Theater Digest - August 4, 2024
New thoughts on Clue at the Ahmanson, and updated thoughts on Company at the Pantages.
Hello theater lovers! I’m Katie, and I see a lot of theater! Currently, I’m seeing 0-2 shows a week, depending on my schedule.
Since this newsletter is geared towards people in the entertainment industry, there's a good chance I won't like a show that you or someone you know was involved in. I'm sure that you/your friend put a lot of effort into your/their work! I've been in a few shows, I know how much work goes into putting on a show. But just as you're entitled to dislike TV shows your friends worked on, I'm allowed to dislike theater you/your friends may have worked on. I try not to be vindictive, but I also do make it clear when I don't think a show is worth the price of a ticket or the time spent watching it.
I won't be writing much/any synopsis in these blurbs, but feel free to check out other reviews for synopses! Or just check out other reviews in general! Keep theater journalism alive & well!
Worth seeing:
Company on tour at the Pantages [LA]. I had seen this production in London in 2018 and really loved it then, but I wasn’t sure how much more it would resonate seeing it 6 years later, as I am much closer to Bobbie’s age in this revival. The answer is—it resonates a lot! I think director Marianne Elliot has done a great job staging this production, which swaps most of the genders, so it revolves around a woman turning 35, instead of a man. That said, this time, I really clocked how thinly George Furth originally wrote most of the female characters. All in all though, this is a wonderful piece of art, and it’s a delight to see it staged so capably, and with a strong cast.
Closes Aug 18 in LA.
Six on Broadway [NY] and on the West End [London]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Excalibur [Vegas]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas and London [Vegas/London]. Read my thoughts on it here!
A Mixed Bag:
Clue on tour at the Ahmanson [LA]. This is a show that I was surprised to learn is not a musical. It feels like it should be a musical? It feels like, at one point, this production was a musical? The show is certainly quite broad, and I think maybe that broadness would land a little better if the characters were bursting out into song occasionally, as they seem to want to do. It’s one I’d say is worth seeing if you already have a season ticket, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend buying a ticket.
Closes August 25 in LA.
Cabaret on the West End [London] and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on the West End production here.
Back to the Future on the West End [London] and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Mad Apple at New York New York [Vegas]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Hadestown on tour and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it here!
& Juliet on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it from when I saw it in London in 2019 here!
The Play That Goes Wrong off-Broadway and on the West End [NY/London]. Read my thoughts on the 2019 tour national tour here, or my full review for Stage Raw here.
Not worth it:
Reefer Madness at the Whitley [LA]. Read my thoughts on it here, or my full review for Stage Raw here.
Closes Aug 18 in LA.
On my radar:
Mamma Mia: The Party in London
Stereophonic on Broadway
Suffs on Broadway
Next to Normal in London
Kiss Me, Kate in London
Once Upon a Mattress on Broadway (coming to the Ahmanson)
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