Author Archive
THE WIZ
Monday, June 6th, 2016RECOMMENDED
For the next six weeks, The Emerald City can be found in Simi Valley as Actors Repertory Theatre Of Simi presents The Wiz, aka The Super Soul Musical “Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” a mixed bag of a production that nonetheless offers SoCal audiences the rarer-than-rare chance to see a bona fide Broadway groundbreaker, one that proved that a musical with an all-African-American cast could not only win Tonys (seven in all) but become one of the Top Forty longest-running musicals in Broadway history.
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DISNEY THE LITTLE MERMAID
Monday, June 6th, 2016
It’s taken nearly ten years for Disney The Little Mermaid to make it from Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre to “Under The Sea” at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts, but director Glenn Casale’s ingeniously reconceived, spectacularly staged take on the New York original makes it well worth the wait.
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HEDDA GABLER
Monday, June 6th, 2016RECOMMENDED
Some of L.A.’s finest stage stars take center stage in Andrew Upton’s 2002 version of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, and while the age-blind casting of most of the play’s lead roles proves problematic, the Antaeus Company’s latest partner-cast revival nonetheless offers Los Angeles theatergoers some of the finest acting in town.
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JOHN IS A FATHER
Monday, May 30th, 2016
They write country songs about hard-living, heavy-drinking heartbreakers like John. Julie Marie Myatt has written John Is A Father, a play with the heart, humor, and emotional wallop of her unforgettable The Happy Ones, albeit on a smaller scale, and if you happen to miss Sam Anderson’s masterful performance in the title role, trust me, you’ll be kicking yourself when awards season arrives.
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STUPID FUCKING BIRD
Monday, May 30th, 2016
San Diegans can rejoice at the arrival of Aaron Posner’s supremely theatrical, deliciously meta, hilariously scabrous take on Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. As for Angelinos who missed Stupid Fucking Bird at The Theatre @ Boston Court a couple years back, or who simply want the chance to re-experience it with exhilaratingly fresh direction and a daringly diverse cast, Cygnet Theatre is just a road trip away.
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BIRDER
Saturday, May 28th, 2016
Rising at the crack of dawn to gaze up at our fine feathered friends in the sky is to Roger, the 40something protagonist of Julie Marie Myatt’s quietly compelling Birder, what a flashy new sports car or extramarital fling is to other men his age, a way of dealing with a pesky case of midlife crisis.
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I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU – The Life And Lyrics Of Al Dubin
Thursday, May 26th, 2016
An Oscar-winning lyricist finally gets the star treatment he’s been heretofore denied in the thoroughly entertaining I Only Have Eyes For You – The Life And Lyrics Of Al Dubin, a big-stage/big-budget musical treat whose big challenge will be to convince anyone too young to know the difference between Carmen and Lin-Manuel Miranda to take a chance on a musical that may be arriving about fifty years too late to be a Broadway smash.
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HONKY
Tuesday, May 24th, 2016
If laughter is indeed the best medicine for what ails us, then anyone afflicted with racism would do well to check out the latest from Rogue Machine, Greg Kalleres’s foul-mouthed and fabulous satirical comedy Honky. (And if you think the R-word doesn’t apply to you, then you clearly haven’t heard Avenue Q’s “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist.”)
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Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
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