Author Archive
THE PSYCHIC
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Sam Bobrick’s The Psychic, at The Falcon Theatre, is a devilishly clever comedy/mystery with a hilarious first act and an even better second one that takes on an added layer of brilliance half-way through.
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AWAKE AND SING!
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
If all you knew about New York in the 1930s came from Hollywood movies, you’d think that the city was populated entirely with zany heiresses and egomaniacal divas whose broken legs allowed their talented understudies to go on and become overnight Broadway stars. That’s why Clifford Odet’s Depression-era drama Awake And Sing!, now being revived in an absolutely splendid production at Glendale’s A Noise Within, comes as such an eye-opening surprise. There’s not an heiress, diva, or talented understudy in sight.
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SPEECH & DEBATE
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
You’d think by now that closeted politicians would have learned their lesson. Vote consistently homophobic and people will suspect you have a secret to hide. Troll the Internet or public restrooms and that secret will out you whether you like it or not.
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ALIVE AND WELL
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
She: I never apologize cause I am never wrong.
He: Neither am I!
Is this any way to start a relationship? Well, in the world of romantic comedies it is. Think of all the great screen couples whose road to love began with out-and-out hatred, or at least some good old-fashioned dislike. Think Gable and Colbert in It Happened One Night, Crystal and Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, or last year’s Reynolds and Bullock in The Proposal. Couples like these carry on a great tradition begun perhaps by Will Shakespeare in The Taming Of The Shrew, or who knows, maybe from as far back as Adam and Eve.
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URINETOWN
Saturday, March 27th, 2010
Musicals with one-word titles are a grand Broadway traditon. There’s Annie, Brigadoon, Cabaret, Dreamgirls, Grease, Hair, Kismet, Mame, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, Pippin, and Rent—to name just a dozen. Still, neither Rodgers and Hammerstein nor Jerry Herman nor Lerner and Lowe could ever in their wildest of dreams have conceived of titling a musical Urinetown. From its one-of-kind title alone, you know from the get-go that Urinetown is not going to be your parents’ or grandparents’ musical.
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VIOLET
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Besides offering audiences some of the finest musical theater productions around, Los Angeles and its environs house some of the country’s finest university level musical theater programs. Just check the performers’ bios the next time you see a show at a local CLO and you’ll find ample proof of the caliber of triple-threats UCLA, USC, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Irvine (to name just four) are turning out.
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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
There’s Shakespeare, and then there’s Shakespeare at A Noise Within. No In The Park, Under The Stars, or 99-Seat Plan Shakespeare guarantees the consistent excellence that A Noise Within’s team of world-class actors, directors, and designers deliver, time after time after time. Their current mounting of Much Ado About Nothing is no exception.
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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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