A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Monday, January 31st, 2011
From the moment the lights come up on Theseus, Duke Of Athens (Elijah Alexander), and Hippolyta, Queen Of The Amazons (Susannah Schulman) posing in glamorous 1950s garb to the flash of paparazzi light bulbs, you know this will not be your grandfather’s, your father’s, or even your older brother’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Clearly director Mark Rucker has tricks up his sleeve, the revelation of which make South Coast Repertory’s production of William Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy something very special indeed.
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PLAY DATES
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
The war between the sexes has never been funnier than it is in Play Dates, Sam Wolfson’s hilarious new comedy now playing at Theatre Asylum under the sparkling direction of Jennifer Chambers.
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ROOM SERVICE
Friday, January 21st, 2011
When a baseball pitcher launches the ball with a reverse spin, sending it curving toward the side of the plate from which it was thrown, it’s called a screwball. (Trust me. I looked it up.) Not surprisingly, the comedy genre that bears its name follows its namesake’s example by taking surprising turns and behaving in entirely unexpected ways. As a result, a screwball comedy guarantees more laughs per minute than just about any other theater or film genre, precisely what 1930s audiences needed in the Depression years which followed the Stock Market Crash.
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BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
There’s a fine line in theater between “period” and “dated.” A play that’s dated is one that’s no longer appropriate for a contemporary audience and may even be offensive to current sensibilities. On the other hand, a period play delights us with its look back at the way we were, as seen through then-contemporary eyes. That’s why, when someone recently described Neil Simon’s Barefoot In The Park as “dated,” my immediate response was, “No, it’s not dated at all. It’s period.”
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CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
There’s no treat for an avid theatergoer quite like the treat of seeing something absolutely fresh and original. Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is just such a treat.
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SMUDGE
Saturday, January 15th, 2011RECOMMENDED
How to review a show whose point you missed entirely? That’s the dilemma currently faced by this reviewer in writing about Rachel Axler’s Smudge, the latest offering by Burbank’s esteemed Syzygy Theatre Group.
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LOVE, SEX, AND THE I.R.S.
Friday, January 7th, 2011
Imagine you’re a 20something male living with your longtime best buddy and the tax season is drawing near. As you scan down the seemingly endless list of federal tax rules and regulations, you come to the realization that you’re paying loads more taxes simply because your roommate isn’t a woman and your wife. Then it dawns on you. Since your best friend is lucky enough to have one of those unisex names (like Ashley, Kelly, Tracy, Robin, or in this case Leslie), you suddenly realize how easy it would be simply to check F instead of M on Leslie’s tax return, and married instead of single on both of your returns. Voila, you’re saving a ton of money that Uncle Sam would otherwise pocket and do who knows what with.
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URNED HAPPINESS
Sunday, January 2nd, 2011RECOMMENDED
“Cheery, upbeat, even festive” are hardly the words one would normally use to describe a funeral, but then again the recently deceased “Mother Hapshaw” was probably the last person to inspire tears and lamentations. In fact, “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” could easily be the theme song of Ernest Kearney’s black comedy Urned Happiness, now playing at North Hollywood’s T.U. Studios.
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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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