Up from Othello in Los Angeles

Los Angeles—Legitimate theater is alive and winning Tony awards here. At a time when the most modish entertainment in the ever-experimental city is to get zonked on strawberry LSD and go see Disney’s Fantasia—a Forties flop recently revealed as the first psychedelic love-in—the Centre Theatre Group is showing that something more cerebral can still draw crowds. And of play and players originally connected with CTG’s 1970 productions, no less than nine this year won Tony awards. Now, of several brave new shows, one at least deserves to sweep every award on the board: The Paul Sills Story Theatre version of The Metamorphoses is a delight.

But first, in looking at the LA season, the worst. Great things were expected of CTG’s current Othello, a first Shakespearean production from our local Palace of Culture. James Earl Jones, after all, has played the Moor on five previous occasions, and he is probably among the best half-dozen actors in America today. One hoped for a definitive performance. No such luck.

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W. I. Scobie

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Los Angeles—Legitimate theater is alive and winning Tony awards here. At a time when the most modish entertainment in the ever-experimental city is to get zonked on strawberry LSD and go see Disney’s Fantasia—a Forties flop recently revealed as the first psychedelic love-in—the Centre Theatre Group is showing that something more cerebral can still draw crowds. And of play and players originally connected with CTG’s 1970 productions, no less than nine this year won Tony awards. Now, of several brave new shows, one at least deserves to sweep every award on the board: The Paul Sills Story Theatre version of The Metamorphoses is a delight.

But first, in looking at the LA season, the worst. Great things were expected of CTG’s current Othello, a first Shakespearean production from our local Palace of Culture. James Earl Jones, after all, has played the Moor on five previous occasions, and he is probably among the best half-dozen actors in America today. One hoped for a definitive performance. No such luck.