A Moving Tragedy
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California –You might think that The Tragedy of the Commons deals with some sort of disaster that befalls Mr. and Mrs. Commons. But no, the commons referred to here is...
View ArticleDance me to the moon
By Cynthia Citron HOLLYWOOD — If you are a Frankie freak—and who among us is not?—you will find no greater pleasure than flying away to the Pantages Theatre before November 6th. There Sinatra reigns...
View ArticlePlay explores if Britain had lost to the Nazis
By Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California — Who would have suspected the sophisticated, debonair, and wittily dismissive Noel Coward to be a mooshy patriot? Anyone who’s ever seen his play Peace...
View ArticleUgandan adoption leads to new play in Burbank
By Cynthia Citron BURBANK, California — If you were an actor whose most recent claim to fame was playing a pimp in the men’s toilet in Central Park, an impromptu trip to Uganda might not seem so...
View ArticlePlaywright envisions Mother Earth awakening from her nap
Story and photo by Cynthia Citron STUDIO CITY, California — “In my family we would scream and yell at each other and then we would have dessert.” In Sherry Glaser’s family, there was a lot to scream...
View Article‘Forgotten’ maybe should have been
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — It’s been a pretty good year for Irish plays. There was War and The Field, both set in an Irish pub, and Lucia Mad, a domestic drama about James Joyce’s family, Sean...
View Article‘The Color of Rose’ explores life of Kennedy matriarch
By Cynthia Citron BEVERLY HILLS, California — In the hands of playwright Kathrine Bates, even history’s certified villains get a sympathetic hearing. Take, for example, Lucrezia Borgia. Bates penned...
View ArticleThree faces of Rose viewable in Beverly Hills
By Cynthia Citron BEVERLY HILLS, California — For those of us who have lived much of our lives in the Kennedy Century, The Color of Rose is a poignant revisit with the fabled family that always...
View Article‘In Darkness’ portrays Holocaust victims hiding in Polish sewers
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES– Many people judge Stephen Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List to be the definitive Holocaust movie. Until now. Giving Spielberg a run for his money is Agnieszka Holland’s...
View Article‘A Separation,’ from Iran, is heart-wrenching movie fare
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — A Separation is probably one of the best films of the year. But it should come with a warning label, because it is not for the faint of heart. It is so intense that it...
View ArticleHelen Hunt is stage manager in new production of Wilder’s ‘Our Town’
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — There must be at least half a dozen people in L.A. who have never seen Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town. If you are one of them, you couldn’t do...
View ArticleDrama, tension, suspense at ‘The Water’s Edge’
By Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California– As Winston Churchill might describe it, Theresa Rebeck’s play The Water’s Edge is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” There re more mixed...
View ArticleThe odyssey of little Lula
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — Quick! Who is Luiz Inacio da Silva? Or do you know him as “Lula”? Would it help if you were told that Time Magazine had named him one of the Most Influential People in...
View Article‘The Lonesome West’ deserves its adjective
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — If there is a loaded shotgun hanging on the living room wall just below the crucifix, you sort of get a hint of the kind of household you’ve entered. In...
View ArticleTheatre professionals analyze role of modern Jewish theatre
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — To paraphrase a very old joke: seven Jews sat down at the table to express 14 different opinions… In fact, they were the opening panel convened by the 31st annual...
View ArticleOne-man show reveals life of Simon Wiesenthal
By Cynthia Citron VENTURA, California –Playwright/director/actor Tom Dugan is in the process of writing his sixth one-man show, The Ghosts of Mary Lincoln. “I’m not playing Mary,” he says, “but I...
View ArticleSpinoza’s trial and excommunication subject of new play
By Cynthia Citron LOS ANGELES — A few days ago, the West Coast premiere of a play by David Ives demonstrated that that imposition of certain religious convictions on the differing beliefs of another...
View ArticlePlay depicting Simon Wiesenthal worth a standing ovation
By Cynthia Citron VENTURA, California– It’s well worth the trip to the Rubicon Theatre, believe me. Tom Dugan is absolutely brilliant as the Nazi hunter, Simon Wiesenthal. And completely Standing...
View ArticleBarbara Bain of ‘Mission Impossible’ fame to star in ‘Why We Have A Body’
By Cynthia Citron SANTA MONICA, California — Barbara Bain, who’s about to open in Why We Have a Body at the Edgemar Center, probably will never top the excitement of her first premiere — her own entry...
View ArticleIf you romanticize writing, check out this Chekhov play
By Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California — Medvedenko the schoolteacher is in love with Masha, the daughter of the manager of a country estate. Masha is in love with Konstantin, a would-be...
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