBC screen grab. At you thought he couldn’t look stupider! Let’s be truthful about the reason that

Candidates, hang yourselves! Nobody does it better than you. The victories scored by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the April

By Ernest Kearney  — Bill Posley’s superbly slick, and raucously funny show, "The Day I Became Black," reveals to

Long-awaited "Game of Thrones'" Season Seven—winner of 12 Emmy's just last September, remember— is no longer coming. It's Here: July

Ivo Van Hove’s production now at the Ahmanson has worked through both London and New York with great triumph.

Who's your favorite? Time to decide! My best guess as to who ends up on the high ground would be: Team Stark

A few weeks back, Molly Ball wrote in the Washington Post about the 2016 Presidential Campaign’s “…rich irony that America's

For me, the internet can be like standing in line at the supermarket. Oh, those tabloids! My eye is also

Here you have reviews of two shows The Princes of Kings Road at the Neutra Institute Museum and Gallery, and Café

Even the best magicians never actually do magic—they give you a believable illusion that they are performing the impossible. Mostly,

Hollywood Fringe, Week One —Part IV  The main stays of any Fringe are the solo performances; one-man shows, one-woman, one-whatever shows.

By Ernest Kearney - "House of Tales" is bursting with concepts and ideas to the point of avalanching the audience

When I first heard news of a weekly series set in hip hop and R&B music industry with a predominately

By Ernest Kearney  —  Writer/director Giovanni Zuniga has succeeded in doing what few playwrights seldom do: knock one out of

If The Honorable Woman was the bravest Freshman Drama of Summer 2014, Extant was the Most Surprising. Academy Award winner Halle

"There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven't yet done." B.B. King   The summer of

By Ernest Kearney  —  Melanie Holmes’s "Negative Spaces" takes us into a strange and unsettling place.  Lily (Holmes) and her

By Ernest Kearney  —  There is a great deal of love and passion that has gone into Shannon Penrod’s one

Well Hollywood Fringe 2016 has come to a close and with it comes the last of the Round Ups

…and the biggest problem with democracy is that every damn fool gets one vote. You heard me right. The metric

Abigail/1702 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has received its West Coast premiere at Long Beach's International City Theatre. As usual, the production

Four Chords and a Gun at the Bootleg Theater, which relates the stories of when The Ramones worked with Phil

By Ernest Kearney  — "Dracula's Taste Test" is no great shakes, but neither does it hold itself up as anything else.

by Ernest Kearney — Playwright Henry David Hwang has joined the ranks of an exclusive group. James Thurber the humorist best

by Ernest Kearney — The Australian Theatre Company's "Grey Nomad" by Dan Lee is the tale of Helen (Ros Gentle)

Acorn TV’s most recent original dramedy: the small-village, untrained, but good at crime solving diva, Agatha Raisin.

By Ernest Kearney  —  The Open Fist Company under Ben Martin’s skillful direction have done well by Author Dylan Thomas

Playwright Adam Peck's "Bonnie & Clyde" brushes aside the legendary elements of the Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow story, putting

I’m wondering how I will suit up for the coming debates. No need to choose. I’ll don wings and a

This is a lovely little documentary about the history of American ventriloquism over the last 70 years. While not comprehensive

As I write this, it’s just a few days until the crucial Wisconsin primary, and the impossible is seemingly in

Pete Docter began Inside Out with a seedling of an idea, after he noticed the transition that his adolescent daughter

Here's the bulletin: A tough new detective, year 1864, is coming to our airwaves. Tom Weston-Jones stars in BBC America's,

By Ernest Kearney  —  Blind Spots by Colette Freedman is political, witty and confounding.  Gretchen Baxter (Veronica Wylie) is a

I’m a big mouth white guy of Irish descent who, most likely, has ancestral ties to former President Barrack Obama,

Under the direction of Giovanna Sardelli, solid performances command the stage, in a new work by Rajiv Joseph; author of

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends We're so glad you could attend Come inside! Come inside! There behind the

Back in the days of the Soviet Union, there were two official newspapers: Pravda (“The Truth”) and Izvestiya (“The News”). A

By Ernest Kearney  —  "Uncivil Correctness: Joan Rivers, Abbie Hoffman, Bin Laden," apparently, began as a class project and, unfortunately,

Sarah Manning is the key. She is brave, brash and ballsy. It’s one or a combination of these traits that

Frankly, I wasn’t planning on writing this review. I saw the show, and well

A friend of mine, (one who knows I’ve just finished a year long project of re-reading the Bible—for the fifth

Netflix is shooting out product faster than the bullet train. The Jason Bateman starrer, "Ozark," streaming now, is sprinting toward

A recap of The Musketeers — Season One. Season Two begins January 17, 9/8c only on BBC America.

Both Alton Sterling and Philando Castile told the officer who shot them, “I have a gun.” They may have thought

Not only will I tip my hat to The Coeurage Theatre Company, but if you don't tip your hat as

Americans should watch this film, especially those who pride themselves, as I, patriotic Americans. Now honestly this is not an

Here’s a quickie to help you prepare for the Republican debate on Thursday August 9. In 2012, my wife and

By Ernest Kearney —  The Burglars of Hamm are a delightfully merry and madcap lot. And if you needed proof of

Our culture shoots black men. Kills them. And our culture acquits their killers—if they are the police. This headline grabbed

The Antaeus Theatre Company always amazes me. The work they do is of the highest quality, and the actors that make

Cyanne McClairian’s one woman show, I Died

by Ernest Kearney — "Bright Star," currently on stage at the Ahmanson Theatre, is the epitome of what the Broadway

By Ernest Kearney — The other night my lovely wife Marlene and I were out walking with a couple of

Once upon a time there was born a brilliant musician. Leon Russell. A Poem Is A Naked Person gets close to

The Americans, season 4 premiere 10pm, Weds. (March, 16) on FX. Be prepared for a whip-lash year. Now, it’s possible you

It opens with a real-life catastrophic event: a meteor the size of a small house hits a small town in

Last year, I wrote that In The Flesh was not your typical zombie apocalyptic tale. Those of you who watched

Well another Fringe has come and gone. I attended 60 shows and managed to review 55 (denoted by the asterisk:

By Ernest Kearney —  There is nothing as intoxicating as watching a Performance – capital “P.”  It matters little if

"La Razón Blindada," by Argentinean playwright Aristides Vargas, achieves many things on stage; it is disturbing and insightful, but more

By Ernest Kearney  —  When the Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was found on April 14, 1930—a suicide at the age

Schadenfreude [shahd-n-froi-duh] noun. Satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune. Serve it up ice cold! Tribal Council finally arrived. Two of ’em.

Okay, a quick side bar. My mother came to Los Angeles in the early '50s as a single parent. She was a

The train metaphor was spot-on when Trump was unstoppable. And it would be easy to call what’s happening now a

Here you have reviews of two shows The Princes of Kings Road at the Neutra Institute Museum and Gallery, and Café

The Hollywood Fringe Festival 2015 has drawn to a close. The following is the Medal Tally for the 57 Shows I attended: 13

By Ernest Kearney — Writer/Performer Kathryn Taylor Smith has accomplished something remarkable with her one woman show "A

For the first decade of this century I didn't pay much attention to the music business. After close to 30

A life lacking passion is paralysis. The particular focus of that passion counts for beans. Take your pick: Video Games, Persian rugs,

I can always appreciate Long Beach's International City Theatre even when I don't necessarily enjoy a particular production. Case in point

…and tracks it all over our political kitchen floor! Not that the place was spotless to begin… This edition was supposed

Not much delivers more joy than the reup of a favorite TV show. Case in point: The third season of