"In my day," the Calendar was a vital part of the arts in Southern California, with really superb critics (Dan Sullivan, Sylvie Drake, Charles Champlin, and even Martin Bernheimer and Robert Hilburn). Over the years, it's been dumbed down to the point where the Sunday section is little better than People or Tiger Beat.
I'm no fan of Chiang (his moving to The New Yorker strikes me as guaranteeing that they still have a really lousy film critic when Richard Brody finally -- finally! - leaves). but there's really not a lot there now. Charles McNulty is an excellent theatre reviewer, but I expect someone will snatch him away. (Hopefully, it'll be the New York Times, which could really use a perspective that doesn't center on Manhattan and the West End.)
--Dave Sikula