Greggory Moore

3 weeks ago | randomlengthsnews.com | Greggory Moore

Speculations about who’s “the GOAT” — greatest of all time — are a bit silly even when it comes to sports, never mind in the far more subjective realm of arts. But no remotely rational debate about the GOAT of musical theatre could fail to include Stephen Sondheim, so layered are his creations, so smartly does he mine the work of the greats that came before him, so clever are his conceits, so witty and wry are both his lyrics and music.

1 month ago | randomlengthsnews.com | Greggory Moore

Commonplace gun violence. Exploitation. Sensationalism. Amoral corporate greed. This is today’s America, and it’s enough to make you want to scream. If you’re a playwright, your scream may make it to the stage. Hence Tragedy Gift Shop, Ryan McClary’s second world premiere at the Garage Theatre in four seasons.

1 month ago | randomlengthsnews.com | Greggory Moore

Having just seen/heard Long Beach Opera’s staging of El Relicario de los Animales, I don’t have a clue what they’re talking about on their website when they call it “one of [Pauline] Oliveros’ most emotional scores,” as I gather this season’s second aleatory exercise care of Oliveros is based on little more than the composer’s intended orchestration, spatial arrangement of the musicians, and general suggestions for content based on animal themes for four movements. Emotional content? Nada.

1 month ago | randomlengthsnews.com | Greggory Moore

When I sat down with a quartet of Garage Theatre co-founders in 2010 as they got ready to celebrate their 10th anniversary, they told me that nearly three times as many groups were doing theatre in Long Beach as when the Garage came on the scene. But that trend has reversed, and in 2025 you can count on your fingers the number of groups that don’t have “high school” in their name offering theatre of any kind in the 44th biggest city in the United States.

1 month ago | randomlengthsnews.com | Greggory Moore

According to the American Psychological Institute, the term ‘intergenerational trauma’ did not come into use until the 1960s. So while the clinical concept is foreign to the inhabitants of the mid-1930s that populate August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, the burden is a lived reality. Long Beach Playhouse has a cast that gets it right, both the struggle and the joy that can be found in its midst.