“I Love You” Sets the SLO REP Bar High
Jeffrey Laughrun, Joe Ogren, Katelyn Shreiner & Morgan Tapp SLO REP is opening its 79th season with a bang—an auspicious beginning to an ambitious lineup of shows for 2025-26,…
Premise, Location Make “East of Wall” Unique
With East of Wall, filmmaker Kate Beecroft has placed a familiar story in an unusual setting. Part true to life, part fictionalized, the movie presents a single mother trying to…
“Jeff Buckley” Extends an Artist’s Legacy
Photo by Merri Cyr (courtesy Magnolia Pictures) "I just love when men use their voice subconsciously." It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley captures the poet/singer's attempt to express himself in…
“Something Rotten!” Is Really Fresh
Photos by Luis Escobar It’s 1595 and Shakespeare’s Richard II is about to open in London. That’s bad news for the steadfast Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, whose troupe…
“Virgin Blacktop” Is a Heartwarming Film
When I was in sixth grade, my friend and I were sitting bored in his garage when we found two old skateboards. I stepped on one, found my balance, and…
“Music Man” Delights at the Clark Center
The energy in the audience matched the energy on stage Thursday night as Players West opened its one-weekend-only production of The Music Man at the Clark Center for the Performing…
Is “Eddington” Satire? Tragedy? Noir?
As Ari Aster’s filmmaking grows bolder, his critical reception grows more divided. Eddington, the writer/director's most ambitious film, is a surreal, sprawling neo-Western set during the chaos of COVID in…
“Little Shop” Lets the Dark Shine Through
“This show is fun. It’s over-the-top. It’s absurd.” Jacob Shearer, who directs Little Shop of Horrors now playing at the Templeton Performing Arts Center, couldn’t have used truer words to…
“Architecton” Is a Morass of Scenes, Sounds
The scene is relentless, moving over a vast area of destroyed buildings, forming a backdrop to the initial film credits. The opening of the 98-minute documentary Architecton by Russian filmmaker…
“Drowsy Chaperone” Is a Rousing Romp
For a musical whose leading character begins the show with the words “I hate theatre,” Cambria Center for the Arts’ production of The Drowsy Chaperone gives us a whole lot…