Alum’s play ‘When Stars Align’ seeks to mirror current race relations

Thaddeus meets Amy along the banks of the muddy Mississippi River, under magnolia trees draped with Spanish moss. At first he is afraid of her. He knows the consequences of playing together, but she convinces him: She wants to catch frogs and so does he. However, their friendship cannot last, as he is a black […]

Movie Review: ‘Black Mass’

Violent mobster James “Whitey” Bulger and his Winter Hill Gang ran the underworld in 1980s-era Boston. Bulger commanded respect and loyalty from his inner circle and punished his enemies with swift, brutal efficiency. Exploiting the FBI through his inside agent John Connolly, and flanked by bruising henchman, Bulger presided over a reign of terror in […]

TFT professor to star in revival of play ‘Awake and Sing!’

Clifford Odets’ play “Awake and Sing!” features a struggling Jewish family torn between the parents’ lofty ambitions and the children’s fight to find a voice. The play premiered on Broadway in 1935 and 80 years later, its portrayal of economic strain on a family during the Great Depression resembles that which many endure today. Starting […]

‘These Paper Bullets!’ opens at Geffen Playhouse, fresh take on Shakespeare

Sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll and Shakespeare – an unusual combination for a play, but one which the creators of “These Paper Bullets!” think will prove a winning one. Opening Tuesday at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, “These Paper Bullets!” is known as a rip-off of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The play takes […]

Former UCLA postdoctoral scholar schools Hollywood on scientific accuracy

The only solution that Michael Bay’s film “Armageddon” offers, as an asteroid the size of Texas hurtles towards the Earth, is to send Bruce Willis into space with a massive bomb to split the asteroid and save the world. For Kevin Hickerson, a former postdoctoral scholar in the UCLA physics and astronomy department, movies like […]

MFA candidate’s short film nominated for Student Academy Awards

From the age of 10, Balbinka Korzeniowska had been practicing her Oscar speech, transforming her bathroom into the plush Dolby Theatre and her shampoo bottle into a microphone. On Sept. 17, at the Student Academy Awards ceremony, the UCLA student may finally get to take to the stage and make that speech for her short […]