Leanne Cabrera Archives - TheaterScene.net

Leanne Cabrera

Tech Support

September 9, 2019

Deborah Whitfield’s 'Tech Support" offers a clever idea in order to review feminism in the past century. Unfortunately, her rather superficial approach misses a great many opportunities. The romantic comedy aspect of the play is not entirely believable and works to the detriment of the play’s serious elements. The slick production is entertaining without ever delving below the surface even though it attempts to cover a great many important and serious issues, many of which are not yet solved today. Don’t blame the actors who do their best with the material they have been given. [more]

The Emperor’s Nightingale

December 4, 2018

Although Chua is less interested in beauty for beauty's sake than Andersen, the look and sound of "The Emperor's Nightingale" is still stunning, drawing on a wealth of traditional Chinese art forms to both enliven and culturally ground the story. Leading the way are Joseph Wolfslau's period-inspired score and You-Shin Chen's eye-popping set, which pays lovely tribute to the art of Chinese paper cutting. Leslie Smith's lighting design nicely highlights all of the wonderful colors in Chen's set, as well as those found in Karen Boyer's lambent costumes, which do imaginative justice to human and animal alike. [more]

No-No Boy

June 23, 2016

Chris Doi winningly conveys Ichiro’s anguish and holds attention as this leading character with his emotional performance. The personable Glenn Kubota is deeply gentle as Pa, and Mr. Kubota performs a beautiful movement piece with his hands fluttering as birds during a storytelling segment. As Ma, Karen Tsen Lee poignantly descends deeper into her delusions with histrionic expertise that Japan won the war and is marvelously engaging during her fable-like recitations. [more]

A Dream of Red Pavilions

January 29, 2016

A Dream of Red Pavilions is set in 18th century China during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. The framing story which gives the plot its mythic quality involves a stone and a flower that are reborn as cousins, the rich scion Baoyu and sickly Daiyu, who fall in eternal love. Like" The Forsyte Saga" or "Downton Abbey," the social context depicted is the rise and fall of an aristocratic family. Beginning with the birth of Baoyu, the oldest son on whom the Jia family’s future fortunes rest, the play which takes place in 30 short scenes follows the affairs of these nobles and their servants over 20 years until Baoyu’s young adulthood. [more]