“Miss America’s Ugly Daughter” — A Runner Up
By Ernest Kearney — " Miss America’s Ugly Daughter" written and performed by Barra Grant, the daughter of Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America, was once, possibly, an entertaining evening.
‘HIR’ — A Gender Bashing Romp not Quite There….
By Ernest Kearney — There is an adage in the creative pursuit of playwriting: “It’s easier to set them up than knock them down.” How this translates, in actuality, is that there exists an awful lot of plays with very strong first acts which then
The Importance of ‘Independence’
By Ernest Kearney — As one devoted to the study of history, I knew of Mary Walker (1832–1919), but I confess, only dimly in being aware that she was the only woman ever to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
“Jocasta” … More a Pity than a Tragedy
By Ernest Kearney — In "Jocasta A Motherf**king Tragedy," Brian Weir and the Ghost Road Theatre Company have taken Sophocles’ classic tale of Oedipus and window-dressed it for the “#metoo” movement.
Sex, Greed and Deception Times Two in “DoubleDouble”
By Ernest Kearney — “DoubleDouble,” playwright Guy Zimmerman reveals in the program notes, “came out of a case I wanted to make for Macbeth being history’s first Angeleno.” Zimmerman attempts to clarify that assertion by hinging the Scottish play to the 1944 classic crime film
“Desert Rats” is not a Wasteland for Audiences
By Ernest Kearney — "Desert Rats" by Nate Rufus Edelman is hardly the first play ever written about a kidnapping. It stands in the shadow of "Orphans" by Lyle Kessler, though Edelman’s work is far better written.
Best of Los Angeles Theatre for 2018
By Ernest Kearney — Many found 2018 a rather soft year for theater, and it possibly was. Or perhaps it only seemed so since the past few years Los Angeles has enjoyed an embarrassment of riches in the sterling productions that have graced her stages.
A Special Devoid of Specialness
By Ernest Kearney — Before we move into the review of Playwright Andrew Osborne’s "Special" directed by Kerr Seth Lordygan at Theatre of Note, you should know of the inspiration behind this production: the legendary, or infamous, "The Star Wars Holiday Special. "
Love Actually Live – Actually Great Fun
By Ernest Kearney — This was my first “mashup” of theatre and film with soundtrack framed within a concert rendering. "Love Actually Live" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts starts off with points for me ahead of the game.
“Fool for Love”— A Rattlesnake Riff of the Heart
By Ernest Kearney — "Fool for Love" by Sam Shepard, which just closed the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood, is not a tidy play. In fact, as far as theatrical experiences go, it shares many of the same traits as Elizabethan bear-baiting; brutal and violent—with