WHAT THE BUTLER SAW
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
Here’s a question for theater aficionados? Can you think of a play which deals with, features, or mentions all of the following: depravity, disguises, gender identity, the government, hanky-panky, hermaphroditism, homosexuality, incest, insanity, marriage, mistaken identities, nymphomania, pederasty, psychiatry, rape, religion, reunited orphan siblings, slapstick, and transvestitism? Who could possibly have found a way to put all of the above into one play—and make it one of the most laugh-out-loud hilarious screwball farces ever?
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THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP
Monday, August 10th, 2009
A young woman arrives at a grand and stately manor, the second wife of its handsome owner, only to be surrounded by memories of wife number one, particularly those brought up by the mansion’s sinister housekeeper. (That’s Alfred Hitchcock-Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca, right?) Among the household staff is a hunchback swineherd who turns into a werewolf whenever the moon is full. (What? You don’t remember that from Rebecca?) Another household worker is rumored to be one of those “beings who never die,” aka a Vampire. (Now that sounds like Dracula!) Our widowed, remarried hero journeys to Cairo where his presence brings a long-dead Egyptian mummy back to life. (What kind of movie mishmash is this? Have we died and gone to horror movie heaven, or hell?)
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SAY GOODBYE, TOTO
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, the Munchkins, and the Wizard himself are back—in Amy Heidish’s charming, delightful, and surprisingly original Say Goodbye, Toto, a Wizard Of Oz not just for the kiddies.
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TWELFTH NIGHT
Saturday, August 1st, 2009RECOMMENDED
The Classical Theatre Lab has returned to West Hollywood for their third consecutive summer of Shakespeare In The Parks with a well-acted and directed production of Twelfth Night Or What You Will.
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DOG SEES GOD
Sunday, July 26th, 2009RECOMMENDED
Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead imagines the lives of a group of high schoolers suspiciously similar to teenage versions of Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang. Though legal considerations require a “has not been authorized or approved in any manner by the Charles M. Schultz Estate” disclaimer, fans of the comic strip will recognize CB (whose pet beagle has just been put down for rabies, though not before tearing to shreds “a little yellow bird who used to hang around”), Beethoven (a sensitive i.e. gay piano prodigy), Tricia (née Patricia formerly Patty, of the Peppermint variety) and her best friend Marcy (who used to spell her name with an –ie), Matt (a once dirt-cloud-plagued kid turned tough guy germo-homophobe), and Van (a stoner currently mourning the death-by-fire of his beloved blanket). CB’s sister and Van’s (neither of whom are referred to by name) complete the gang.
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BACH AT LEIPZIG
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
The year is 1722 and some of the finest musicians of the age have descended on Leipzig, Germany, in hopes of succeeding Johann Kuhnau as organist of the Thomaskirche. Since no early 18th Century musician can achieve success without the patronage of the nobility or the church, a post like Kuhnau’s is one worth fighting for, even if this means lying, scheming, and double-crossing to obtain it.
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APARTMENT 6 & 9
Sunday, June 14th, 2009RECOMMENDED
Apartment 6 & 9 is a pair of one-act comedies (All Aboard The Marriage Hearse and Stay Over) which showcase Matt Morillo’s talents as a writer/director, his gift for intelligent dialog, and his insights into the many ways that “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”
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THE SOMETHING-NOTHING
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Fielding Edlow’s The Something-Nothing is a hilarious, biting, highly original look at a 20something love triangle in pre-9/11 New York City.
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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