PETER PAN
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
No matter how many Peter Pans you’ve seen, you’ve never seen a Peter Pan nearly as thrilling as threesixty’s Peter Pan. Its producers tout the production’s “500 tons of tent and equipment, 100 cast and crew, and 400 square miles of computer generated imagery on a screen the size of 3 IMAX theaters.” Previous reviewers have called it “spectacular,” “thrilling,” “breathtaking,” “joyous,” “mesmerizing,” and “magical.” It’s all of this, and laugh-out-loud funny to boot.
(read more)
TAKE ME OUT
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Baseball superstar Darren Lemming of the New York Empires would seem to have it made. Blessed with a physical beauty and athletic prowess most can only dream of, the biracial outfielder’s Golden Boy status has kept him above whatever bigotry a lesser man might likely have encountered in major league sports. So certain, in fact, is Darren of being above it all that when he comes out publicly as gay, he expects few if any repercussions from the announcement. Yes, other baseball players might suffer from the homophobia rampant in professional athletics, but not Darren Lemming—that is until pitcher Shane Mungitt arrives to rescue Darren’s loss-plagued team and all hell breaks loose.
(read more)
STATE OF THE UNION
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
The Republican Party has lost control of the White House and wants it back in the next election. “If we get a strong candidate, we’ve got a better than fighting chance,” remarks newspaper publisher Kay Thorndyke at a meeting with party bigwig James Conover and reporter/political strategist Spike MacManus. “The party’s best chance is to put up a candidate who’s never been identified with politics,” Kay goes on, and the trio set their sights on wealthy, self-made tycoon Grant Matthews. It just so happens that Kay and Grant have been carrying on an affair under the nose of Grant’s justifiably suspicious wife Mary, but no matter. What the public doesn’t know won’t hurt the Republican candidate, whoever he may turn out to be. Now, if they can just get Grant and Mary to play the parts of happily married man and wife and persuade Grant to tone down those speeches that have riled the special interest groups, thereby presenting a more homogenized image to the American public, they may just have an electable candidate.
(read more)
BECKY’S NEW CAR
Saturday, September 11th, 2010
“When a woman says she wants new shoes, what she really wants is a new job. When she says she wants a new house, what she really wants is a new husband. And when she says she wants a new car, what she really wants is a new life.”
Imparting these words of wisdom is Rebecca (Becky) Foster, middle-aged wife and mother and the title character of Steven Dietz’s Becky’s New Car, now delighting San Diego audiences in an absolutely terrific production at Solana Beach’s North Coast Repertory.
(read more)
NEIGHBORS
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
How would you feel if your worst nightmare—the family from hell—moved into the house next door to yours? This is precisely the dilemma faced by African American adjunct college professor Richard Patterson when the Crows take possession of the suburban tract home across the street from his in Neighbors, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ provocative though imperfect new comedy-drama now playing at the Matrix Theatre.
(read more)
UNDER MILK WOOD
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Most theater majors graduating from college and beginning their professional careers end up relying on the kindness of strangers (i.e. producers, directors, and casting directors) to get themselves cast in a play, TV show, commercial, or movie. Then there are the talented Cal State Fullerton grads who have taken matters into their own hands by forming Coeurage Theatre Company.
(read more)
SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010RECOMMENDED
Growing up Southern Baptist is no piece of cake for the four title characters in Southern Baptist Sissies, the fifth production of Theatre Out’s 2010 season.
(read more)
SHAKE
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
There’s something about Reverse Chronology that can work magic with a tale of innocence lost. Take for example Harold Pinter’s Betrayal or Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, the former beginning with the end of a marriage and ending with the characters’ first meeting, the latter starting off with three irreparably estranged friends and climaxing with the threesome as starry-eyed best-friends-forever. There’s something particularly poignant about a happy ending when you already know the disillusionment yet to come.
(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.
COPYRIGHT 2026 STEVEN STANLEY :: DESIGN BY