New Reviews: Poetry & Drama

Television actor Judith Light ("Who's the Boss?") dives headlong into this one-woman stage performance recounting a middle-aged school teacher's "rescue" of a young man in her class years earlier. It's a tale of infatuation, deceit, and regret. Coming at the listener like a freight train, Light's character is as tough on herself as she is on the audience, which is left to judge... Read More

Bringing together such hot-button contemporary issues as racial profiling, domestic violence, and alcoholism, film and voice talents John Cothran, Jr., and Ana Ortiz lead a fine ensemble cast in this L.A. Theatre Works production, recorded live at UCLA's James Bridges Theater. Still living in his Upper West Side rent-controlled apartment, retired NYPD cop Pops is basically... Read More

Narrator Kathleen Godwin breathes life into this spirited, richly detailed play about actress Carole Lombard, that begins on the eve of her death in a plane crash. Lombard was known as a screwball comedienne-movie star who had the vocabulary of a sailor. As Lombard, Godwin speaks directly to listeners, adding intimacy. She also talks to herself; for example, when she rambles,... Read More

Sarah Kay provides a treat with this audio offering. The poet herself narrates, and she even presents some of the poems to a live audience. Kay creates spoken-word poetry, meant to be heard. Listen for the stutter of the new reader in "Mrs. Ribeiro." Whatever is missed from not seeing words on a page, Kay makes up with the lyricism of her voice. She is exuberant and optimistic... Read More

Mary Karr's steady narration of her poems is marked by the full-bodied enunciations of carefully crafted consonants and vowels. The works sound as if they are meant to share both the contemplative and the poetically humorous. She offers clarity in her narration, even if one doesn't directly understand the content of each poem. Her work consistently makes religious references... Read More