June is PRIDE month and the LGBTQ community puts on parades, celebrations, workshops, and performances to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. This year’s Brown and Out Fest, at CASA 0101, brings to the stage a collection of 11 short plays that focus on the Los Angeles Latino Gay community. To be perfectly clear, the performances are for adults only. Don’t … [Read more...]
Sister Act at CASA 0101 – A Throwback Disco-Era Musical with Nuns
If you didn’t see the film Sister Act that came out in 1992 starring Whoopie Goldberg, then you can always see the musical on stage. An ambitious disco-style lounge singer, who calls herself Deloris Van Cartier, gets into a relationship with a married man thinking he’ll make her a star. She witnesses him murder one of his associates and goes into hiding for fear he’ll kill her … [Read more...]
Remembering Boyle Heights – History and Gentrification – Theater Review
I’ve written several times about Boyle Heights as I often attend performances at the CASA 0101 Theatre located there. It’s a city known for its Chicano heritage but if you delve into Los Angeles history, you’ll find that its cultural richness is made up of a diverse variety of cultures. I attended the theater’s recent production called “Remembering Boyle Heights” and it was an … [Read more...]
Villain – An American Story – Hollywood Fringe Festival – Theater Review
There are two sides to every story and now, in these challenging times, we can’t always jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts. This premise is dramatically portrayed in the play Villain, An American Story, produced by From the Gut Creations in conjunction with the Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Stephanie Feury Theatre. It was directed by Bernadette Speakes and … [Read more...]
LA Theater Review: Beauty and the Beast – The Musical – at CASA 0101
One of the things I love about Beauty and the Beast is that its central heroine, Belle, isn’t afraid to be herself and doesn’t go with the program just because it’s what is expected of her. She’s thought of as the village weirdo because she reads books and doesn’t go gaga over big hunks like Gaston. I adored the recent Disney film even more than the original cartoon, and just … [Read more...]
