Theatre & Performance
OFF-BROADWAY
Alice in Wonderland Thru the Looking Glass
(Actors Temple Theatre, 2010)
original score and songs
Urban Death
(Players Theatre, NYC)
original score
NEW YORK TIMES: “The almost wordless “Urban Death” is no arena for
actorly grandstanding, though the troupe’s performance is uniformly
solid, accompanied by Christopher Reiner’s alternately ambient
and dissonant score. The work is a showcase for
first-rate makeup, costumes and sheer, vital stagecraft. There
may be many spooky stage productions around this Halloween but
few will approach the level of this one.”
THE FAB MARQUEE: “A series of over 30 tableaus that range from
strangely unsettling to completely horrific. Set to an eerie and
amazing original score by Christopher Reiner, audience members
spend part of their time throughout the show in the dark,
waiting in suspense for the next scene to appear, not knowing
where it will be - or how close.”
The Goldfish Twins Swim the Big Blue Sea
(Actors Temple Theatre 2009)
original score and songs
TIME OUT NYC: “The 50-minute tuner has sweetness
to spare, impressive low-budget costumes and interactive
bits that really hook the kiddies.”
CULTURE CATCH: “All aspects about the production are
professional and family-friendly. Christopher Reiner composes
all the original music and lyrics, which are catchy and fun.
Edgar Allan Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death & The Tell-Tale Heart & The Bells”
(St. Luke’s Theatre, 2009)
original score and songs
NEW YORK TIMES: “Toss Weimar cabaret, David Lynch, Bob Fosse,
and the Cure into a cauldron, and you have the flavor.”
The Tortoise and the Hare’s Holiday Hoop-la
(St. Luke’s Theatre. 2009/2010)
original score and songs
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NOHO ARTS DISTRICT
Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground
original score and songs
LA WEEKLY: “Dostoevsky’s most infamous characters, here portrayed with unsettling energy and passion by Michael Blomgren . . . The opening tableau is jolting, with Blomgren nestled at the feet of his maid Apollo (Noelle Adames), who sings "Ether," a delightfully grotesque dirge written by Christopher Reiner, with the appropriate eerie musical accompaniment.”
Poe Fest 2008
original score and songs
LOS ANGELES TIMES: “Running in repertory with the company's prior adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart," this mini Poe-Fest serves up murder, torture and madness. What's not to like? . . . Composer Reiner's song version of Poe's poem "The Bells" makes a superb coda to the piece.”
The Surfin’ Snowman’s Big Holiday Wave
(Limecat Family Theatre, 2008)
original score and songs
Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death
original score and songs
2008 LA WEEKLY AWARD: BEST ONE-ACT ENSEMBLE
LOS ANGELES TIMES: "The ensemble joins in to the accompaniment of Christopher Reiner's somber yet cheeky music, against walls painted the hues of the seven chambers of Poe's text. The tale unfolds with twisted finesse." -- David C. Nichols
L.A. WEEKLY: "The players deliver their successive lines with the assuredness and timing of the Beastie Boys. . . . Hair-raising score by Christopher Reiner." -- Craig Gaines
Dragon of Love & Hate
original score
REVIEWPLAYS.COM (PICK OF THE WEEK): "Easily this season’s most surrealistic performance anywhere . . . Without dialog (unless you count some unintelligible murmuring) the cast of ten wonderfully committed performers deliver a cathedra on birth, life and death. Their arms reach out and wave like stamens seeking sustenance, almost like the carnivorous sundew plant, while Christopher Reiner’s constantly haunting music throbs in the background." -- Jose Ruiz
Pajama Ana, Princess of Pillowland-O-Rama
original score and songs
Urban Death
original score
LOS ANGELES TIMES: “As composer Christopher Reiner's ambient music pulses, the lights lower and rise again on a pile of corpses in careful disarray. They raise themselves into a silently screaming sunburst, arms outstretched. A series of psychotic tableaux follows . . . Although not for children or weak stomachs, "Urban Death" is perversely enjoyable in its necromantic way.”
BACKSTAGE WEST: "Linked by an excellent soundtrack of rhythms, sounds, and music (Christopher Reiner), Urban Death moves smoothly from exploiting the comedy of entrails to presenting frightening and seriously troubling snapshots of modern life."
It's A Jungle In Here!
(Limecat Family Theatre, 2006)
original score and songs
William Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis
original score and songs, performer
L.A. WEEKLY: "This kind of fearless experimentation and devotion to it reminds us why we go to the theater.
The Tell-Tale Heart
original score and songs, performer
LOS ANGELES TIMES (CRITICS' CHOICE): "Edgar Allan Poe gets the Zombie Joe treatment in this seamless Underground Theatre exercise in mock-macabre modernism. David Lynch meets Edvard Munch at Joe Allan's, courtesy of an amazing ensemble and composer Christopher Reiner."
BACKSTAGE WEST: "Reiner's score is great..."
Christmas 4 Bukowski
(ZJU Theatre Group, 2005)
original music and lyrics, performer
BACKSTAGE WEST: "The original songs are an endearing counterpoint to the black humor of Bukowski. Composer Reiner offers his wry lyrics and catchy tunes as part of the neurotic mix."
Alice Works Wonderland
original score and lyrics
L.A. WEEKLY: "With its cast of leering phantasms, who deftly enact musical director Christopher Reiner’s spooky musical numbers, this is a trippy, erotic Wonderland that owes as much to the Kit Kat Club as it does to the Cheshire Cat."
Pink Elephant
(ZJU Theatre Group, 2005)
original score and songs, performer
REVIEWPLAYS.COM: "This show, with its myriad subtexts and subtleties whizzes its thirty-seven mini-tabloids at breakneck speed within an hour...Christopher Reiner and his Yamaha keyboard fill the space with incredible sounds that compliment the scenes perfectly." ReviewPlays.com
The Princess and the Frog
(Limecat Family Theatre, 2004)
original music and lyrics
Love
(ZJU Theatre Group, 2004)
original music and lyrics, performer
BACKSTAGE WEST: "Poet Christopher Reiner's smart and sparkling debut as a composer . . . casts a refreshingly jaded eye on romance in this series of songs, performed with aplomb and earthiness by Susie Cremin, Clarissa Park, Brenda Petrakos, Rainey K. Taylor, and Reiner. In the tunes, which are an offbeat marriage of Sondheim and Seinfeld, lovers experience the disappointments and the thrills of romance, but always from a slight distance. This is the kind of musical revue that should run forever, not only in this small theatre in NoHo but also around the country in a variety of venues. Now, perhaps more than ever before, what we need is love."
L.A. WEEKLY: "Reiner has a strong pop sensibility and an ear for the soaring melody"