Ben Soars in 'Go Fly a Kite'

JTL Productions' Acting Out Series scores again with "Go Fly a Kite: The Wit and Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin." Starring venerated IE actor Mel Chadwick, the one-man play is the first comedic outing of the edutainment series.

In Mel's words, a one man play is a "daunting task" — even when it's the shortest play in the series at an hour and change. Having no one to cue you, no interchanges with other characters. Only you, the audience, and a few notes when the going gets fuzzy. He tackles the task with panache and affability. Just the way you imagine the real Ben would be, were you aware that he was the proud antithesis of a stuffy-shirted politician — incessantly donning a beaverskin hat, especially when it was socially "impolite."

'Producers' Far From a Sham

Yes. It's easier to stay home and watch a film version of a play from the countless outlets that offer such material.

And, yes, (unfortunately) you'd be doing yourself a favor by refusing to leave your favorite spot for a locally produced play. After all, the professional productions are not just professional, more often than not they're more entertaining as well.

Such is not the case with Center Stages' latest offering of The Producers, a highly-charged, raving success of a musical production.

Overwhelming "Senses"

I used to think theater was like the culinary arts. A temporal art form. I was mistaken.

With food, you can behold (or create) something beautiful, enriching to the bodies of your audience. But no matter how glorious the creation, it will soon be gone forever.

Yes, in its corporeal form, theater is temporal. However, once viewed, a great piece of theater can stay with you forever. Amazing theater can change you in ways that you'll ponder endlessly. Ways that change your perspective about yourself, art, and the universe.

California Theatre's One Unforgettable 'Tuesday'

Ten years ago I spent a few nights in Yalta, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Lying on atop a picnic table, gazing into the crisp, unpolluted atmosphere I witnessed the most marvelous shooting star I've ever seen. It only lasted the better part of a second, but it was enormous. A brilliant blueish-white flame burning half the size of the moon.

Reminds me of Worldwide Theatricals' one-night production of "Tuesdays with Morrie," starring Jeremy Magouirk and Sam Nisbett. A bittersweet memory I trust will be with me years from now. Sweet because such a lustrous amalgamation of talents is rare to behold. Bitter because there are so few people that relate to the cathartic experience.

Shakespeare's Tragic Tale of Mid-East Relations

Shakespeare is to the stage what fresh, organic ingredients are to the kitchen. Given the best raw material, can you create something original? visceral? satisfying? San Jacinto's Inland Stage Company does, admirably, with their latest offering, "Othello: The Moor of Venice."

Set in a modern, nondescript, American-occupied, middle-eastern locale, starring a resplendent John Wesley Leon as the poetic, well-accented (non-African) Arabic soldier in charge, director Jim Marbury's well-helmed production will stay with you long after lights outs.

Even after losing a week of rehearsals from flu, and the original (female) Iago Jeanette Gardea to pneumonia, this adaptation still provokes and enthralls -- due in large part to eleventh-hour replacement, Brady Greer Huffman, who manages a delightfully unsettling performance. Together, Huffman and Leon sizzle as they blend their world apart. The ever-talented Marcy Wright, as Iago's unloved wife, Emilia, will cut you deep as she makes the horrific realization of her husband's plot, and reveals it to all in the face of imminent death.

Too often with Shakespeare, unfortunately, the audience silently rejoices as bodies pile up at the end -- knowing the more people die, the closer they'll be to getting home. Not so here. You don't want the the end to come, even empathize with the characters, and wish they'd hold off the slaughter for a just few more stanzas so they can discover the truth, and repair their relationships instead.

The incorporation of a multimedia slideshow prologue helps solidify the modernization of the piece. A modern soundtrack, featuring Bruno Mars' pop-ish yet eerily appropriate "Grenade," is also nice choice. Guarantee you'll be humming I would catch a grenade for ya... Throw my hand on a blade for ya... on your way home, pondering the ecstasy and brutality of love, and love gone awry.

LA theater reviews by LA Theater Critic.