Tag Archives: Bitter Lemons

Although 2016 theater news in Los Angeles was dominated by the battle over the elimination or preservation of the 99-Seat Plan, there were other stories that captured Footlights  readers’ attention as well.  Here are the 10 most-read pieces of 2016, along with their opening paragraphs.  There’s a mix of both aggregated coverage and original insights.  The list gives some indication of what theater-goers found most ...

After The Chicago Reader  story on the long-time actor abuse at Profiles Theatre appeared, Colin Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Bitter Lemons, published an editorial which, while not outright excusing the behavior and culture found at Profiles, claimed: What everyone seems to be either ignoring or intentionally skirting with this bizarre story coming out of Chicago is this: These were all consenting adults. The editorial ...

Last year, the new Bitter Lemons policy of “pay-for-play,” paying the publication to get them to send a reviewer, created a national debate on the practice – and near-universal condemnation.  (Bitter Lemons is again promoting a pay-for-play review system for the upcoming Hollywood Fringe Festival.) Now, the Hollywood Reporter reveals that a pay-for-play mentality is taking over Hollywood casting sessions. The arguments for this happening ...

Bitter Lemons:  As a site that aggregates reviews of Los Angeles theater, Bitter Lemons offers a unique perspective in what was the most compelling – or at least the most enthusiastically reviewed – shows of 2015.  As far as where to go for theater in 2016?  One place to start might be those companies with the best rated seasons of 2015: 1) Zombie Joe’s Underground ...

Bitter Lemons:  Geoff Hoff, founder of LA Theater Review  and a pioneer in getting Los Angeles theater onto the Internet, died on November 18, 2015.  He was 60 years old.  David Jette, who wrote for Hoff, provides a personal remembrance. Here’s an editorial Hoff wrote in 2010 about theater etiquette.

Stage Raw: These are tumultuous days for the theater community in Los Angeles, but one thing is for sure: There has never been a better time for the community to draw together for the purposes of thought-provoking self-analysis.  Jenny Lower reports on Stage Raw’s second of three symposia: “Funding Arts Journalism.”  

Bitter Lemons:  Since December last, when Actors’s Equity Association announced its sweeping new plan for the small theaters of Los Angeles to pay their actors minimum wage, the Theatre @ Boston Court has been the elephant in the room in the case against predatory producers predatory producers who ran roughshod over the rights of actors.  On September 11, 2015, Michael Seel and other representatives from Boston ...

Bitter Lemons: “…about 5 years ago, I hit a real sweet spot. I was on a TV show that was well-loved and well-payed. I played a lead role, yet could still go to Ralph’s for cat food – and in the evenings, I had my theater… Then, some very concerned folks Re-imagined LA theater for me. As a result, the stage actors’ union, Actors Equity, ...

Pay your money! Is This Any Way to Run a Theatre Review Site? This year, Bitter Lemons’ annual critic’s panel wasn’t a discussion of the state of L.A. theatre criticism so much as a defense of the website’s controversial pay-for-review policy.  It’s a through-the-looking-glass reversal of long-accepted journalistic traditions. http://bit.ly/1FxqSsi

San Francisco Theater Pub:  “My knowledge of the LA theatre scene isn’t as intimate of my knowledge of the Bay Area scene, so I’m forced to ask: Is Bitter Lemons so vital to the stability of the scene that it can make such demands? Seriously, I’m asking. “