PODCAST · arts
Opening the Curtain
by KCRW
Musings on what Los Angeles theater is - and can be. Want to know more? Subscribe to Anthony's weekly Theater newsletter.
Episodes
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Matt’s Text
KCRW's longtime producer, host and cheerleader, Matt Holzman, who died Sunday, only texted me once about my reviews. Matt Holzman is the reason I'm at KCRW.
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What do we do in the theatre when there is no theater?
At the most fundamental level, the theater connects artists with an audience at one time, in one space. That's about presence. You show up at eight o'clock, the lights come up, you see a show. We are together. Dig deeper and the connection gets vastly more rich and complicated. Connecting with an...
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‘Home’ review: domestic magic and the fleeting American dream
The show "Home" begins with a magic trick. When you walk into the theater, you see an empty stage. As the show begins, an unassuming man, played by the show’s creator Geoff Sobelle, walks from the audience to the stage to survey things.
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Four Larks’ creepy and gorgeous ‘Frankenstein’ will punch you in the gut
"Frankenstein" is a major work and a major leap for Four Larks: it’s a dark and visually stunning play but it's also a concert, opera, musical and a dance piece all in one. “Frankenstein” will punch you in the gut.
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‘Found’ Review: Finding a musical in scraps of paper
Every couple of years LA's intimate theaters produce a musical that gives the big theaters a run for their money. Right now it’s IAMA Theatre Company's "Found: A New Musical." It starts off a little awkwardly. We're in a bar in Chicago with some disgruntled 30 somethings. Denise, the bartender,...
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'Revenge Song' review: Geek theatre rules!
Did you ever have a nerdy friend in high school? Or maybe you were the nerdy friend? Someone who was super into anime, comic books, sword fights; always had a corny joke or a geeky pop-culture reference; totally into cosplay; also super smart and knew really weird but cool stuff about history?...
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The loss of the LA Weekly will drive you nuts
In the first scene of playwright Steven Leigh Morris' new play "Red Ink," our protagonist makes a cri-du-coeur: "What was he thinking?...Why would a successful business man do to his own property?"
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Are we listening?
Dael Orlandersmith's one-woman show "Until the Flood" is set in and around Ferguson, Missouri. It's 2014, immediately after Michael Brown was shot 6 times by a police officer. Ferguson erupted in protest. The following year, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis commissioned Ms. Orlandersmith to…
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What does the constitution mean to you?
You know how the constitution has a preamble? "We the people of the United States ..."? Okay, before you go see the play "What the Constitution Means to Me" (and you definitely need to go see this play) - you should probably imagine a preamble to the play … not a disclaimer exactly, just an...
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What’s happening at REDCAT?
Miwa Matreyek’s work doesn’t fit neatly into a simple box.
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Roll with it
Stephen Adly Guirgis play "Between Riverside and Crazy" is one of those scripts that plays very differently outside of New York.
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Theater for a new year
Happy New Year! LA theater is all about women in the new year. There are one woman shows, re-imagining women from history. Here’s a quick list of the shows I’m looking forward to this spring. Let’s start with a hit one-woman show … that now stars another woman.
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Best of 2019 LA Theatre: the gender act.
Okay, Best of LA Theatre 2019 part two. Last week, I shared plays that tackled race head on. This week, one last favorite production that made an audience confront how race haunts our national drama from an unlikely source: The Getty Villa.
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“Best of 2019 LA Theatre: the race act.”
It’s time for the best of theatre of 2019. Like last year, the best theatre in Los Angeles - the theater that spoke with the clearest voice this year - was political. But where last year the politics had to do broadly with who was leading who. This year, the politics were mostly about race and...
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A male swan’s spell
Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” is the production that 24 years ago catapulted Mr. Bourne’s work into the international spotlight. Famously, he reimagines Tchaikovsky’s ballet about women trapped as swans by an evil sorcerer's spell -- into the tragic and heroic story of a closeted prince…
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A big play in a tiny space
A couple of years ago "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" was a big play. By big I mean it got a Broadway production, it won Tony awards, it went on a national tour - you know, big play. But here's the thing, it's not really a big play in a broadway sense. It's a really beautiful...
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Punk? Or Poser?
Remember being a teenager? If you are now or ever were a teenager, you've probably had to navigate some tricky social waters. Who's cool? Who's a poser? Who are your people? Those are some of the questions at the heart of Circle X's production of "punkplay" ... but in a very particular time period.
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A holiday cab
I’m guessing the last thing you need is another “to do” on your holiday list…but I want you to add one more. You need to go see “Jitney” at the Mark Taper Forum.
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Theatre tip: just use white people
There’s a problem with school Thanksgiving plays. But not in the particular high school drama classroom you can see onstage at the Geffen. Logan, the drama teacher, is finally getting to make her Thanksgiving school play and it’s going to right those wrongs.
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Comfort food comedy with a dark side
The setup at the center of Mike Birbiglia's one-man show "The New One" is not particularly new. In fact, it's familiar trope: the reluctant dad.
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An essential journey
You need to drive to Pasadena and see a 3 hour play. Okay, I know that's a big ask so let me break down why the trip is worth it. Greg T. Daniel's production of "Gem of the Ocean" is important... and it carries the weight of a ton of history both locally and for us as a nation.
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Internal thoughts becoming external cues
It’s not that often that stunning design is the reason to go see LA’s intimate theatre. But design is really the reason to go see Son of Semele’s production of Sarah Kane’s play “4:48 Psychosis.”
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Seeing Beckett through a clown's eyes
Think of something you love. Something you’re really passionate about; something that, at least in your mind, can either be done right or really wrong. Maybe it’s a sport? Or a recipe? Or maybe even a kiss. When that thing’s good, it feeds your soul. When it’s bad … well, sometimes you’d rather...
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When a play is more of a story
What’s the difference between a dramatic story and a play? That’s the question that nervously filled my mind with the first words of “How the light gets in” at Boston Court.
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When is a “Handjob” more than a handjob?
Erik Patterson’s play “Handjob” does indeed include a handjob. So if you’re the kind of person who might be offended by that or by male frontal nudity then this play might, oddly, be perfect for you. Stick with me.
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Holding an imperfect mirror up to LA (vida loca)
This isn’t an easy story to hear but judging by the sold out crowds and standing ovation - it’s a journey that is letting a community see a reflection of itself and their struggles.
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Time to get schooled
The frame for John Leguziamo’s latest one man show is an eighth grade history textbook … well that and a bit of racist bullying. In “Latin History for Morons” his son comes crying from school about some white boy who, having descended from white generals dating back to the civil war, told him he...
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Breathing female life into a stubborn male classic
How do you breathe life into ancient art? That’s the driving question behind the Getty Villa’s outdoor theater program (and arguably the Getty itself). Each September the Getty mounts a Greek or Roman play in their spectacular Malibu canyon amphitheater.
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The trouble with expectation
oday, before we open that theater curtain, I want you to join me... at an imaginary art gallery. Playwright Vince Melocchi is counting on your fascination with the Warhol legend to fuel his play “Andy Warhol’s Tomato.”
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The brilliant complexity of a feminist classic
When is the last time you saw a play with a cast of eight complex women? I see a lot of theater and I think my answer is right next to never ...but an all female cast isn’t the only stunning thing about Maria Irene Fornes’ play, “Fefu and her friends.”
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Saying no to the myth
There’s a temptation with the big stories, say a Greek myth, to embrace the epic, larger-than-life quality. After all it’s a myth, right? Take playwright Sarah Ruhle’s “Eurydice”.
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The paid intimacy of immersive theater
The invitation to “Under the Big Top: Atlas” is intentionally a little cryptic. It’s clear it’s an immersive theater experience. It’s clear it’s $70 for a 30 minute performance. Beyond that, it invites your imagination to wander. There’s mention of 1928, some kind of flood at the circus. A…
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Manifest masculinity
“Men on Boats” is a play that gets many things right… and yet somehow ends up not quite hitting its target.
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Brecht without the politics
Even for a classically focused theatre company like Antaeus, their new play “Caucasian Chalk Circle” feels dated.
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A dead man’s legacy
Playwright Geraldine Inoa’s stunning play “Scraps” is haunted by a character we never meet. Don't miss this powerful production.
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Shocking a culture forward
Any time you’re seeing a revival or a new production of an old script, you walk in wondering -will reviving this script tell us anything new? That question is very present in the Odyssey Theatre Company’s production of “Loot” directed by Bart DeLorenzo.
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Sherlock Holmes and the case of too many plot points
The Sherlock Holmes inspired play “Mysterious Circumstances” is itself a bit of mystery … but not in the way the Geffen’s Artistic Director Matt Shakman probably intended it.
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Mama drama with power chords
Sigrid Gilmer isn’t one of those playwrights who warms up to an idea. She’s the kind of playwright who grabs you by the chest from the very first moments.
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The alchemy of emptiness
Samuel Beckett’s plays can be really tricky. They are conceptually so full and simultaneously so maddeningly empty. It’s that emptiness that’s the key. What a production does with that emptiness is what separates a transcendent production of Beckett from a sleep-inducing one. Take the production…
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Why do you choose what you choose?
In “Invisible Tango” that magic and narrative is being crafted by Helder Guimarães. The magic is mostly a theme and variation on card manipulation and increasing elaborate versions of “is this your card?” In the intimate theater that’s configured to focus on a simple card table, the action is…
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The theatre of place: Jordan Downs
For Cornerstone’s latest piece “A Jordan Downs Illumination” the focus is really space and time (or more accurately *place* through time). That place is the public housing project in Watts - Jordan Downs. And the time is from World War II when the project was built through now when - After…
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Saved by the cast
At the beginning of Michael McKeever’s play at the Fountain Theatre, we are at the end of a dinner party. Daniel and Mitchell seem to be the perfect gay couple. Daniel’s a talented architect. Mitchell’s a successful writer. They’re a terrific match. Daniel cooks, Mitchell cleans. You know the…
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Enjoy the dancing dildos
Sometimes watching a play is like having a friend tell you a confusing story. You know, one of those stories where, a few minutes in, you begin to wonder exactly what the story is about and why, exactly, are they sharing it with you. That’s how I felt watching Ammunition Theatre Company’s world...
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The tenure of white supremacy
In the Geffen Playhouse’s latest production, you’re going to office hours at an elite university.
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Doll hubris, anyone?
Children’s theatre is tricky business. It’s a bit like cooking for kids. The easy way out is all sugary sweets. Give ‘em saccharine fake smiles and stories so simplistic they’re easily digestible without any real thought. Like that ice cream cone for breakfast, it may hold the child’s attention…
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A play boss-battling itself
Inda Craig-Galván’s play “Black Super Hero Magic Mama” is a tricky one to wrap your mind around. Not because the setup is unfamiliar (unfortunately, you’ll recognize it immediately) but because where the play takes that setup has it fighting against itself.
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A theatrical sudoku puzzle
“Incognito” at the Son of Semele is a puzzle play.
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Female power? Hell yes.
Sarah De Lappe’s play “The Wolves” is having a bit of a moment. On top of being a finalist for the Pulitzer, it’s slated for over 50 productions across the US - making it one of the year’s most produced plays.
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Time for Block Party to evolve
If you’ve been patiently waiting for a play about roller derby, I have good news. If you had hoped it would be a great play about roller derby - um…not so much. “For the love of it (or the roller derby play)” takes us inside the locker room of the Brooklyn Scallywags - the best female roller…
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Bring your kids to the theater!
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts latest offering, Pigpen Theatre Company’s “The Old Man and the Old Moon” is the ambling story of how the light gets into the moon told by seven guys who play all the parts and double as a charming folk band.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Musings on what Los Angeles theater is - and can be. Want to know more? Subscribe to Anthony's weekly Theater newsletter.
HOSTED BY
KCRW
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How many episodes does Opening the Curtain have?
Opening the Curtain currently has 462 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Opening the Curtain about?
Musings on what Los Angeles theater is - and can be. Want to know more? Subscribe to Anthony's weekly Theater newsletter.
How often does Opening the Curtain release new episodes?
Opening the Curtain publishes regularly with 462 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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Who hosts Opening the Curtain?
Opening the Curtain is created and hosted by KCRW.
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