Author Archive

1969: A FANTASTICAL ODYSSEY THROUGH THE AMERICAN MINDSCAPE

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Ovation Award winner Damon Chua takes audiences on an LSD trip through the year 1969 in his ambitious new play 1969: A Fantastical Odyssey Through The American Mindscape, and though he may have bitten of more than any play or playwright can chew, some particularly fine performances and what could well be the year’s most exciting video design make this a psychedelic voyage that adventurous theatergoers may want to take a chance on.
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DEATHTRAP


Ira Levin’s spine-tingling thriller Deathtrap is back, and while it’s not in fact “the first Los Angeles production in 20 years” as proclaimed in press materials (San Pedro’s Little Fish Theatre revived it terrifically in 2009), its arrival at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre is exciting news indeed, particularly since the Ken Sawyer-directed production is a prime example of L.A. theater at its all-around finest.
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LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT


The word dysfunctional may not have been bandied about in the early 1910s when Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night takes place, nor in the early ‘40s when it was completed, nor even in the middle of the Eisenhower ‘50s when it was published posthumously and made its Broadway debut. Still, if anyone understood dysfunctional families, or at least one dysfunctional family in particular, it was O’Neill, as Actors Co-op’s powerful 21st Century revival makes amply clear.
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THE BOOMERANG EFFECT


Paul suggests that Andrew’s life might be better if he had that talk with Renee about her incessant nagging during sex. Andrew recommends that David start playing an online Scrabble game called Words With Friends. David’s husband Nick offers his own helpful advice to Julie, who then passes on her own self-help tip to Janetta.
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CITY OF ANGELS


The gifted triple-threats of the USC School Of Theatre have taken on the many challenges of Broadway’s City Of Angels, the Tony-winning Best Musical of 1989, resulting in so high quality a production that the only thing “low” about it is its performers’ average age.
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HAIRSPRAY


Inland Valley Repertory Theatre opens its 2012 season with a crowd-pleasing production of the 2003 multiple Tony award-winning Hairspray.
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THE WHO’S TOMMY


DOMA Theatre Company opens its ambitious 2012 season, one which also includes Songs For A New World, Jekyll & Hyde, Xanadu, and Once On This Island, with a terrifically sung production of The Who’s Tommy, snappily directed by Hallie Baran.
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HELLO! MY BABY

“You Made Me Love You” “Ballin’ The Jack” “I Don’t Care” “If You Were The Only Girl” “Some Of These Days”

Tin Pan Alley circa the 1910s comes to singing/dancing life in Cheri Steinkellner’s World Premiere musical Hello! My Baby, and though its book could use some tweaking to give the tale a more contemporary sensibility, the tuneful confection proves a terrific showcase for its talented cast under Brian McDonald’s spirited direction.
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