THE BIG WOOGIE
Monday, August 15th, 2011NOT RECOMMENDED
What an amazing theater town Los Angeles is, each month offering literally hundreds of shows to pick from—big budget/big bucks/big stage productions at the Pasadena Playhouse or the Geffen, midsized offerings like those at the Colony and ICT Long Beach, and 99-seat plan productions at Theatre @ Boston Court, Antaeus, and the Celebration—to name just three of the many small theaters which easily match the best of off-Broadway. Add to these the countless 30, 40, and 50-seat mini-theaters where it’s possible to “put on a show” for about .005% of Broadway’s Spider Man budget, and you’ve got oodles of temptations on any given weekend.
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THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
Sunday, August 14th, 2011
When you hear the words “Shakespearean Comedy,” which of the Bard’s plays most quickly pop to mind? A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Twelfth Night? The Taming Of The Shrew? Much Ado About Nothing? As You Like It? All of the above?
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CORPUS CHRISTI
Friday, August 5th, 2011
I’ll admit it. I was a Doubting Thomas. As curious as I was about seeing a fresh new take on Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi, the one production I’d seen previously at Long Beach’s Garage Theatre had not boded well for a second, nor did the discovery that the show was being helmed by a young actor making his directorial debut. Still, the chance to see Corpus Christi again was too tempting to turn down, and August being the quietest theatrical month of the year, this skeptic decided to give the Garage a second chance.
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ON GOLDEN POND
Saturday, July 30th, 2011
Hal Linden and Christina Pickles as Norman and Ethel Thayer in On Golden Pond. What more needs to be said? With stars like these in a play as beloved as Ernest Thompson’s Drama Desk Award-winning Outstanding New Play of 1979, Burbank’s Colony Theatre could well have its biggest hit ever, and justifiably so. Linden and Pickles deliver award-caliber performances in a play that hasn’t lost an iota of its humor or charm, directed to pitch perfect perfection by Cameron Watson, and featuring a supporting cast every bit as wonderful as its two stars.
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FINDING THE BURNETT HEART
Sunday, May 29th, 2011
You’d think by now there’d be no need for yet another teenage coming out story, nor would you be likely to expect a playwright to have anything new to offer on the subject.
You’d be wrong.
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FERNANDO RICHARDSON’S TREACHEROUS BRAIN
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
Fernando Richardson’s brain surgery is tomorrow, but the 40ish building contractor doesn’t seem all that worried. “Doctor was just here,” he tells his wife Kate and best friend Patrick. “Said I may not remember people for a few days. I may be really confused.” The Fernando who emerges from the operating room is more than merely confused however, or so his family and friends will soon discover in Fernando Richardson’s Treacherous Brain, now playing Thursdays at Open Fist Theatre.
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STANDING ON CEREMONY: THE GAY MARRIAGE PLAYS
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays is back—in a terrific new venue and featuring a hilarious newcomer to its roster of one acts. What hasn’t changed is the excitement of both its concept and its execution.
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DOOLEY
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011NOT RECOMMENDED
Sometimes no matter how much a production has going in its favor, it simply doesn’t work for a reviewer, no matter the quality of the talent onstage. Diversionary Theatre’s World Premiere play Dooley is just such a production.
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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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