THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Tuesday, November 8th, 2016Ten of L.A.’s finest actresses (and a couple of equally talented guys) deliver superb performances, and the production they are starring in proves one of the year’s most stunningly designed. Still, as was the case when I saw Lily Tomlin perform it as a one-woman showcase back in 1987, I found The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe, Jane Wagner’s collection of (mostly women’s) monologs and occasional multi-character scenes only intermittently engaging in its Los Angeles LGBT Center intimate-stage “revisitation.”
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LEND ME A TENOR
Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
A sensational cast performing under Art Manke’s inspired direction make McCoy Rigby Entertainment’s pitch-perfect revival of Ken Ludwig’s 1986 smash Lend Me A Tenor a crowd-pleaser if there ever was one, and the best possible reason to brave L.A. traffic for an evening of farce at its most fabulous at the La Mirada Theatre For The Performing Arts.
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DESTINY OF DESIRE
Wednesday, October 26th, 2016
Passions ignite—and then some—in Destiny Of Desire, Karen Zacarías’s muy deliciosa musical comedy spoof of the world’s most popular TV genre, la telenovela, now treating South Coast Repertory audiences to two-and-a-half hours of scrumptiously over-the-top love, lust, and laughs.
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SHIPWRECKED!: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT (AS TOLD BY HIMSELF)
Saturday, October 22nd, 2016
Theatrical magic doesn’t get more magical—or more brilliantly theatrical—than Donald Margulies’ Shipwrecked!: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as told by himself), now captivating audiences at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
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BLUEBERRY TOAST
Wednesday, September 21st, 2016Ozzie And Harriet could take lessons from Walt and Barb in suburban perfection, or at least they could until Walt’s disdain for this morning’s breakfast entree turns things haywire in Mary Laws’ bizarre absurdist black comedy Blueberry Toast, an Echo Theater World Premiere highlighted by a pair of bravura performances by Jacqueline Wright and Albert Dayan.
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BARBECUE
Friday, September 16th, 2016
Trailer trash knows no color in the sordid lives brought to booze-chugging, drug-snorting, profanity-spewing life in Barbecue, Robert O’Hara’s outrageously twisted, hysterically funny new comedy now making its West Coast debut at the Geffen Playhouse, and that’s just Act One.
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ARCADIA
Monday, September 12th, 2016
Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia can prove quite a head-scratcher when not done right. Fortunately, despite brain-teasing elements that can challenge even the sharpest intellect, all-around superb acting and incisive direction make A Noise Within’s 25th-season opener as entertaining and accessible as Arcadias get.
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DRAMA QUEENS FROM HELL
Sunday, August 21st, 2016NOT RECOMMENDED
Significant trimming and tweaking is needed to make Peter Lefcourt’s Hollywood-spoofing Drama Queens From Hell the comedy hit it aspires to be despite some occasional insider hilarity and several deliciously scene-stealing performances.
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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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