Steven Morris

3 weeks ago | stageraw.com | Steven Morris

Reviewed by Lovell Estell IIILoft EnsembleThrough June 15Salt has at various times and for various religious groups represented healing, purity and spiritual covenant. It was even was used for coin in the long distant past. In playwright Noah T. Parnes highly problematic dark comedy, old sodium chloride is enmeshed in a ritual of heavenly ire that starts in the home of a not-so-ordinary family.

3 weeks ago | stageraw.com | Steven Morris

Image: Tokyo’s Santa Monica Boulevard (photo by Amanda L. Andrei)What are the Spirits of American Theater? My last day in Tokyo, waiting for Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba): Attack on the Swordsmith Village to open, a woman seated next to me pulled out a hand-sized figurine of Hantengu, a frail-looking yet vicious demon from the story. She propped it on the aisle railing and took its picture against the backdrop of the smoky stage. In that moment, I knew that this show was going to be good.

3 weeks ago | stageraw.com | Steven Morris

Center Theatre Group's 2025-2026 Season"Dream Big" is the name of the Center Theatre Group's 2025-2026 season. Oh, sweet marketing. The authenticity of that moniker depends on how one defines "dream" and how one defines "big." Center Theatre Group calls itself "L.A.'s theater." That depends on how one defines L.A., which seems, from the cluster of incoming shows in CTG's three theaters (The Ahmanson, The Mark Taper Forum, and The Kirk Douglas Theatre), to have been pretty much left out of the mix.

3 weeks ago | stageraw.com | Steven Morris

Roxy Payne and  Katrina D. Richard (Photo by Michael Hardy Photography)Reviewed by Dana MartinLong Beach Playhouse Through June 14Steel Magnolias, an 80s relic by Robert Harling about sweet Southern friendship in small town Louisiana now playing at the Long Beach Playhouse, is too precious for words. It’s springtime in Chinquapin Parish and Truvy’s Beauty Salon is ripe with excitement. Salon owner Truvy (Katrina D. RiChard) and new-hire-with-a-past Annelle (Roxy Payne) prepare for a big work day.

3 weeks ago | stageraw.com | Steven Morris

Jennifer Robbins and John Combs (Photo by Gabe Tejada)Reviewed by Catherine CrouchTheatre 40Through June 15RECOMMENDED “When a woman says she needs new shoes, what she really wants is a new job. When she says she needs a new house, she wants a new husband. And when she says she wants a new car, she wants a new life.”Written by Steven Dietz, Becky’s New Car probes the common question: How far would you go for chance to start over?