Tag: taper-ahmanson

Mamma Mia.

Those two words, in the context of the musical, usually conjure up two more words: “What? Again?”

Mamma Mia is a very frequently done musical, especially in the context of smaller and regional theatres. I know. I’ve seen it at both Cupcake Theatre ז״ל and 5-Star Theatricals. I know I’ve seen the title in productions around Southern California, and that is in addition to the National Tour going around. That tour is the reason for this post; we saw the tour production yesterday afternoon at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre.

Back to the show: It is oft produced. The reason why should be a lesson for anyone mounting a show that they want to recoup: First, the sets are simple, enabling it to be produced at all levels of theatre without excessive cost. Second, the music is well known and popular (and it is upbeat, something we need in today’s troubling times). Third, the subject is timeless. There are some slightly cringy moments, but they are played for humor and not realism, so as a fantasy they get a pass. Fourth, the show celebrates not only youth but middle-aged folks finding love. That’s not seen in many musicals where they focus on the CYTs (cute young things).

There are a few productions that achieve this level of popularity; Legally Blonde is another that comes to mind. Theatrical cotton candy. Something that leaves you feeling good for a short while. That’s Mamma Mia. Forget your troubles and enjoy the music of ABBA in a non-sensical story.

So what is that story. Here’s what I wrote way back in 2019 for the Cupcake Theatre production:

The basics of the story (which was written by Catherine Johnson, and originally conceived by Judy Cramer) are as follows: A young woman, Sophie, lives on a Greek island with her mom, Donna, who runs a taverna. Sophie (20) is about to get married to a fellow, Sky. There’s one problem: She doesn’t know who her dad is. She finds her mom’s diary, and discovers three men who slept with her mom around the time she would have been conceived, and invites them to her wedding, unbeknownst to her mom. Also coming to the wedding are two of her mom’s best friends: Tanya and Rosie, who used to be in a singing group with her (mom): Donna and the Dynamos. As they then say, hijinks follow as the mom discovers the potential dads — Sam, Bill, and Harry; all three men come to believe they are the dad and offer to walk Sophie down the aisle; and past history is uncovered and revisited. All of this is built and engineered to fit in the music of Abba (music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with additional songs by Stig Anderson, and additional material and arrangements by Martin Koch), meaning that some scenes are specifically contrived to make a song fit in, and ultimately do nothing to advance the plot or grow the character. That’s the nature of a jukebox musical: the story is shaped to fit the music, as opposed to the proper approach of making the music serve the story.

In any case, going back to the uncomfortable incidents: Uncomfortable is a good word for this, for there are points where the storyline veers into the uncomfortable. Think about the scene around “Gimme Gimme Gimme” (at least I think that’s the scene) where Sophie and her friends are dancing with (and seemingly seducing) the dads. He’s old enough to be your father — literally. Here we have a bunch of 20-something girls seducing 45+ men. A bit off to me. Similarly, there’s a scene in Act II — built to make a specific song work — about a 20-something guy chasing a 45+ woman. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with older men or women — I’m an older man, myself — but within the story it created this strange vibe. But perhaps that was just my perceptions — I’m not sure anyone else picked up on it.

But other than that, the story was slight. This is not a deep show. It is a romantic comedy on stage; a true “chick flick” romance. The audience ate it up: the loved the music, they loved the dance, they loved the romance. They loved the happy ending, and the sheer joy that Abba’s music brings to the stage (their music has always been a sheer delight). As my wife noted, in the end the story here doesn’t matter much. Does it ever in a jukebox musical? You’re just going to have a good time. Don’t overthink it; go with the flow and have fun. There are a bunch of talented actors on stage, with wonderful voices. There’s great dancing. There’s music you know and love. Everyone ends up happy. What more can you want?

I’ll note that, as I see the show more and more, the uncomfortable incidents and the age differences bother me less. They are no less problematic, but the show itself has become less real world: and in the fantasy world of this musical, the age differences don’t seem to matter.

What truly makes a production of Mamma Mia sail into the stratosphere vs crashing on the rocky shoals of a Greek island is the cast. Simply put, the touring cast is excellent. From the leads to the ensemble, they bring a level of joy and happiness that radiates out to the audience.

In the lead positions are Jessica Crouch as Donna Sheriden, and Juliette M. Ojeda as her daughter Sophie. Crouch brings and energy and playfulness to the role, and has the needed rocker’s voice. Ojeda is so cute as Sophie, and has a wonderful voice.

However, the standout performances belong to Donna’s friends: Jalynn Steele as Tanya and especially Carly Sakolove as Rosie. Both have wonderful comic chops, and neither is afraid to play the scene for the laughs. Yes, they sing great, but it is that comic timing that stands out. They truly make this show special.

The three dads were also strong, most notably Victor Wallace as Sam Carmichael. He had a voice that reminded me of Owen Wilson (or his brother, Luke Wilson).

Also notable was Alessandra Antonelli in the ensemble (at least I think it was her: tall, long-haired brunette). She just seemed to be having so much fun with the show that she caught your eye. My wife was impressed with Dominic Young, who played Pepper.

Be forewarned that the orchestra in this production is LOUD. I think this was done intentionally to replicate the ABBA sound, which was always pushing the acoustic envelope.

Mamma Mia continues at the Ahmanson until July 19, 2026. Go see it. Tickets are available through the Ahmanson website.

Credits

Mamma Mia. Music and lyrics by Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus and some songs with Sig Anderson. Book by Catherine Johnson. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Choreography by Anthony Van Laast.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Jessica Crouch Donna Sheridan; Juliette M. Ojeda Sophie Sheridan; Carly Sakolove Rosie; Jalynn Steele Tanya; Leland Burnett Bill Austin; Rob Marnell Rob Hancock Harry Bright; Victor Wallace Sam Carmichael; Grant Reynolds Jason Mulay Sky; Steven Gagliano Eddie, Ensemble; Maddie Garbaty Ali, Ensemble; Lena Owens Sarah Santos Lisa, Ensemble; Dominic Young Pepper, Ensemble; Allessandra Antonelli Ensemble; Tony Clements Ensemble; Kate Cummings Ensemble; Jordan De Leon Ensemble; David Holbert Ensemble; Alex Lanning Ensemble; Makoa Ensemble; Erica Mansfield Ensemble, Intimacy Director; Jason Mulay ? Ensemble; Emma X. O’Loughlin Ensemble; Blake Price Father Alexandrios, Ensemble; Dorian Quinn Ensemble; Sarah Santos ? Ensemble; Kristina Walz Ensemble. Swings: ↑ Sarah Agrusa Asst. Dance Captain; ↑ Julia Charkales; ↑ Nico DiPrimio; ↑ Andy Garcia; ↑ Faith Northcutt; Ryan Sander Dance Captain; Lauren Soto; ↑ George Vickers V. Note: ↑ Swings swung into the Ensemble, although the board did not make clear which ensemble members they were replacing.

Music Department ( indicates local): Martin Koch Musical Supervisor, Additional Material, and Arrangements; David Holcenberg Assoc Musical Supervisor; Michael Aarons Music Coordinator/Contractor; Andrew David Sotomayor Conductor, Keyboard; Daniel Klintworth Assoc. Conductor, Keyboard; Nick Greathouse, Francesca Castro Guitars; Marcus Vann Bass; Paul Merendino Drums; Ethan Deppe Keyboard Programmer; Kevin Axt Bass; Brad Gardner Keyboard Sub; Dan Fornero Los Angeles Contractor.

Production and Creative: Björn Ulvaeus Music & Lyrics; Benny Anderson Composer; Catherine Johnson Book; Phyllida Lloyd Director; Anthony Van Laast Choreographer; Mark Thompson Production Designer; Howard Harrison Lighting Designer; Andrew Bruce Sound Designer; Bobby Aitken Sound Designer Martha Banta Assoc. Director; Janet Rothermel Assoc. Choreographer; Brian Webb Assoc. Scenic Designer; Lucy Gaiger Assoc. Costume Designer; Ed McCarthy Assoc. Lighting Designer; David Patridge Assoc. Sound Designer; Jeff Knaggs Assoc. Hair and Makeup Designer; Samantha Teller Asst. Director; Ryan Sander Asst. Choreographer; The TRC Company Casting; RL Campbell Production Stage Manager; Andrew Volzer Stage Manager; Sauniq Lawson Asst. Stage Manager; Michael Sanfilippo Company Manager; Work Light Productions General Management; Port City Technical Production Management; The Booking Group Tour Booking Agency; Allied Global Marketing Tour Marketing & Press; Think Tank Content & Social Media.

Key Producers: Judy Craymer Creator; Richard East; Bespoke Theatricals US Executive Producer.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania. If you are looking for discount tickets, TodayTix (unlike their predecessor Goldstar Events) doesn’t handle the small theatres in LA. Luckily, Theatre Source LA has a new initiative: StageRushLA for discount tickets.

Upcoming

Key:  Theatre /  Music /  Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days ( indicates ticketing is pending).

• July:  Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse;  The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals;  If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August:  Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September:  Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages;  The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse;  Sutton Foster at The Soraya;  Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; Every Brilliant Thing at The Main; 
• October:  The Outsiders at BIH/Pantages;  Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane at The Soraya;  Les Miserables at 5-Star Theatricals;  Gershwin and the Golden Age (feat. Michael Feinstein) at The Soraya;  The Who’s Tommy at BIH/Pantages.

Some shows I go into knowing the basic story and plot. For some, I know only what I can glean from the music. For Primary Trust at the Mark Taper Forum (CTG), I really knew nothing in advance. I had read no reviews; there was no music (it’s not a musical). I was going in blind.

Primary Trust is a 4-player comedy-drama hybrid. Two characters are the same throughout the show. The other two take on a large number of other characters throughout. The basic story concerns Kenneth, a black man living in Cranberry NY, about 30 minutes from Rochester NY. A loner, he spends his days working at a bookstore job arranged by his social worker when he turned of age; by nights, he spends drinking Mai-Tais at an old Tiki-bar downtown. I’d say he’s drinking along, but he’s really drinking with his imaginary friend, Bert. When the owner of the bookstore announces he is retiring and moving to Arizona, Kenneth finds himself, for the first time in his life, having to look for work. Based on a recommendation from a caring waitress, Corrina, he finds a job at newer of the two banks in town, Primary Trust. He finds success as a teller there, but some echoes from his past threaten to derail things.

I’m intentionally not trying to give away the details of the plot or the resolution, but I do want to comment a bit on the story.

First, it is very slow moving story. There are — perhaps intentionally — lots of pauses. There are also lots of “dings”, as in a teller’s bell, which serve to punctuate the ends of thoughts or just to separate.

Second, what seems to be a straightforward story turns out to be something else entirely: it is a story of recovery from trauma and the importance of friends. Kenneth’s isolation both at work and at the Tiki bar turns out to have been the product of childhood trauma. To be clear, it is not sexual trauma; it is more abandonment trauma. It is this trauma that directly relates to the imaginary friend, Bert. It also relates to Kenneth’s behavior, Kenneth’s difficulty with interacting with people, and Kenneth’s difficulty with making real life friends.

By the end of the play, Kenneth has recovered sufficiently that he has started to make friends, and to go out and interact with them. It clearly isn’t a full recovery, but it is progress.

The ultimate question is: Did I like the play? That’s hard to say. My wife wasn’t a fan; she found it a bit of a downer. I found it more uplifting, but slower. Perhaps “gentle” is a better word? I like Kenneth’s slow steady growth. I could also see this having a long life at the regional and intimate theatre level: simple sets, small cast, no real special effects. It is efficient to stage and present.

The performances were all strong, but most notably Rebecca S’manga Frank, who played a large number of waitress roles and ultimately, Corrina. She did a remarkable job of presenting the wide range of characterizations. James Urbaniak was also equally strong with the secondary male characters, notably Clay, Kenneth’s boss at Primary Trust. Petey McGee was very strong as Kenneth, showing the aforementioned gentleness of character.

Primary Trust continues at the Mark Taper Forum until June 28, 2026. It’s an interesting comedy/drama. Tickets are available through the Center Theatre Group website.

Credits

Primary Trust. Written by Eboni Booth. Directed by Knud Adams. Primary Trust was developed at the 2021 Ojai Playwrights Conference. Originally produced in New York City by Roundabout Theatre Company, 2023.

Cast: Ugo Chukwu Bert; Rebecca S’manga Frank Corinna / Wally’s Waiters / Bank Customers / Others; Petey McGee Kenneth; James Urbaniak Clay / Others; Luke Wygodny Musician, Original Music.

Understudy Cast: Destiny Faith u/s Corinna / Wally’s Waiters / Bank Customers / Others; Wendell Jordan u/s Bert; Mark Rowe u/s Clay / Others; Dustin Stern-Garcia u/s Musician; Jordan Temple u/s Kenneth.

Production and Creatives: Eboni Booth Playwright; Knud Adams Director; Marsha Ginsberg Scenic Design; Sophia Choi Costume Designer; Masha Tsimring Lighting Design; Mikaal Sulaiman Sound Design; David Lober Production Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Stage Manager; Jihee Jenny Park Substitute Stage Manager; Henry Russell Bergstein CSA Casting.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania. If you are looking for discount tickets, TodayTix (unlike their predecessor Goldstar Events) doesn’t handle the small theatres in LA. Luckily, Theatre Source LA has a new initiative: StageRushLA for discount tickets.

Upcoming

Key:  Theatre /  Music /  Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days ( indicates ticketing is pending).

• June:  Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson.
• July:  Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse;  The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals;  If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.
• August:  Beauty and the Beast at BIH/Pantages;
• September:  Water for Elephants at BIH/Pantages;  The Visit at Pasadena Playhouse;  Sutton Foster at The Soraya;  Catch Me If You Can at The Colony Theatre; Every Brilliant Thing at The Main; 
• October: The Outsiders at BIH/Pantages; Branford Marsalis & Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane at The Soraya; Les Miserables at 5-Star Theatricals; Gershwin and the Golden Age (feat. Michael Feinstein) at The Soraya; The Who’s Tommy at BIH/Pantages.

Let me start out by saying that we don’t have Netflix. We’ve long used DirecTV Satellite, and have so much backed up on the DVR to watch we’re not switching. We’ve dabbled in the streaming (Paramount+, for Star Trek), but that’s about it. Given all the price increases we’re reading that Netflix is doing, we’re likely not to be subscribing for a while either.

Why do I mention this? Because Kim’s Convenience is evidently a Canadian sitcom on Netflix, and unlike much of the world, we’ve never seen it. It was evidently based on an original play by Ins Choi, which we hadn’t seen either. Well, until this afternoon at the Ahmanson.

Let’s just say that seeing the play makes me want to see the series. However, it doesn’t make me want to see it enough to pay Netflix prices. Eventually, these Netflix “exclusives” will show up elsewhere, I’m sure, as companies attempt to monetize their catalogs. So, for those folks (like us) who are not Netflix folks: Seeing this show is one way to get a taste of Netflix without that continual monthly charge.

Kim’s Convenience is a touching and warm story about a Korean family running a small family store in Toronto. Along its journey, it touches upon the issue of families and all their disagreements, on the generational passing of a family business when the next generation has other plans, on Black-Korean relations, and how family can bring things together. It wasn’t what I expected: When I saw an old man running a convenience store, I was expecting something darker with crime and theft and violence, but that just wasn’t there. Perhaps if the story had been set in America; this was a Canadian story after all.

The cast was very strong; this isn’t surprising as most of the cast is the original cast of the original play. Alas, at our performance we didn’t get playwright Ins Choi in the lead, but his alternate James Yi was wonderful in the role. Brandon McKnight did a great job of portraying a large number of different characters, and I really enjoyed the facial expressions of Kelly Seo’s Janet.

The staging was simple: A single-set well-stocked convenience store (I wonder what they are going to do with all the products afterwards?). Industrial lighting, except for a few scenes. Other than stocking the story, this is likely something that can be done at the regional or school level, if it is ever released for licensing.

I really don’t have much more to say, other than this was a delightful show that we really enjoyed. Go see it.

Kim’s Convenience continues at The Ahmanson Theatre through April 19, 2026. Visit the show page to get tickets.

Lastly, the Ahmanson Theatre announced their 2026-2027 season last week. Not quite the touring blockbuster of the Broadway in Hollywood season, but still quite good. I also predicted right, guessing that both Oh, Mary and Boop! The Musical would end up at CTG. The One CTG subscription package is (1) The Turning (Taper, 9/2-10/11/25); Oh Mary! (Ahmanson, 11/10-12/10/26); Destiny of Desire (Taper, 11/11-12/20/25); Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (Ahmanson, 12/12/25-1/10/26); Fiddler on the Roof (Yiddish) (Ahmanson, 2/13-3/14/26); John Proctor is the Villain (Taper, 3/17-4/25/26); August Wilson’s Fences (Taper, 5/26-7/3/26); and Boop! The Musical (Ahmanson, 7/6-8/1/26). The CTG:FWD add-ons are The Music Man, Riverdance 30-The New Generation, Dogman: The Musical, and Clue. When I initially blocked dates on the calendar (in the current season, we were the 1st Saturday at the Ahmanson, and the 6th Saturday at the Taper), there were some bad conflicts: Two shows were on the same day, and one show would have had us running from at DTLA matinee to a 730p show in Thousand Oaks. Luckily, CTG learned: According to the subscriber line, subscribers in our group are now the 1st Saturday at the Ahmanson, and the 3rd Saturday at the Taper. Much better. There is currently only one bad conflict, and that involves moving the Pantages show to accommodate a show at the Soraya. We’ll have a couple of runs from DTLA to either the Soraya or the Pantages, but those are doable. We’re on auto-renewal, so I shouldn’t have much to do other than add Riverdance to the mix.

One other season comment: Could the theatres please stagger their season subscriptions. Broadway in Hollywood hit last month. CTG this month. I just got emails from the Pasadena Playhouse and the Soraya about renewing our memberships there. When these all hit at the same time, especially if there are not payment plans, it can overload the pocketbook.

Credits

Kim’s Convenience. Written by Ins Choi. Directed by Weyni Mengesha.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Ins Choi James Yi Appa; Kelly Seo Janet; Esther Chung Umma; Ryan Jinn Jung; Brandon McKnight Rich, Alex, Mr. Lee, Mike. Alternates and Understudies: ↑ James Yi Appa Alternate; Frank Chung Jung u/s; Ngabo Nabea Rich, Alex, Mr. Lee, Mike u/s; Rosie Simon Janet/Umma u/s.

Production and Creative: Weyni Megesha Director; Ins Choi Author; Joanna Yu Set Design; Ming Wong Costume Design; Wen-Ling Liao Lighting Design; Fan Zhang Sound Design; Nicole Eun-Ju Bell Projection Design; David S. Franklin Production Stage Manager; Angela Mae Bago Asst Stage Manager; Michelle Blair Asst Stage Manager; Aaron Jan Asst Director; Becca Trimbur Company Manager; Pemberly Productions Tour General Manager. The set, props, paint, and costumes for this production were built by the Soulpepper Theatre Company artists in Toronto, ON, CANADA.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November).  Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Lastly, I’ll note Group Rep in NoHo has announced their season, which includes a mounting of Applause in the July-August timeframe. That’s useful if you missed the MTG one-nighter; I haven’t yet decided if I want to see it again (although Group Rep does a great job with older and rarely done musical re-visits).

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• April: ♦ ♦ Ride the Cyclone at The Main; ♣ Jeremy Jordan at The Soraya; California Science and Engineering Fair at CLU; ♦ Flower Drum Song at East/West Players; ♦ Real Women Have Curves at Casa 0101. NOTE: We need judges for the California Science and Engineering Fair. If you have a degree in the sciences and are available to judge April 12 at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, sign up to judge here.
• May: ♦ Falstaff at LA Opera; ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
• July: ♦ Mexodus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ The Wizard of Oz at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ If/Then at Chromolume Theatre.

Many years ago, I got the off-Broadway cast album for Here Lies Love, a musical about Imelda Marcos by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. I fell in love with the last song on the album, “God Draws Straight”. In my mind, I thought it was about LGBTQ stuff, similar to “God Don’t Make No Trash” from bare. Well, yesterday afternoon we saw Here Lies Love at CTG/Mark Taper Forum, and I came to realize the song means something different—something more timely. It means that building a more just and democratic society can be done, but it isn’t a straight path. There are fits and starts, and sometimes you go the wrong direction, but if you persevere and keep protesting and fighting, you will reach your goal.

This musical was written in 2010, and didn’t open Off-Broadway until 2013. This was long before the rise of Donald Trump. Yet the musical hits today as something very timely: the behavior of Ferdinand Marcos in office is very similar to the behavior of Trump. Abusing democracy, grabbing power, using the military against citizens, disappearing people. The key difference is that Melania shows no interesting in personally taking power (thankfully). “God Draws Straight” concludes on a hopeful note, but alas recent history hasn’t borne that out, with Duterte‘s rise to power, and then the election of BongBong Marcos, Imelda and Ferdinand’s son. But the parallels remain.

This is the first regional production of Here Lies Love in Los Angeles, after an initial Broadway run in 2023. This production reimagines the story from a disco to a noontime Philippine TV show hosted by a drag-queen, still telling Marcos’ story. It also retains a controversial aspect from the original production: recorded music. I became suspicious of this in the program, where in an interview with Byrne, he talks about «”track acts” in dicos, live disco sets with backing tracks where artists would perform karaoke version of their hits». I also noted that there were no credits for the musicians in the program: only a music director and a music producer. I agree with the Broadway Unions somewhat here: Theatre requires live performance, and if at all possible, live music (I make some exceptions for intimate theatres that have neither space nor budget). If you are going to do recorded music, at least have the courtesy to record and acknowledge the musicians that performed the music for the recording.

The concept of the musical is entertaining, and does a great job of educating people about the history of the Marcos regime in the Philippines (similar to the way Evita educates about the rise of the Peron Family in Argentina). The fear is that the upbeat and pop nature of the musical masks the actual terror and fear of those that had to live under the regime, and potentially makes Marcos appear to be a better person than she was. This is a form of historical whitewashing (or, to use a less charged term, gaslighting), similar to the whitewashing that has taken place about the People Power Revolution. Luckily, the program for the show helps one to see through the glitz to the reality. As I write this, I realize the parallel to the change that CTG made in this production: the drag queen narrator provides a similar façade: a face of glitz and glamour, with something different underneath. In a world of those who would be authoritarian and who would grab and take power, the truth and the reality doesn’t matter. What is important is the façade, the image, the story created by the media. As noted before, this musical speaks well today.

The performances were top-notch, with an incredibly large cast for the small Taper space. We had an understudy in the narrator position of Imeldific, Steven-Adam Agdeppa. Steven-Adam was wonderful, showing the transition from the glitz to the man under the glitz. Reanne Acasio was a very strong Imelda, and Joshua Dela Cruz was a great Ninoy Aquino. Carol Angeli stood out as Estrelia Cumpas, Imelda’s nanny and childhood friend. Also notable, although I can’t tell from the program which ensemble member she was, was the ensemble member who played Cory Aquino, Ninoy’s wife. She just had a look that drew my eye to her. The ensemble members were interesting to watch, especially the facial expressions and their interactions with the audience. I’ll note that this show is very audience-interactive; it is not a proscenium-stage show that plays to a passive audience.

I should also note: There is no mention of Imelda Marcos’ shoe obsession; the only hint is at the beginning when she is given her first set of heels to replace her flats. I’ll also note that the term “Imeldific”, which is used as the name of the drag-queen in the show and is a Philippine adjective meaning «”anything exaggeratedly ostentatious or in bad taste”, referring to clothing, architecture, décor, etc.» is something that could equally be well-applied to Trump’s taste and decorating style. Parallels upon parallels indeed. Perhaps the media needs to start using the term Imeldific to describe Trump.

The story of Marcos is told in Here Lies Love generally in a sung-through fashion. Although there are small snips of dialogue, most of the story comes through the dance numbers and the projections on the upper screen. We brought our binoculars, but sometimes focusing on watching the faces and the dancers meant that we missed some of the story on the projections.

The show also contains my current pet peeve: Confetti that drops from the ceiling. There is no real story need for this other than the glitz. It creates plastic that just gets thrown away, which is horrid for the environment. We need to push back against this trend (and I know I’ll see it next week at Spamalot).

Overall, we really enjoyed this show. We learned a lot of history, realized a lot of (scary) parallels, and were entertained through the performances. Yes, I did tear up when “God Draws Straight” started; it just hits that way. If you can get tickets, I recommend the show. Tickets should be available through the CTG website.

Credits

Here Lies Love. Concept, music and lyrics by David Byrne. Music by Fatboy Slim. Choreography by William Carlos Angulo. Directed by Snehal Desai.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Reanne Acasio Imelda Marcos; Joan Almedilla Aurora Aquino; Carol Angeli Estrella Cumpas; Joshua Dela Cruz Ninoy Aquino; Sarah Kay Maria Luisa; Aura Mayari Steven-Adam Agdeppa Imeldific; Chris Renfro Ferdinand Marcos. Ensemble: Steven-Adam Agdeppa, Kayla Amistad, Kelvin Co, Joanne Javien Coudriet, Audrey Lyn Crabiño, Jefflorenz Garrido Garrick; Goce Macatangay, Danielle Louise Mendoza, Justine Rafael, ↑ Hayden Rivas, Ryan Salazar. Swings: ↑ Hayden Rivas, Johnisa Almariya Breault, Zandi de Jesus.

Music Department: Joe Cruz Music Director. Jennifer Lin Music Director; Justin Levine Music Producer, Vocal Arrangements; Matt Stine Music Production, Additional Arrangements. No credit is provided for the actual musicians.

Production and Creative: David Byrne Concept, Music, Lyrics; Fatboy Slim Music; Snehal Desai Director, CTG Artistic Director; William Carlos Angulo Choreographer; Hayden Rivas Dance Captain; Arnel Sanciaco Scenic Designer; Jaymee Ngerwichit Costume Designer; Marcella Barbeau Lighting Designer; Brian Hsieh Sound Designer; Yee Eun Nam Projection Design; Kaleena Jordan Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Ely Sonny Orquiza Dramaturg; Janelle Dote Portman Assoc. Director; U. J. Mangune Assoc. Choreographer; Jill Gold Production Stage Manager; Miriam E. Mendoza Stage Manager; Jihee Jenny Park Stage Manager; Kimberly Grigsby Vocal Arrangements; Justin Levine Vocal Arrangements; Michael Donovan CSA Casting; Richie Ferris CSA Casting; Joseph Pinzon Casting Consultant; Jimmy Elinski Drag Queen Costume Specialist.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a retired cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, Chromolume Theatre, and 5-Star Theatricals.

Want to find a show: Check out the Theatre Commons LA show list. Other good lists are the Theatre in LA listings; the TodayTix listings; OnStage 411 (use the “shows” drop down); and Theatermania.

Some interesting shows that have caught my eye. Wisteria Theatre is doing Reefer Madness: The Musical (in April), as is Long Beach Playhouse (in October/November).  Wisteria was overpriced for a black-box; I might look into Long Beach’s production (but have to factor in the drive). Ebony Rep is doing Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the end of May into June. I love the show, but the prices are a bit high and I’m still trying to decide. I have a hold on the calendar. Casa 0101 is doing the play version of Real Women Have Curves from the end of March into May. Conundrum Theatre is doing a bunch of shows, but notably Big Fish in December 2026. And, as noted earlier, the Colony Theatre is doing Catch Me If You Can in the September/October 2026 timeframe. I’ll look into ticketing the fall shows once I know the CTG Season, to prevent conflicts. Broadway in Hollywood has announced its 2026-2027 season, and it is spectacular. The only major shows missing are Oh Mary, Boop: The Musical, and Just In Time. I expect Oh Mary to show up at the Ahmanson, and possibly Boop; Just In Time might be in the following Broadway in Hollywood season as I haven’t seen it announce any tour dates. Perhaps some local theatre will decide to mount Real Women Have Curves – The Musical or Dead Outlaw. One can hope. Lastly, I’ll note Group Rep in NoHo has announced their season, which includes a mounting of Applause in the July-August timeframe. That’s useful if you missed the MTG one-nighter; I haven’t yet decided if I want to see it again (although Group Rep does a great job with older and rarely done musical re-visits).

I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming

♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• March: MoTAS Poker Tournament; ♦ Spamlot at BIH/Pantages.
• April: ♦ Kim’s Convenience Store at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Ride the Cyclone at The Main; ♣ Jeremy Jordan at The Soraya; California Science and Engineering Fair at CLU; ♦ Flower Drum Song at East/West Players; ♦ Real Women Have Curves at Casa 0101. NOTE: We need judges for the California Science and Engineering Fair. If you have a degree in the sciences and are available to judge April 12 at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, sign up to judge here.
• May: ♦ Falstaff at LA Opera; ♦ The Sound of Music at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Brigadoon at The Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ Hells Kitchen at BIH/Pantages.
• June: ♦⊕ Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Ebony Rep; ♦ Elegies at Chromolume; ♦ Primary Trust at CTG/Taper; ♦ Mamma Mia at CTG/Ahmanson; plus whatever I schedule from the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Perhaps I’m not the audience for this particular show.

After all, I’ve never been all that into horror films. I did regularly attend horror films at the Culver Theatre in Culver City (now the legit Kirk Douglas run by CTG) in my college days, but that was only because my girlfriend at the time loved horror films. They never really scared me; perhaps the occasional startle reflex. These days, I’ll catch them here and there on TV (I seem to always run into the “Becky” franchise), and I don’t find them particularly scary. Horror films these days are particularly formulaic: you know who is going to get it; you pretty much know how; and you know it will be graphicly bloody, if possible. As for suspense? Gone are the days in which terror builds slowly (such as “Rosemary’s Baby” [insert obligatory “Tannis Root. It’s only Tannis Root” in Ruth Gordan’s voice]).

I’m also not a believer in the paranormal. Ghosts are something that were invented for entertainment purposes (cough, “Ghosts”, cough, “Beetlejuice”), or to perhaps assuage guilty minds (cough, the Scottish Play). If you don’t believe in ghosts, you don’t find ghosts all that scary.

Lastly, I have never seen any of the movies in the Paranormal Activity franchise. I think there’s something like 7, 8, 4000. Some larger number. Haven’t seen any of them. So perhaps I wasn’t the best person to be going to a stage instantiation of that franchise. My wife expressed that notion best, comparing this to the recent Harry Potter stage show. That show was light on plot and story (as any time-travel story is), but heavy on the stage magic, and relied far too much on fan service and making the fans happy.

Beyond that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?

This is all a long way of saying that we took time on this blustery and rainy Saturday to trundle down to the Ahmanson Theatre to see the Paranormal Activity play. The good news is that it wasn’t bad — it’s not something that will be a classic, and it isn’t even at the level of well done murder mysteries — but it isn’t heavy fan service and overdone stage magic. The bad news is that it is a clear profit grab by Paramount Pictures: it is not a story that needed to be on the stage. It is a trifle. I also didn’t find it particularly scary, but given what I wrote above, that’s not a surprise. It also isn’t obsessively dark, so you won’t come away from it with nightmares.

The other, perhaps more important, bad news: It is a sonic horror. By that I mean: to unsettle the audience, there is constant subsonic (low-frequency) and hypersonic (high-frequency) noise blasted at a high volume to the audience, from the moment you walk into the theatre. This is noise that is just outside the normal range of hearing, and it is not filtered out by foam earplugs, as bone conduction is involved. If you are sensitive to that range of sound (as my wife is), it will leave you queasy and on the verge of being sick. It may create headaches. For many, it will create unease. As for me, I’ve listened to too much music through headphones — I’ve lost those ranges. But be forewarned.

There are other sound problems that irritated me in other ways. The play takes place in London, and the people in the story have flat with a landline. When that phone rang, it was a single long bell. Folks that have been to the UK know that UK phones have a shorter double ring. They one of the folks had a cell phone that rang the same as a landline. You rarely see modern phones using bells for their ringtone, so that was off. Sloppy sound design.

As for the story itself: It takes place in a single set that consists of a downstairs living room and kitchen, and an upstairs bedroom, third room, and bathroom. This is all on stage in a single structure. Nothing flies in or out; nothing is rolled onto the stage. As such, this is like a situation comedy that takes place generally in a single room — think “All In The Family” or “Roseanne” or even “BIg Bang Theory”. It was, in other words, “situation horror”.

Given that this is a horror story and a suspense story, to describe all the details of the plot would serve to spoil the suspense for those that are into such things. So, suffice it to say that this is the story of a couple that moves from Chicago to London to ostensibly run away from their demons… but as anyone knows, demons have this horrible tendency to follow you and see things through to an appropriate end.

The suspenseful stage magic worked well. Besides the expected writing tricks of surprise entrances and premonition-ary lines, there were a number of stagecraft elements and diversions that worked quite well. There was also a fair amount of humor in the overall piece. It was also fun to listen to the audience reaction, especially the points of surprise. The sound was a little loud for my taste.

More of a problem was the overall story: Although the suspense and horror parts of it worked, when you come out of the show and think about the overall plausibility (setting aside the ghosts), it all starts to fall apart. Some pieces just don’t make sense, such as how some of the characters ended up where they did. But this is “situation horror”, and I guess it doesn’t have to make sense. It just has to serve the franchise.

The performances were strong and well played. I liked the two primary leads: they seemed to inhabit their character well.

“Paranormal Activity” continues through December 7, 2025, at the Ahmanson Theatre. Tickets are available through the Ahmanson website. Should you go see it? I guess it depends on whether you like horror and suspense and this particular franchise. For me, I get scared enough reading the news everyday about what this administration is doing. No ghost is scarier than that, unless it is the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein confronting Donald Trump. Now that’s a horror story I’d love to see on stage… or in real life!

Thinking even more, we need a version of “A Christmas Carol”, where the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein (past, present, and future) come out to haunt Donald Trump. That would certainly be worth seeing. Who’s up for writing it.

Credits

Paranormal Activity. Written by Levi Holloway. Directed by Felix Barrett. Restaged by Levi Holloway. Based on Paramount Picture’s Paranormal Activity films, first written and directed by Orne Peli and brought to the screen by Blumhouse and Solana Films. ™ and © 2025 Paramount Pictures.

Cast: Cher Álverez Lou; Shannon Cochran Carolanne; Kate Fry Etheline Cotgrave; Patrick Heusinger James. Understudies: Caron Buinis u/s Carolanne / Etheline Cotgrave; Caroline Hendricks u/s Lou; Michael Holding u/s James.

Production and Creative: Levi Holloway Written and Restaged by; Felix Barrett Director; Fly Davis Scenic & Costume Design; Anna Watson Lighting Design; Gareth Fry Sound Design; Luke Halls Video Design; Chris Fisher Illusions; Bob Mason CST Artistic Associate / Casting Director; What If We Productions Co-Production Technical Supervisor; Oren Peli Original Filmmaker; Melting Pot Commercial Producer; Melanie J. Lisby Production Stage Manager; Julie Jachym Stage Manager; Chels Morgan Intimacy/Fight Director.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• November: ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;
• December: ◊ ACSAC Conference; ♣ Ben Platt: Live at the Ahmanson at CTG/Ahmanson; ♣ Nochebuena: A Christmas Spectacular at The Soraya; ♦ Stereophonic at BIH/Pantages;
• January: ♦ The Notebook at BIH/Pantages; ♦ All the Devils Are Here at The Broad; ♣ Tom Chapin @ McCabes.
• February: ♦ Applause at MTG; ♦ Amadeus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Anat Cohen at the Soraya; ♣ Preservation Hall Jazz Band at The Soraya.
• March: The Play That Goes Wrong at 5-Star Theatricals; Here Lies Love at CTG/Mark Taper; MoTAS Poker Tournament; Spamlot at BIH/Pantages.

When you think of immigrants today — and especially with the narrative coming from the media (including social media) and the images they promote — what comes to mind? I’m guessing primarily “brown” folks, as in folks from Central and South American countries. But the cruelties perpetrated by this administration go beyond just Central and South Americans; they are being perpetrated on any groups currently deemed by the administration as undesirable. Often, that undesirability is based not on violent crimes by these folks, again, as alleged by the administration, but simply based on skin color.

I bring this all up because of the play we saw yesterday afternoon: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, at the Mark Taper Forum, part of the CTG “One CTG” season.  On the surface, this play seems to be in the vein of a number of somewhat recent movies that focus on the African-American Barbershop/Hair Slot experience, where the shop becomes a community and a family, with regulars and patrons that care about each other. Often, this is because the elaborate styles take multiple hours to create, and what community doesn’t form when you’re talking to someone for 8 hours.

But this play is different, as we rapidly learn that this particular shop has been established by immigrants from Africa. Often, they were leaving abusive marriages. Often, they were leaving family behind while they raise funds and makes themselves a better life. We see how they have worked, sometimes over decades, to build that life. Leaving nations such as Senegal and Sierra Leone to come over and be housekeepers to wealthy white folks. Building up enough funds to open a hair braiding salon (which is long, hard, work). All the while paying taxes, trying to do things legally, with the eventual goal of having that American dream.

Jaja, who owns the salon, is an example of this. She worked hard to open the salon, and on the day the play takes place, she is getting married to her (white) landlord. Her hope is that she will be able to finally become a citizen through this, and send her daughter Marie to a prestigious college to become a doctor.

Marie doesn’t quite want that. She’s working in the shop, not as a stylist, but as essentially the manager. She wants to be a writer, but doesn’t know how to tell her mother. As the play progresses, we learn more about Marie’s dreams. We also learn a lot about the other stylists in the shop: Aminata, Bea, Ndidi, and Miriam. Each has their dreams; each wants to move beyond their upbringing in Africa.

Near the end of the show, we learn that Jaja was grabbed in an ICE sting operation against sham marriages, and has been taken who knows where. The family of the shop bands together to protect Marie, who is scared for her mother and scared they will come after her.

Reading that last paragraph, one would think this play was set in 2025, with the current Trumpian ICE raids. But per the program, this takes place in July 2019. That’s during the first Trump administration, showing that, essentially, we were warned. The issue wasn’t violent crime; and issue wasn’t bad people. The issue was brown and black people, clear racism, and going after people even if they were trying to build the American dream, just as immigrants to this country have been doing since the country started.

So this is truly a timely and relevant play, well written and well performed. It makes us — theatregoers who presumably have the wealth to afford live theatre — realize that these communities are not just distant people on a screen. The people being impacted by the actions of ICE are good, hard-working people, just trying to achieve the American Dream. There are the people that have, and always will make America great. They are not the threats the current administration purports them to be. In bringing audiences to this realization, this play does what good theatre should do: Make people examine their beliefs and to learn and grow.

Performances were uniformly strong. I particularly enjoyed Jordan Rice’s Marie, Bisserat Tseggai’s Miriam, and Abigail C. Onwunali’s Ndidi.

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding closes at CTG/Mark Taper Forum today, November 9. You may be able to purchases tickets for the final evening performance through the CTG website.

ETA: One last note: Watching the stage clock during the production, I learned just how long it takes to do some of these intricate braiding styles, and the pain that it imposes on the stylists. Just imagine being at the hair salon for over 12 hours to get braids done; I can imagine the costs being not only the time, but multiple hundreds of dollars. When I see such styles in the future, I’ll think about the effort these women are going through for their hair. Those of us with Caucasian hair don’t understand black hair culture (I certainly didn’t). The amount spent (remember Madam C. J. Walker made a fortune developing and selling black hair products); the pain and time commitment is remarkable. The battle with respect to black hair continues today: Trump’s effort to ban beards and facial hair is an implicit effort to get black soldiers out of the military, because male black facial hair is often prone to ingrowns and infections, make worse by the close shaving the military requires. I’m sure that similar female hairstyle restrictions are being used to get black women out of the military. In recognitiion of the effort, I added the usually buried credits for the black hairstylists to the credit list.

Credits

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Whitney White.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Melanie Brezill Michelle / Chrissy / LaNiece; Leovina Charles Donae Swanson Vanessa / Radia / Shiela; Victore Charles Jaja; Mia Ellis Jennifer; Tiffany Renee Johnson Aminata; Claudia Logan Bea; Michael Oloyede James / Franklin / Olu / Eric; Abigail C. Onwunali Ndidi; Jordan Rice Marie; Bisserat Tseggai Miriam; Onye Eme-Akwari Nollywood Dream Actor; Morgan Scott Nollywood Dream Actor. Understudies: Sadé Ayodele Jaja / Bea / Jennifer; Debora Crabbe Miriam / Ndidi / Aminata; Vandous Stripling II James / Franklin / Olu / Eric; ↑ Donae Swanson Marie / Vanessa / Radia / Sheila.

Production and Creative: Jocelyn Bioh Playwright; Whitney White Director; Manna-Symone Middlebrooks Additional Direction; David Zinn Set Design; Dede Ayite Costume Design; Jiyoun Chang Lighting Design; Justin Ellington Sound Design; Nikiya Mathis Wig, Hair, and Makeup Design; Stefania Bulbarella Video Design; Jacqueline Springfield Voice and Dialect Coach; Brillian QiBell Production Stage Manager; Jihee Jenny Park Stage Manager; Erica A. Hart, CSA Casting Director; Kelly Gillespie, CSA Casting; David Caparelliotis, CSA Casting; Aissatou Camara, Lauren Kinermon-Jones Braiders; Mary Gordy Loctician; Joy Paulk Beautician; DuVell’s Studio, Doc the Barber Barbers.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• November: ♦ Paranormal Activity at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;
• December: ◊ ACSAC Conference; ♣ Ben Platt: Live at the Ahmanson at CTG/Ahmanson; ♣ Nochebuena: A Christmas Spectacular at The Soraya; ♦ Stereophonic at BIH/Pantages;
• January: ♦ The Notebook at BIH/Pantages; ♦ All the Devils Are Here at The Broad; ♣ Tom Chapin @ McCabes.
• February: ♦ Applause at MTG; ♦ Amadeus at Pasadena Playhouse; ♣ Anat Cohen at the Soraya; ♣ Preservation Hall Jazz Band at The Soraya.

When I think about & Juliet, the musical I saw last night at the Ahmanson Theatre, three musicals come to mind:

• Mamma Mia, which is a wonderful jukebox music of female empowerment and love, set to very catchy pop tunes.
• Some Like It Hot, which we saw two weeks ago at the Pantages, and which is a wonderful musical about acceptance of people for who they are
• Something Rotten, which sends up Shakespeare and exposes him as the egoist we all know him to be.

From the opening notes, & Juliet was a thoroughly enjoyable and fun musical. It was a delight to watch, with extremely strong dancing and singing, and some great underlying messages. But it is really hard to describe.

But let’s try.

To start off: This is a jukebox musical, featuring the music of songwriter and producer Max Martin. If you’re like me (especially if you’re older, like me), you’ll go, “Who?” So let’s put it this way: He’s a Swedish songwriter (hence, the reason ABBA came to mind), who has written almost 300 songs, made famous by artists from the Backstreet Boys, Brittney Spears, Katy Perry, Jessie J, Robyn, Ke$ha, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Bon Jovi, Adam Lambert, Céline Dion, *NSYNC, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, and… well, you get the idea. Essentially, the music in this show is a soundtrack of the early 2000s and late 1990s. This is why Mamma Mia comes to mind, and the tunes are so poppy and energetic.

The basic plot of the musical is inspired…. by William Shakespeare. The basic premise is: What if Juliet, at the end of Romeo and Juliet, hadn’t killed herself, but instead lived and reclaimed her power? At least, that’s what Ann Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife keeps push, although William, ever the egoist, keeps meddling back into the story to get his way. Insert various humorous impacts and conflicts here. This is why Something Rotten comes to mind.

But this is a modern musical, with modern sensibilities (although perhaps not so modern, as Shakespeare was someone gender-bending in his characters anyway). So one of Juliet’s friends, May, is trans/queer (it is never made explicit). And, this being a love story, May falls in love with one of the leading men (and you can predict where that leads). This goes heavily with the notion of acceptance of us for who we are and whatever we choose to be. This is why Some Like It Hot comes to mind.

So you have the basic idea of the show. I could go into the details of the plot, but you can get that by reading Wikipedia, or going to the & Juliet page.

I do want to highlight some cast members: Rachel Simone Webb was outstanding as Juliet. Boy, does that girl have a set of pipes. Ishmael Gonzalez, swinging up to play May, did a remarkable job. They have wonderful movement and a great voice. Teal Wicks was great as Anne Hathway; I particularly liked her facial expressions in response to Will (Corey Mach)’s antics. Notable in the ensemble was Kate Mina Lin and Shelby Griswold.

We really enjoyed this show. Even with the large number of cast substitutions (one mid-show that I didn’t quite catch), the cast was very strong (and I was impressed by the number of larger folks in the cast, which is also a form of acceptance). The dancing was remarkable, and the costumes superb. There was one costume change near the end I couldn’t figure out how they did it. It was just a lovely afternoon.

There were, however, two problematic aspects:

• First, enough with the glitter or confetti cannons. It seems like every show I’m going to these days has one of these things raining bits of paper or mylar on the audience. It makes a mess for the theatre to clean up and throw away (it can’t be reused or recycled). We just don’t need it.
• Second, the audience at this show was a problem. Perhaps it was that this music drew in a newer and non-theatre crowd, but people would walk and stop, unaware of folks around them. People had no idea where to go, and kept going in and out of the theatre. There also, evidently, was a couple that had had too much to drink in the middle of the row behind us. They were being loud, and people were constantly leaving the row to complain to the ushers. The ushers, of course, couldn’t do anything about it as they were in the middle of a row and the show was going on, so these people who kept complaining were simply just disturbing even more people. There’s no good answer here, other than: DON’T GO TO THE THEATRE IF YOU CAN’T HOLD YOUR LIQUOR!

But these are minor aspects, and one day shows will learn about glitter/confetti cannons and they will go out of vogue. I hope.

& Juliet  continues at the Ahmanson through September 7, 2025. Tickets are available through the CTG Website or TodayTix.

Credits

& Juliet. Book by David West Read. Music and lyrics by Max Martin and Friends. Directed by Luke Sheppard. Choreographed by Jennifer Weber.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Rachel Simone Webb Juliet; Paul-Jordan Jansen ↑ Usman Ali Mughal Lance; Teal Wicks Anne; Corey Mach Shakespeare; Nick Drake ↑ Ishmael Gonzalez May; Kathryn Allison Angélique; Ben Jackson Walker ↑ Josh Jordan Romeo; Mateus Leite Cardoso François, Naima Alakham Lady Capulet, Nell; Camille Brooks Judith / Rosaline; Kate Mina Lin Eleanor / Benvolio / Portia; Lois Ellise Susanna, Swing; Ishmael Gonzalez ↑ Jourdan Ibe Gregory ; Kenneth Onesimus Goubran Augustine; Shelby Griswold Lucy / Helena; Christopher Robert Hanford Henry / Bathroom Attendant; ↑ Jourdan Ibe Lennox, Swing; Josh Jordan ↑ Kyra Smith Richard; Nicole Lamb Margaret, Swing; Yoshi Maysonet Dion; Usman Ali Mughal Francisco Thurston Lord Capulet, Sly; ↑ Kyra Smith Titania, Swing; ↑ Francisco Thurston Cuthbert, Swing.  There was no indication of who took over the roles of the Gregory, Cuthbert, or Richard, or whether the ensemble just go smaller. There was also an announcement after intermission that someone named “Nicole” was joining the cast, but it was unclear if that was Nicole Lamb swinging into her understudy role of Anne (although that actress didn’t seem to change), or Nella Cole, who was in the original tour cast, taking over as Eleanor / Benviolio / Portia, although that actress didn’t seem to change either. Folks that seemed to disappear from the cast between the program printing and update sheet: Michael Canu Romeo; Nella Cole Eleanor, Benvolio, Josh Ferman u/s François, Romeo; Virgil Gadson Crosse, Swing.

Music Department (♯ indicates local): Max Martin and Friends Music and Lyrics; Bill Sherman Music Supervisor, Orchestrations, and Arrangements; Andrew Cerullo Music Director; Dominic Fallacaro Additional Orchestrations and Arrangements; Michael Aarons, M² Music Music Coordinator; Haley Bennett Associate Music & Supervision; Andre Cerullo Conductor / Keyboard; Kelsi Fulton Assoc. Conductor / Keyboard; Clay Nordhill Guitar; Tabari Lake Bass; Zack Albetta Drums; ♯ Jennifer Choi Fischer Violin / Viola; ♯ David Mergen Cello ; ♯ Brad Gardner Keyboard 2 Sub; ♯ Dan Fornero Music Contractor; Anja Wood, M² Music Assoc. Music Coordinator; Emily Grishman Music Preparation, Adriana Grace, and Alden Terry Music Copying; Pre-Broadway Copying Mark Cumberland; Phij Adams Music Technology & Ableton System Design; Randy Cohen, Randy Cohen Keyboards U.S. Music Technology; Scott Wasserman Additional Ableton Programming & Music Production; Matt Farnsworth Vocal Studio Vocal Coach/Consultant.

Production and Creative: Luke Sheppard Director; Jennifer Weber Choreographer; Francisco Thurston Dance Captain; Kyra Smith Asst Dance Captain; Soutra Gilmour Set Design; Paloma Young Costume Design; Howard Hudson Lighting Design; Gareth Owen Sound Design; Andrzej Goulding Video & Projection Design; J. Jared Janas Wig, Hair, & Makeup Design; C12 Casting Casting; Susanna Wolk Assoc. Director; Joel Rosen Production Stage Manager; Annelise Castleberry Stage Manager; Chloe Rose Schweizer Asst Stage Manager; Danny Daniello Company Manager; Juniper Street Productions Production Management; RCI Theatricals General Manager; Bond Theatrical Tour Booking, Marketing, & Publicity.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• September: ♦ Shucked at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at The Soraya; ♦ Eureka Day at Pasadena Playhouse. I’m seriously considering One Man, Two Guvnors at A Noise Within, and possibly Just Another Day at the Odyssey (simply so I can go up to Dan Lauria afterwards and ask if he’ll ever bring back Meeting of Minds, which stopped when he went off to do Lombardi many years ago).
• October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ ha ha ha ha ha ha at Pasadena Playhouse
• November: ♦ Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at CTG/Taper; ♦ Paranormal Activity at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;

Last night, we had theatre tickets at the KIrk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. The Kirk Douglas is the old Culver Theatre (where I used to regularly attended horror movies in college with my GF of the time), across from the Culver City City Hall, where we park. As we drove up, we were confronted with a gigantic peaceful protest of the Orange One Who Has A Stick Up His Ass About Biden.

Speaking about things up your ass.

I then learned while we were having dinner about Stephen Colbert. CBS claims it was a financial decision. Sure, when you pay 16 million to the Orange One, you have to find the money somewhere. How much does Colbert cost to produce? I’ve heard 15 million. Here’s hoping the Colbert lands on a streamer/network with guts. Kimmel is also retiring; there’s an opening at ABC, but there’s also Amazon or Netflix. (HBO is out, as they have Oliver; NBC has Fallon; and Fox has no sense of humor). Clearly, Paramount has a stick up their ass. Oh, and Trump is celebrating.

Speaking about things up your ass.

The reason we were in Culver City was to see Puppet Up, an improv comedy piece, with puppets, from the son of Jim Henson. Essentially, it is their training ground for Muppet magicians. Anyone can be a puppeteer, but this is the training ground for making the puppets come to life. As Brian Henson explained it,

I was bemoaning the fact that we would train 20 puppeteers and maybe two had the ability to ad-lib. And Mia Sara, who I was dating, said “You know, you can train that. It’s called improv comedy.” She took me to a Groundlings show, and I said “Wow, they’re really good ad-libbers.”

Mia introduced me to Patrick Bristow, who is a world-renowned improviser and trainer of improv, and we started talking about how to get our puppeteers to improv. At first, he didn’t know if it was going to work because improvisors have to watch each other’s eyes all the time to try and read each other’s minds. In the Henson Company, it’s all about the camera. We watch a monitor to see what the puppets are doing. We’d never look at each other.

We started doing these workshops and what we discovered is that it worked really well. The puppeteers could watch the monitor and read each other’s minds like in improv.

Puppet Up is what that improv morphed into, over time. There is a host who will solicit ideas and terms from the audience, and these are fit into broad pieces that are improved (for example, the trailer for a movie, or a dating game). If anything, it reminded me very much of Freestyle Love Supreme, which was an improvised hip-hop show from the brain of Lin Manual Miranda. As it is based on improv, the show essentially changes every performance, modulo some pieces (at our show, Business Business and Glowworm) that seem to be regular pieces.

Memorable pieces from our show included the dating show with a trump-loving conservative tour guide, a vegan, and a man who liked eating pet food; the audience participation bit with a concert pianist; the James Bond movie with Pussywillow; the deli on the edge of the Grand Canyon, and … well, you get the idea.

Oh, and yes, there are naked puppets.

With the increasingly bad news coming from the Trump administration, and the news about Colbert, this was just the humor that we needed. Much of the run is already sold out, but if you can find a seat, Puppet Up continues at the Kirk Douglas until July 27. Tickets and more information are available here. Puppet Up also has a website where you can sign up for their mailing list. The show was hilarious.

Cast and Crew

Puppet Up! Uncensored. Created by Brian Henson and Patrick Bristow. Directed by Patrick Bristow.

Cast (note: the cast changes every night; see this page for the current list) at our performance: Patrick Bristow Host; Bill Barretta; Grant Baciocco; Peggy Etra; Dan Garza; Brian Hensen; Ted Michaels; Kathryn Chinn Molloy; Stoph Scheer; and the Miskreant Puppets. Other performers in the rotation: Raymond Carr; Brian Clark; Ithamar Enriquez Host; Sarah Oh; Michael Oosterom; Ben Schrader; Colleen Smith; John Tartaglia; and Allan Trautman.

Production and Creative: Willie Etra Music Director; Dan Kelly Audio Supervisor; Jenna Pletcher Lighting Designer;  Bishop Rhone Video Supervisor; Kate Russell Video Supervisor; Kathryn Molloy Puppet Wrangler; Rachel Burson Puppet Wrangler; Jordyn Pritsker Company Manager; Cameron Zetty Production Manager; Tim Moore Technical Director; Joe Witt Associate Producer; Brian Henson Producer; WestBeth Entertainment Producer;

Thoughts on One CTG

The Center Theatre Groups likes to promote their subscription as “One CTG”, but that’s not how the treat it internally, and that creates problems. Internally, they treat the single subscription as an Ahmanson Subscription and a Taper Subscription.

This is significant because they don’t coordinate the two, and because of the size difference between the venues, the subscriptions have different weeks. In our case, we seem to have the first Saturday of Ahmanson shows, and the last Saturday of Taper shows. This isn’t a problem if they stagger the shows right, but in the upcoming 2025-2026 season, there are two conflicts. For two of the dates, our Taper shows and our Ahmanson shows are at the same time.

If this were truly One CTG, then CTG would resolve the differences. But this being really Two CTGs, we’re on our own. The first day you can exchange tickets, its up to you to resolve things with whatever seats are available to exchange.

ETA: Oh, and it turns out that the first day you can exchange tickets … you can’t, if you are on a payment plan. They don’t bother to tell you this. I had to find out when I tried to do the exchange at the box office at Puppet Up (because I couldn’t figure out how to do things online).

CTG, this is poor form. If you want to want to be the best in customer service, you will work to resolve this. Broadway in Hollywood did, ensuring that Dolby Shows and Pantages Shows didn’t leave subscribers with conflicts. You can do better.

More importantly, if you want people to subscribe, you need to reduce the friction. CTG: Although you are great on parking and accessibility, this ticketing situation is poor customer experience. Subscribers should be easily able to find out their shows, and know that the shows as they come from the box office have no conflicts on dates. As for 5-Star Theatricals, where we’re going Saturday: Parking there — in an empty garage — has gone up to $16, and security is more draconian than going through TSA. This is a large amount of friction — so much that we’re thinking of dropping the 5-Star Subscription after this season and looking into the Rubicon in Ventura.

Don’t bemoan the fact you are losing subscribers, when you are actively making theatre uncomfortable for the subscribers.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• July: ♦ Frozen at 5-Star Theatricals
• August: ♦ Some Like It Hot at BIH/Pantages; ♦ & Juliet at CTG/Ahmanson
• September: ♦ Shucked at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at The Soraya; ♦ Eureka Day at Pasadena Playhouse
• October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals