So Cal Arts & Entertainment

Brian Pirnat and Brooke Lewis in “Mr. Burns.” Photo by Amy Lauren Gettys. Can a play recover from an unsatisfactory first act, one that leaves you frankly wondering, what am I doing here? Absolutely, if Anne Washburn’s “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play” and Branden...

“The Lost World” (1925). If there was ever a silent film I never wanted to see again after my first viewing it was “The Lost World,” the 1925 original I clapped eyes on as a teenager. Or so I thought. I was bowled over when this prehistoric adventure flick surfaced at...

Preston Butler III and L. Scott Caldwell in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. Photo by Jordan Kubat/SCR. August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean” (at South Coast Repertory through Nov. 11) is one of those quirky character-driven plays it’s hard to get a handle on at first....

Musée Picasso, Paris. Photo © 2017 by Jordan R. Young. The Musée Picasso seems to be closed every time I’m in Paris. I finally managed to visit the museum devoted to the celebrated artist on a recent trip to Europe, though it was (natch) partially closed. Better yet,...

James McHale and Amanda Zarr in “In a Word.” Photo by Doug Catiller, True Image Studio. Give ‘em the old razzle dazzle—gets ‘em every time. I have no evidence this thought passed through Simon Stephens’ brain en route to adapting “The Curious Incident of the Dog in...

David Edward Reyes and Talia Goodman in Karen Fix Curry’s “Celtic Knot” at OC-centric. Photo by Kirk Huff Schenck. Theresa Rebeck's “The Understudy” (at Modjeska Playhouse in Lake Forest through Sept. 3) is an example of what can happen when a playwright makes a name...

The cover features funny lady Alice Howell. Carol Burnett may be a pioneer of sorts, but women were taking pratfalls decades before she was born. As Steve Massa sees it, the Boy’s Club “myth” of silent film comedy started with James Agee’s seminal Life magazine cover...

Ryan Imhoff and Grace Morrison in New Swan’s “Taming of the Shrew.” August. Time to swelter in the city. And brush up your Shakespeare. Those who love the Bard’s comedies—as well as those who tend to avert their eyes and ears for fear they won’t understand it—are in...

Nicoletta Manni and Claudio Coviello in Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company’s Giselle. Photo by Marco Brescia & Rudy Amisano. If you hurry you can catch Teatro alla Scala Ballet’s “Giselle” at Segerstrom Center for the Arts today before they leave town. This is a rare...

Lou Sabini’s “Sex in the Cinema: The ‘Pre-Code’ Years (1929-1934)” is a solid, well-researched introduction to the films of that brief period between the end of silent movies and the enforcement of Hollywood’s prudish Production Code. Leading ladies with loose morals,...