116 stories by "Terry Morgan"
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In my most recent review on this site, I discussed my general wariness about imposing new directorial takes or twists on Shakespeare works. Once in a rare while, these changes can illum…
I usually am somewhat wary of "new takes" or "twists" on classic plays, with cause. Changing the time period of a story or modernizing the text is no guarantee that the play will be any fres…
Sometimes, although not commonly, sheer visual spectacle without significant content is enough to qualify a play as a success. A lot of critics recently have been opining this about the Harr…
There's a line in Tom Jacobson's new play, Tasty Little Rabbit, which reads, "Today's blasphemy is tomorrow's orthodoxy." Five words, but they're imbued with so much historical truth. Almost…
Morgan's Rule #1 about theater reads thusly: When a play doesn't work, ninety-five percent of the time it's due to the writing. Sure, sometimes an actor doesn't quite connect with a part, or…
As a Literature major in my distant past, I have a shameful confession to make " I've never read Jane Eyre. I've read Ulysses and Absalom, Absalom, Toni Morrison and Annie Proulx, but never …
Bat Boy: The Musical premiered in 1997 here in Los Angeles at the Actors' Gang Theatre, then went on to the West End and Off-Broadway, garnering awards and making the world somewhat safer f…
Well, it took nine years, but the Harry Potter play has finally arrived in Los Angeles. I knew it would possibly be a while before it got here after premiering in London in 2016, but I didn'…
Antaeus Theatre Company has an excellent and longstanding reputation for being expert with classical theater work, from Ibsen to Pinter, with a particular affinity for Shakespeare. As best a…
Amidst the current blitzkrieg of corruption currently happening from the new presidential administration in this country, it's difficult to gather focus to write a theater review. I mean, it…
I have said before in these pages that I think Steve Yockey is one of the most original playwrights currently working. His combination of dark humor, oddball subject matter (ghosts, demons, …
It's late December, when the events of the year are summed up and judged by the media, and why should I withhold praise? Every year has amazing theater in Los Angeles " sometimes a bit more,…
Photo credit is Ashley Erikson.
Ah, it's that time of year again, when the holiday lights go up, the temperature dips to the perilous lows of seventy-five degrees and children everywhere…
One thing that sadly doesn't seem like it's about to change in America anytime soon is the country's love of guns. Whether it's the byproduct of decades of fearmongering politicians and Fox …
One of the things I most admire about the work of Stephen Sondheim is that he actively tried new things within the musical format. He certainly set himself technical challenges, such as tell…
Although new plays can be exciting and are crucial to the continuing vitality of theatre, I'm especially fond of older works, the more obscure the better. It's cheap time travel, immersing o…
Message plays are a pillar of western theater. Our entire theatrical ecosystem is unthinkable without works such as Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House or Larry Krame…
In my twenty-five years of theater reviewing, time and again when I find myself less enthusiastic about a show, ninety-nine percent of the time the culprit is the writing. One would think th…
Thornton Wilder's 1942 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Skin of Our Teeth, is an assuredly odd duck. It's eighty-two years old but still seems postmodern with its frequent fourth-wall breaki…
In my fifty-seven years of life, I've never seen this country so divided and tribalized. I think the media bears a lot of blame for this, referring to us as living in red or blue states and …
Fans of history can't help but wish they were there for private, unrecorded conversations between famed historical figures, to be the proverbial fly on the wall and gain insight into what th…
Welcome to Watching the Dark, a regular column featuring essays, articles and reviews about horror films. Written by Terry Morgan.
Longlegs in cinemas
This is the third piece of a thr…
The first time I read Jon Robin Baitz's 1991 play, The Substance of Fire, and later saw the film made from it, I liked it. I wasn't alone " the success of that play catapulted Baitz into the…
It may be less well known now, but back in the 1960s, the character of surfer girl Gidget was popular and influential, the subject of novels, films and TV series starring the likes of Sandra…
Welcome to Watching the Dark, a regular column featuring essays and articles about horror films. Written by Terry Morgan.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House from Netflix
Qu…
