So Cal Arts & Entertainment

Photos courtesy of slocountyarts.org. I’ve been in love with California’s Central Coast since my first encounter in my teens. San Luis Obispo is an old favorite but it took a recent invitation to remind me it was time to revisit this attractive college town halfway...

Before Peter Sellers became indelibly identified with Inspector Clouseau, he made a fair number of funny films across the pond in his native Britain. Five of his best, made between 1959 and 1963, have been gathered by Kino Lorber for the Blu-ray box set, “Peter...

Kim Martin-Cotten, Elysia Roorbach, Gabriel Gaston and Brian Vaughn in South Coast Rep's production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, directed by Lisa Rothe. Photo by Scott Smeltzer/SCR.  If anyone told me 50 years ago I’d be visiting Vietnam and Laos...

Remember when Laurel & Hardy’s silent films were virtually unavailable on video, outside of UK imports? Thanks to Flicker Alley (and Blackhawk Films and Serge Bromberg) for rewriting the scenario: we now have the legendary comedy team’s silent output beautifully...

Narea Kang and Nicole Javier in South Coast Rep's The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh. Photo by Robert Huskey/SCR.  Yes, the blog is back, after a long hiatus. If the government can do it, so can I. Anyhoo, as things stand you have until Sunday (Nov. 16) to get yourself...

Shinshin Tsai has been one of my favorite So Cal directors since we first met at Chapman University, when he was slated to direct one of my plays for OC-centric New Play Festival. He’s director of Lloyd Suh’s “The Chinese Lady,” a play about Afong Moy— the first...

Been there done that. At times I feel like I’ve seen and heard it all. But sometimes you have to fight the tendency to think you’ve seen enough performances of a classic, be it a play or a piece of music. I heard nuances in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony last night at...

If you’re like me you can’t catch every play you’d like to see, but it’s worth the effort to get to South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa for “You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!” (continuing through May 3). Not because Keiko Green’s dark existential...

“I’m Not a Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce,” starring Ronnie Marmo as the most controversial comedian of all time, will take the stage at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada for one night only, on Friday, March 21 at 8 pm.  The show about the pioneer...

Rarely is a show extended before it opens, but such is the acclaim for “Such Small Hands” in previews at Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills that it’s been extended through Mar. 30. OC doesn’t get too many world premieres of new plays, so this presentation of Adam...