KCRW's Opening the Curtain

Anthony's favorite LA theater experiences from 2014.

If you've still got holes on your holiday gift list or are looking for something to do with the in-laws from out of town, Blithe Spirit at the Ahmanson is the perfect theatrical distraction.

Between work, holiday parties, and gift shopping there's really not much time to think about theater, but if you're a lover of good acting, subtle directing, and crafty playwrighting the Goodman Theater has a little early Christmas present for you.

The LA Weekly just announced they are no longer holding the "LA Weekly Awards." Even if you don't care about theater, this is a big deal. It's another canary in the coal mine.

A quick guide on how to share a little live theater with the whole family while you frantically regain a little sanity.

It's hard to make sense of the latest play, a straight forward British sex farce, at the Mark Taper Forum...

Luis Alfaro's latest world premiere Painting in Red, is a loose adaptation of Calderon's The Painter of His Own Dishonor -- full of LA references from Langer's to the latest Little Tokyo noodle shop, from the death of Joan Rivers to the etymology of Villaraigosa's name.

Anthony Byrnes on the "divisive and distracting" plan to re-imagine LA theater.

Writing is hard. Now, I wish I could say I learned that from watching Scott Carter's play "The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord" at the Geffen. Truth is I learned writing is hard by enduring it.

What's that old saying? You should pick a doctor who's the same age so that the two of you can grow old together? Jessica Goldberg's world premiere "Better" at the Echo Theater Company, has me thinking that the same is true about playwrights.

As you could guess from the title, "Choir Boy", Tarell Alvin McCraney's new play at the Geffen Playhouse, is all about harmony . . . and discord.

From director Matt Almos and co-director Ken Roht, whose signature joyful style is intact but somehow clearer; to the always grounded Hugo Armstrong who plays Broadus and strings together 20 years of work in a single night; to the uniformly stunning cast: this is LA's intimate theater at its complicated best.

From director Matt Almos and co-director Ken Roht, whose signature joyful style is intact but somehow clearer; to the always grounded Hugo Armstrong who plays Broadus and strings together 20 years of work in a single night; to the uniformly stunning cast: this is LA's intimate theater at its complicated best.

Have you ever been seduced by a recipe? That's what happened to me with the inventive, if dissappointing, new production of Shakespeare's The Tempest at South Coast Rep.

The Persians is not an easy play and SITI is a complicated company, but if you're up for a work that challenges an audience rather than being dependent on it - it's a remarkable journey.