Author Archive
DEAD BRIDE RUNNING
Thursday, September 13th, 2007RECOMMENDED
If you’re a devotee of sophisticated, stylish and witty Noel Coward
drawing room comedies…check your theater listings for the production of
Private Lives nearest you. If, on the other hand, you’re a fan of Saturday
Night Live/Mad TV style outrageous over-the-top humor, Dead Bride
Running will be right up your alley.
(read more)
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007
A musical at South Coast Repertory is a rarity, and in the case of the currently
running A Little Night Music, it is a cause for celebration–well cast, beautifully
performed and (especially in the second act) gorgeous to look at.
(read more)
DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA
Friday, September 7th, 2007
In a city where most plays run 6 weeks or less, The Elephant Theater’s
production of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, John Patrick Shanley’s
unexpected love story of two very lost and damaged souls, has become a real
L.A. theater phenomenon. Recipient of the very hard-to-get L.A. Times “Critics
Choice,” Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, now in its fifth sold-out month, has
been extended yet again, through October. Last night I found out why.
(read more)
MATTER OF HONOR
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
Near the beginning of Michael J. Chepiga’s Matter of Honor, the audience at
the Pasadena Playhouse is plunged into darkness. We hear a loud noise, like a
powerful echoing drumbeat, then a series of cries. A beating is taking place. We
know from that moment that we are in for a theatrical experience very much
out of ordinary.
(read more)
THE LADY IN QUESTION
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007RECOMMENDED
Nobody spoofs classic movie genres better than Charles Busch. On film, I’ve
loved his Psycho Beach Party (which as the title indicates spoofs at least two
genres at once) and Die Mommie Die (a brilliant takeoff on 50s/60s women’s
melodramas). Now I’ve had the chance to discover The Lady in Question,
Mr. Busch’s hilarious and spot-on send-up of 40s “woman in danger in Nazi
Germany” flicks.
(read more)
CESAR AND RUBEN
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
It’s not often that a musical can entertain, inspire, and educate, but Cesar and
Ruben is just such a musical. Writer, director, costar Ed Begley has taken a page
out of recent California history and fashioned one of the most moving pieces of
theater I’ve seen.
(read more)
CALLING APHRODITE
Saturday, September 1st, 2007
Beauty is at the heart of Velina Hasu Houston’s new play Calling Aphrodite,
currently having its world premiere production at Long Beach’s International
City Theatre. Beauty as something divine, beauty as a thing to be envied,
beauty as something destroyed by war, beauty as a sign of hope.
(read more)
TALES OF TINSELTOWN
Friday, May 11th, 2007
This delightfully silly visit to Hollywood in the 1930s is sure to be a crowd pleaser for the Co-Op. Matt Lutz and Gwen Hollander delight as smalltown movie fans Elmo and Ellie (he wants to write screenplays, she wants to be a star) who meet cute and bicycle cross country to NGN (not a typo) studios where fame awaits.
(read more)
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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