Author Archive
THE GIFT OF THE MAGI THE MUSICAL
Saturday, December 20th, 2014NOT RECOMMENDED
The 2000-word classic The Gift Of The Magi might well make a charming twenty-minute one-act musical. Add to it over a dozen characters (none of whom would ever have entered O’Henry’s mind) and a dozen songs (only a couple of which might inspire a second listen), and despite the best efforts of director, choreographer, musical director, and cast, what you end up with is The Gift Of The Magi The Musical.
Rarely has this reviewer found two thirty-five minute acts so endless.
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TRAIN TO ZAKOPANÉ: A TRUE STORY OF HATE AND LOVE
Friday, December 19th, 2014NOT RECOMMENDED
The story Henry Jaglom has to tell is a compelling one and the lead actors who bring his star-crossed lovers to life do powerful work. Still, clunky dialog, uneven supporting performances, and problematic set and costume designs make Train To Zakopané: A True Story Of Hate And Love rather a tough go, even for those like this reviewer with a fascination for Europe in the first half of the 20th century.
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HELLCAB
Thursday, December 18th, 2014
When Jean-Paul Sartre wrote “L’enfer, c’est les autres,” the “others” he was referring to could easily have been the passengers who make a Chicago cab driver’s life a living enfer in Will Kern’s hilarious (or should that be “hellarious”) Hellcab, back at the Elephant Theatre for the first time since its smash 2005 run with its director and cab-driving star once again along for the ride.
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A SPIDER-MAN CHRISTMAS: A SATIRE
Monday, December 15th, 2014RECOMMENDED
Spider-Man meets It’s A Wonderful Life (with a bit of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol thrown in for good holiday measure) in Cameron Parker’s A Spider-Man Christmas: A Satire, and if this latest from Mosaic Lizard Theater is a bit rough around the edges and not all performances up to those of its more highly-trained and experienced cast members, it does one thing to perfection. It keeps its audiences in stitches throughout. (Make that red-blue-&-black stitches, to match Spidey’s superhero garb.)
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THE SANTALAND DIARIES
Sunday, December 14th, 2014
Matt Crabtree returns as David, Crumpet, and a host of other colorful characters in The SantaLand Diaries, neither understudy nor across-the-country Elf this time round but the centerstage star of his very own, all-around splendid production of David Sedaris’s holiday one-man show.
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KISS ME KATE
Sunday, December 14th, 2014
A couple dozen of Southern California’s most talented student triple-threats bring the Cole Porter classic Kiss Me Kate to vibrant, effervescent life down Orange County way, once again making it abundantly clear why Cal State Fullerton’s musical theater BFA program is among the country’s finest in turning out Broadway-bound talent.
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The Snow QUEEN
Sunday, December 14th, 2014
It wouldn’t be December at the Falcon Theater without the Troubadour Theater Company’s latest holiday treat, and this year’s The Snow QUEEN is not only one of their most entertaining extravaganzas to date, it’s one of the most musical Troubies musicals in years.
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SLEEPING BEAUTY AND HER WINTER KNIGHT
Saturday, December 13th, 2014
Lythgoe Family Productions returns to the Pasadena Playhouse for the third December in a row with Sleeping Beauty And Her Winter Knight, this year’s Panto proving every bit as delightful to 2014 SoCal audiences of all ages as the distinctively English form of musical entertainment has been doing for the past two or three centuries in Jolly Old England.
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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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