Roger Mathey's latest revival of Irvine Welsh's cult novel about a circle of heroin addict friends in Edinburgh, Scotland, Trainspotting, is one of the most visceral, blood and guts stage dramas I've seen in recent memory -- or maybe ever.

On Friday evening, May 17, there will be a spectacular musical event at the Eli & Edythe Broad Stage -- the first of six performances of a new opera, Dulce Rosa, based upon a celebrated short story by Chilean author, Isabel Allende.

The essence of theatre is wonder. The Actor's Gang understands this. And so does Brian T. Finney, the actor who performs his own stunning one-man adaptation of the Heart of Darkness, at the Ivy Substation Theatre in Culver City.

Sometimes great pieces of original art take their own sweet time, as is the case with Assisted Living -- which should have Los Angeles theatre-goers sending a new batch of fan mail Winnie Holzman and Paul Dooley's way.

On Wednesday evening, I attended a production of David Mamet's play American Buffalo at the wondrous Geffen Playhouse -- the first such production in L.A. in a dozen years.

I was a fierce fan of a TV show called Dawson's Creek during its six season run some years ago, probably because I adored the winsome Katie Holmes, who played Joey. I was reminded of that last night when I visited the wonderful Geffen Playhouse.

The closest I get to enjoying magic comes in the form of watching Will Arnett's character on Arrested Development perform his atrocious "illusions." But Nothing To Hide has turned my personal relationship with magic from nonexistent to we're-in-love giddiness.

It seems a rare theatrical phenomenon when a playwright understands how to emotionally connect with a generation. John Robin Baitz does this brilliantly in Other Desert Cities, running at Mark Taper Forum through January 6, 2013.

For a holiday treat overflowing with joy, fun, and some of Cole Porter's greatest classics, run to the Ahmanson theatre where the tour of the 2011 Tony Award winning production of Anything Goes sails through January 6, 2013.

Calling occupants of the 1970s (and those who may have wished to experience the decade, but weren't born yet) run don't walk this weekend to the Hudson Theatre's gloriously fun Are You There God, It's Me Karen Carpenter.

While it has long been regarded as an old chesnut in the theater world, there is a refreshing contemporary resonance in the revival of You Can't Take It With You at the Antaeus Company under the thoughtful direction of Gigi Bermingham.

In the warm, artsy town of Ojai, California, actors, playwrights and theater lovers gathered at the annual Ojai Playwright's Conference, which brings some of the brightest and most vibrant voices in theater together in an intimate environment.

My curiosity got the better of me and I attended the world-premiere of the new play, The Exorcist, at Westwood's Geffen Playhouse Wednesday evening. I was rewarded with 95 minutes of superb, powerful drama.

Los Angeles, you are in for a treat. Follies, the 1971 landmark musical that collected seven Tony Awards, takes Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre by storm -- direct from Broadway, and bigger and better than ever.

When the lights went down, the 'insects' started crawling around the stage (and the theatre), and I was immersed in a headlong rush into their colorful ecosystem teeming with weird life.

Poison Apple is Sean Galuszka's one-act play

Who: Anna Deavere Smith
 Current LA Gig: The New York writer/actress/director (and veteran of TV and film) is performing her latest one-woman sho...